Once again this time my pitbull broke the fence, both dogs left. Pit came back but Zoey, a 2yr old blonde/yellow lab female didn’t. Missing since 11:30pm 8/23 around Chimborazo Blvd between Clay and Leigh.

Craigslist has word on a lost dog:

Lost from a backyard near Chimbarrazo and M. His name is Siggy. He’s an unaltered black and brown Chihuahua Mix (looks like a large Chi or Mini Pin) Super-friendly. Much missed. My email and a disconnected # is on his tag. Please help him find his way back to me.

Police have charged a 58-year-old woman with aggravated assault for allegedly shooting her [adult] son. Police say Gilda Anderson shot her son Friday morning at their home in the 1000 block of Chimborazo Blvd.

Witnesses reported a male struck a known male with a gun. The gun discharged, striking another male. One of the males was also found suffering from a stab wound. All of their injuries are not life threatening.

A new, wooden fence concealed an ugly truth at 506 Chimborazo Blvd. in Richmond’s East End. Mosquito-infested brush, broken glass and construction debris were strewn in large piles across the yard behind the vacant, two-story house. Michael Evins, a grounds division manager in the Department of Public Works, paused in his vehicle off a narrow alley and said the yard appeared to be a dumpsite for much of the neighborhood.

“We got a call that a female had been run over by a vehicle, units responded and found a woman down in a parking lot,” said Lt. Robert Marland, Richmond Police Department. Some employees from inside the store rushed to find out what had happened and walked in to an active crime scene. “I happened to see a young lady laying on the curb somebody had pushed her out of the car and tried to hit her with it,” said employee Sean Harper.

The RPD’s Noteworthy Incidents scantily reported a robbery at 515 Chimborazo Boulevard just before 3PM on Saturday as: “An employee reported an unknown male with a gun robbed the business.” Turns out that 515 is the Chimbo Mart and readers have added some detail:

Allegedly the robber(s) only robbed the store. The customers were not robbed. To flee, the suspect(s) ran into the woods on 35th street between Marshall and Clay streets. Police surrounded the area for several hours, even bringing in the K9 unit.

The Department of Public Works’ Transportation Engineering Division has installed temporary residential circles on Chimborazo Boulevard at M Street and East Clay Street.

The circles are intended to address speeding. The Transportation Engineering Division is looking for feedback with regard to the circles “as compared to all-way stop sign intersections” at (804)646-0442.

A fairly large crowd from around the area turned out Saturday morning for 7th District Council Representative and Vice President Delores McQuinn’s Town Hall Meeting at the United House of Prayer (926 Chimborazo Boulevard). The meeting began amidst murmered chatter about the previous night’s events at city hall…

After a welcome from Representative McQuinn, first up was City Assessor James Hester speaking on the role of the City Assessor’s office in an attempt to get ahead of the yearly crunch that happens early in the year. The core responsibility of the Assessor’s Office is to assess the value of a property as of a certain day. This is based on general changes in the market and the physical condition of the property. Towards this end, they are in the field year-round checking on the physical data. Once the assessment value is determined by the office, the Department of Finance actually does the billing. To talk about how the value was determines, contact the Assesor’s Office. To discuss the billing, contact the Finance Department. The tax rate, which actually determines what a resident pays as their tax, is determined by the City Council.

Next to present was City Auditor Umesh Dalal. Dalal explained that his 12-person office is tasked to ensure that there is proper accounting in city offices and that the city is in compliance with laws and policies. He stated that the maximum benefit comes from reviews of efficiency and effectiveness among city programs, looking for fraud, waste, and abuse.

The City Auditor’s Office has performed several audits since Dalal’s arrival, with a look at the Richmond City Public Schools occuring soon after he arrived. From looking at the Richmond Public Schools numbers, it was determined that RPS spending per student is some 20+ percent higher than surrounding school systems. Dalal stated that, astonishingly, per student technology spending is higher in Richmond than in Henrico but that a much lower percentage is actually spent on the students. Also: more ongoing audits of RPS; have also audited administration (calling the Fleet Services “mismanaged”, no other way to put it); recent audit of Richmond Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA). Fraud hotline: (804) 646-5697 or Richmond Fraud Squad.

Next was a presentation of recent 1st Precinct crime stats from 1st Precinct Executive Officer Jeff McKenney. He began by thanking the crowd for turning out and emphasizing the importance of community involvement. The 7th district is about 2/3rds of 1st precinct; for both this is the 3rd consecutive year of crime being down. As you know, citywide in July & August robberies went up (there were 19 robberies in 7th district in August, for instance). In response, the police initiated a targeted initiative which resulted in there bieng only 3 robberies and 7 arrests for robbery in September. Homocide is down for the year, which is in contrast to the national trends. The clearance rate on homocides is 20-30% higher than national average.

Voting at Precinct 703 has been moved from the Boys & Girls Club based on ADA issues with the Boys & Girls Club. A representative gave a quick overview of new voting machines that can be carried out to car to help ensure than seniors are able to vote without having to go into the building to vote.

George Ross, representative of the firms working on the Echo Harbor project, gave a prentation on the development that they are working to build on the currently vacant industrial site. They’ve been working for almost 2 years towards getting the 200 unit river front condos bult. They showed plans that have been “redesigned to accommodate community concerns”. The buildings are 80 to 180 feet in height, with an average height of 150-160 feet. Ross spent some time talking about the benefits of the project: many of the units would be garden-roofed, an extension of canal-walk/river walk, improvements to Shiplock Park, plans to use condo fees to help maintain area. He cited studies that show that the condos would be expected to send 6x the money back to city what the city would need to spend on sevices. I had to leave during this presentation; I have no idea what happened after this…

When I had to leave, presentions were still on the agenda for Bill Axsell speaking about Rocketts Landing, a look at Elected vs. Appoointed School Board, and time for open community concerns.

Next meeting is scheduled for Octobe 25th, 2007, at 6:30PM @ The Neighborhood Resource Center in Fulton Hill.