Rumor has it that the Lifetime movie getting ready set filming in Richmond was scouting locations in Shockoe and Tobacco Row today…

The film will be shot in Richmond beginning Sept. 13 through the first week of October, according to Darilyn Mason, the extras casting director on the production. Mason couldn’t give too many details on the plot or the budget of the film.

It’s been 6 years since Gaston flooded Main Street and Shockoe Bottom:

Then, at about 6pm at night as we all stood in the main entrance way to our street level offices the front doors opened….. it was a wall of water about 12 inches high. It swept through the office. Everyone ran to get stuff off of the floor and into the cars in our parking deck behind our office. Within a minute or two the water had risen to about 3 feet deep. It was time for us to leave. [...] We ran up stairs and spent the next 5 hours on the second floor of the building watching in amazement as we looked out the windows onto what was East Main Street. It was now a 9 foot deep river.

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Richard Florida’s Creative Class projects Richmond being the #2 gainer in creative class employment in the country over the next 8 years:

More than 35 million people are currently employed in creative class work in fields like science, technology, and engineering; business, finance, and management; law, health care, and education; and arts, culture, media, and entertainment. The creative class makes up roughly a third of total employment and accounts for more than half of all wages and salaries in America. Creative class employment has seen relatively low rates of unemployment during the course of the economic crisis. Creative class jobs will make up roughly half of all projected U.S. employment growth – adding 6.8 million new jobs by 2018. [...] Gainesville, FL – home to the University of Florida – is the biggest projected gainer, with a projected 17.7 percent increase in creative class jobs, followed by Richmond, VA (17.5 percent) [...]

RVA Magazine has a great set of photos from the recent Andrew WK show at the Canal Club from BFD 2010.

Richmond Playlist sees signs that Alley Katz may be reopening

The site says that there is a grand reopening on Sunday, Aug. 29 (The RVA Metal Fest has been moved to the Canal Club). A bunch of bands are playing including Boltt, A Sound of Thunder, Engulfed in Flames, Elisium, Templteka, Art of Destruction, Not-Liable, Saint Diablo, Bitter and Synapse Defect.
I don’t know if this is a benefit to reopen the venue or the official reopening itself.

The James River Association has a few things on tap: Brown’s Island & Pipeline Trail Tour (8/21), James River Park Trash Clean Up (8/22), Volunteer Training: Watershed Restoration & Maintenance (8/28), Help Protect Wild Rivers @Balliceaux (9/13).

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If correct, the estimates of Richmond’s population increase since 2004 mark the first sustained growth since the late 1940s.

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Do you have any interest in contributing to River District News? We’re looking for 2 types of folks: contributors that will share stories as they come across them and an editor to take over the day-to-day of running the site. Interested?

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Phil Riggan wonders about the future of the Canal Walk:

It has been more than 10 years since the completion of the Canal Walk and while beautifully landscaped walkways may have replaced the abandoned wasteland that frequently hosted bonfires set by Richmond’s homeless, the promise of the area remains unfulfilled.

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The Dragon Boat Festival yesterday at Rockets Landing was a crowd-pleasing success. Locals and teams from as far afield as Baltimore and South Carolina competed in the 20+ races. Phil Riggan has a great write-up with photos and Bart has some good words and photos from the festival as well.

The birds are back! Richmond will again play home to one of the most unique birding events in the United States as it hosts the 3rd annual Gone to the Birds Festival on Saturday, July 31. Gone to the Birds takes place at and adjacent to the 17th Street Farmers’ Market from 6-9PM.

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The July meeting of the SBNA:

The July meeting of the Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association will be held this Monday, July 19th at 5:00p.m. Please note this earlier time. This month’s meeting will be held at the Richmond Police Academy, and will be strictly dedicated to the proposed nightclub/dance hall ordinance. As this legislation progresses it is very important that all of our voices are heard, as the outcome of the ordinance will have a direct impact on every business and resident of Shockoe Bottom.

Richmond Police have identified the woman who drowned yesterday in the James River as Portia B. Smith, 40, of the 5400 block of Hackney Road in Richmond.

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Fridays at Sunset 2010 this week hosts the one and only George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic.

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