Looking back on 2014: July, August, September

Today we touch on July’s doughnut wars, August’s steering wheel bicycle, September’s cheetah cubs, and more.

December 30, 2014; 6:00 AM • by Nathan Cushing

July kicked off with the only kind of war worth fighting…doughnut wars. There was a bizarre attack at a local Starbucks, and the City approved a conceptual design for the Bike-Walk Street running down Floyd Avenue.

We looked at the next generation of barbershops, a guy who loves mushrooms, and the person who’d ultimately lose to Dave Brat in November’s congressional election.

Sugar Shack voiced their displeasure with that football team we shan’t name. People got super stoked about Southern Season opening, and we got acquainted with some of the city’s hidden parks.

Then there was a deadly truck accident on Monument and the police unveiled a new website for crime data. In food news, we spoke with a former Top Chef about his future Willow Lawn restaurant and the new-to-Carytown restaurant, Pomegranate.

August brought heat and controversy as we learned a mini Walmart store is coming to VCU. Something that wasn’t controversial (just downright awesome) was the announcement of an art hotel on Broad Street.

VCU Police debuted their noise suppression van to…mixed reviews. We learned why these parents are sticking with City schools, we got a report on local SOL scores, and heard about one parent’s issues with fast food. Oh, and this VCU art professor received a $25,000 grant from…anonymous?

Food wise, people loved this picture of Tom Hanks at Mama Zu, folks protested Whole Food’s selling rabbit meat, and a zoning issue forced Belmont Pizza to close earlier than it’d like to. Mouths salivated over Perly’s menu, and we raised our pints to celebrate local breweries bringing home much-deserved medals.

One of our most popular posts in August was this pic of a steering-wheeled bicycle. Oh, Richmond.

September started with a preview of the Wizard World Richmond Comic Con and news that a much ballyhooed Carytown sign was nixed. We got cozy with restaurateur Hilda Staples and mourned the loss of Ian Graham.

We said goodbye and showed some love to Young House Love, got giddy about a bus rapid transit system, and decided to clean house with our comments policy.

Closing out September, we read an open (and important) letter to Richmond Public Schools, celebrated the birth of cheetah cubs, hit the deck after a live Civil War cannonball was unearthed, and learned how Netflix affects one local family.

We’re almost there, people; just hold out a little longer. Let’s finish up our 2014 retrospective tomorrow when we look back at October, November, and December.

Photo by Alex Schloe