The Sports Backers announced yesterday the musical lineup for the fifth annual Dominion Riverrock to be held May 17-19.

On Friday, May 17^th Soulive will kick off the weekend at 7:30 p.m. followed by Lettuce at 9 p.m. On Saturday, May 18^th, the two headliners will be Anders Osborne at 7 p.m. and Grammy-nominee Toots & The Maytals at 9 p.m.  All concerts are free and open to the public.

Credit: Sonya Iverson

Soulive, a soul-jazz organ trio of guitarist Eric Krasno, drummer Alan Evans and keyboardist Neal Evans, will bring blistering solos and grooves that don’t quit to the stage at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 17 to kick off the festival weekend. In their 13 years together, Soulive has followed the muse in the direction of hip-hop, R&B, blues and rock.  Immediately following Soulive, the seven-piece Brooklyn-based juggernaut Lettuce will take over the stage. These modern day rulers of old school funk will bring a decidedly raging slab of relentless groove, hyper-charged syncopation and psychedelicized soul anthems to Dominion Riverrock.  New Orleans’ Anders Osborne will be the first headliner to perform on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. Osborne’s music ranges from muddy backwater blues to upbeat country rock, and fills in many of the gaps in between.

Five-time Grammy nominee Toots & The Maytals will take the stage at 9 p.m. on Saturday evening. Toots Hibbert is one of the great voices of Jamaica; a legend whose career spans every development in Jamaican music, from ska through rock-steady to reggae. Toots and the Maytals have helped to chart the course of Jamaican music . The combination of great reggae rhythms, heartfelt vocals, and soulful gospel influence remains potent and powerful.

 In addition to four major headliners, the Dominion Riverrock music schedule features local and regional talent. For more go to www.dominionriverrock.com

Check out the Westham Gauge (measured near Huguenot Flatwater) on the James River 8 a.m. this morning. At around 7 p.m. last night (Thursday) it was sitting below 6 feet. By midnight tonight it will be a raging cauldron a foot over moderate flood stage. Dawn tomorrow looks like it will be the best time to see the flood at its roiling best. Belle Isle is a great place to watch floods. At 16 feet some water should be up on the main walking path. The parking lot at Pony Pasture could definitely be flooded. The Floodwall walk on the south side of the river downtown would be a great place to take in the entire sweep of the swollen James.

The James doesn’t hit 16 feet very often. This is a great opportunity to see the mighty river in a rare state.

Our friends at the James River Association recently released the volunteer opportunities they’ll have in the coming year, from trash cleanups to becoming a JRA RiverRat to monitoring water quality in the James watershed. Check it out and get involved.

        FEBRUARY

February 9, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm, RiverRats Training
Training for JRA’s RiverRats program, to be held at JRA’s Office located at 9 S 12th Street, 4th Floor, Richmond, VA. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Visit our website at www.thejamesriver.org for more information. Pre-registration is required.

February 27, 6:30-8:00 pm, Rain Barrel Workshop
This is not a volunteer event, but participants will build a barrel to take home with them. The workshop will be held at REI located at 2020 Old Brick Road, Glen Allen. The cost is $65 per barrel for the public or $35 for River Hero Homes.  Pre-registration is required.

MARCH

March 6, 10:00 am – Noon, Rain Garden Maintenance and Cleanup
Help with weeding, planting, and mulching of several rain gardens. We will also be cleaning up trash along the creek. All tools will be provided. Please wear sturdy shoes and clothes that can get dirty. Meet in the parking lot behind Advance Auto, 6300 W Broad Street, Richmond. Pre-registration is required.

March 30 – James River Watch: Citizen Water Quality Monitoring
Training will be in Richmond, but exact location and time is to be determined.
JRA is launching a new water quality monitoring initiative across the James River watershed – from Buchanan to Newport News. JRA will introduce you to the types of harmful bacteria, and provide an overview of sampling methods and analysis. Sampling will occur weekly from May to September, and data will be made available to the public on JRA’s James River Watch website (thejamesriver.org/jrw).  No monitoring or science background is required. JRA will assign volunteers to sampling teams, and work with each volunteer to help establish a sampling schedule that fits individual schedules/availability.

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For my Sunday Times-Dispatch column, I wrote about a slice of overlooked, Richmond riverfront greenspace called Chapel Island. If you’re familiar with Great Shiplock Park, Chapel Island is what you’re standing on when you cross over the canal, walking toward the river.

Chapel Island, with the James River and Kanawha Canal on the right.

Both parks are either currently or will soon be sites of major renovation. Great Shiplock will become a destination trailhead for the Virginia Capital Trail, and Chapel Island will soon feature interpretive signs, a non-motorized boat launch and trails, including one connecting it to the 14th St. boater’s takeout. If you’ve never been down to the area, go take a look, then come back in three months. You won’t believe the changes that are about to take place.

NOTE: Volunteers are encouraged each Saturday from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m to come out at join Nathan Burrell and the city trail crew as they work on the trails and boat launch. Janurary’s focus will be on the boat put-in and corridor clearing.  February’s focus will be on trail building.

On February 9-10, the Enrichmond Foundation, Falls of the James Group – Sierra Club, Capital Region Land Conservancy, and the James River Green Building Council will join together to present the third annual RVA Environmental Film Festival at the Byrd Theatre in Richmond. The weekend-long event will showcase films designed to raise awareness of environmental issues.

Thanks to sponsors such as Bon Secours, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Whole Foods Market, EarthCraft Virginia, REI, James River Association, Carytown Merchant’s Association, Nacho Mama’s, Watershed Architects, and the Falls of the James Group, this event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.rvaenvironmentalfilmfestival.com. 

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The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is seeking volunteers to raise underwater Bay grasses in their homes, schools, or businesses as part of CBF’s Grasses for the Masses restoration program.  The program engages volunteers to help restore underwater grasses, submerged plants vital to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem but that have been seriously depleted over the years.

Volunteers plant wild celery in the James River. Credit: CBF staff.

Volunteers can attend one of several upcoming workshops in the Richmond, Northern Virginia, or Hampton Roads areas to receive a self-contained kit, seeds, and instruction, and then will nurture their grass sprouts until they are mature enough to be transplanted to nearby rivers in late spring.

The Boulevard Bridge in Richmond.

For my Sunday T-D column I wrote about a “bridge/park,” the concept for which will soon be brought forward by a group of Richmonders. The idea was first written about in a T-D editorial back in September. More details emerged when I met with some of the principals last month: 1) The announcement will be made sometime in February; 2) a lot of work has already taken place, including floodplain and economic impact studies; 3) the project will be unique — there are bridge parks out there, but none that span a body of water.

There are a lot of questions to be asked — most importantly, how will it be paid for — but read about the concept and see what you think.

Tonight , the Richmond City Council, the Mayor, and other VIPs will be recognizing and honoring Ralph White for his many achievements and his retirement in December.  The Council session begins at 6 p.m., and the award ceremonies are the first general order of business.

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Every now and then you’ll see stories like the one inside Saturday’s T-D Metro section. “Coyote not found after being spotted in Windsor Farms,” read the headline.

A Windsor Farms resident saw a coyote in her yard about 8 a.m. Friday and called the city. The city told her to call the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The DGIF told her to call a trapper. By the time the trapper got there the coyote was gone.

“It didn’t hurt anything, but it is a little worrisome,” the resident said.

Honestly, it’s not that worrisome. Coyotes live among us. They have for some time now. Unless you leave your Chihuahua or three-month old outside for long stretches, a coyote probably isn’t going to bother you. And if it does come around, it’s likely more interested in your trash. They may see like exotic animals, but they’re really not. Not anymore.

Click here to learn more about coyotes in Virginia.