🏠 Good morning, RVA: Emergency shelters, elections, and krampuses

Good morning, RVA! It’s 34 °F, and today we’ve got highs in the mid 50s along with a chance of rain later in the afternoon. I’m bummed about this rain situation, which continues for the next couple of days, because, although our poor plants probably need the soaking, temperatures will hang around in the mid 60s for the entire weekend. That’s get out and go weather! I’m not trying to stay stuck in side watching the rain fall! Fingers crossed for long stretches of dry, beautiful weather until Monday 🤞.
 

Water cooler

Lyndon German and Megan Moore at VPM report that, starting today, two new emergency shelters will open in Richmond, adding 200 beds for people experiencing homelessness in the city. The first, on Chamberlayne Avenue and operated by the Salvation Army, has a 150-bed capacity and will “open through April 15, 2024 with potential for extended year-round services.” The other, on Second Street in Monroe Ward, will operate year-round. This is good stuff and a long time coming. All told, the region’s homelessness providers work with over 1,000 people each and every day, so I’m glad neither of these shelters ended up derailed by Typical NIMBY Activity.
 

Also at VPM, Ben Paviour reports on Governor Youngkin using the regulation approval process to slow-walk legislation passed in 2020 that would help keep cops accountable. According to Paviour, the new law—which went into effect way back in 2021—says officers would “be fired if they didn’t follow to-be-determined statewide standards…But the regulation — and several others related to law enforcement training and accountability — has spent the last 465 days under review of Youngkin’s secretary of public safety, Terrance Cole, even though law required the standards to be passed within 280 days of the law going into effect.” Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell says the Governor’s administration is violating state law, while the Governor’s spokesperson “did not answer specific questions about the delay.”
 

I guess this is news, but news we already knew: Michael Martz at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that both Mayor Stoney and Rep. Spanberger have now officially filed their gubernatorial paperwork. We live in Virginia, where every year is an election year, but, still, this particular election is 704 days away, and in between now and then we have extremely consequential presidential, mayoral, council, and school board elections! Sure, gubernatorial elections are important—as the last two years clearly illustrate—but, for now, I’d rather focus on the upcoming local elections. I predict they will quickly become the focus of this newsletter in 2024 (right after budget season wraps up!).
 

Whoa, Jack Jacobs at Richmond BizSense has unexpected news: Kline’s Dairy Bar, a place all of my Shenandoah people tell me to go whenever I’m out that way, will open up a location in Chesterfield County. I will never say no to more locally owned ice cream places!
 

Richard Hayes at RVAHub reminds me that this weekend is full of holiday events, but, specifically, it’s full of horrifying Krampuses. Tap through for a full list of Krampusnacht events—spanning multiple days!—plus a handful of excellently terrifying Krampus pictures. If you’re more into holly-and-jolly events, maybe check out the Christmas Parade instead. P.S. The aforementioned parade will disrupt bus routes 1, 2, 3, 14, 20, 50, 76, 77, 78, and 87 for from 5:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Saturday. Beware!
 

This morning’s longread

A New Way to Inspire People to Get a COVID Vaccine

Here’s a quick read about a science-based way to talk to people about staying up-to-date with their COVID-19 vaccines. It’s all about making it as easy and positive as possible in the moment. I think we could apply this strategy to all sorts of boring-but-good tasks!
 

Finally, and closely related to the previous point, if a person gets motivated, seize the chance. Their motivation is likely to be short-lived. It is critical to have a shot available the instant a person becomes interested in one. Imagine a conversation with grandma that puts all these factors together. Next time you see her, remind her about all the positives of being up-to-date on COVID vaccinations, such as more confidence that seeing her grandkids won’t send her to the hospital. At the same time you can tell grandma that she is eligible to get the updated shot right now. Finally—and this is key—if she says OK, take her to get her shot right then. This fall will require an all-hands-on-deck community approach to vaccinations.
 

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Picture of the Day

Image generated by Stable Diffusion with the prompt “krampus wearing a VCU basketball jersey doing his Christmas shopping on Main Street in a small town.”