The city of Richmond won’t ask the next General Assembly to fix some of the issues in the city charter that were at the root of clashes between then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder and City Council. Despite nearly a year’s work by a review commission, council members agreed last night to hold off seeking state approval of potentially controversial changes relating to who has the authority to appoint the city attorney, the city auditor and the city assessor, and how the appointment of the chief administrative officer is handled.

The Richmond Slave Trail Commission yesterday released its vision to develop a $100 million to $150 million heritage site in Shockoe Bottom, including a slavery museum, an African-American genealogical center and a glass-enclosed Lumpkin’s Jail archeological site. Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond, chairwoman of the commission, emphasized that plans for a 4.5-acre site between Main Street Station and Interstate 95 are preliminary but said she has begun to court prospective directors of a nonprofit to oversee the project. She cited Mayor Dwight C. Jones as a supporter and said someone of national or international prominence would be recruited to lead the project.

The investigative work of Richmond City Auditor Umesh V. Dalal isn’t as newsworthy as it used to be—at least in the minds of city officials. The City Council’s office has stopped publicizing the release of auditor’s reports that routinely point out waste and inefficiencies, as well as potential savings, at City Hall. Officials said they’re mirroring the practices of other local governments—not downplaying the reports, which continue to be posted on the city’s Web site for anyone who happens to be checking.

In case you’re wondering why Democrat R. Creigh Deeds’ TV ads feature Sen. Mark R. Warner and not Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, here’s your answer. Warner, who served as Virginia’s chief executive from 2002 to 2006, is Virginia’s most popular governor of the last 20 years, according to a survey by Public Policy Polling. Warner was the choice of 40 percent of respondents, followed by another governor-turned senator, Republican George Allen, at 31 percent.

Two polls showed yesterday that an endorsement or non-endorsement by former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder means little to Virginia’s voters. “Wait until Election Day. We’ll see,“ Wilder responded.

Twenty-three percent of Virginia voters surveyed say they are less likely to vote for a candidate endored by former Gov. and Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, while only 8 percent say Wilder’s opinion would make them more likely to vote for a candidate.

For R. Creigh Deeds, the latest setback in his campaign for governor wasn’t so much a plot twist as a rerun. Four years ago in his bid for attorney general, Deeds failed to receive an endorsement from fellow Democrat L. Douglas Wilder. He eventually lost to Republican Bob McDonnell by a mere 360 votes. Now comes Act II of Deeds-McDonnell, and you’d think Deeds would have spent the past four years rehabbing his relationship with Wilder. But Thursday, Wilder again declined to back him.

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, despite pleas from President Barack Obama and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, yesterday declined to endorse fellow Democrat R. Creigh Deeds for governor. Wilder, who also is a former Richmond mayor, said he disagrees with Deeds’ willingness to raise taxes and with his opposition to a gun-control law that Wilder had championed as governor.

The second debate between Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell featured the most pointed and prickly exchanges between the candidates to date. The debate came as a new poll showed the race about even.

The peace at Richmond City Hall has taken the urgency out of fixing flaws in the city charter that were at the root of legal clashes between then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder and the City Council. While a commission is polishing its recommendations after months of review, council members are talking about not taking amendments to the General Assembly in 2010, as planned.

More than eight years in the making, the curtain rises on Richmond CenterStage Marilyn Blake found her favorite red velvety seats in the center aisle of Row O of the refurbished Carpenter Theatre. Grinning widely during a sneak-peek tour, she relished the seats as, once again, hers for a season of the Virginia Opera. “It’s magnificent! This is so exciting,“ her friend Janet Joyce said, gazing across the ornate historic theater.

The tale of Richmond CenterStage, from its origin as Loew’s Theatre to Richmond’s “most significant—and costliest—arts initiative,“ will not be told by the writer originally commissioned for the project. The CenterStage Foundation killed plans to publish “Richmond CenterStage: A Dream Fulfilled” after author Roy Proctor refused to do additional research and to rewrite his draft to downplay controversies over the $73.5 million project.

Recent days have brought a variety of stories:

• On Friday Politico.com reported that President Barack Obama had dispatched a functionary to Richmond whose task was to ask Douglas Wilder to endorse Creigh Deeds for governor. The Web site described Wilder as avuncular yet non-committal. Indeed, the former governor (and former mayor) had more generous words for Republican Bob McDonnell than for his fellow Democrat. Wilder cited Sheila Johnson’s endorsement of McDonnell, for instance. Much of this sounds familiar. The timing of an endorsement, we suspect, is not propitious. If Linwood Holton’s support of the Democratic ticket rates as an expected election entertainment, then Wilder’s electoral musings also have entered the state’s political legend.

Crossroads Ford of Virginia sent a protest letter after the city had awarded the contract for 40 Crown Victorias. A city auditor and the dealer say proper competitive bidding procedures were not followed.

Underlings don’t do oversight. Subordinates don’t supervise the boss. Giving Richmond’s mayor the power to appoint the city auditor is asking for trouble. It’d be a license to steal for hizzoner, who would pocket the one person more capable of keeping him honest than the City Coun cil. A commission charged with reviewing the Richmond City Charter has advanced a preliminary recommendation that the mayor hire the auditor “subject to the advice and consent of a majority of council.“