School’s out, sledding’s in // Jeramia Thomas, 5, closes his eyes to the action as he and Christina Williams, 12, sled down the slopes Monday at Richmond’s Forest Hill Park. With schools and businesses closed, they joined others who took advantage of the Richmond area’s first big snowstorm of the season to go sledding, build snowmen and have snowball fights. The National Weather Service estimated that between 11 and 16 inches of snow fell in Metro Richmond.

Winter fun, work // Winter adventure lovers turned out to sled down the snow-covered hills at Forest Hill Park on Monday after a foot or more of snow blanketed the Richmond area last weekend, bringing life in the region to a near standstill.

Winter fun, work // Among those enjoying the city slopes is 13-year-old Nakiya Thomas, left. The snow was not all fun and games for everyone. Many braved the wintry winds and snow to dig out cars and help others.

Devin Hayes clears a path from his home Sunday in the 8400 block of Klarey Court in Henrico County.

Winter fun, work // On Saturday, two men, below, assist a motorist stuck on Winchmere Court, while others, bottom photo, leave the car at home and walk along snowy Shrader Road in Henrico.

Cityscape // A new addition is coming to Richmond’s skyline. This rendering shows the new 21-story tower that is to open in 2017 at 10th and Byrd streets in Downtown. SunTrust Bank will occupy part of the building, which will bear the bank’s name. The $93 million structure also is to include 187 apartments on the upper floors. Dominion Realty Partners LLC, which has developed apartment complexes on the riverfront and in the former Hotel John Marshall at 5th and Franklin streets, announced the development last week. The big question is whether Dominion Realty Partners will include minority contractors in the project. The company faced sharp criticism from the Richmond NAACP several years ago for failing to include minority contractors when it overhauled the former hotel.

Renowned hip-hop artist in city // Hip-hop artist KRS-One, aka “Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everybody,” stops by Virginia Union University’s bookstore Wednesday. He’s in Richmond for several speaking and performance engagements. Once dubbed “the conscience of hip-hop,” KRS-One gained fame in the mid-1980s with Boogie Down Productions. With 20 albums to his credit, he is considered one of hip-hop’s top emcees. He also is the author of three books on the musical genre and in 1989 established the “Stop the Violence” movement. In Richmond, he was a featured panelist Wednesday afternoon at “Unapologetically Black: Hip Hop’s Effect on Black Liberation” at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is performing 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, at The National, 708 E. Broad St., in Downtown.

Snow-covered pine cone in the West End