👋 Good morning, RVA: Thank you!, COVID-19 levels are HIGH, and a framework for capping a highway

Good morning, RVA! It’s 71 °F, and summer weather has fully returned. Today you can expect highs in the 90s, a decent amount of humidity, and a gusty afternoon—we should avoid any suddenly downpours, though. Looks like a mixed bag of hot and rainy over the long weekend, but I’m sure you’ll find time to get out and enjoy it when you can.
 

Water cooler

Hello and welcome to the final day of the Good Morning, RVA member drive! I don’t have much to say, other than 79 folks decided to either join the GMRVA patreon or up their existing monthly donation. That’s wild! I (you? we?) far exceeded my $200 goal—probably by greater than 50%, but I lost track of the math in my inbox and can’t figure out how to pull that report from Patreon. Regardless, y’all are amazing, and I am very thankful. I’m about to head out on vacation (see logistical note below), and I do want to take some of that time to rethink how my Patreon works—I’ve had a couple of patron-only ideas kicking around for awhile. No promise though, because I could just end up spending 100% of every day riding bikes and watching horror films! Anyway if you’ve got fun ideas for patrons, just reply to this email and let me know, and, of course, if you’d like to become a GMRVA patron, you can do so at patreon.com/gmrva. Thanks, y’all.
 

Welp, after what looked like a potential downward trend in the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, the CDC COVID-19 Community Level is back up to high in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield. The 7-day average number of cases per 100,000 people in each jurisdiction is, respectively: 256, 258, and 245. The 7-day average of new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people is 11.4. Big sigh. Remember: You should be wearing a mask in all indoor public spaces, regardless of your vaccination status. Double remember: Everyone you know that is older than a 6-month-old baby is eligible for some sort of COVID-19 vaccine, and, most likely, some sort of booster. The vaccine is still the best and easiest way to protect yourself and others from a summertime trip to the hospital, so if you or anyone you love is missing a dose or two, get that fixed over the long weekend.
 

You’re going to want to flip through the presentation from this past week’s Reconnect Jackson Ward Feasibility Study meeting. I’m still processing some of the suggestions, but it definitely made me feel unexpected emotions to see Sixth Mount Zion Church no longer perched on the edge of the highway that they had to fight just to save their worship space. As I scroll through this PDF, I’m trying not to get too stoked on it—especially the “large connection” option, which is totally rad—because who knows what will come of this process! Highway caps are not cheap (with the “large” option here costing close to half a billion dollars), and to find the money to make any of it happen, the City and State will have to apply for federal grants later this fall. Sounds complicated, and, for now, I’m just happy to save this PDF to my library.
 

It’s July 1st, and, in Virginia, that means we typically have a bunch of new laws go into effect. The Virginia Public Access Project lists out 29 of the more interesting bills that, as of today, are now laws. You’re probably aware of most of these, but a few new-to-me entries: HB927 requires absentee ballots to be reported by precinct, which will be super helpful assuming Virginia continues to offer vote-by-mail; SB96 bans the phrase “Virginia is for bettors,” which, amazing; and SB8 permits hunting on Sundays as long as you’re more than 200 yards from a place of worship.
 

Remember Andrew Wheeler? The Trump-era EPA guy who hates the environment that Governor Youngkin wanted as his secretary of Natural and Historic Resources? Remember how I said that even though the Governor had to withdraw Wheeler’s nomination for that position he’d still float around the administration’s brainspace? Well, yesterday, Governor Youngkin created a new Office of Regulatory Management and set the very same Andrew Wheeler at its head. The new office is tasked with the lazy and vague goal of “reducing 25% of Virginia’s regulatory burdens.”
 

Here’s a wholesome thread, via /r/rva: Where are the best places in the region to take a young railfan-in-training to trainspot?
 

Logistical note! Tomorrow I leave for a two-week Hilton Head vacation. That means a two-week vacation from my problems and also a two-week vacation from Good Morning, RVA. I always look forward to this break from my familiar (and sometimes monotonous) early-morning routine, but, by the end of the fortnight, I always look forward to settling back into it. So, with that, you’ll hear from me again on July 18th! P.S. If something amazing / incredible / devastating happens will you let me know?
 

This morning’s longread

Your State Will Not Save You

Not since the week of Trump’s Muslim ban have I felt so helpless and rudderless about what to do as American norms crumble around us. I’m disappointed that our elected Democratic leadership—at almost every level—has still, still!, not come forward with a plan to protect people’s rights and bodies. This edition of Anne Helen Petersen’s newsletter will not make you feel better about that lack of leadership, but it will help you start thinking about getting involved at a tangible, local level.
 

This is not a new framework, but is an incredibly powerful one. I have already committed to a recurring donation to the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, because that will help provide immediate material resources for people seeking abortions where I live and where I grew up. But I am also committed to figuring out how to actually get organized here in the larger Seattle and upper Pacific Northwest community, whatever that might mean. In the subscriber Discord, we are using the local threads to post resources, but I also know that not everyone wants or is willing to hang out in Discord. So I want to encourage everyone reading this newsletter to figure out what getting organized — not just mobilized, or enraged — looks like in your community. And if you’re willing, post those local resources in the comments, so others in your area can take that lead as well.
 

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

Picture of the Day

Project “Plant Native Plants In The Swamp Next To The Air Conditioner” is going exceedingly well.