RICHMOND NEWS

‘Support Local, Vote Local’ RVA Magazine’s 2025 Readers’ Poll Is Now Closed!

‘Support Local, Vote Local’ RVA Magazine’s 2025 Readers’ Poll Is Now Closed!

Editor’s note: The results are in and can be found HERE! Let the groans begin, Richmond, it’s that time again: our semi annual Support Local, Vote Local Poll. We’ve all been through it lately. Another election, another pile of headlines designed to grind your...




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Writer’s Block | Student Poets from PodiumRVA Speak Their Truth

A Sunday series from RVA Magazine featuring writers from Richmond and Virginia Writer’s Block is RVA Magazine’s Sunday series highlighting contemporary writers working in Richmond and across the Commonwealth. Each week, we feature original poems, short stories, or...

New Menu, Who Dis? Get Tight Gets Tighter.

Randy O’Dell has a posse. The co-owner of Get Tight Lounge, and owner of En Su Boca, and beloved bars and restaurants of RVA legend, has always known how to attract incredible talent in his kitchen and behind the bar. He’s joined forces with Drew Schlegel in keeping...

The Byrd Theatre Is Still Richmond’s Palace of Dreams

Christmas Eve, 1928. Richmond is cold and the city is dressed for the holiday. On West Cary Street, a crowd gathers outside a building that wasn't there six months ago; a French Empire facade rising up in the middle of a neighborhood that had no idea it was about to...

Tired of Guessing | What Adult Literacy Looks Like in Richmond

Editor’s Note: The following essay is by Mary Graham, CEO of READ RVA, a Richmond-based nonprofit focused on adult literacy. I learned early not to assume anything about who can read. A man once stopped me on Broad Street. He held out a scrap of paper with an address...

Viral Video Sparks Questions About Cancer-Causing Gas in Richmond

A new Instagram video circulating among Richmond residents is raising questions about ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing gas used to sterilize medical equipment, and whether local facilities and warehouses could be contributing to an underrecognized public health...

Photos | Thousands Gather for No Kings Protests Across Richmond

Two separate “No Kings” demonstrations took place across downtown Richmond on Saturday, March 28, drawing crowds to both Kanawha Plaza and Monroe Park as part of a coordinated nationwide day of action. The first gathering began earlier in the day at Kanawha Plaza,...

Remembering WRIR Founders and Leaders in a Year of Loss

Over the past six months, three people foundational to WRIR 97.3 FM, Richmond’s volunteer-run station built outside the expectations of corporate radio, rooted in a love of music, giving locals a voice, and creating space where there wasn’t any, have died. All from...

No Red Carpet, Just Films! James River Film Festival Is Back

Every spring, I look forward to one of Richmond’s best film traditions, the James River Film Festival. With the mantra “Eclectic Celluloid for the Cinematic Soul,” the James River Film Society curates programs spanning a wide range of subjects and styles. It’s always...

Richmond Ranks Top 20 In New ‘Best Foodie Cities’ Report

For those who can afford to dine out, Richmond, VA is grabbing some well-deserved attention in WalletHub’s just-released 2024 Best Foodie Cities in America report. Landing at the 18th spot on a “people who love to eat” list about those who appreciate good food. It’s nice we’re recognized as a top 20 destination by folks who don’t even live here,...

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Richmond Ranks Top 20 In New 'Best Foodie Cities' Report

What Happened to Bombshell Salon?

Update Monday, September 30th 1:19pm -- Bombshell owner Melissa Black has released a statement. You can read it in it's entirely HERE. The original article has been edited to reflect this statement. A month ago, Bombshell Salon, a familiar name in Richmond’s “Best of” lists, closed all four of its locations—three in Richmond and one in Las...

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Bombshell Salon Closure_RVA Magazine 2024

RVA 5X5: The “Mona Lisa of Incompetence”

Only in Richmond could you (sadly) be able to write a story that is a such a Mona Lisa masterpiece example of incompetence that represents just how broken City Hall has become under Mayor Stoney’s Administration. The fact that it is going to take more than four years to replace a 225-foot pedestrian bridge in the James River Park System is also...

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RVA Street Art Festival Addresses New Padel Court Development

The following is a statement by the RVA Street Festival organizers. If you would like to join the conversation and comment, please follow the link HERE. Since April 2012 and the first RVA Street Art Festival, the abandoned Haxall Power Plant has been a cultural landmark for the city of Richmond and a prime example of the power of public art and...

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RVA Street Art Festival Challenges New Padel Court Development_RVA Magazine 2024

High Levels of E-Coli in The James! Don’t Swim in the Poo.

Richmond is officially locked in to its annual sauna season and dammit, we need to cool off. Take some cold showers, hijack a condo pool, go to any of the public pools around town, go to the beach - but please, and I ask you this with all sincerity, don't swim in the poo. If you could magically shrink down to the size of an action figure, would...

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High-Levels-of-E-Coli-in-The-James-Dont-Swim-in-the-Poo-by-Christian-Detres_photo-by-Katherine-Auguste_RVA-Magazine-2024

RVA 5×5 | Bonding With (Or Against) The People?

There has been a lot of activity across the region recently about bond ratings and localities issuing bonds. It is a timely comparison of priorities of local leaders, a glimpse of a possible future, and what happens if you have people in charge who worry more about getting the big, shiny project than the people that end up paying for it.  In...

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RVA 5x5_Bonding With (Or Against) The People by Jon Baliles_photo by Phil Scroggs_RVA Magazine 2024

RVA 5×5 | Substantial Doubt of Competency, More Meals Tax Issues

While the Mayor and friends were busy celebrating the AAA bond rating upgrade atop City Hall, inside the lower levels the city continues to fall apart. Most notably, the meals tax fiasco that we were told was being handled and improved is showing more and different signs of being more dysfunctional than we thought. The latest is an astonishing...

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RVA 5x5 _ Substantial Doubt of Competency, MOre Meals Tax Issues by Jon Baliles_photo by Taber Andrew Bain_RVA Magazine 2024

Richmond’s Next Mayor? Get To Know Dr. Danny Avula

Here’s my conversation with Dr. Danny Avula, candidate for Mayor of Richmond VA. This completes the set of all my conversations with Richmond’s prospective Mayors for November 2024. One of these people is going to be leading the city next year. Who it’s going to be is ultimately up to us. I encourage you to compare and contrast them, but here’s a...

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Dr Danny Avula for mayor by Chrisitan Detres_RVA Magazine 2024