Richmond's beloved 600-acre park, the James River Park System, is now 3.46 acres bigger.

• The growth came from a donation by Westover Hills residents Josh and Carrie Belt Rogers of a portion of their property in South Richmond from Westover Hills Boulevard to the Boulevard Bridge to the Capital Region Land Conservancy.

Why it matters: A small portion of Buttermilk Trail — one of JRPS' most popular trails for hikers and mountain bikers — has always been on private property.

• As recreational use, including competitive bike races, has increased in recent years, so have liability concerns.
• The land transfer includes all of the trail on the private property and makes the Westover Hills portion officially public.

Flashback: In 2014, a portion of a bike race during Dominion Riverrock was nearly rerouted onto a busy street over liability insurance worries for the 200 racers on the private property.

• The city ended up adding the portion of the Rogers' property to its insurance policy for the race and subsequently through a recreational easement still in use.

That easement has a termination clause, though, which is why the couple wanted to officially donate the land, per a news release.

What they're saying: "We have been proud to protect the public use of these trails for the past 15 years and are thrilled to share that this land will be conserved as parkland for all to enjoy for generations to come," they said in a statement.

Capital Region Land Conservancy will handle the transfer of the property to the city and ensure it is added to the park system through a $25,000 grant from Friends of James River Park to facilitate the transaction.

• "Opportunities to expand JRPS are usually pretty hard to come by, so we are grateful for the chance to help CRLC make this a reality," Josh Stutz, executive director of Friends of James River Park, said in a statement.

🔥 Hot and fresh local job listings.

1. Staffing Manager at Randstad.
2. Creative Strategist at Axios.
3. Staff Accountant - Accounts Payable at MCV Foundation.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.

Hiring? Post a Job.

It's no secret that Richmonders love their pets, from beloved house cats and doggies, like Bagel the Beagle (RIP), to the slithering reptilian ones that sometimes bite.

• And we now have the data to prove it.

Driving the news: Just over half of all Richmond-area households have a pet — and households with dogs outnumber those with cats 2-to-1, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Housing Survey.

And in the Richmond area, dogs rule when it comes to what type of furry friend locals adopt.

• 🐩 Nearly 40% of households have at least one dog.
• 🐈 And nearly 20% of homes have at least one cat.

By the numbers: An estimated 273,500 households have at least one pet in the Richmond-metro area, representing 50.5% of the region's more than 541,000 households, per census data.

• Dogs are in 215,000 households.
• Cats are in 105,700 households.

Yes, but: Of households with cats, just over half are home to two or more cats — and the data doesn't tell us how many households, like Karri's, have both a dog and a cat.

The intrigue: Pets aren't limited to cats and dogs, of course, and Richmonders have plenty of other creatures in their families, which in order of local popularity as reported to the census folks include:

• 🐠 Fish in 16,300 households.
• 🦎 Reptiles in 13,400 households.
• 🦜 Birds in 10,000 households.
• 🦔 Small mammals in 8,000 households.

The bottom line: Richmond finally has a data-driven reason to claim Dogtown — the moniker once reserved just for Manchester.

🏢 CoStar broke ground on a new 26-story office building next to its current riverfront building. (BizSense)

• The real estate data company plans to hire an additional 2,000 employees when it’s complete.

🌉 A Richmond councilwoman withdrew a plan to rename the Robert E. Lee Memorial Bridge after learning her proposed new name, Belvidere Bridge, might have been the name of a nearby plantation. (Times-Dispatch)

💰 The Virginia NAACP is paying the attorney general’s office $20,000 in FOIA fees for access to records concerning its new “Election Integrity Unity.” (WRIC)

🍗 Mama J's is opening Mama J's Market in the former Salt & Forge space at 312 N. Second St., per Richmond BizSense.

• The market should open this month and offer grab-and-go food and full trays of popular menu items, like macaroni and cheese.

🍜 Hot Pot 757 — the Richmond location of the popular Virginia Beach all-you-can-eat restaurant — is now open at 7502 W. Broad St.

• Hot Pot is open daily for lunch and dinner and serves Chinese hot pots and Korean barbecue — or both at once — via buffet starting at $27.99 a person. A la carte is also available.

🇨🇺 Casta's Rum Bar opened last week at 700 E. Main St. in the former Belle/Belle & James space downtown.

• It's the sister location of the award-winning D.C. restaurant and serves Cuban fare and rum drinks for dinner nightly, plus Sunday brunch.

☕️ Buna Kurs Ethiopian Cafe is now open at 402 1/2 N. Second St. in Jackson Ward serving Ethiopian eats and coffee for breakfast and lunch Tuesday-Sunday, Richmond Magazine reports.

🍾 Happy Hour is back at Longoven — the award-winning, fine dining Scott's Addition restaurant — every Thursday from 5-7pm.

• Walk-in seating is available at the bar or on the patio, and food and drink specials include $8 cocktails, $10 appetizers — like guinea hen wings — and half-off half-bottles of champagne.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show that Happy Hour at Longoven is on Thursdays from 5-7pm, not 4-7pm.