👖 Good morning, RVA: 354↘️ • 0↘️; getting rid of silos; and goodbye Need

Good morning, RVA! It’s 75 °F, and today looks hot and humid. Back when we still sat next to people at things, this was the time of year where I did my part to normalize showing up at meetings sweaty and smelly from riding a bike.

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 354↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 0↘️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 27↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 11, Henrico: 4, and Richmond: 12). Since this pandemic began, 241 people have died in the Richmond region. Alert! Most likely these numbers are garbage, and you shouldn’t pay too much attention to them. A holiday weekend probably means low reporting—in fact, some states just didn’t report at all—which then means spikier data over the next couple of days. So take today’s numbers with a grain of salt, too.

I didn’t get a chance (yet) to listen to yesterday’s meeting of Council’s Organizational Development committee, which includes all nine Council members. The video, is, however, online for those of us that are willing to spend 90 minutes of their lives listening to this sort of thing. Given some the comments that flew by, it sounds like at least parts of it were interesting / entertaining. Coming out of that meeting, 5th District Councilmember Lynch put together a good thread about the police reform legislation currently floating around on Council’s agenda. You can see all of it over on the GMRVA Ordinance Tracker, and I’ve tagged the applicable cards with “Police reform.” Because of how our system of local government works, a lot of these papers are resolutions that boil down to City Council asking the Mayor’s administration to do a thing (i.e. create reports on asset forfeiture and the Richmond Police Department’s budget, set up a Marcus Alert work group, get the police to stop using chemical weapons). Remember: City Council can pass laws (ordinances) and it can ask the Mayor in a non-binding way to change his administration’s policies (resolutions). For meaningful police reform, we’ll need both the City Council and the Mayor to get on the same page, pulling in the same direction.

Related to the weird structure of our local government, the Mayor said a thing at yesterday’s COVID-19 presser that I wish he’d say more often: “Though I do not have the power to declare an eviction moratorium in Richmond, what we can do is provide direct support to the residents who need that support the most.” When it comes down to it, the Mayor’s authority, in a lot of ways, is pretty limited. Which is why using the office’s bully pulpit—and saying things outloud—needs to be a frequently-used tool in the toolbox. P.S. If you’re facing eviction or need financial help to stay in your home, check out this list of resources on the City’s website.

Whoa: Mike Platania at Richmond BizSense says that a developer is looking to raze the Southern States silos on the southern side of the river in favor of some sort of mixed-use development. I’m sure getting rid of the silos will make some folks mad, but, I dunno? They’re big, ugly, vacant structures sitting directly on the riverfront? Some of Richmond’s Riverfront Plan (PDF) does involve trails and connections around that property, and we should take care to maintain or even accelerate implementation of those.

Also from Richmond BizSense, Jack Jacob has the news that Need Supply Co. will “wind-down its business and operations in an orderly fashion.” I know Need is not the same place that I bought old jeans from when I was in high school in the 90s, but, dang, it’s weird for me to imagine a Carytown without it. Do high school kids in the 20s even hang out at Carytown anymore? Anyway, Jacobs also says Carytown is going through a “shakeup of the neighborhood brought on by the pandemic and other factors.” I think that’s mostly true given the inside dining and retail focus of the district. Here’s a thought: There has never been a better time to close that street to car traffic and give shops and restaurants more space to safely attract more customers.

Do you want to see who in Virginia got federal Paycheck Protection Program loans? John Reid Blackwell at the Richmond Times-Dispatch breaks down the regional data, which I could not get to download from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s website for whatever reason. Blackwell says over 2,300 local businesses got PPP money, and if you scroll down in that piece you’ll see a list of the largest loans. Is that a lot? Is it…good? I have no idea, but I guess it’s interesting? The RTD also put together a table of those Richmond region businesses that you can cmd+F through, if, like me, you can’t tap on the Treasury’s .CSV file.

I thought these overhead drone photos of the Lee statues and the newly-added context filtered by color were pretty incredible. What a cool idea, and you can snatch up a print for $25 on the aforelinked website.

The Richmond City Health District will host a community COVID-19 testing event today at Diversity Thrift (1407 Sherwood Avenue) from 9:00–11:00 AM. You need to call 804.205.3501 to make a reservation. This is late notice, and I apologize! If you need a test and can’t make it today, the health district folks will also be out at the Powhatan Community Center (5051 Northampton Street) on Thursday, July 9th. Honestly, if you need a test and aren’t sure what to do, give that hotline a call regardless.

Finally, I want to say thank you to everyone who signed up for the Good Morning, RVA patreon yesterday or increased their existing patronage. I am absolutely overwhelmed with all of the good vibes and feel affirmed in my decision to take this thing to the next level. One small logistical note: If you are a new or existing patron and did not get an invite to the GMRVA Slack, please shoot me an email and we’ll get that figured out.

This morning’s longread

How the World’s Most Venomous Fish Convinced Me to Stop Working Myself to Death

Nothing brings your life into focus like stepping on a deadly fish while surfing.

But as the wave petered out and my board skimmed to a standstill in the shallows, I jumped into the water and landed, heel first, on something that felt like a staple gun. I would have mistaken the pain for a run-in with a jagged patch of reef, only it seemed to be getting worse by the second. I stopped paddling, sat up on my board and pulled my tingling foot in close to my face, like you see baboons do in nature documentaries. My foot looked like a foot, and I couldn’t figure out what had happened. Then I saw Zac screaming my name and power paddling toward me. What did he know that I didn’t? He wrapped his arm around my waist and snatched my ankle from my hands. “OK, listen to me,” he said. I’d never seen him look stern before. He squeezed my heel and a little stream of blood trickled from a tiny red dot under my foot. “Yep, that’s what I thought; you’ve stepped on a stonefish, man.”

If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.

This morning’s Instagram