From NBC12

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.

Responding to reports of shooting at around 2:30AM this morning, Richmond Police found Shamarl O. Whittaker, 22, shot to death inside an apartment in the 1300 block of Jennie Scher Road. This is the 9th homicide in the East End in 2010 and Richmond’s 23rd this year.

HandOn Greater Richmond is looking for volunteers to help out at the NRC to assist with “eco” stations & teach about recycling & composting on Sunday, July 25:

For this fundraiser benefiting the Neighborhood Resource Center, we need volunteers to assist event coordinator by monitoring “eco” stations – stations set up to collect trash, recycling, and compost. Volunteers will stand at an assigned eco station and help people determine which items go into which bins.

Volunteers will be briefed on which items go where and signs will also be placed on and around bins. At the end of the event, volunteers will be asked to weigh and record the trash, recycling, and compost collected from each eco station. Recycling, compost, and trash will be moved to one central location for easy pickup. Please note that volunteers must be able to life up to 25 pounds.

Required Attire: Comfortable clothing and sturdy shoes–things you don’t mind getting a little dirty.

Minimum age to volunteer: 14 (Individuals ages 17 and under must volunteer with an adult.)

Our dog, Lady, is a rescue from the SPCA. We have had her for about three years, and she is fearful and aggressive towards strangers who enter our home.
We are looking for dog lovers who are willing to come and knock on our door to help socialize our dog. It will only take a few minutes and we will compensate you for your time. Please help us! We love her and don’t want to have to give her up!
Please call (804)502-2696 or shoot us an e-mail at brandonkjaycox@yahoo.com to inquire.
Thanks in advance

Brandon + Brett

Fulton’s own Kelly Kennedy is co-starring in “On Golden Pond” at Barksdale Theater at Hanover Tavern July 16 until Aug. 29. It runs Thursday through Saturday nights at 8 and Sunday afternoon at 2. Tickets are $38 every performance and $35 for seniors 55 or older. Their website:  BarksdaleRichmond.org.  Gather your friends and see Fulton’s talent!

The city will pick up brush and large items next week, July 19-23. To arrange a pick up, you must call 311 and give the address.  Items should be placed where your trash is collected.  The next scheduled pick up is Aug. 16-20.

An unscientific analysis of property listings on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) of the Greater Fulton area reveals the following, as of July 9, 2010:

• 42 houses actively on the market in the MLS in the greater Fulton area
• Lowest listing price is $29,950
• Highest listing price is $349,950
• The mean listing price is $123,784
• The median listing price is $115,000

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.

The Department of Public Works has started improvements to Williamsburg Road in response to citizen concerns over damage to parked cars and faded crosswalks. The striping defines the travel lanes, helping drivers to stay out of the parking zones. Crosswalks are being re-painted as well. Hopefully these improvements will also slow traffic by making drivers more aware of the road, parked cars, and pedestrian crosswalks.

I attended a presentation of the Richmond Stormwater Utility today, and found out some very useful and interesting information about the new Stormwater Utility program and fee.

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.