Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, cloudy, and there’s a good chance of thunderstorms throughout the day. If we’re being honest, there’s a good chance of thunderstorms for the foreseeable future.

Water cooler

On Monday, a police officer shot and killed an unarmed, naked man, Marcus-David L. Peters, 24, near the I-95 northbound on-ramp from Chamberlayne Avenue. In a press release, Police Chief Durham said, “Our officers do not take the use of deadly force lightly. I think it’s important to remember that being naked does not remove a threat. So far, the eyewitness accounts we’ve heard have been consistent: our officer tried using verbal commands, then used non-lethal force first by deploying his Taser before using his service weapon.”

I was not there and am not in anyway knowledgeable about police procedures, but I’d hope there are at least a few steps between deploying a taser and killing a person.

Photo by: cpjRVA

Good morning, RVA! It’s 67 °F, and today we’ve got highs in the 90s, some winds, and maybe a chance for some rain here or there. The forecast for the next couple of days looks pretty wet, so if you need to spend some time outside, do it today!

Water cooler

City Council met last night and passed the FY2019–2020 biennial budget, and with the Mayor’s approval, thus ends the 2018 budget season. Highlights of this year’s budget include: $150 million via the new meals tax to pay for school construction, new afterschool programs, extended hours at some Parks & Rec facilities, a $1,000,000 contribution to the affordable housing trust fund, paid maternity leave for City employees, and pay increases for City employees. Lowlights include: No new revenue from a cigarette tax, the decision to rebate credit card processing fees on the entirety of the meals tax at the cost of $1.4 million annually, stealing $3 million from the Percent for Arts fund, no dedicated funding for Vision Zero work, and whatever all those embarrassing shenanigans were over CIP amendments. Now everyone can take a hot second to catch their breath before they start lobbying in the fall for whatever changes they’d like to see pass during next year’s budget season. It never ends!

Photo by: JOzPhotography

Good morning, RVA! It’s 64 °F, and this past weekend’s hot weather will stick around today bringing highs around 90 °F. Stay vigilant this afternoon, as there’s a chance for thunderstorms.

Water cooler

Police are reporting two homicides that took place this past Friday. Early Friday morning, officers were called to the 3100 block of Avlis Avenue and found Russell J. Long, 22, shot to death. Then, later that evening, Richmond Police were called to the 2500 block of Peter Paul Boulevard where they found Desiree S. Fletcher, 21, also shot to death.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 61 °F, and today we’ve got highs in the upper 80s on tap. This weekend, temperatures shoot up into the 90s, so please remember to stay hydrated.

Water cooler

Michael Paul Williams takes the time today to explain how to work the floating parking next to the almost-completed Franklin Street Cycle Track (aka two-way bike lane). It’s pretty simple: Just don’t park in the bike lane. The big news for me, though: The City plans to open our newest piece of bike infrastructure next Friday! There is so. much. cool. stuff. coming online this year that I kind of can’t contain myself. We’ve got the Pulse, the redesign of the bus network, the Franklin Street Cycle Track, a second phase of bike share, and the fancied-up Monroe Park. 2018!

If my calculations are correct, today is RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras’s 100th day on the job. He had a pretty intense 100-day plan (PDF), and while I don’t know if he knocked each item out, I do know that he definitely checked off a bunch of them. Here’s just a few that I’m aware of: Visited every RPS schools, held nine district town halls, launched the RPS Direct email newsletter, launched a teacher recruitment campaign, launched a The New Jim Crow book study, walked the Richmond Slave Trail, launched a strategic planning process, engaged the Council of Great City Schools to conduct a budget audit, and launched the RPS Shines staff recognition program. Like I said, I have no idea if he knocked out all 30 items in his plan, but he seems like the kind of guy who will let us know either way over on his twitter.

Photo by: sandy's dad

Good morning, RVA! It’s 60 °F, and, other than a chance for some evening thunderstorms, we’ve got another banger queued up. Expect highs near 90 °F today!

Water cooler

We’ve talked a lot about affordable housing in the past couple of months—and we should talk about it more. For example, something I didn’t say earlier this week that I should have: That Carytown Exchange development is the perfect spot to increase the height of the buildings fronting W. Cary Street and include housing. While we’ve got to take every opportunity we can to encourage private developers to build more housing, we also need to use City-owned resources to unabashedly build affordable housing whenever possible. This tweet from Councilmember Addison expressing support for Seattle’s 80–80–80 policy would be a great step in that direction. You can read more about 80–80–80, but the quick and dirty is that Seattle’s transit authority must “offer 80 percent of suitable surplus property to affordable housing developers that make at least 80 percent of units on site affordable to people earning 80 percent or less of area median income (AMI).” GRTC, unfortunately, doesn’t own a ton of land, but other departments in the city do. A policy like this directed at City-owned land and coupled with other affordable housing strategies like the affordable housing trust fund and the land bank, as the Addison mentions, would be excellent. It’d certainly be stronger than existing the 10% affordable units resolution (RES. 2017-R086) that’s been treading water in committee for months.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 53 °F, and highs in the 80s mean another beautiful day ahead of you.

Water cooler

Yesterday, I wrote about Councilwoman Grey’s proposed Scott’s Addition bike and pedestrian path and how, in her own words, the “number one goal is to have a walkable, bikeable space.” Today, unfortunately, there’s this piece in the Richmond Times-Dispatch by Mark Robinson about a press conference she held in opposition to a bus stop and part of the new bus network redesign. The redesign, which you can check out on this sweet-looking new system map (PDF), sends two hourly routes and one 30-minute route past a single block of Grace Street. Setting aside all the classic reasons folks use to argue for removing bus stops and service from their neighborhoods (my favorite is that 60 buses per day is a lot of buses—I live in a spot that sees 70 buses per day and when you miss your bus it is an interminable amount of time until the next one shows up), I do think it’s important to remember, in bold lettering, that City Council does not have the authority to alter bus stops or routes. This has been true since July 22nd, 2013 when Council adopted ORD. 2013–144 (PDF). You can imagine a million and one scenarios where having Council in charge of bus stops is bad news bears, but, specifically, allowing folks with access, privilege, and political power to circumvent good transit policy for what usually boils down to NIMBY concerns is really, really dangerous. GRTC can’t design a useful, city-wide public transportation system—something critical to the life of our city—if a single block of homeowners can disrupt the entire thing. Anyway, as for this particular situation, it sounds like GRTC has a couple of tweaks they’re looking at and will pass them through their regular, non-political process at some point after the launch of the new system on June 24th.

Patron Matthew alerted me to this list of public outreach opportunities Richmond Public Schools has posted as part of their process to rename J.E.B. Stuart Elementary School. In addition to some public meetings, the first of which is tonight at J.E.B. Stuart Elementary from 6:00 – 8:00 PM, there’s a form for you to suggest new names for the school. Like…just a wide-open box into which you can type whatever you want, anything at all. I feel bad for the person who’s responsibility it will be to cull and collate those responses. P.S. Patron Matthew posted this in the Good Morning, RVA Slack, which is open to all patrons!

Good morning, RVA! It’s 56 °F, and today looks like another excellent day with highs in the upper 70s. There’s a small, small chance of rain this afternoon, so be aware (but not too aware).

Water cooler

Justin Mattingly tells the tale of the Richmond Public Schools’ Joint Construction Team, which the RPS School Board approved last night with a 5–2 vote. It’s a confusing tale about whose responsibility it is to build new schools, and its one I’m not sure I have too strong an opinion on. Michael Paul Williams thinks that responsibility lies with the School Board, saying “It stands to reason that educators should be best-equipped to oversee the design and building of education spaces.” I dunno, that kind of thinking reminds me of the time Homer Simpson designed a car for the average American. And then, when School Board Member Young starts talking about school buildings designed for “a radical new approach to education,” I remember my high school: Built in the 70s and designed with open classrooms that all had to be retrofitted with partitions because it turns out walls are important. Superintendent Kamras says it best, I think, “We are and education system, not a construction company.”

After reading that New York Times piece about eviction rates in Richmond, state lawmakers and housing experts are getting together to see how they can help (journalism at work!). Graham Moomaw from the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the details, and you should read this piece for the great Laura Lafayette quotes! P.S. I’m still waiting for someone at the City to just go ahead and install some dang lockers at the John Marshall Courts Building. Just do this thing and make a bunch of folks’ lives better!

Good morning, RVA! It’s 58 °F, and today looks beautiful with highs in the mid 70s and a few clouds in the sky. Great weather continues throughout the week!

Water cooler

Mark Robinson has written up a nice recap of this year’s budget season and begins with this excellent sentence: “After 40 hours of deliberations spanning six weeks, the Richmond City Council did not make a single cut to the $715.3 million general fund budget Mayor Levar Stoney proposed in March.” I’m not trying to suggest that Council’s success should be measured by how much their budget differs from the Mayor’s (I’d disagree with that sentiment a lot), but there was sooooo much consternation among Council over what to add, what to cut, and how to balance. To end up cutting nothing at all seems entirely anticlimactic and makes me feel exhausted—and all I did was listen to their meetings! Robinson also does a good job at explaining the Capital Improvement Program shenanigans that, in my opinion, did some lasting damage to Council and the Mayor’s Administration’s working relationship. I hope they get over it quickly, because the Education Compact team has two meetings coming up this month, and I’d love for everyone to head into to those meetings ready to work—not nursing budget-related wounds. Throughout the season, school facilities and maintenance funding have remained the biggest tension point, and I still believe that only by interacting with each other like regular humans can School Board, City Council, and the Mayor come up with a path forward on schools. The Education Compact provides them the opportunity to do just that.

Speaking of the Education Compact and the path forward for schools, Jesse Perry at RVA Dirt has done a heckuva a job pulling together a master list of schools-related PDFs. There’s audits dating back to 2007, facilities plans going back to 2002, and strategic plans from eight years ago. You better believe I have stored this page away in my Database of PDFs. I don’t agree with her on everything, but I’m with Perry on this: After a decade, Council’s constant requests for more audits, more studies, and more plans seem like a way to deflect, defer, and delay progress rather than to move forward on schools.

Photo by: sandy's dad

Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and it’s another day with highs in the 90s. Temperatures should drop about 20 degrees over the weekend, though!

Water cooler

Richmond Police are reporting a murder that took place on Wednesday morning at the 2000 block of Creighton Road. Police arrived at the scene and found Lorenzo L. Dinkins, 26, shot to death.

Photo by: sandy's dad

Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and it’s another day with highs in the 90s. Temperatures should drop about 20 degrees over the weekend, though!

Water cooler

Richmond Police are reporting a murder that took place on Wednesday morning at the 2000 block of Creighton Road. Police arrived at the scene and found Lorenzo L. Dinkins, 26, shot to death.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and highs today are again back in the 90s. We’ve got about another day of this wonderfully warm weather until things cool off this weekend.

Water cooler

My friend Daniel Farrell died yesterday. I’m extremely grateful to have known him and for the impact he had on my life—without Daniel there would be no Good Morning, RVA and no RVANew before that. Looking back, so much of what I do with my life now was built on his brilliant mind and exceptional generosity. Early on, I can remember many, many times texting him during a technology emergency, “Hey! Uh…no big deal, but the website is down again, and I don’t know what to do.” He would always drop whatever he was working on and cheerfully get things back on track. And then, later, I can remember many, many times asking for his advice on what an independent local news business should look like in Richmond. He always had thoughtful, opinionated things to say. I remember his hugs—he was a good hugger but very tall and I had to stand on my tiptoes. I remember tailgating a Hokie football game with him in D.C. and drinking too many beers as we walked to the stadium. I remember his laugh. He had a great smile. I just remember him being such a good person—like, truly, amazingly good. That’s such a rare thing, and I will miss him very much.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 61 °F, and, what the heck, today’s highs will zoom up into the 90s? Joey Lawrence Whoa! Expect these highs to continue right on through to the weekend.

Water cooler

Richmond Police are reporting an 80-year-old man, Johnny R. Battle, was murdered on Saturday afternoon near the intersection of Hull Street and E. 32nd Street.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 61 °F, and, what the heck, today’s highs will zoom up into the 90s? Joey Lawrence Whoa! Expect these highs to continue right on through to the weekend.

Water cooler

Richmond Police are reporting an 80-year-old man, Johnny R. Battle, was murdered on Saturday afternoon near the intersection of Hull Street and E. 32nd Street.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 51 °F, and highs today are in the 80s! Yesssss!

Water cooler

Massive news broke, like, twenty minutes after I sent yesterday’s email: The Pulse, and the accompanying system-wide route changes, will go live on June 24th! That means just 53 more days until dedicated bus lanes, a plethora of newly frequent bus routes, and even a new mobile payment app which will launch the same day as all this other stuff (talk about a stressful day down at the GRTC offices). If you wait 54 days—because Henrico does not have Sunday service…yet!—you get a new route to the airport and 30-minute service down Broad Street from Willow Lawn to Pemberton. I can’t get over that IT’S REALLY HAPPENING feeling.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 51 °F, and highs today are in the 80s! Yesssss!

Water cooler

Massive news broke, like, twenty minutes after I sent yesterday’s email: The Pulse, and the accompanying system-wide route changes, will go live on June 24th! That means just 53 more days until dedicated bus lanes, a plethora of newly frequent bus routes, and even a new mobile payment app which will launch the same day as all this other stuff (talk about a stressful day down at the GRTC offices). If you wait 54 days—because Henrico does not have Sunday service…yet!—you get a new route to the airport and 30-minute service down Broad Street from Willow Lawn to Pemberton. I can’t get over that IT’S REALLY HAPPENING feeling.

Photo by: sandy’s dad

Good morning, RVA! It’s 49 °F, and the highs today will barely reach 60 °F—that’s fall weather right there. Feel free to wear your layers, socks, and fun jackets!

Water cooler

Henrico officials hosted a community meeting at Short Pump Middle School last night to discuss the racial and sexual abuse that took place in the school’s locker room. 400 folks attended the meeting, the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Michael O’Connor reports, and it sounds like the members of the school community want the district to take further action. Additionally, Henrico’s Commonwealth’s Attorney has gotten involved, which certainly speaks to the seriousness of the situation. WTVR has a bit more on parent reactions and a timeline of what happened after the school discovered the video. Related, I’m interested in why most of the local news has landed on phrases like “the boys who simulated sex acts against black players” to describe the situation. If the victims were girls would we not just say “sexual abuse/harassment?” This is your regular reminder that words are important.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 51 °F, and there was a chance of rain while you were in bed. Now there’s just a chance for a ton of clouds and highs in the upper 60s. Look out for tomorrow, though: Temperatures back up near 90 °F.

Water cooler

Ali Rockett at the RTD has a recap of the Richmond Police Department’s first of four town hall meetings. Chief Durham and folks in attendance raised concerns about violent crime in the city, particularly in Mosby Court. Two tangentially related thoughts: 1) The physical geography of Mosby Court isolates it from the rest of the city. Take a look at it on a map, and see how institutions, major thoroughfares, and topography box the neighborhood in. 2) The Parks Department made some great points during Council’s budget work session about how funding their programming can help reduce violence in the city. Missing from the RTD’s coverage is this quote, which WTVR runs as the headline, “We have a problem with firearms in this city.” The town hall meetings continue today, April 25th, and April 27th.

Big, giant bus news, y’all: GRTC has released an updated map of the coming changes to the bus system (PDF). An lo! The new route numbers are awesome and cleverly chosen! The super-frequent, 15-minute routes are all single-digit numbers, the 30-minute routes are two-digits, and the hourly routes are numbers greater than 60. Additionally, if a route eventually branches into several, less-frequent routes (say, the #1 for example), you end up with the #1a, #1b, and #1c. Super simple! I’m (unnecessarily?) excited about these new numbers; good numbering is part of a transit system’s legibility and is important for spontaneous trips and new riders. Great work, GRTC. P.S. You can find a ton more maps—including proposed stop locations—on GRTC’s website.

Photo by: mandolux

Good morning, RVA! It’s 42 °F, and the warmening continues! Highs today will almost reach 60 °F—on the second day of winter, even. It’s certainly not an all-time high, but it’s warm enough to make you go 🤔.

Water cooler

Yesterday, North Carolina republican lawmakers failed to repeal their discriminatory bathroom law while also forcing the city of Charlotte to weaken its anti-discrimination laws. Some background. Earlier this week, the city of Charlotte and the state struck a deal: The city would repeal Ordinance 7056 (which set off this whole thing and led to the state passing HB2), and then the state would repeal HB2. So Charlotte repealed the parts of 7056 dealing with bathrooms but not the parts “that prohibited the city from hiring contractors who discriminated against their subcontractors based on sexual orientation and gender identity.” This enraged state-level republicans who threatened to walk away from the whole deal. But even when Charlotte repealed the entire law—and let’s be clear: this now allows the city to hire contractors who discrimate against LGBTQ folks—the state failed to repeal HB2. You can read through the whole garbagey sequence in this piece at the Charlotte Observer. What a disgusting turn of events, and, I hope, an important lesson: Cities are the last line of defense and should absolutely not bargain away protections for those among us who need it! As John Sarvay said on Twitter, “it will be up to local government to maintain the integrity of our national compact.” And its up to local activists and organizers, too. What happened in North Carolina yesterday shows that these things can move incredibly fast and citizens need to be ready and organized now.

Photo by @d.clearview

It was a simply gorgeous day in RVA.

Photo by @rockstockphotography

It was a Little Shop day in RVA.

804ork Vol. 2: Back for Seconds

It's here: The second volume of the wildly popular 804ork cookbook! Within it's beautifully designed pages you'll find the secrets to making some of your favorite food from some of your favorite local restaurants. Maybe after reading it you'll be inspired to train for years, risk everything on opening a restaurant, and then get featured in 804ork Vol. 6: The Undiscovered Country Ham.

Pick up a copy now!

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