The Reporter's Notebook, Style Weekly

Pastor G Surrenders to U.S. Marshals

Ned Oliver — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:57:00 -0400

Geronimo Aguilar surrendered to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force at his Richmond home on Tuesday afternoon after authorities in Fort Worth, Texas, issued a warrant for his arrest. Aguilar, who goes by Pastor G, founded the Richmond Outreach Center, a mega-church in south Richmond.…

Hog Heaven

Ned Oliver — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:05:00 -0400

The Redskins training camp in Richmond is on schedule for a July opening and officials are proud and happy.

During a hard hat tour of the facility, Bruce Allen, the general manager of Redskins, digs deep to convey the powerful emotions he’s feeling, invoking the 1989 feel-good classic “Field of Dreams” throughout his short remarks:

You know, when you’re sitting here, you can’t help but think of that movie line: “Build it and they will come.” Well, when the governor and the mayor first brought this up to us seven, eight months ago, we said, “Let’s see what we can do.” And sure enough, we’re building the field of dreams for our players and this community.…
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Pedal Pusher

Ned Oliver — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:01:00 -0400

Flanked by two bike-mounted police officers and trailed by his ubiquitous black SUV, Mayor Dwight Jones commemorates national Bike to Work Day on Friday by leading a group of about 80 cyclists on a leisurely ride from Monroe Park to City Hall.…

Losing Face

Ned Oliver — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:37:00 -0400

Parker Agelasto's transformation.…
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Council to Mayor: Call Me, Maybe?

Ned Oliver — Tue, 14 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

City administrators are considering a department-wide spending freeze as they work to confront a projected $5 million budget deficit for the current fiscal year.

Council members say deputy chief administrative officer for finance Sharon Judkins floated the possible halt to all “non-essential spending” when she brought up the projected deficit as an aside during a 10-hour budget meeting May 6.…

N. Boulevard Motel Says It’s Too Good for Sex Expo

Ned Oliver — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:27:00 -0400

After we broke the news (organizers sent us a press release, but still) that the state’s first adult entertainment expo is coming to Richmond on June 1, reports emerged that the Clarion Hotel on North Boulevard is trying to get out of its contract to host the event.

The hotel is under new management, and “the expo doesn't line up with their new image,” according to NBC-12, which broadcast two reports on the subject in as many days.…

Cuccinelli Denied

Ned Oliver — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:12:00 -0400

Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli’s attempt to resurrect Virginia’s “crimes against nature” statute after it was struck down in March has been denied, according to reports by GayRVA.com and The Huffington Post.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit declined Cuccinelli’s request for the case to be reheard by a full 15-judge panel.…

Police Investigate Shamrock Fight

Ned Oliver — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:46:00 -0400

New: Witness says tap on the shoulder provoked choke-hold. Click here for the updated story.

Richmond Police say a YouTube video that appears to show an officer lunging at and choking a man at the Shamrock the Block festival Saturday is being reviewed by department administrators.…

Al Roker and the Peppas

Scott Bass — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Virginia Commonwealth University's swinging pep band, the Peppas, showed up on the set of The Today Show this morning atop a double-decker "Havoc" bus.

Al Roker climbed aboard the bus and jammed for a bit.…

Oral, Anal Sex Now Legal

Ned Oliver — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:00:00 -0400

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Virginia’s “Crimes Against Nature” statute is unconstitutional. Among other things, the act criminalizes “all acts of oral and anal sex, including private acts between consenting adults,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which supports the decision.…

Flashback Friday

Ned Oliver — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:16:00 -0500

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.…

Sequestergeddon

Ned Oliver — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:30:00 -0500

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.…

NBC-12 Analysis: Porn Permissible in Pizza Hut

Ned Oliver — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 04:00:00 -0500

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.…

Ticky Tax

Ned Oliver — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:38:00 -0500

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.…