New abortion regulations, VCU is #1, and Rick Perry in the house

The biggest news this week: new, stricter, regulations for abortion clinics in Virginia. Also, VCU’s got two programs ranked #1 in the nation, and a presidential candidate stops by Richmond. Week in review!

September 16, 2011; 10:36 AM • by Ross Catrow

Tuesday

A murder on Richmond’s south side brings the city-wide total to 23, with two murders in September. As I said last week, Richmond is experiencing a historic low in its murder rate.

Homicides in 2011; RVANews

Wednesday

Does U.S. News & World Report do anything other than rank colleges? Their annual rankings came out, and VCU is near the top of several lists, with two programs that rank number one in the country: Sculpture and Nursing-Anesthesia. Also of note: a #4 ranking for the Fine Arts graduate program.

UR is also listed as the #3 “Up-and-Coming” school and the #9 “Best Value” school.

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Presidential nominee Rick Perry stopped by Richmond to speak at the Republican Party of Virginia’s Grassroots Luncheon. Governor Bob McDonnell was also on hand. Could the (currently) presumptive Republican nominee be getting chummy with MickyD? Is McDonnell making a play for the VP spot? Interesting, very interesting.

Ricky Perry visits Richmond; RVANews

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The best sound bite to come out of the 2009 Downtown Master Plas was: “the James River is Richmond’s great, wet, Central Park.” I mean, true! Part of that plan was to come up with another plan for all of our un/under-used riverfront. To that end, the Mayor hired Hargreaves Associates who have a trillion experience points in this area. They presented their initial inventory and findings on Wednesday and will follow up with two more meetings to collect public input.

Richmond’s Riverfront: Don’t turn the James into a culvert; James River News Hub

Thursday

The State Board of Health, the body that “reviews and promulgates” Virginia’s health regulations, approved a new set of requirements for the Commonwealth’s abortion clinics. Now facilities that provide abortions are classified as surgical centers. This means that an estimated 17 of the 21 facilities in Virginia will either have to undergo expensive renovations, quit providing abortions, or close. The regulations go into effect January 1st, and facilities have two years to comply.