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Why Richmond, Why?!?

Richmond.com has a lot of "Why Richmond, Why?!?" questions in the works. In the meantime, we've got plenty of answers to your questions.

Is it OK for Richmond Police Officers to break the law? Are waitresses nicer in the nonsmoking section and is the former Village Café haunted? We've got the answers.

Why, oh why, Richmond do the police in this town think they can break as many traffic laws as they feel? I was almost hit twice last week by on-duty police officers (one speeding but not in pursuit of another car, just 7-Eleven, and the other pulling an illegal left turn at Monument and Boulevard.) Also, is it OK for Richmond police officers to drive their police cars in plain clothes when they are on the way home from Gold's Gym?

I always see the same cop leave the Fan gym in his sweaty gym clothes, hop into his city-owned police car and head off. I see them do the same thing all the time at the grocery store, too: out of uniform, buying groceries, loading them into the car's cage and heading home. I know they get take-home cars but should we have to pay for their gas when they are out doing non-police chores in these city-owned (a.k.a. taxpayer-owned) cars? Isn't there a rule against that?

-- Billy

Wendy Jenkins , with the Richmond Police Department's public affairs office, answers:

Richmond Police Officers are expected to obey traffic laws while patrolling and responding to non-emergency calls. When responding to emergency calls officers are given exemptions, under state law, from observing certain traffic regulations but are not relieved of the responsibility of driving with due regard for the safety of all persons. 

Should you encounter an officer who "almost hits you" and it does not appear that he/she is responding on an emergency you have several options: call the non-emergency police number and request to see a supervisor to advise of the circumstances, or record the vehicle number and location of event and call the Internal Affairs Division to initiate a complaint. 

Officers who are assigned take-home vehicles are permitted, while off duty, to use the vehicles in the city. Although they are in plain clothes there is an expectation, since they are driving a police vehicle, that the officers either assist and/or call in any activity that requires a police response. It is the Department's belief that the presence of police vehicles in the city, with both on-duty and off-duty officers, is a crime deterrent and beneficial to the citizenry. 

I have a long time quandary. I work at VCU and have always wondered -- what's the deal with the vacant building on the corner of Harrison and Grace -- the one across from the Village Café? Why hasn't someone done something with this building? I have heard all kind of rumors that the Village Café used to be over there, but that the building was too haunted. Have you heard anything about that?

-- Amy

The location was, indeed, the original Village Café and, incidentally, as such it was the first integrated lunch counter in Richmond (just a little something that I happen to remember from a class I took at VCU back in the day). I haven't heard anything about the spot being haunted, but your claim was enough the keep me from doing more than just waking briskly by the now-vacant storefront.

I had a difficult time tracking down the property owner of 939 W. Grace St., so I turned to local writer and blogger F.T. Rea . Rea is the editor and publisher of the Fan District Hub and is a virtual one-man resource for everything Fan-related. He offers his insight below:

Here are a few paragraphs from a story I wrote about [the Village] a few years ago:

"Steve Dikos [husband of Stella Dikos, the woman behind the beloved Fan restaurant Stella's] opened the Village Restaurant in 1957. In the '60s that commercial strip on West Grace Street served a community made up largely of RPI's [That's the first version of VCU for those who don't know] art faculty and students; together with the inhabitants of the neighborhood's well-appointed high-rise apartment buildings and drab rooming houses. It made for an interesting mix.



In this pre-VCU era the crowd of regulars at the Village included such artists such as William Fletcher Jones and William Kendrick and writer Tom Robbins. In 1968, with the coming of VCU and the Baby Boomer hippies, the Village continued to be a headquarters for alternative thinkers and a colorful crowd. It was widely-known for its off-the-wall ambiance …



In 1981 the Village was sold to the interests that operate the Village Café [Mike Fleck], directly across the street from the original, today. In 1983, the first incarnation of Stella's opened. It was located on Harrison St., a half block south of the Village's address ..."



Now Stella's no longer exists and the Village Café (which is in the old location of A Sunny Day) has changed hands again. I don't know the name of the woman who owns the building that housed the original Village. She used to live on the second floor and still may be there. It's my understanding that she doesn't want the ground floor occupied. It's been that way since about 1991, when Fleck moved across the street.

I have been waiting for the chance to ask this question for years. It is something that I ponder with my friends every time we have brunch at Joe's Inn in the Fan (which is quite often). Why is the staff on the nonsmoking side so much nicer and the service so much better, compared to the smoking side? Please, someone answer this.

-- Debra

I didn't get a response from Joe's Inn on this one, Debra, but I'm going to go ahead and speculate. I'm sure the folks at Joe's would say that they're committed to excellent service for all patrons, regardless of their smoking and seating preference, and that they would be happy to address unsatisfactory service for any and all patrons.

As someone who has dined at Joe's Inn in the Fan for years, though, I have a theory on the service discrepancy. Every time I've been to Joe's I've noticed that the smoking side, or the original side, of the restaurant, is slammed and jammed-pack with diners. Frequently there are even more diners hanging out at the bar, waiting for a table to open, while the nonsmoking side sits partially empty. So it could be that the servers on the nonsmoking side are just less busy, and therefore have time to be nicer.

Another dining habit I've noticed at the Fan Joe's is that nonsmoking diners tend to be families with small children, who eat and leave quickly. The smoking tables, on the other hand, seem to be larger parties of friends or couples, drinking and, perhaps, staying longer at the table. This could affect the server's turn time on a table and, therefore, the amount of the money he/she can make in a given shift.

Or maybe it's just that inhaling large quantities of secondhand smoke for hours at a time puts one a foul mood. But, again, these are just my theories. If you have some of your own, please share in the comments section below.

So what do you want to know, Richmond? Send questions to: karri.peifer@corp.richmond.com with "Why Richmond, Why?!?" in the subject line or leave it in the comments sections below. And if you missed last week's "Why Richmond, Why?" you can read it here .