Rachel DePompa’s new blog for NBC12 hits the ground running with the story of mayoral candidate and council president Bill Pantele’s press conference this morning in Shockoe Bottom and the oh-so-coincidental appearance by Mayor Wilder to refute Pantele’s accusations of “finger-pointing” and confusion:

Pantele was touting his new plan to crack down on street level crime. He told a crowd of about 25 people he would adopt a zero tolerance policy for neighborhood crime if elected mayor. He said part of the focus would be on prostitution, assault, graffiti, loitering and vagrancy. Pantele said, “It all starts at the top, with having determination that neighborhood crime matters. It does and I’m serious about it and rather than finger pointing or confusing it’s time for real leadership.”

With judges and City Council members present, Mayor L. Douglas Wilder Thursday officially kicked off the expansion of the Manchester Courthouse with a groundbreaking ceremony at 102 E. 10th Street. The $23.3 million expansion will more than double the size of the existing courthouse, from 27,000 to 58,000 square feet, including three General District courtrooms and support facilities.

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Representatives of the Wilder administration presented the outline of a marina project to the city council yesterday. Wilder’s proposal includes land also spoken for by the proposed Echo Harbor project and would include a marina with more than 150 boat slips. The project is estimated to cost around $17.7 million, with much of the cost expected to be made-up by selling nearby land and from developer fees. [via]

This week’s edition of richmond.com “Ask the Mayor” has a question about the city’s proposed 73-slip public marina at Intermediate Terminal. The city’s marina is slated to be paired with the The Villages at Rocketts Landing’s planned 100-slip marina, with “both managed as a single entity with one harbormaster and shared amenities such as a fueling station”.

Style Weekly answers the question: Does Mayor Wilder even live in the city? According to the article, Wilder bought unit 601 in Vistas on the James back in July for $386,000.