While Fan dwellers debate the finer points of the latest parking proposal, it’s perhaps worth noting the lengths arguments over the resident-only parking rules have gone in the past.

Introduced in 1972, the Fan District parking zone was briefly ruled unconstitutional by a city traffic judge after a ticket was contested by a non resident. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually heard a related case and in 1977 overturned a Virginia Supreme Ruling that deemed resident-only parking programs discriminatory.

From Oct. 12, 1977, Richmond News Leader:

A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding special parking privileges that differentiate between residents and nonresidents of an area will prompt Richmond and Charlottesville officials to consider reverting to the original parking provisions adopted for the lower Fan area.

City Councilman Wayland W. Rennie said yesterday after being told of the high court’s ruling, which as announced earlier in the day, that he would sponsor a move to reinstate the original Fan parking provision. The measure is similar to the Arlington County law that was upheld by the court. …

The city stopped ticketing cars that were parked for more than an hour and didn’t have the decals after a Richmond traffic court judge ruled the city’s provision was unconstitutional. The decision was based on a Virginia Supreme Court ruling in a test of Arlington County law.

Our plan, in as much as we had one, was to ignore this whole sequester thing until it went away. But yesterday we found that position was no longer tenable when NBC-12’s Ryan Nobles tweeted that it’s definitely probably going to happen.

So, we offer you this topical blog post: In as few words as possible, here are five ways Richmond-area TV stations say the sequester will impact you if no deal is reached tomorrow.

1. Measles and mumps will spread like the plague. That’s not to mention whooping cough, rubella and Hepatitis B. Under the terms of the planned cuts, 3,530 fewer children will be vaccinated.

2. You’ll be furloughed (if you currently manufacture weapons systems). Rachel DePompa Investigates says 2,814 employees at the Defense Supply Center of Richmond stand to lose 20 percent of their pay through mandatory furloughs. The center didn’t provide comment, but an unnamed lieutenant colonel tells DePompa the sequester would mean ruin for Richmond’s economy as a result of the employees’ reduced spending power. Civilian employees at Fort Lee face a similar fate.

3. VCU will be unable to cure cancer. About $21 million in federal funding for research will be cut, VCU President Michael Rao warns, “some of which usually supports cancer research at the VCU Center for Clinical and Translational Research and the VCU Massey Cancer Center.” Rao tells CBS-6 the cuts could result in the loss of 100 to 200 research-related jobs at the school.

4. Toddlers will roam the streets. School leaders in Richmond tell CBS-6 they’re prepping for instant cuts to Head Start, an early-childhood education program for kids from low-income families. Across the state, the Obama administration says 1,000 children stand to lose access to the program. Additionally, “up to 400 disadvantaged and vulnerable children could lose access to child care, which is also essential for working parents to hold down a job.”

5. You will no longer be able to afford meat. With the fewer inspectors working in meat processing plants, expect price gouging at your local grocery store. One butcher tells ABC-8: “I don't think we’ll ever run out of anything. I think what will happen is the meat industry will hike prices in order to basically bide through the time.”

So obviously we should all be freaking out, but confusingly, TV news also warns us to be wary of “a dubious list of budget horribles.” ABC-8 posted an Associated Press story explaining how all this doom talk officials are feeding reporters can be very self motivated -- an attempt to drum up public concern.

Administration officials are coming forward with a grim compendium of jobs to be lost, services to be denied or delayed, military defenses to be let down and important operations to be disrupted. Obama’s new chief of staff, Denis McDonough, spoke of a “devastating list of horribles.”

For most Americans, though, it’s far from certain they will have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day if the budget-shredder known as the sequester comes to pass. …

It goes like this: Put someone's budget at risk and the first thing you'll hear is a threat to close a cherished national symbol or lay off firefighters and police, when in fact there are other ways to cut spending.

NBC-12’s go-to legal analyst Steve Benjamin notes in last night’s broadcast that it is in fact legal to look at porn in public places -- “even if people can see it.”

His expert opinion comes after two customers at the Pizza Hut on Broad Street informed NBC-12 they had seen a worker on break sitting in the dining room “looking at naked women on his laptop.”

The customers say the manager on duty blew off their concerns.

That’s when they called the television station, which rushed a crew to the restaurant. There, a reporter confronted manager Alexis Cunningham, who expressed regret but said she didn’t think it impacted the employee’s job performance.

"We do regret that they had to see that and experience a situation like that in our restaurant, but like we said, it was personal time. He wasn't on the clock."

Watch the story above or read more on NBC-12's website.

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• Chesapeake Climate Action Network
• On Jan. 31 environmental action groups staged a protest of the planned $100 registration fee Gov. Bob McDonnell's transportation plan will impose on alternative fuel vehicles such as hybrids.

It was derided as regressive, stupid and ignorant. But whatever, on Saturday Gov. Bob McDonnell’s transportation plan passed the General Assembly with bipartisan support. Time to move on?

Maybe not. Two Northern Virginia lawmakers are asking McDonnell to use his line-item veto power to eliminate a portion of the bill that earlier in the session inspired a parade of Priuses to circle the Capitol in protest.

As intimidating a sight as that must have been, the version of McDonnell’s transportation plan that passed ultimately included a $100 annual fee to be assessed on drivers of alternative fuel vehicles.

NoHybridTax.com aims to change that. The petition has gathered 2,350 signatures as of Tuesday morning.

The lawmakers behind the petition, Delegate Scott A. Surovell, D-Mount Vernon, and state Sen. Adam P. Ebbin, D-Alexandria, tell The Washington Post “the legislature’s decision to boost the cost of driving a hybrid runs counter to the policies of several other states that offer incentives for the vehicles because they promise to create less pollution and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.”

“It’s mind-boggling,” said Surovell, who drives a 2004 Honda Civic hybrid. “To me, it’s incredibly punitive for people making a decision that’s better for our country and better for our environment.”

In January, George Hoffer, a transportation economist at the University of Richmond, offered a similar assessment in an interview with Style.

"It is just perverse," Hoffer says of forcing owners of combination electric- and gas-fueled cars to pay an extra $100. Such hybrids are lighter and create less wear and tear on roads, Hoffer says, and their owners will pay the sales tax anyhow.

"That's just stupid," Hoffer says. "If anything, they should be paying less."

Importantly, New York City-based actor Alec Baldwin apparently also has an opinion. Last week he offered the following tweet:

Virginia's proposes tax on hybrids is ignorant and unfairhuffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2013…

— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) February 21, 2013

I’ve emailed McDonnell’s press office asking for comment, but considering it was his idea to begin with, it may be a stretch to think he’d ax the $100 fee at this point.

Update

A McDonnell spokesman referred me to the governor's remarks to reporters on Saturday. McDonnell said then that he'll look at it to make sure hybrids are treated fairly. But he says the the alternative vehicle fee is "just a matter of fundamental equity" because hybrids use less gas and thus pay less in gas taxes. "I don't want for a minute anyone to think it's punitive to hybrids," he says.

That, however, ignores the fact that McDonnell's original plan included the fee but eliminated the gas tax entirely. The plan as passed represents about a 35-percent cut to the gas tax, money that is replaced by a .3-percent increase in the state sales tax.

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• (Ash Daniel)
• A 'ghost bike' memorializes Lanie Kruszewski on River Road.

Today’s Boston Globe carries a story about bicyclists’ outrage over a hit-and-run death of a rider and the justice system’s response.

The facts of the case aren’t that different from Elias Webb’s, who this week was found guilty by a jury of hitting and killing 24-year-old Lanie Kruszewski and leaving the scene. Yesterday, the jury recommended Webb serve a three-year prison sentence.

There are, however, at least two important points that distinguish what happened in Boston from what happened in Richmond. First, there was more evidence in the Boston incident, including video from a traffic camera that clearly showed a truck driver hitting the cyclist and not stopping. Second, a grand jury that saw that evidence declined to hand down the indictment necessary to bring charges against the driver, who ended up walking away without so much as a ticket.

Citing widespread bias against riders, Josh Zisson, a lawyer specializing in bicycle-related cases, tells the Globe, “many cyclists view juries in criminal cases as a litmus test of how they are embraced and protected by the communities in which they live.”

So if the jury of 12 Richmonders not only found Webb guilty, but also thought his acts merited three years in a state prison, does that mean Richmond cyclists should feel embraced and protected by a community many have long felt is hostile to cyclists?

I attended most of the Webb trial, primarily as a friend of Kruszewski’s family. (I know, like and regularly hang out with her surviving two sisters, Jackie and Leah.) I also occasionally bike to Style’s downtown office from my apartment in the Museum District. In the context of the Boston case, it’s difficult for me not to find the Richmond jury’s verdict and sentencing recommendation a little heartening.

Am I the only one feeling at least moderately encouraged that a random group of perfect strangers could relate to Kruszewski's story? I reached out to three Richmond area cycling advocates to get their take on the verdict and what it might say about Richmond. Their reactions are mixed.

Michael Gilbert, a co-founder of Ride Richmond, says the jury’s finding of guilt sends an important message: “that bicyclists are humans and we will treat them as such.”

For me, the fact that he was found guilty, by a jury of his peers, is the most important part. The sentence matters, but the fact that he was found guilty sends a clear message that bicyclists are humans and we will treat them as such. There is a lot of good energy toward cycling education, and this shows that educating motorists is equally as crucial -- a true two-way street. Do not text and drive. Do not speed when driving. Do not tailgate cyclists. Do not pass with less than two feet. When the public realizes they have lost a daughter; a mentor; a loving, caring and talented young professional -- they take notice.

Champe Burnley, president of the Virginia Bicycling Federation, takes a different view. He says he can’t shake the feeling that “Eli Webb got off very easy for what he did.”

Webb’s actions caused an innocent person to die. There was no evidence that Lanie was doing anything wrong. In fact, she was doing everything right: The driver in front of Webb [Beatty] testified to this. He had no trouble seeing her. I think there’s a general attitude that if you’re riding a bicycle and get hit, you get what you deserve. The opposite should hold true: Our roads are not for cars, they are for people and it is everyone’s legal duty to make sure their actions don’t endanger the lives or safety of others whether they are drivers, cyclists or pedestrians. If your actions cause harm or death to another individual, you will be held accountable and pay for your actions.

Jakob Humboldt, Richmond’s pedestrian, bicycle and trails coordinator, takes a more nuanced view, noting that offenders in bike crashes don’t always get lighter sentences.

First, cyclists often do get the short end of the stick, and just reading through the comments on the Boston-Wellesley incident points to the bias. A guy gets run over by a tractor-trailer while obeying the law and a bunch of fools chime in about how bicyclists are all scofflaws and deserve what they get. That attitude is ubiquitous and it impacts the ability to indict and try someone.

Secondly, I have frequently argued against the claim that offenders in bike crashes get lighter sentences. Webb will likely get more jail time than the DUI driver that killed the VCU student last year. He was twice the legal limit and got about 1.5 years jail time and a one year suspended license.

And that raises the third point: We treat driving in the U.S. as a right, not a privilege. It is stupidly easy to get a license and even easier to keep it, even if you are a menace behind the wheel. And if you do lose your license and continue to drive, the penalties are pretty minor. Scroll through the court records for pending cases and you’ll find people charged with things like driving on a suspended license, sixth offense, along with many other violations. I don’t think we should lock people up and throw away the key with their first infractions, but when you repeatedly demonstrate you are unwilling to abide by a standard of conduct and safety, then you can spend some serious time in jail. That person has contempt for the law and for the safety of the general public.

So, what do you think, Richmond? Our comments thread is open.

Madrid. Florence. Copenhagen. … Richmond.

Yes, in the same breath. Get used to it, says Mayor Dwight Jones, who spent considerable time hailing the city's incredible sports magnetism in his State of the City address last week. Bikes! Redskins! Squirrels! Let us count the ways:

First down: The UCI World Cycling Championships descend in 2015, bringing with them "300 million people who will be focused on the city of Richmond," Jones says. That's why it's so important to renovate the old train shed in Shockoe Bottom, the one sitting empty next to Main Street Station. "We expect that project to begin in May of this year," Jones says, addressing mostly City Hall workers and civic leaders at the Carpenter Theatre. "We want our newly renovated train shed to open in time to welcome the UCI 2015 World Cycling Championships."

Second down: The new Washington Redskins' training camp behind the Science Museum of Virginia is under way! No obstacle is too tall for Jones, especially not 100 of the hardwood variety, which were deftly cleared out. And don't accuse the mayor's office of excluding the public. After razing the property a few weeks ago, the city now wants the public's input on how to landscape it.

Third down: There was some buzz last week that Jones was going to unveil the city's grand plan to build a ballpark for the Richmond Flying Squirrels — wait for it — in Shockoe Bottom. This was to come just two years after Jones declared that the best place for a new ballpark is on the Boulevard during his 2011 State of the City address. Compare and contrast:

2011: "I also want to make clear my preference for a new Baseball Diamond on the Boulevard," Jones said, according to his prepared remarks. "I believe the new stadium on the Boulevard can be the catalyst for significant development along this major corridor."

2013: "With respect to location, let me say this so that we can be clear about the process going forward. Baseball decisions are going to be made based on sound financial analysis, anticipated economic impact, and our tax base and our local economy. But the bottom line: We are going to get it done."

Fourth down: Punt.

The state GOP is again the butt of late-night TV jokes despite a concerted effort by Republican leadership to focus on transportation and avoid the national embarrassment that surrounded last year’s trans-vaginal debate.

Comedy Central’s faux-conservative pundit Stephen Colbert named the Senate Republicans on Wednesday his “alpha dogs of the week” for the redistricting sneak attack they sprung on Democrats this week and for generally “swinging their sacks in the face of black voters.”

Watch the video above, or if you’re at work, we’ve got the transcript below for you.

Transcript

This week’s alpha dogs are the pack of purebred Republicans in the Virginia state Senate.

This past Monday these boys redrew the district lines for the Virginia state Senate to make eight electoral districts, six of them presently held by Democrats, more heavily Republican and to concentrate minority voters in a new South Side district. And they did it by pushing the redrawn maps past “flabbergasted Democrats.”

Now frankly, I don’t see why these Democrats’ gasts are so flabbered. The state Senate is split 20 Republicans and 20 Democrats. Why didn’t the Democrats just stop them?

I’ll tell you why. Because these Republicans are alpha dogs. … Yes. They waited until Democrat senator and longtime civil rights leader Henry Marsh left town on Martin Luther King Day to attend President Obama’s inauguration.

How fitting. In the words of Dr. King, “I have been to the mountain top, and while I was there, they heavily redistricted the promised land.”

But I think the way these good old alpha dogs really swung their sacks in the faces of black voters was that after this vote, on Martin Luther King Day, they adjourned in memory of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson. After all, what better alpha way to honor Dr. King, because if it weren’t for the Confederacy, he wouldn’t have had that much to do.

Now the bill still has to be signed by Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has said, “obviously the tactics used yesterday were a surprise and I don’t think that’s the way business should be done.”

But he didn’t promise to veto it, saying instead, “If I get a bill, I’ll deal with it at that time.”

Yeah, it’s kind of a game-time decision. After all, if somebody offered me a panda burger, I would definitely say the idea is repellent and offensive. But, if you’re just going to throw it out.… [shrugs].

So, Virginia state Senate, for putting Republican leadership on the map and then heavily redrawing that map in your favor, you gentlemen are my alpha dogs of the week.

A friendly note the Richmond Police Department sent us Friday reminds residents that it is indeed illegal and dangerous to fire guns in the air to celebrate the new year.

The department says they’ll be cracking down on Monday night and is asking Richmonders to refrain from engaging in the practice, which they say resulted in majority of crime reports submitted last New Year’s Eve during the midnight hour.

For a listing of New Year’s Eve happenings that we suspect will not include firearms, check out Style calendar editor Andrew Cothern’s picks.

If you’re curious about the potential lethality of firing bullets in the air, the Discovery Channel’s Myth Busters took on the question in 2007. You can find a summary of their findings here. There’s also a surprisingly fascinating Wikipedia entry on the practice, which is apparently culturally accepted in the Balkans and the Middle East.

Note: An earlier version of this post misspelled Balkans.

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• Flickr/belboo

About 50 University of Richmond students crashed a Board of Trustees luncheon Thursday to protest the school’s decision to cut the men’s track and soccer programs in favor of lacrosse.

University police officers initially threatened to arrest the students, who were eventually allowed to stand quietly with signs while board members picked up sandwiches outside the meeting room, according to UR’s student newspaper The Collegian.

The trustees are meeting again today. As Style Weekly reported earlier this week, the board is expected to readdress its decision to reconfigure the athletic program. Alumni have more than $3 million in pledges to help fund soccer and track going forward. They hope to raise a total of $6.26 million, which would cover half the cost of reinstating the programs.

University spokeswoman Linda Evans declined to discuss the trustee’s agenda.

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• Flickr/Faungg

The GRTC finally has an answer to the most pressing question facing public transit users in Richmond: Did I miss the bus or is it late again?

Introducing live bus tracking via text or on your smartphone: It has been in the works for a while now, and the local transit authority still isn’t quite ready to release it, but a beta version has gone live at grtcbustracker.com. A dedicated app is on the way.

Taber Bain, a bus rider, discovered the site Wednesday after he started noticing new stop IDs appearing on signs at bus stops. He says all it took was a Google search for “GRTC bus tracker.”

The site provides estimated bus arrivals times, some of which are already working, and a map showing where exactly your bus is at any given time. That latter feature doesn’t appear to be up and running yet.

A GRTC spokeswoman said last week that the authority plans to announce the website in the next month. She otherwise declined to discuss the project.

At a Nov. 15 meeting sponsored by the Partnership for Smarter Growth, GRTC planning director Larry Hagin said that in addition to the aforementioned desktop and mobile-web platform, it plans to introduce a phone app in about three months.