Help Gallery5! Their staff and volunteers have mysteriously lost important personal mementos. Someone has colored them magenta and scattered them carelessly throughout Richmond. They hold value and meaning in these missing objects and desire their safe return (regardless of color). [via]

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Lieutenant Lisa Drew reports “another great month! Violent Crime for the month was down 25% and Property Crime was down 21%. We even had a 38% decrease in thefts from cars.” Check out the Sector 412 report and the Sector 413 report for May. (PDF)

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The June 2008 First Fridays Art Walk is upon us and there is a lot going on. Check it out!

Wanna help Carver&Jackson Ward News really get good? Do you know of a restaurant opening soon? A building that will be restored or demolished? A great musician, poet, or artist that will be in town? Interested in writing about meeting or opening that you went to?

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The Richmond Free Press is reporting that “Charles R. Samuels, an attorney and former president of the Fan District Association [...] is running and plans to submit his paperwork before the deadline.” Tyrone Bey has already announced his intention to seek the city council seat being vacated by Pantele in his bid to become mayor.

Following up on the protest last Tuesday of the repaving of what “may be the site of the largest slave burial ground in the nation”, organizers are working towards a follow-up rally to marshall momentum. An organizing meeting will be held @ Gallery 5 on Wednesday the 11th at 7:00PM.

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richmond.com’s Art Library shines the light on Gallery5’s move to open a community library, resource center and meeting space:

“We are going to have a ton of books for people to read, comfy furniture to sit on, art to look at, free coffee and maybe even some community instruments for people to play,” said Gallery5’s assistant director Kevin Orlosky.

“Our ultimate goal is to have the space used by community members to hang out, educate themselves and meet new people, without the tension of a corporate atmosphere,” Orlosky said. “It will be open to artist groups, activist groups or even local business organizations to conduct meetings. We really want it to feel like you’re sitting down in your own living room.”

Style Weekly’s Short Order has the word on the opening of the cafe Ambiance @ 415 North First Street, describing it as “contemporary fare in a lovely, rustic setting (formerly Anniebell’s), with an emphasis on freshness and affordability — oxtail, pork chops, full breakfasts, Southern side dishes and desserts. Open daily. 608-0998.”

In the contest for the 2nd district council seat, there are 3 candidates: Tyron Bey, Patrick D. Kjellberg, Charles R. Samuels. Incumbent Lisa Dawson is being challenged by Kimberly B. Gray for the school board seat. [via]

Found recently on AfriGeneas, the African Ancestored Genealogy: a portion of the Richmond City Directory from 1852 listing “Free Colored Housekeepers - Their Names, Occupations and Residences”.

Are you interested in starting a community garden in your neighborhood? Tricycle Gardens is hosting 4 identical workshops on how to jump start a community garden. Covered will be the nuts and bolts of what it takes to get a garden off the ground, and sustain it. Wednesday June 25th, Wednesday July 9th, Wednesday July 30th, and Wednesday August 13th. All workshops are free, and are from 6:30-9pm, at the Tricycle Gardens office: 211 W. 7th St in old Manchester. More information is available by emailing lisa@tricyclegardens.org or phone 231-7767

Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities serves free meals to children between the age of 1 and 18 at more than 120 locations throughout the city from June 16 to Aug. 29 through its participation in the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Meals for Kids Program. Last summer, the department served more than 306,000 free meals to children in the Richmond area.

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