Firefighters suspect arson in the August 16th fire that destroyed the vert ramp at Mount Trashmore – Virginia Beach. Looks like the Street Vs. Tranny battle has gotten out of hand. This long time landmark in skating has been rebuilt before. Hopefully it will rise from the ashes and the guilty party will hang from the deck. These things are usually the result of disgruntled park users who get kicked out, be they BMX riders who aren’t allowed or just troublemakers. Cold War bigwig Steve Grover is just weeks away from a vacation in Virginia Beach. Could this be his wife’s way of making sure he spends time with the family? Did someone forget to keep the damn racoons out my truck? Good news is that at least the big vert ramp came away unscathed and the park will remain open, forcing kids to learn how to drop in. Get the scoop from News Channel 3. More links and pictures after the jump.

In today’s Oregonian there is an article on yesterday’s casting call for the new Gus Van Sant film Paranoid Park. Has anyone seen Wassup Rockers? Kids left a bad taste in my mouth so I avoided Whassup Rockers like the plague. Even though the Wassup PR people kept sending us crap and Chad Muska and Roger Ebert both gave it a thumbs up, it seemed like it had the potential to be another creepy exploitive movie. Paranoid Park involves some young skaters and an incident at a local skatepark where some rough kids hang out. Guess which park they are filming at?

After the initial excitement died down over the figure eight with a metal full pipe crossover being built by Grindline in Dillon MT, some people began to speculate about the feasability of placing concrete over a metal full pipe. Basically, the thought was that the pipe would be too flexible and cause premature cracking, possibly falling apart. Set your fears aside because it looks like there is already one case where it has worked. The public skatepark in Lancaster County PA has a “unique pipe, which is a marriage of half-inch-thick steel over shotcrete, is the only one of its kind in the United States.” So there you have it.

Not much going on there lately. Check out some pics that Mark Conahan took from a vantage point I was too lazy to investigate. Leave to Mr. artsy-fartsy.

This is going to be everywhere soon. As near as I can tell, Grindline is building a figure 8 snake run style skatepark in Dillon Montana. Instead of the jump over the middle there is a full pipe. Sure, Dreamland’s park in Hailey is close to the same, but this one is scaled down and geared more towards being able to transverse the park in any direction. Park slalom anyone?

Grindline via Earth Patrol Media

More pics of St. Johns Pier Park in progress. We sort of busted some kids sneaking into the park to skate. gave them a friendly lecture and tried not to sound like old men. These pics are a couple weeks old but not much else has been done in the meantime, at least not to a casual observer. Click the pic or this link to go to see more. Mark has a couple nicer ones here.