On Saturday, July 24, the department’s pools will open at noon and remain open until 8 p.m., and on Sunday, July 25, the pools will open at 1 p.m. and remain open until 8 p.m. 

Normal operating hours will resume on Monday, July 26. Normal pool hours are Monday through Friday, 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday noon to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call Powhatan Hill Pool at 646-3595.

Richmond police are investigating an overnight murder.

It happened around 2:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of Jennie Scher Road – in the Fulton neighborhood – in the city’s east end.

A police spokesperson said Shamarl O. Whittaker, 22 years old was found dead in his apartment after he was shot. When police arrived, they found Whittaker suffering from gunshot wounds.

It’s still very early in the investigation.

Police currently are following some solid leads at this hour.

Investigators are still there looking for clues and talking to neighbors to get an idea if anyone saw or heard anything overnight.

If you know anything that can help detectives, call Crime Stoppers at 780-1000.

Brandon + Brett

Rocketts Landing is hosting Dragon Boat Races on July 31 all day! Dragon Boat racing is an ancient tradition from China where 40-foot canoes decorated like dragons race across the water. Each powered by 20 paddlers, one steerer, and a drummer. Other cultural events, including dragon dancing, will take place on sh ore. More information here.

Richmond has instituted the new fee as a proactive measure. Cities such as Norfolk and Virginia Beach have their stormwater utility fees prescribed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a result of not undertaking stormwater cleanup efforts on their own. Norfolk and Virginia Beach’s fees are double Richmond’s fee.

Richmond’s base fee is $45, depending upon the amount of impervious surface on a property. Impervious surfaces include roofs, driveways, and patios.

Richmond chose to implement a separate fee, as opposed to raising real estate taxes, for several reasons:

• The fee provides a dedicated source of funding for stormwater maintenance and capital improvement projects.
• Increasing real estate taxes as a source of funding would put a larger burden on homeowners, and the revenues would be put into the General Fund, resulting in fewer stormwater improvement projects because of competition for other projects (schools, police, fire, etc.) funded by the General Fund.
• Businesses, government agencies, non-profit organizations, churches, and universities also pay the stormwater fee based upon the impervious surface area of the property. Real estate taxes are not paid by government agencies, non-profit organizations (including churches), and universities, even though they typically contribute to the stormwater problem because of their large impervious surface coverage.

The existing wastewater and sewer fees are separate from the Stormwater Utility, and do not cover maintenance and capital improvements to stormwater facilities. The sewer fees are high in Richmond because of an earlier mandate aimed at eliminating the discharge of raw sewage into the James River, which used to be the case.

The stormwater outlets on our streets flow directly into the streams and rivers, and eventually into the Chesapeake Bay. Stormwater runoff is not treated at the sewer treatment plant. That means that everything left in the street, including trash (of which there is a lot), ends up in the streams, James River, and Chesapeake Bay.

Additional information is available at the Department of Public Utilities’ Stormwater website.

At 6pm in the NRC Garden, there will be a press conference to announce the selection of the NRC as the convening agency for the UP Neighborhoods Initiative of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).

At 7pm at the NRC, the Greater Fulton Hill Civic Association will hold its final General Meeting before the summer break. Three special guests will speak at the meeting:

• Delegate Jennifer McClellan of the 71^st District of the Virginia House of Delegates will give a legislative update.
• Councilmember Cynthia Newbille of the 7^th District will discuss the East End; Transformation Charette that will concude on June 7^th and focuses on the 25^th Street/Nine Mile Road Corridor in Church Hill; and
• Mark Baker of Baker Development will provide an update on Echo Harbor.

Other topics include community concerns, Neighborhood Watch, and a report of the Civic Association Nominating Committee to nominate officers for the upcoming year. As always, there will be door prizes and refreshments.

We look forward to seeing you tonight.