The Belle Isle vehicular bridge, which was closed for repairs, reopened yesterday. The city said in a press release:

This project required crews to repair deficient welds, remove and replace bolts at various locations, repair the timber deck and grind smooth gouges on the Belle Isle vehicular bridge. Crews were able to complete the scope of work within 30 days, well in advance of the 75 days allotted for the repairs. The re-opening of this bridge once again provides a safe method of travel for emergency vehicles.

Richmond.com reviews Aziza’s on Main, and it’s no surprise to anyone who’s been there that they get a pretty darn good review. 

The only criticism I have of Aziza’s is a greedy one. I want more. I hope the owners will dig through their family’s recipe album and offer more Lebanese dishes and extend their hours to include dinner.

The RTD has an article today on how the Richmond Folk Festival on Brown’s Island is coping during a slow economy. Despite a significant budget cut, the event taking place October 9-11 will still be free and full of activity.

As previously mentioned, the Graduate Students from VCU’s Master of Urban Planning program, in cooperation with the City of Richmond, are presenting a neighborhood plan for the Swansboro community tonight. If you are interested in learning more about the community development project, be sure to check it out.

The neighborhood planning event will be held from 4:00- 6:00 pm at Swansboro Elementary.

Read more >

10th Street between E Byrd St. and Haxall Point will be closed on Saturday, May 9, to allow traffic engineering crews to perform crane work.

A reader writes:

Do you know what happened last night around 7:30pm in Shockoe Slip.. outside of City Dogs? Police were there and yellow-taped off the whole block( 1200 to Virginia St) and re-routed traffic for hours. I can’t find anything about it…

Read more >

The city’s ABC License Report for May 4 has a few new ABC applications in for local establishments: Aztec Grill, LLC. at 19 18th St , Dora’s Brazilian Grill at 1331 Cary St, and Bubbling Restaurant at E 1712 Main St. Anybody know anything about Aztec Grill or Dora’s Brazilian Grill?

Chris O’Brion only has 2 drawings up so far at richmondcartoon.com but they are both awesome.

Read more >

Dominion Riverrock kicks off this weekend, and there is still time to register for the competitive events such as the Mud Run and Kayak Boatercross. While Riverrock is free and open to the public, pre-registration is required for participants in the competitive events. To learn more about the events and details on how to register, check out www.sportsbackers.org.

Tonight, Jenna Clarke, organizer of Richmond’s environmental film festival “The Biggest Picture,” will overview a few of the films at this weekend’s festival and how they and others have affected environmental activism. In 2006, former Vice President Al Gore released the film An Inconvenient Truth, which amounted to a call to action on the threat of global warming. Although Al Gore’s is the most notable example, films about environmentalism have been sparking national interest in public policy and community action well before and decidedly after its release.

Join the Back Porch Initiative to talk about the role that film has played in both educating mass audiences and shaping the ways that we act on these issues.

Read more >

Tonight at 7 p.m. a debate and public comment period regarding baseball in the Bottom vs. baseball on the Boulevard will be held at the Richmond Times Dispatch headquarters

To catch up on the latest back and forth, RichmondBizSense is reporting problems in purchasing a baseball team, Club Velvet’s controversial anti-stadium sign can stay for now, and some people are wondering where that report is…

Help support AIDSWalk Richmond! Come to PEARL (1713 East Main Street) on Tuesdays any time after 6pm. From 6-9 $1 from each drink purchased goes to AIDSWalk, then after 9 the $3 cover and 50/50 raffle goes directly to it as well.

The Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association’s annual Spring cleanup will take place this Saturday morning, May 16th from 8:00 a.m.- 11:00 a.m.

Meet at 8:00 a.m. at the River City Diner for complementary coffee before venturing out to clean our Bottom.  All participants will be served a complementary pizza lunch at Bottoms Up pizza following the cleanup.  The City of Richmond Police department has pledged a trash removal truck and extra manpower to assist us with our cleanup.  (Thank you, Lt. Emmett Williams!)

If you like Savor’s Hump Day Happy Hour, you’re going to love their all inclusive wine dinners. Savor is hosting a five course wine dinner on May 22 featuring Argentinian and Chilean wines.

Laid back, non-snobby atmosphere, communal tables available, solo diners need not worry!

The dinners are held the same days as Fourth Fridays. Last month’s dinner quickly filled to capacity so RSVP soon!

Read more >