Dante Lamont Lewis, who shot ice cream vendor Daniel Teodorescu in the parking lot of Greene Elementary, was sentenced today to 30 years in prison.

A website set up in October to help pay for some of Teodorescu’s medical bills is still alive and accepting donations.

Amidst all the personal and political conflicts between school board members, RPS administration and city central government, it’s easy to forget that there are still some pretty damn good teachers employed by Richmond Public Schools. Now you can nominate your favorite to be a Super Teacher . A VA Lottery-sponsored program, Super Teacher Awards will “pay tribute to those educators who go the extra mile each and every day to serve their students and their communities.” 8 Grand Prize winners (1 from each of 8 geographical regions) will win $2,000 credit with The Supply Room Companies to outfit their classrooms and $2,000 cash from the Virginia Lottery. 3 additional teachers will win a $500 preloaded Visa debit card.

Entry deadline is April 11. Enter at the Lottery’s web site; mail-in forms also available.

Doug Wilder’s latest Richmond.com Q&A features a question from Westover Hills resident Howard Carlson:

Why should citizens bear the brunt of increased water costs when the largest users are already getting a break for consumption?

A comment to the same article also asks a question that may be of interest to local readers.

Back in September, Westover Hills Elementary won a Dominion Grant to fund an outdoor learning center. Work crews arrived this week and the center, near on the Jahnke Road side of the school, is shaping up nicely. I understand we should see it in regular use within the next couple of weeks.

We typically keep the editorializing to a minimum on these pages, but the combination of Dr. Sherman’s rather lackluster response to the city auditor’s findings combined with an internal RPS revelation that, as of March 31st, there are no more funds for extended-day activities sparked some red-in-the-face ranting that would have made Henry Rollins blush. Better judgment prevailed and we decided to hold our tongues, at least temporarily, until we hear what George Braxton has to say about the situation.

My suspicion is “not much,” but I’d be happy for Mr. Braxton to prove me wrong…

Jonah from Near West End News passed this nugget along from the folks at Victory Farms:

Lastly, the market locations are set (though, as I mentioned, the dates we\’ll start there are not yet). Tuesdays are at Byrd House Community Market in Oregon Hill from 3:30-7pm; Thursdays are at the 17th Street Farmer\’s Market from 9am-1pm; and Saturdays are at the new Forest Hill Park Market from 8am-noon.

So it sounds like the FH Park market is a go. Anyone have the full scoop?

Update: Phil has the full scoop.

RPS Superintendent Deborah Jewell-Sherman announced this afternoon that she won’t seek to have her contract renewed when it expires next year. I think that’s a good start, but is “next year” soon enough? It seems to be that the school board would be well-served to step in and encourage her resignation a bit sooner, even if it would be fairly hollow gesture at this point. I think it’s also key that she’s not the only “turnover” in central administration; again, I’m not holding my breath.

And while we’ve yet to hear a public comment from Mr. Braxton, at least one other school board member has offered up some thoughts (and it’s probably not the member you think it is):

I don’t often use the first person in school board meetings because every decision we make must be a collaborative one. Taking personal credit doesn’t do too much to advance our work, but taking personal responsibility does. I want you to know that I am responsible as a leader of an environment where corruption, incompetence, fraud or waste can pervade such a major function of the system. I am responsible for having the internal controls in place to catch errors before they become regular practice. And to the thousands of kids, parents, mentors, teachers, principals, and support staff who show up everyday to do their best to build something worthy of pride, I am sorry.

The School Board will tonight board produce its audit response plan; Thursday, RPS administration will update the school board and public about its improvement steps at a special meeting of the Facilities and Operations committee.

Will it make a difference?

No, the ramp isn’t opening earlier. Sorry to get your hopes up. According to the RMA:

• Demolition of part of the current southbound toll plaza starts Friday, 6PM
• The new southbound toll plaza opens Saturday (no time specified)
• Converting the rest of the existing plaza to express toll lanes

Unless it rains, in which case everything gets bumped a week or so. But whenever it happens, expect delays, and try not to think of the toll increases.

Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities presents its annual Great Big Gigantic Yard Sale, Saturday April 26, 7AM-3PM at the Westover Community Center (which is on the grounds of Westover Hills Elementary).

For those who want to participate and have interesting items to sell, a few spaces remain. Spots are available for just $35. Vendors are also welcome and can set up shop for $45.

Call 646-8995 or 646-8252

Property owners circa Rockfalls Drive & Riverside have been cited for illegally removing buffer vegetation along the river. The article comments haven’t descended into total chaos yet, but they’re trying…

Why Richmond, Why takes on a little Nickel Bridge history.

‘Tis the season, apparently. If you can’t wait ’til the Westover Community Center yard sale, you’re in luck, as the Westover Hills Neighborhood Association is holding their own annual yard sale this weekend.

WHNA will place two ads in the classified section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, one on Friday, April 18 and the other on the day of the sale. Addresses will appear in the ad but no names will be listed. The deadline to sign up and participate and be included in the newspaper ad is Monday, April 14.

If you’d like to participate, please send or drop off your check for $10 (made payable to WHNA) to Jonathan Huyard at 5106 Sylvan Road. If you have questions, contact him at 230-6148 or jhuyard@comcast.net.

70th District Delegate Dwight Jones has long been rumored to be considering a run for mayor this fall. The appearance of a preliminary web site seems to confirm those rumors (though the site’s address now redirects to Google, probably to keep away prying eyes ’til it’s ready for public consumption).

This begs the question: who would run for Jones’ seat in the House of Delegates?

…that, despite what you might have heard on the radio or TV news, the new Southbound Powhite express lanes are not yet open. July 21 is the target open date.

VDOT is dropping many road & transportation projects over the next few years (38+ in the Richmond area alone), but the silver lining is that the new Huguenot Bridge will go ahead as planned. Hearings are scheduled to discuss the new plan, with the Richmond meeting coming April 23 @ VDOT HQ downtown.

From Kathy Graziano:

Richmond City Council Member Kathy Graziano today announced that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has approved a permit to restore the lake at Forest Hill Park to its historic boundaries.

The project has been in the planning stages for more than three years by the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. The Department will move forward to commission engineering drawings and specifications, and start the bidding process within the next two months, with work to begin this summer.

Read the whole release at the above link.

Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities has begun registration for its summer camp programs at its community centers. The one exception is that registration for the camp at Mary Munford will be held at the Round House in Byrd Park.

The department provides a nine-week summer day camp for children ages 6 through 12 on Mondays through Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. It begins June 23 and runs through August 22. With the theme of Passport to the World, the camps provide recreational activities as well as programs on citizenship, leadership, environmental education, health and physical fitness, cultural enrichment and personal education.

Each camp also includes free breakfast and lunch, and registration is just $180 plus a $10 application fee. Some scholarships are available as well. This registration is for city residents only and will be ongoing until the camps are full. Registration for non-city residents opens on June 30 and requires an additional $20 fee.

In addition to the summer day camps, the department provides a variety of special interest camps throughout the summer. These focus on tennis, football, soccer, cheerleading, swimming, basketball, teen adventures, science, art, photography, crafts, weaving, jewelry-making, dance, theater and other topics.

For more information, call 646-1126, or visit the department’s website at www.RichmondGov.com/parks to download the department’s summer program guide.

The City of Richmond is receiving its 17th Tree City USA award from The National Arbor Day Foundation. The award will be given during a ceremony that will include a Tree City flag presentation, a tree planting and a give-away of free tree seedlings to festival attendees by the Virginia Department of Forestry.

The award ceremony will be held Saturday, April 19, 11AM, at the City ShowMobile Stage, 2nd and Decatur streets, during the Richmond Earth Day 2008 Festival in Manchester.

It’s street cleaning week for most of us. The city seems a little more tow-happy than in the past, so park accordingly.

A couple reports have come in of a fire in the building that houses Blanchard’s Coffee and the antique store. If anyone’s around and knows the scoop…

Update: have since been told it was “no big deal.”

Richmond.com answers more questions…

At last night’s school board meeting, the PH Charter group had their proposal returned pending more information. Meetings with the school board to provide that information should occur soon, with a tentative vote scheduled by the board for May 5.

The members of the committee charged with finding the next RPS Superintendent have been revealed. While the field of education makes up a majority of the committee, I do find it curious that only 1 current RPS employee is included. I realize the seasons can’t change in this town without Jim Ukrop’s approval, but it seems to me that the inclusion of a couple more principals or, god forbid, teachers (y’know, the ones who might actually know from experience where the current system is broken) might be a wise idea.

Channel 8 has a feature story* on building tensions between Woodland Heights residents and Park cyclists. I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve not ridden on the park trails since moving to the neighborhood, but I’d love to see some closure to this before I start!

*Windows Media link…Sorry Mac-types.

School Board chair and 4th District rep George Braxton will not seek re-election this fall, citing the ever-popular “focusing more on my growing family and career” as his reason for stepping down.

Two questions spring immediately to mind:

• Are West and Braxton it or will more follow suit?
• Who’s best for the 4th District now?

It’s going to be an interesting few months.