Richmond’s Budget Problems: 10 million in the hole

Rachel DePompa – bio | email
Update: Friday Nov. 20th: Met with the city’s Deputy Chief of Finance today, Marcus Jones. Nice guy. He’s been on the job for about 3 months now and walked into a tough budget.  The city’s already trimmed 25 million from its budget. Now its facing another 10 million dollars in cuts. [...]

Ukrop’s Deal Falls Apart

Rachel DePompa – bio | email
It’s back to square one for Ukrop’s. Talks with a private equity group have broken down.  Supermarket News is reporting the private equity group dropped out of the bidding last week. The trade magazine sites an anonymous source who says the deal broke down because of  “contractual issues and an inability to [...]

Thoughts on the GRTC Bus Crash

Rachel DePompa – bio | email
The accident was terrible and tragic. A woman is killed by a GRTC bus while crossing the street. And late, last week the situation was compounded by an inappropriate picture in the Richmond Free Press. For those of you that don’t know, it was an up-close picture of the victim. She [...]

Baseball Comes Swinging Back!

Rachel DePompa – bio | email 
As a huge sports fan, I can’t for the life of me understand why Richmond doesn’t have any sort of professional team. I’m originally from Maryland (just outside DC) and I can’t miss a Redskins, Capitals or Maryland Terrapins game. Throw in the Wizards, and the Nationals and I’m set! [...]

My 6 Month Blogging Anniversary!

Rachel DePompa – bio | email 
So, I’ve had this blog for half a year now. (minus the delay in posting after the November Mayoral Election. I WAS EXHAUSTED!!!) I have to say, it’s nice to see that my readership is steadily increasing and that people in this city actually look to this page as a [...]

Another Sign of a Ukrop’s Sale???

Rachel DePompa – bio | email 
Ukrop’s is moving out of Roanoke, Virginia. The grocery chain is closing its only store in that area. The Ivy Market store  has only been open for a little more than two years. Just one more sign that Ukrop’s may be positioning itself for a sale. The Ivy store struggled to catch on in [...]

Brown Watch 2009

Rachel DePompa – bio | email
I knew twitter was getting big, but I never thought it would control my work day. I was on the road, putting together a story about homelessness when Tappahannock Native and notorious R &B star Chris Brown decided to tweet, “On my way to community service.” The hunt began….
 I was put on Chris Brown watch and told simply, “find him!” I [...]

The Arts Take CenterStage

Rachel DePompa – bio | email 
I’m working this Saturday night (I’m usually Monday through Friday) and I don’t really mind. The assignment is pretty interesting. Richmond CenterStage is FINALLY opening. I say finally because it’s been EIGHT years in the making. I’ve only lived in Richmond a short time, but even I know this project [...]

Ukrops update #9999

Rachel DePompa – bio | email 
I’ve been a little under the weather this week and didn’t spend too much time in the office. But there’s been a lot going on. And I’ve received quite a few emails lately on one topic in particular so here goes….
Ukrop’s Update: Lowes Foods is now the front runner. (Well, [...]

Back in Business

Rachel DePompa – bio | email 
Sorry for the long delay, but my birthday and a week long vacation were calling! But I’m back and ready to dive into the all the affairs of the city. Today I ran across an interesting story about the number of vacant properties in the city.
Vacancies (properties and lots) are [...]