2012 in review: Q1

As 2012 draws to a close, we’re taking a look back at the year that was, quarter-by-quarter. First up is January, February, and March. The year began on a tragic note, but as March ended, things started looking up.

December 26, 2012; 6:00 AM • by Nathan Cushing

2012 began with tragedy, as news of VCU student Ian Burnett disappearing in New York City made national headlines. He was never found. National attention also came to the area when a 7 year-old Chesterfield girl died after suffering an allergic reaction to peanuts at a local elementary school.

We also read about one child’s existential crisis involving Dora the Explorer pull-ups (haven’t we all been there???), and we looked at how creepy the Swedes can be with our review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, our first movie review of the year.

As the RVA sticker became more and more abundant around town, we took a look at how the ubiquitous sticker was created, which then made the sticker even more popular.

Women were front-and-center early on in the year. In February, over 1,000 demonstrators assembled outside the Capitol to protest legislation that many thought was an affront to women’s health issues. Some time later, 30 people were arrested outside the Virginia Capitol protesting the passing of a widely unpopular abortion-related bill.

Health remained a key subject for us as we later profiled the Fan Free Clinic and two people living with HIV.

In Civil War news, Richmond went under martial law, and we mourned the death of President John Tyler. But the (vintage) sad news didn’t stop RVA from getting a bit silly, as couples recreated the famous Elvis kiss that happened in Richmond in 1956. Things got interesting when members of the public apprehended a purse-snatcher, which got us talking about being Good Samaritans in the eyes of law.

Two people we really like saw some wells-deserved success. First up, Patience Salgado (a former RVANews contributor) started blogging at The Huffington Post. People were also abuzz over the news that Nate from Nate’s Taco Truck became head chef at Carytown taco restaurant, Don’t Look Back.

While Nate had the love of RVA behind him, the same couldn’t be said for Martin’s after it took over beloved Ukrop’s. Maybe if the grocery chain featured cute animals from the Richmond SPCA (like we did!), they could further endear themselves to Richmonders.

The topic of love was addressed in an amusing and poignant retrospective from a divorced dad just prior to Valentine’s Day. The topic of sex then came up when we reviewed the “least sexy sex movie,” NC-17 film Shame starring Michael Fassbender.

In March, the Richmond Foursquare badge was released by Mayor Jones and Governor McDonnell. The Flying Squirrels released conceptual drawings to push local officials into replacing the Diamond with a new stadium (spoiler: it didn’t work). After 18 years, the Fridays at Sunset concert series called it quits.

After the VCU Men’s Basketball team defeated Drexel to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, the team upset Wichita State in the second round, before losing 63-61 to the Indiana Hoosiers. Losing to Indiana was a bummer, and a few people cried in their beers. And speaking of beer, as March came to an end, we took a close look at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery to get a better idea of what it’s like to make beer in RVA.

While beer might be a good topic to end on, there’s still plenty more reflection ahead. Tomorrow, we’ll take a closer look at Q2 to see what happened in April, May, and June.

Photo by: MartinAir