Grandpa’s top dawg // Sayyid Wilson, 4, surveys his surroundings last Friday as he enjoys a day out with his grandfather, Wesley Holmes. The two shared a soda and tasty food at Ray’s Dog House Plus at 401 N. 1st St. in Downtown.

Opportunity time // Loxley Road on North Side is a prime example of the deteriorating fabric of hundreds of miles of city streets. Despite a wave of recent pothole repairs, up to half of the city’s aging roadways are rated to be in fair to poor condition. In 2012, City Auditor Umesh Dalal reported that the city would need to spend $277 million to bring all of the streets up to good condition. Since then, the city has poured at least $25 million into street maintenance in a bid to achieve Mayor Dwight C. Jones’s goal of repaving 25 percent of neighborhood streets within five years. Hopes that the city would keep investing between $6 million and $10 million a year into such projects are fading as the city’s borrowing capacity shrinks. During the next five years, the city plans to invest about $13.4 million into street maintenance, an average of $2.68 million a year. In his report, Mr. Dalal forecast that it would take a minimum of “several decades” for the city to address its street needs.

Crocus bloom in Capitol Square

Making Reading Fun // Volunteer Carolyn Hawley of the Richmond Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority wears her Dr. Seuss hat as she engages third-graders at Overby-Sheppard Elementary School in reading last Friday. She was among a cadre of volunteers who participated in special programs and activities at nine Richmond elementary schools for in celebration of Read Across America. Local and national efforts were designed to motivate children and teens to read. The National Education Association organizes the annual initiative.