Future employees will be expected to put more miles on state tires.

Words/Photo by:Katy Burnell

Incoming Governor Bob McDonnell took issue with his predecessor’s plans to tackle the Commonwealth’s staggering budget deficit. So he took matters into his own hands. The result: ending car tax relief and unfreezing composite index funding  for education, thereby creating a $2 billion hole in the existing budget.

Sometimes, a man has to take a stand.

Unfortunately, this stand necessitates legislation to fill the new gap in the Commonwealth’s 2010-2012 budget. Of course, some non-essential programs may have to go; the Commonwealth’s version of SCHIP (FAMIS), some subsidized health care costs for Medicaid patients, and a $730 million reduction in state education funds are all potential casualties of the suggested changes to former Gov. Kaine’s budget.

The unintended consequences of Gov. McDonnell’s adjustments may be eclipsed in the long run by the aftermath of House Bill 1189, a piece of legislation that expert analyst Michael Cassidy, the executive director of Richmond-based think tank, The Commonwealth Institute, is watching very carefully.

In an e-mail interview, Cassidy said that the General Assembly’s proposal  to mortgage the state retirement system will help balance the budget in the short run, but lawmakers are bracing for the long-term impact of the debt that Virginia will incur by introducing legislation to decrease retirement benefits and increase service requirements for new employees by up to ten years.

“They are saying more or less, ‘We know we are sort of underfunding for a couple years, but we’ll make that up eventually and oh by the way, we are also reforming our overall system so our long-term liabilities won’t grow as much given that we will be less generous in our pension for our new hires’”, Cassidy said.

Gov. McDonnell, the House, and the Senate are backing moves to slash State contributions to retired employees hired beginning July 1, 2010 from 10 percent of salary to either 5 percent or 4 percent of salary. Certain employees, such as state police, law officers and judicial retirees will not fall under the new formula. State employees will also see a hike in eligibility requirements. The old formula entitled employees to full retirement benefits when they turned 50 if they had 30 years of service. The new requirements raise the sum of age and eligible years of service to 90.

Cassidy explained that the legislators’ calculated tweaking of the retirement system is part of a grander strategy.

“It does not get the state any near-term savings, but it serves as a signal to the bond rating agencies that the state is not be foolish in its management of its retirement liabilities,” Cassidy said. “Like most states, Virginia often worships at the alter of the bond rating agencies”, Cassidy continued.

The General Assembly’s support for mortgaging the VRS would save lawmakers from targeting an additional $500 – $800 million  more in budget cuts, by Cassidy’s estimation.

According to an analysis of the 2010-2012 budget conducted by Cassidy’s think tank, the Commonwealth Institute, budget cuts fall short of even beginning to address the complex issues that Virginia faces in the current economic climate.  The report illustrates the importance of smart, targeted spending as an antidote for the ailing economy.

]]> http://katyburnell.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/lawmakers-to-state-employees-work-longer-for-less/feed/ 0 katy burnell work van http://katyburnell.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/delegates-leave-pro-freeze-protestors-out-in-the-cold/ http://katyburnell.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/delegates-leave-pro-freeze-protestors-out-in-the-cold/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:55:33 +0000 katy burnell http://katyburnell.wordpress.com/?p=126 ]]>
Words/Photo by: Katy Burnell

A throng of 150 protesters gathered at the State General Assembly building today to discourage legislators from approving budget measures that would mean millions less for local schools.

Although chants of  “save our schools-keep the freeze” could be heard over the ninth-floor budget appropriations meeting the message didn’t seem to get through to lawmakers  who voted to advance incoming Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposed cuts to the current budget. 

Former Gov. Tim Kaine opted to freeze the index that determines education funding in an attempt to help schools weather the state-wide  financial crisis.

Committee Chairman Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford,  explained the mandate behind his  vote  to update the index in a statement released today.

“Governor Kaine’s unprecedented, and I believe ill-advised, decision to freeze the Local Composite Index (LCI) in the first year was unfair to our good friends in northern Virginia”, Putney said.

After the budget meeting, Del. Harvey Morgan, R-Gloucester, said that his vote to unfreeze the index was not a vote to take money away from schools.

“I think that what we’re facing now is worse than the great depression”, Morgan said. “The Governor made several recommendations to fix the budget and we’re not following all of them”, he continued.

Dozens of concerned citizens packed the hall leading to the budget appropriations hearing, where every seat was taken.

Read the House of Delegates’ 67-page proposal for managing the budget crisis.

(H.B. 29 targets the 2008-2010 budget, H.B. 30 targets the 2010-2012 budget)

Click here for your school district’s proposed: 2009-2010 composite index and  direct aid sources, 2010-2011 composite index and direct aid sources, and 2011-2012 composite index and direct aid sources.

Words/Photo by: Katy Burnell

With United Blood 2010 almost a month away, punk and hardcore aficionados from across the country are taking off of work, booking flights , or planning “un-ticketed” train trips to the River City.

Hundreds of tattooed, pierced twenty and thirty-somethings will descend on Richmond for the 4th annual music showcase during the last weekend in March. Fortunately for the planners of this year’s prestigious French Film Festival, all moshing will be taking place a few miles east of the Byrd Theatre.

Those of us lucky enough to call Alley Katz our home venue understand why Richmond’s lesser-known nickname is Fist City. The propensity towards violence at shows is not strictly a “Richmond thing”, but some fans say that the potential for broken bones and bloody noses isn’t worth the ticket price. Anyone who understands the “scene” also understands that its better for a band if the crowd goes crazy during a set. The least-anticipated acts face the humiliation of screaming their lyrics out into a sea of blank faces over crossed arms.

No one wants a quiet set, least of all George Hirsch, Blacklisted front-man and the brains behind the band’s latest 12″ release: No One Deserves to Be Here More Than Me. Blacklisted is one of the darlings of the modern hardcore scene, or at least is has been-until now. Their recent effort has enervated an element of their fan base that will be out in numbers at Alley Katz next month.

Review

If you hold Blacklisted’s latest full-length album up to the light at the perfect angle and squint, flip it over and squint again, you’ll find the tags “by Blacklisted”, “for Blacklisted” etched into the vinyl. The Philadelphia hardcore heavyweights weren’t worried about the expectations of their fan base when they teamed up with Will Yip and Studio 4 to record an analog excursion into the self-loathing of front-man George Hirsch.

No One Deserves to Be Here More Than Me is a polarizing departure from the sound that launched Blacklisted’s career, but true fans would be disappointed by anything less from a band that pushed the boundaries with their previous full length, the critically acclaimed Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God.  Hirsch may have communicated the eventuality of this Bleach-esque release by paying tribute to Nirvana’s first European tour with the naming of 2008’s Heavier Than Heaven LP.

Cryptic etchings and allusions to influences are the most that any member of Blacklisted is willing to say about their latest project. No interviews were given in anticipation of the unannounced November 30^th release, and the Deathwish/Malfunction post ends the credits with a telling quote: “Let the music speak for itself.”

Hirsch’s trademark stylings center on familiar issues of alienation and depression, but this time around his venomous lyrics fade into a slow burn. Instead of ping-ponging between dirges ringing out over repetitive bass punctuated by ranting and blast beats, the vocals yield to instrumental intros and outros. The band may have gone too far with the album’s only acoustic number, The Problem is G, but ten bucks says that Hirsch couldn’t give a damn whether his pared-down vocals struck a chord with past fans.

For everyone who thought they graduated from hardcore when they graduated from high school, welcome back into the fold. For the rest of you, stay tuned. There’s no telling what to expect from the next release of a band that goes its own way.

Hopefully its fan base will have the maturity to grow with them.

View related photo gallery

Watch a video featuring Kayla and Alisha

It is 7:35 p.m. on Thursday and Kayla Serene is not happy.

“Oh my god we need to leave like five minutes ago,” she shouts up the stairs. “I’ll be in the car.”

She snags a set of keys from the kitchen counter and marches out back to her mom’s 2001 Toyota Avalon. The 17-year-old whips a lime-green cell phone out of her jacket and sighs, firing off a text message to a friend. Serene texts faster than she skates, which, as anyone who knows anything about Richmond roller derby will tell you, is impressive, considering that she skates like her mom.

At 7:48, Alisha Victorine opens the passenger-side door. Victorine’s Fulton Hill home is an eight-minute drive from Roller Dome and the last practice before Saturday’s all-star game begins at 8 p.m. They don’t have time to waste.  And so it begins. The relentless bickering that is usually reserved for sisters or best friends who fight like sisters.

Serene forgot to put Victorine’s dress shoes back in her mom’s closet. And wipe off the counter. But Victorine was late and by the way all of Serene’s friends are coming over after the hardcore punk show on Saturday to make Vegan snacks and watch movies and she’s not asking she’s just letting her mom know. Now it’s Victorine’s turn to sigh.

If this were a scene from Whip It, Serene would easily pass for Ellen Page’s 17-year-old Bliss Cavendar. 38-year-old Victorine, however, has more in common with Barrymore’s Smashley Simpson than the over-bearing pageant mom played by Marcia Gay Harden.  The tattooed, pierced contractor and Jane-of-all trades joined the River City Rollergirls in 2005 after watching an A&E series on the resurgence of a sport that was popular when her mother was a child.

“They were kicking ass and I thought it was the coolest thing ever,” Victorine said. “I knew that I was born to be a derby girl.”

Flash forward four years and a few things have changed. Victorine is no longer considered “fresh meat.” She is a senior co-captain of her co-ed team, the Richmond Derby Demons, and she doesn’t need a babysitter during practice anymore now that Serene can skate. Oh yeah- they aren’t Victorine and Serene anymore-most of the time. They’re Demalisha Durga and Minor Threat now. That’s Durga and Miss Threat, to you.

Fresh meat

Things are changing between Serene and Victorine, too. Victorine credits Serene’s decision to join the team this summer with bringing the two of them closer together. She cautiously considers this the end of a five-year rough patch that characterizes so many high-school era mother-daughter relationships.

“Derby was such a remarkable part of my life that for a while [Serene] resented it because it was the brother or sister she had to share her time with,” Victorine said. “I cry just thinking about how proud I am of her because I love her as a person, I love her as a friend, I love her as a daughter and I cherish her in my life,” she added.

Serene is the first skater younger than 18 to participate in the Old School Derby Association, a 14-team coalition of co-ed derby leagues that stretches from Virginia to Arizona, according to the OSDA’s liaison, Maschine, a star skater for the Penn Jersey Hooligans.  Her age inspired the selection of the derby name Minor Threat, a nod to one of her favorite bands and the reputation that she is earning as one of the quickest learners to make the jump from “fresh meat” skater to full-fledged team member.

Like Ellen Page’s character in Whip It, Serene was required to have both parents sign off before she was allowed to try out for the team. Serene said that her father, Patrick Dodson, took some convincing.

“I understand why he’s concerned, because I was worried when mom started skating, but it’s not like I’m out there alone,” Serene said.

And she’s not. Victorine, a.k.a. DemAlisha Durga, Durga, or the “Ass of Doom” depending on who’s shouting at her, is by all accounts a force to be reckoned with. She named herself after a Hindu goddess of war that eats souls on the battlefield.

“She harms those that do not have good intentions and so I thought that would be a good name to take into battle with me,” Victorine said.

Family Tradition

Serene points out that the similarities which may have caused them to butt heads in the past are now bringing the two of them together.

“We’re both vegan/vegetarian, we’re both straight-edge, feisty, opinionated women,” Serene said. “It’s easy to see how we could be best friends or enemies.”

Victorine is not worried for Serene’s safety, but Victorine’s mother, Glenda Smith, said that watching her daughter and grand-daughter take hit after hit can be tough at times. During Serene’s first game, the 6-foot-2-inch volleyball player forced a member of the opposing team to the sidelines after he knocked Serene down.

“I went out there screaming ‘what is the matter with you she’s a 16-year-old girl and you’re built like a linebacker for the Rams,’” Smith said.

Five minutes later, Serene and Victorine forced the offender to re-join his team.

“Hey, if she’s on the floor, she’s fair game,” Victorine said.

Serene agreed.

AAA is forecasting record travel numbers this holiday season, but Mechanicsville resident Anna Brent is not worried about leaving early for her 2p.m. flight to Frankfurt out of Richmond International Airport on the 22^nd.

Brent has a commitment at church until 11:30, but she is confident that two hours will give her and her husband plenty of time to park, check in and get through security at RIC on one of the busiest travel dates of the year.

“Crowds shouldn’t be a problem,” Brent said. “People don’t think about flying out of RIC because it can be cheaper to fly out of other airports.”

Even with increased holiday traffic Brent may have little to fear, depending on which airport she is connecting to, and where her flight is coming from. Although RIC performs well overall for on-time arrivals and departures some flights are chronically late coming in and going out.

Link to visualization of arrival delays to RIC

If Brent’s flight to Germany is connecting out of Newark, she may want to place a call to her mom’s family in Frankfurt and tell them to take their time on their way to the airport. Depending on which flight you take, there’s an almost one in two chance that the plane will be at least 15 minutes late leaving.

Of those flights that do qualify as being officially late, 15 minutes is a minor annoyance. The average delay for flight 2505 from Richmond to Newark was 55 minutes.  When 2505 was officially late the average delay was a staggering 99 minutes, according to government data collected between September 2008 and September 2009.

Flight 2505 is not the rule or the exception to it. The average delay for both late departures and late arrivals at RIC is around an hour. When it comes to making travel plans, bank on a sure thing.

Carriers going in and out of Richmond to every major hub have flights that are consistently on time or terminally late. AirTran Airways daily flight 244 to Atlanta has an impressive track record with only seven delayed departures in the past year.  AirTran’s daily 262 flight to Atlanta has a one in four chance of leaving late and flight 236 leaves late more than a third of the time.

The likelihood that a flight will arrive late or leave late increases as the day goes on, which is why Tred Spratley always books the first flight out of Richmond. As the president of Sigma National, a Richmond-based commercial real estate brokerage firm, Spratley has flown out of RIC on a regular basis for the past 20 years.

Spratley said that he has not experienced any significant variance in timeliness between flights, mostly because he refuses to fly later in the day.

“If there’s a seven a.m. I’m on it,” Spratley said. “By 10, 11 o’clock you can’t count on things being on time.

Airport spokesman Troy Bell said that the problem is not endemic to RIC. Bell said that aside from weather or mechanical issues, the most common cause of travel delays coming in or out is back-up at other airports.

“RIC is highly connected to some of the most congested facilities on the East Coast,” Bell said. “While infrastructure at RIC is adequate for local operations, that is not the case at some of the hubs we are connected to.”

Bell cites the three primary New York Metro airports (LaGuardia, JFK and Newark), Philadelphia and Atlanta as constant sources of delays at RIC.

Ask Kevin Hyde about Atlanta. Hyde picked the wrong Delta flight on his way home from Costa Rica last month and spent an extra hour waiting on the tarmac.

Hyde was the one out of three travelers guaranteed to arrive home late on certain regular flights coming out of Atlanta. It could have been worse. Some Pinnacle flights come in late more often than not.

Delayed flights connecting travelers to Atlanta from Richmond are more troubling than delayed arrivals, according to local business owner Ryan Taylor.

Taylor, who used to log 150,000 work-related sky miles yearly, said that navigating hubs on a time crunch can be a terrible ordeal.

“If you aren’t a frequent traveler and you don’t know what you’re doing you will miss your connection,” Taylor said.

Taylor said that he became so frustrated with Continental’s Expressjet service to Newark that he chose to start driving from Richmond to New Jersey instead.

“It’s more convenient for me to get in my car than it is for me to get on a plane, and that’s just sad,” Taylor said.

Newark woes aside, Taylor said that his problem was never with the Richmond airport itself.

“Richmond is a lot better than Dulles, you spend a lot less time in line,” Taylor said.

Anna Brent agrees. As the daughter of humanitarian aid workers Brent spent a great deal of time traveling domestically and overseas. Brent said that she has plenty of horror stories-don’t mention Detroit-but none of them involve RIC.

“I don’t mind having to wait when there’s a delay,” Brent said. “With the recent renovations there’s an Applebee’s and Caribou coffee, so it’s not a problem.”

About the data

Data taken from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics from September 2008-September 2009 was downloaded, month by month, in zip files and imported into Microsoft Access 2003. The data overloaded access after three months were imported, so the year was broken down into four chunks, saved as separate Access files, filtered for Richmond International Airport, exported into excel 2003 spreadsheets and imported into a new Microsoft access file. Access had no problem juggling the roughly 40,000 row data set, and so creating tables for arrivals and departures was simple. Joining tables to view breakdowns of flight information by airport arrival/destination, flight number, and frequency provided rich detail about the terminally late flights and good performers.

Click to view a breakdown of suicide rates by locality

by: Katy Burnell

The suicide rate in southwestern Virginia is double the state and national average – a statistic experts blame on rural isolation and other problems.

Overall, the Commonwealth’s suicide rate hovers near the national average of 10.8 suicides per 100,000 people. But about 15 Virginia localities have suicide rates higher than the worst-ranking state – Wyoming, where nearly 20 of every 100,000 deaths are self-induced.

Most of those localities are in southwestern Virginia. Buchanan County, for example, had more than 26 suicides per 100,000 population; Tazewell County had about 24 per 100,000 residents; and Lee, Bland, Russell and Pulaski counties all had about 22 suicides per 100,000 population.

That data comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. But those aren’t the only statistics underscoring how prevalent suicides are in southwestern Virginia.

A recent report published by the Virginia Department of Health found that southwestern citizens are three times more likely to attempt suicide by overdosing on pills, or otherwise poisoning themselves, than the average Virginian.

Southwest Virginians have more in common with Wyoming residents than their fellow Virginians because they face issues specific to rural communities across the nation, according to Christina Sloan, co-author of the report and youth suicide prevention manager for the Virginia Department of Health.

Sloan said many southwest Virginians live 90 minutes away from their closest mental health care provider.

“Rural, or under served areas, usually have higher [suicide] rates,” Sloan said.  “This can be attributed to the lack of public transportation that can be utilized to access services, fewer law enforcement resources and larger geographical distance to health/mental health assistance.”

The lack of access to mental health treatment for rural Virginians is particularly troubling in light of the fact that more than two-thirds of suicide victims considered in Sloan’s report were suffering from “mental health problems” at the time of injury.  Sloan said that for this reason the brunt of her work as the Commonwealth’s suicide prevention manager targets programs that teach Virginians how to recognize and aid someone in crisis.

Sloan’s colleague Christy Letsom, chair of the Virginia Suicide Prevention Coalition, said via e-mail that the challenges that rural residents face have worsened with the recent economic downturn.

“Many of the areas that you see being so impacted by suicide rates are very poor areas and places where there are few, and disappearing jobs,” Letsom wrote.

Letsom warned that the trend towards higher rates of suicide in southwest Virginia will worsen due to demographic shifts.

“You will see higher suicide rates as the median age of the population starts to increase,” Letsom said.

Resources

Spreadsheet of suicide rates ranked in descending order based on data generated through the Centers for Disease Control

Virginia Department of Health report on Poison Related Attempted and Completed Suicides in Virginia

Visualization of Virginia suicide rates broken down by locality

A rising middle school student was honored for reading more than 200 books in less than three months during the Richmond public library’s summer reading program. A grand street party honoring summer readers celebrated the accomplishments of Rebecca Rogers (pictured above) and hundreds of other young bookworms.

By Katy Burnell & Erika Wells

A local rising sixth grader received an awarded at a community festival for spending her summer buried in books.

Rebecca Rogers, 11, was honored at the Grand Street Party Finale at the Main branch for being a top reader in a summer reading program for the Richmond Public Library on Saturday.

Rogers, who will attend Elkhardt Middle School in the fall, took a break from reading to enjoy a day of activities, crafts, food, story time and performances.

Although the program started on June 20, Rogers has read 225 books.

Her mother, Danette Weisner, said that she did not expect Rogers to finish all of the books.

“I’m totally shocked,” Weisner said. “She’s been reading since she was three years old. I’m just so proud of my daughter.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Picking up a book during spare time may be beneficial in many ways. According to library officials, reading is an inexpensive pastime that is fun for the entire family. For students, reading over during the summer may help them be prepared for the following school year. Find out more in the podcast.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Turning pages for the summer reading program

Roger was one of many participants all ages from across the city to take part in the free yearly reading program, also sponsored by the Friends of the Library this year.

“The summer is great time to promote a reading program,” said Heidi Walters, a children’s librarian at the North Ave. library branch. “It’s a great way to give the children in the community something to do since they’re out of school.”

To finish the program, children read at least 10 books, adults and teens read at least five books and at least 30 books were read aloud to toddlers.

In the beginning, the readers signed up and kept logs of books that they read.

Finally, for each book that they finished, readers received a raffle ticket toward winning a computer.

“The most important thing about the program is that it gives people an excuse to do what they enjoy and get a prize,” said Skip Stockton, a librarian at the Richmond Public Library.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Crowds braved the August heat to attend the day-long festival. The celebration, which took place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featured different activities for the children. Librarians and families interacted on W. Franklin St., which was shut down for the event. View an audio slide show of the events that took place at the Grand Street Party Finale.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A love of reading

This is the second year that Rogers has participated in the program. Reading comes natural for the the rising sixth grader, said Rogers.

“I’ve just been reading since I was a little kid,” Rogers said. “I love it.”

Rogers encouraged others to join a reading program and to find interesting books.

“Just pick out books that you like,” Rogers said. “I like storybooks, chapters books, anything.”

Parents should introduce their children to reading at an early age, said Weisner, who starting reading to her daughter when Rogers was a year old.

“Read to your children,” Weisner said. “If you read to them when they’re younger, or even read to them while they’re in your belly, they come out wanting to read.”

French culture lives and breathes in Richmond 365 days a year. Whether it’s  fine dining, a quick lunch at a cafe, or an afternoon coffee on the patio in Carytown, French culture is always on the menu in Richmond.  With the continued growth of the French Film Festival, francophiles are here to stay, and so are French Richmonders. Continue to read more about the former owner of Jean-Jacques Bakery, Clement Denicourt, listen to an interview with French Film Festival co-founder Francoise Ravaux-Kirkpatrick, or to view an audio slideshow on French eateries in Richmond

By Katy Burnell

Clement Denicourt carries a piece of his home close to his heart. The 66-year-old French immigrant came to the United States from Paris  nearly…

A passion for people

former owner of Jean-Jacques bakery stays true to his French roots

Clement Denicourt keeps his home close to his heart. A gold chain hanging from the 66-year-old’s neck bears a miniature Arc de Triomphe; a reminder of the city he left behind to start a new life in America 30 years ago.
“My accent is still very thick,” Denicourt said. “The second I open my mouth, people know that I am French.”

Although Denicourt said that he lives up to many French stereotypes, his work ethic is distinctly American.  Denicourt is currently in his third career as a customer service representative in the electrical department of Lowe’s. Denicourt said that he listened when his wife pushed him to stop working three years ago, but after weeks of sitting at home he started job-hunting again.
“I’m retired but I’m bored at home, so I’m working at Lowe’s 4 days a week just to entertain myself,” Denicourt said.

Denicourt went on to say that he does the same thing at Lowe’s in Short pump that he did while managing a 12-store chain of supermarkets in Paris.
“Helping people, this is my life,” Denicourt said. “I’ve always had a passion for people.”

From Paris to Dupont Circle

Denicourt credits his decision to leave Paris for America to a difficult divorce, but said that he has never had a problem with starting over.  Denicourt was born and raised in Caudry, a small industrial town in northern France, but he left to pursue a college degree in Paris as soon as he had the chance.
“When you’re born and raised in this kind of little town you know you have no future. People would just work in the factory,” Denicourt said.  “If you want to be a factory boss you’d have to work all your life.”

Denicourt quickly became a boss after graduating from college. During his first career he managed a supermarket chain similar to Ukrops.
“Maximize sales, minimize expenses, I did that for almost twenty years,” Denicourt said.

Those management skills served him well in America as an employee of the now defunct Bread Oven bakery chain that was once headquartered in Dupont Circle.  Denicourt said that he chose the bakery because everyone who worked there spoke French.
“I had a lot of problems to learn English, I didn’t take it serious in high school,” Denicourt said. “I still struggle a bit.”

Denicourt oversaw the expansion of the Bread Oven to a chain of bakeries that stretched from Rockville, Md. to the city that he would learn to call home.

From Dupont Circle to Richmond

The master chef of the D.C.-based Bread Oven, Jean-Jacques, became the name-sake for the Carytown bakery that Denicourt owned and operated for twenty years. Denicourt sold the bakery to the head chef, Jozef Bindas, in 2003.

“When I came to the age of 63 my wife wanted me out of the business and asked me to sell the bakery to Jozef,” Denicourt said. “She is much happier now.”

Local businessman Kevin Hyde, who has known Denicourt for 20 years, said that he misses spending early mornings in the kitchen with Denicourt and the bakery’s current owner, Jozef Bindas.
“We’d go in the back and start talking. Then we’d start drinking,” Hyde said.

Hyde recalled that Bindas and Denicourt bought their wine in bulk for years from Emerson’s on Grove Avenue until the two were permanently barred from the establishment for “over-sampling” a $114 bottle of champagne that was on display.

Bindas said that the owner should have known better than to leave them alone with the open bottle.

“What’d he expect? We’re European,” Bindas said. “We emptied the bottle in about 10 minutes and laughed all the way back to the bakery.”

A conversation about French culture

listen to a two-minute interview with Francoise Ravaux-Kirkpatrick

Francoise Ravaux-Kirkpatrick, co-founder of the French Film Festival, says that the planning phase for next year’s event begins the minute the curtain closes on the last film.

Click the VIP passes to hear an interview with the University of Richmond professor on her work with the French Film Festival, her passion for film, and why Richmond should be doing more to promote French culture.

French eateries in Richmond

watch an audio slideshow featuring prominent French restaurants

Continue reading for more information about the establishments featured in this slideshow

Listed in order of appearance:

Jean-Jacques Bakery and Cafe

3138 W. Cary St., Richmond Va., 23221

(804) 355-0666

hours of operation:

Monday-Saturday: 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Can-Can Brasserie

3120 W. Cary St., Richmond Va., 23221

(804) 358-7274

hours of operation:

Monday- Thursday: 7 a.m.-1 a.m.

Friday-Saturday: 7 a.m.-2 a.m.

Sunday: 9 a.m.-until…

Chez Max Restaurant

10622 Patterson Ave., Richmond Va., 23233

(804) 754-3464

hours of operation:

Tuesday-Saturday: 5:30 p.m.-10 p.m.

]]> http://katyburnell.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/french-culture-finds-a-home-in-richmond/feed/ 1 katy burnell Clement Denicourt VIP Passes to the French Film Festival Jean-Jacques Bakery logo_jean_jacques_main template_logo Chez Max http://katyburnell.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/non-profit-makes-fundraising-fun/ http://katyburnell.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/non-profit-makes-fundraising-fun/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:00:30 +0000 katy burnell http://katyburnell.wordpress.com/?p=7 ]]> Local organization raises $20,000 to benefit the elderly at family friendly gala held in the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens on Sunday, June 14. Dozens of families came to hear Washington, D.C.-based children’s band Rocknoceros, eat picnic lunches, and support the volunteer services wing of ElderHomes, a corporation that provides home repairs and improvements for low-income, elderly and disabled residents living in the Richmond area.

By Katy Burnell

When Richmond resident Kim Adams told her daughters Abigail, 8, and Reagan, 4, that they would spend their Sunday afternoon at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens the response was less than enthusiastic.
“ They were excited to see the butterflies, but that was about it,” Adams said.
One children’s rock band, two picnic lunches and three balloon animals later, the Adams’ girls were all smiles.
“My favorite part was the face-painting,” Abigail said.
The Adams were three of roughly 85 people who showed up to support local non-profit group the Renew Crew at the agency’s first major fund-raising event at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden on Sunday.
“We were hoping for 250 people, but I’m not disappointed,” said Lee Householder, chief executive officer of Renew Crew’s parent company, ElderHomes. “Everyone who came out today had fun,” Householder said.
The celebration, which included several face-painting and balloon animal-making clowns, flower gift-baskets, a catered lunch and even an award-winning children’s rock band from Washington, D.C., raised enough money to cover costs, with little left over, according to Householder.
What’s in a name?
The volunteer services wing of ElderHomes has existed since the company was founded to benefit elderly, low-income and disabled individuals in 1992, but the Renew Crew brand name is only a few months old.
“We wanted a name that would click, so that people understand what we do,” Householder said. “Rockin’ with Renew Crew is a great way to get our name out there.”
ElderHomes’ Director of Fund Development and Compliance Monitoring, Anne McNeal, said that today’s Rockin’ with Renew Crew event will be the first of many to come.
“There’s a lot of fundraisers out there that revolve around formal dinners, but that’s not who we are,” she said. “We wanted it to be a family fun day. I’m very pleased with how things turned out.”
Donations dip, but don’t drop
According to Householder, McNeal helped to raise $340,000 during the last fiscal year, which was down from the previous year. The economic downturn caused a decrease in donation levels and an increase in demand for ElderHomes’ services, McNeal said.
“We’re swamped with demand for weatherization, which helps save on home heating and cooling costs,” McNeal said.
She said that requests have risen for everything from wheelchair ramps to home rehabilitation to fix roofs and plumbing.
“When I first started here we had a waiting list of 300 people,” McNeal said. “Now we have a waiting list of 800 people. It’s just scary.”
Since its inception in 1992, ElderHomes Corporation has expanded to a 30-member staff serving Richmond, Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent and Powhatan counties. The volunteer services division, recently renamed the Renew Crew, includes 5 staff members and more than 400 volunteers.
The crew could have their hands full in the future, McNeal said.
“Baby boomers are aging. 35 percent of the population is going to reach 65 in the next ten years and that’s a serious issue,” McNeal said.
Challenges remain, and so does the mission

Householder echoed McNeal’s concerns about the growing demand for ElderHomes services.
“You whole reason you create a non-profit is to help solve a problem,” Householder said. “We’re doing the best we can, but the problems are still there and they’re not getting any smaller.”
Householder said that he plans to keep meeting challenges head-on.
“Fundraising events are about more than just making money,” Householder said. “It’s really about making the connection with people and spreading the message.”
Executive Assitant Voneese Fontaine, who helped coordinate Sunday’s fundraiser, expressed hope for the non-profit’s continued growth and success.
“I miss getting out and helping hands on like I did when I first started five years ago,” Fontaine said. “When you get a call from a little old lady who’s heater is broken or needs help with her groceries…and you’re able to help them out-that’s what this is all about.”
Want to volunteer? Contact the Renew Crew.