Good morning, RVA! It’s 75 °F, and you can expect “cooler” temperatures today. We’ll still see the hot and humid 90s, just the low 90s instead of the high 90s.

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 922↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 13↘️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 127↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 30, Henrico: 65, and Richmond: 32). Since this pandemic began, 281 people have died in the Richmond region. A couple things to note this morning! First, the outage or backlog or whatever at VDH did seem to cause a one-time increase in new coronavirus case counts, and today’s new COVID-19 case numbers are back under 1,000. Second, faced with a worsening situation in the 757, the Governor tweaked Phase Three (as predicted) for just a handful of localities in the Eastern Region of the state: Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Williamsburg, Newport News, Poquoson, James City County, and York County. In those localities, on-site alcohol sales will end at 10:00 PM, all dining establishments must close by 12:00 AM, indoor dining will be limited to 50% of capacity, and gatherings over 50 people will be prohibited. The new restrictions will remain in place for at least a couple of weeks, an entire COVID-19 incubation period. Third, a GMRVA Patron reminded me of this VDH form to report violations of the Governor’s executive order requiring folks to wear masks inside of buildings. Wearing a mask is not a joke, and, in fact, it is required by the dang Governor while inside.

RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras says teachers will not be virtually teaching from their classrooms this coming school year. While this is exactly what Chesterfield Public Schools have required—that teachers show up for work each and every day with students staying home—I didn’t know that it was something teachers in Richmond wanted. Kamras says opening the buildings to teachers would open the buildings to additional staff, additional cleaning costs, and, most importantly, the coronavirus itself—which is exactly the point of keeping all learning virtual for the foreseeable future.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 77 °F, and, wow, big surprise, we’re headed into another day with temperatures in the upper 90s and lots of humidity. Enjoy!

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 958↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 3↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 74↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 28, Henrico: 29, and Richmond: 17). Since this pandemic began, 280 people have died in the Richmond region. I’m interested to hear what the Governor will have to say this week and what actions he may take as the Commonwealth continues to see about 1,000 new coronavirus cases each day. On Saturday, he said “We will be watching the public health data closely over the weekend—if the numbers don’t come down, we may have to take additional steps to blunt the spread of this virus.” The numbers, particularly in Eastern Virginia, do not look to have appreciably come down. I still think that he’ll be extremely hesitant to move even a single region fully back to Phase Two, and, if I were to guess, I’d say he’ll modify Phase Three in some of the most impacted regions by re-banning indoor dining and reducing the number of people allowed at public gatherings. Kate Masters at the Virginia Mercury has the details on the statewide picture. I guess we’ll learn more today or tomorrow, and, until then, make sure you stay home if you can, mask up and keep your distance if you cannot.

This past weekend saw two nights of protests return to the streets of downtown Richmond and VCU-adjacent parts of the Fan. I don’t want to speak for any of the folks involved, but the vibe on Saturday was weird and different. Literal White Supremacists with assault rifles led the march for a portion of the night, I saw video of an angry white man shoot his gun into the street to intimidate someone (content warning: n-word), police again used chemical weapons on crowds, and members of the press were manhandled by the Richmond Police Department. You should read the recap in the Richmond Times-Dispatch by Sabrina Moreno and Ali Sullivan as Moreno was one of the reporters thrown to the ground by police. As Saturday night’s crowd made its way through the City, protestors shattered dozens of windows along Grace Street causing, according to VCU President Rao, over $100,000 of damage. Sunday night was, again, weird and different. After the previous night of property damage and scary gun violence, to an outside observer it felt like the RPD were much more on edge. Police harassed, detained, or arrested four people who have been involved in covering the protests for the last 60 days. The Commonwealth Times’s Eduardo Acevedo was harassed despite loudly and prominently showing his press pass. The CT’s Andrew Ringle was detained and handcuffed. @GoadGatsby—who, while not press, has provided the most consistent coverage of the last 60 days—was arrested and released. And @socialistdogmom—also not officially press but has covered recent events in Richmond and has a long history of covering city government in Charlottesville—was arrested and, at least as of this moment, has not yet been released. As you can imagine, I feel very protective of folks who are not quite press but still fill important roles in helping people stay informed about what’s going on in their city. With City Council set to vote on some of the police-reform legislation tonight (more on that below), this weekend’s protests have left me feeling confused and unmoored.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 77 °F, and, wow, big surprise, we’re headed into another day with temperatures in the upper 90s and lots of humidity. Enjoy!

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 958↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 3↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 74↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 28, Henrico: 29, and Richmond: 17). Since this pandemic began, 280 people have died in the Richmond region. I’m interested to hear what the Governor will have to say this week and what actions he may take as the Commonwealth continues to see about 1,000 new coronavirus cases each day. On Saturday, he said “We will be watching the public health data closely over the weekend—if the numbers don’t come down, we may have to take additional steps to blunt the spread of this virus.” The numbers, particularly in Eastern Virginia, do not look to have appreciably come down. I still think that he’ll be extremely hesitant to move even a single region fully back to Phase Two, and, if I were to guess, I’d say he’ll modify Phase Three in some of the most impacted regions by re-banning indoor dining and reducing the number of people allowed at public gatherings. Kate Masters at the Virginia Mercury has the details on the statewide picture. I guess we’ll learn more today or tomorrow, and, until then, make sure you stay home if you can, mask up and keep your distance if you cannot.

This past weekend saw two nights of protests return to the streets of downtown Richmond and VCU-adjacent parts of the Fan. I don’t want to speak for any of the folks involved, but the vibe on Saturday was weird and different. Literal White Supremacists with assault rifles led the march for a portion of the night, I saw video of an angry white man shoot his gun into the street to intimidate someone (content warning: n-word), police again used chemical weapons on crowds, and members of the press were manhandled by the Richmond Police Department. You should read the recap in the Richmond Times-Dispatch by Sabrina Moreno and Ali Sullivan as Moreno was one of the reporters thrown to the ground by police. As Saturday night’s crowd made its way through the City, protestors shattered dozens of windows along Grace Street causing, according to VCU President Rao, over $100,000 of damage. Sunday night was, again, weird and different. After the previous night of property damage and scary gun violence, to an outside observer it felt like the RPD were much more on edge. Police harassed, detained, or arrested four people who have been involved in covering the protests for the last 60 days. The Commonwealth Times’s Eduardo Acevedo was harassed despite loudly and prominently showing his press pass. The CT’s Andrew Ringle was detained and handcuffed. @GoadGatsby—who, while not press, has provided the most consistent coverage of the last 60 days—was arrested and released. And @socialistdogmom—also not officially press but has covered recent events in Richmond and has a long history of covering city government in Charlottesville—was arrested and, at least as of this moment, has not yet been released. As you can imagine, I feel very protective of folks who are not quite press but still fill important roles in helping people stay informed about what’s going on in their city. With City Council set to vote on some of the police-reform legislation tonight (more on that below), this weekend’s protests have left me feeling confused and unmoored.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 73 °F, and highs today will head back up past 90 °F. The Feels Like™ will most likely hit triple digits, so stay inside if you can. Maybe some rain this evening, though!

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 904↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 15↘️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 77↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 35, Henrico: 17, and Richmond: 25). Since this pandemic began, 275 people have died in the Richmond region. I don’t think it’s reflected in the VDH numbers yet, but C. Suarez Rojas at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that an outbreak a the Henrico County Jail West “has resulted in roughly 130 confirmed cases among inmates and jail staff.” At the national level, for whatever reason, I find these hexagonal Catan maps of the number of new COVID-19 cases by state extremely compelling. Looking at the most recent one from the COVID Tracking Project, and as of yesterday, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia all reported more than 1,800 new cases. In fact, all of them except for South Carolina reported over 2,000 new cases. Florida reported 13,965 cases in one day! You’d have to add up every new reported positive case in Virginia since June 26th to hit that number. Things are not looking good throughout the South.

City Council’s Finance and Economic Development committee met yesterday and recommended that full City Council approve both of their police reform resolutions—thats RES. 2020-R046 (asset forfeiture reports) and RES. 2020-R047 (requests a report on reallocating a few mental-health-related portions of the Richmond Police Department’s budget). Ali Rockett at the RTD has a recap of the three-hour meeting, for which I am very thankful (but the audio is, of course, available for those of you who are into that sort of thing). Councilmembers Jones and Robertson voted for the latter paper and Councilmember Larson voted against. Again, I haven’t listened to the audio for the context, but Rockett quotes Larson as saying “I’m not comfortable with moving money to move money.”

Good morning, RVA! It’s 71 °F, and you’ve got another hot and humid day lined up in front of you. Summer in Richmond continues!

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 801↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 9↘️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 121↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 62, Henrico: 34, and Richmond: 25). Since this pandemic began, 272 people have died in the Richmond region. Yesterday, the Governor did hold a coronavirus press conference in light of the increasing number of reported positive COVID-19 cases across the state—especially in the eastern part of the Commonwealth. Kate Masters at the Virginia Mercury has one recap which focuses on the the lack of specificity and transparency in the public VDH datasets and another with the details on the Governor’s plan to combat rising case counts by getting the Virginia ABC and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to conduct unannounced mask inspections at businesses. The ABC will also ban alcohol sales after 11:00 PM. I dunno, y’all. Is enforcement really the best and most equitable way to get people to practice safe public health behavior? When we talk about Vision Zero and making streets safer, it’s implementing actual, physical changes to a street that shifts behavior—not setting up a speed trap for a weekend. In fact, lots of groups have dropped “enforcement” from their Vision Zero strategies entirely. I’m not convinced that deploying a couple hundred inspectors to enforce the mask and social distancing requirements will actually shift folks' coronabehavior, and I’m concerned about which businesses and people will be on the receiving end of that enforcement. I think we probably need to do the equivalent of making actual, physical changes to a street and close bars and indoor dining for a while.

Richmond’s School Board met last night and, after hearing hours of public comment, voted 8–1 to move forward with Plan E—an entirely virtual first semester for all students. The Board could change course if the public health picture improves, but, for now, it looks like kids across the city are stuck at home (and I mean that in the best possible way) for the rest of the calendar year. It also looks like longer-term childcare will become an even more critical need for families whose work situations just will not allow them to stay home to help facilitate online learning. If you want, you can read the 122-page document (PDF) of alllllll the public comments and maybe check out a quick refresher of the key elements of virtual instruction on page nine of this PDF. This is a big freaking deal, and, while I think I’m still convinced that in-person school for our youngest students is probably a good idea, I’m impressed that the School Board was able to make this decision quickly and decisively. At least now we all know what to expect in the City come September. We’ll now get to see how Richmond’s path forward impacts what Henrico and Chesterfield decide to do. That school reopening is not a decision made regionally blows my mind!

Good morning, RVA! It’s 70 °F, and today looks slightly less steamy-hot than the last couple of days. Get out there and enjoy it (while staying hydrated)!

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 972↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 2↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 75↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 27, Henrico: 31, and Richmond: 17). Since this pandemic began, 270 people have died in the Richmond region. The last time the Commonwealth reported more than 972 cases was back on June 7th, one of just a handful of days ever with over 1,000 reported positive coronavirus cases. We’ll see what today’s numbers bring, but if Virginia starts reporting 1,000 cases per day on the regular I have to think the Governor will implement some changes. Maybe changes to Phase Three? Maybe regional changes? If you’ve got a second, tap through the Number of Cases by Date of Symptom Onset graphs filtered by region. Almost every region (except Central Virginia) has seen an increase in cases, but Eastern Virginia is really driving a lot of the change we’re seeing in the statewide numbers. I’d love to know what’s different in each of these regions and what we can learn from each other over the next couple of months.

The Commonwealth Times’s Hannah Eason spent some time at last night’s peaceful protest Downtown, and she’s put together some pictures and videos from the event. This is the second night of peaceful protests that start at MLK Middle School and make their way to City Hall to hangout, demonstrate, and listen to speakers. Unlike a couple weeks back, police did not show up—Richmond Police or Virginia State Police—and gas everyone to get them to go home. Related and totally worth your tap: NPR talked to Regina Boone, a Richmond Free Press photographer, about her work capturing images from the last month and a half of protests.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 71 °F, and you might see some rain this morning! After that, though, we’re back to the standard hot and humid Richmond summer.

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 888↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 4↘️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 87↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 20, Henrico: 38, and Richmond: 29). Since this pandemic began, 270 people have died in the Richmond region. I think it’s pretty clear now that reported positive case in Virginia are trending upward, and the last time the Commonwealth saw the same number of cases while they were increasing was back in mid April (so on the way up the previous spike, not on the way down). The number of tests reported does continue to increase, yet the statewide percent positivity also has crept up almost a percentage point as of the last couple weeks of June. Since the Governor has stopped his regularly-scheduled COVID-19 press conferences, we’ve got to catch him at public appearances, like this one in Hampton Roads. In light of the worsening coronastats, he announced that he “won’t hesitate to impose restrictions if needed,” and that, if necessary, he’d consider a move back into Phase Two or modifying Phase Three’s requirements around large gatherings. About schools (more on that below) the Gov said "…if our numbers don’t stay where they are and we can’t remain in Phase Three then we are not going to be able to move forward with that.” So keep an eye on that and the willingness to monkey around with the requirements of Phase Three to avoid moving back into Phase Two and forcing the closures of schools.

Last week, I recapped the Richmond School Board meeting where they heard from experts and discussed possible plans for reopening the District. At the time, the Superintendent had put forward two plans—Plan A and Plan B—one would have students in schools a couple of days a week, one would have students in schools every day, both would provide fully-virtual options for families that wanted to stay home. Now the Superintendent has three more plans, Plans C through E. Plan C would have elementary schools students back for full-time, in-person instruction and everyone else would do fully virtual learning. Plan D would allow for full-time, in-person instruction for high-needs students with every one else fully virtual. Plan E would keep everyone fully virtual for the first semester. Note with every plan, all students will have the option to go fully virtual, and, in the Superintendent’s words, “No RPS employe will be forced to work in-person. Period. Full stop.” Plan C is the exact modification to Plan B I wrote about last week, so I’m glad its now an official, lettered option. School Board will have another meeting this Tuesday, tomorrow, to further discuss all of these options and to try to chart a path forward. If you’ve got thoughts and opinions, you can make an official public comment by emailing speakers@rvaschools.net (which they will totally read at the meeting) or you can email the Superintendent (jkamras@rvaschools.net) and the School Board directly.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 74 °F, and you know the drill. Expect hot, humid weather today and through the weekend. We might could see some rain next week, though!

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 613↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 32↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 46↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 30, Henrico: 4, and Richmond: 12). Since this pandemic began, 263 people have died in the Richmond region. Watching last night’s School Board meeting (more on that below) I learned that you can filter by region VDH’s Number of Cases by Date of Symptom Onset graph that I talked about yesterday! This should have been obvious since in the very chart I linked to yesterday there’s a drop down that literally says “Select Region.” Anyway, this is a fascinating dropdown because you can see how cases are increasing across the Commonwealth, even while they’re decreasing in Central Virginia. Actually, cases are increasing in every region—some more than others—except Central Virginia. Two reminders while playing around with this data: 1) the data are more incomplete the further to the right you get, and 2) the y-axis is not the same on each graph!

Good morning, RVA! It’s 74 °F, and today you get more of the same. Expect highs in the 90s, humidity, and probably no rain. Water those plants—I bet they’re thirsty.

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 635↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 24↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 52↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 19, Henrico: 13, and Richmond: 20). Since this pandemic began, 253 people have died in the Richmond region. I don’t think I can replicate VDH’s Number of Cases by Date of Symptom Onset graph with the data I’ve got, but its an interesting chart worth looking at. Since, I think, they’re backfilling new cases to the date symptoms began you get a little bit of a different picture than the straight graph of new reported positive cases. Remember that data further toward the right side of the graph will likely change as they find new cases and stick them in their appropriate spot. Maybe the former graph shows a more marked increase in cases over the last two, three weeks? Maybe not? Regardless, both graphs do show an increase in new cases since about the middle of June while percent positivity has stayed mostly flat or gone down a couple tenths of a percent since then. I keep feeling like one more day of data will expose some sort of trend, but that just never seems to be the case!

The Mayor’s very thorough warehousing of our city’s Confederate monuments continues! Yesterday he had the mass-produced man atop the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument mothballed and got crews to clean up the remaining bronze bits of the Jefferson Davis monument. However! Mark Robinson at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that an anonymous person filed a lawsuit earlier this week asking “among other things, that a judge bar Stoney from ordering or authorizing any further removals.” As of 12 hours ago a hearing had not been scheduled, so I imagine the takedowns will continue throughout this week until a judge orders otherwise. Honestly, this lawsuit, and whichever ones that follow, seem like a waste of everyone’s time. Council will vote to get rid of the monuments on August 3rd, just 25 days from now and in line with the dumb and required State process, regardless of what a court decides about this particular lawsuit.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 73 °F, and we’ve got another hot and humid day ahead of us. Looks like we should avoid the rain that other parts of the state will see this afternoon, though.

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 638↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 28↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 69↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 33, Henrico: 23, and Richmond: 13). Since this pandemic began, 248 people have died in the Richmond region. I’ve got a couple data points I want to mention this morning. First, aside from yesterday’s weird holiday reporting, Virginia has seen more than 500 new reported positive cases every day in July—here’s that graph. Second, the seven-day average of new reported positive cases in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have settled back into the same neighborhood (13, 17, and 23 respectively). Chesterfield no longer reports a big discrepancy compared to the rest of the region—here’s that graph. Third, and finally, 27 people have died in the Richmond region as a result of the virus since June 30th. That seems like a lot to me. Here’s that graph, but be careful with this one since its full of really small numbers and any weird reporting situation has a big impact.

Yesterday morning, right after I hit send on Good Morning, RVA, crews showed up at Stuart Circle and took down the J.E.B. Stuart monument like it was no big deal. Andrew Ringle from the Commonwealth Times has some photos and videos of the moment, which lacked the same crowds (and involuntary gasps from me) from when the Stonewall Jackson monument lifted off its pedestal last week. Did we normalize tearing down 100-year-old statues to white supremacy within the course of one week? People are amazing. Anyway, I imagine at least one more monument will come down today, and /r/rva says its the Soldiers and Sailors monument on Libby Hill (which has had some cool new context added to it in recent days).

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.

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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.

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.

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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.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 74 °F, and today we’ve got more of the same. Expect highs in the mid 90s, sunshine, and humidity—all the things that make Richmond summers great. Stay cool, stay hydrated, and stay masked up.

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Some personal news: At the end of this month, I will resign my position as Executive Director of RVA Rapid Transit (that’s my day job). I’ve had the absolute best time over the last four years working for an organization whose vision—a region packed with frequent and far-reaching public transportation—aligns so closely with my own. However, trite as it sounds, the last three months of pandemic and protests have helped bring into focus what’s important to me and what I do best.

First, it’s clear to me that the advocacy for better public transportation in our region must be led by the people most impacted by our region’s past—and ongoing—racist planning decisions. That’s obviously not my lived experience, and it’s appropriate and necessary for me to step aside and make space for someone else.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 70 °F, and today will be hot. Expect highs in the mid 90s and Feels Like temperatures even higher. If you’ve got to go outside for some reason, wear a hat and remember to hydrate! Expect similar hot—and mostly rain-free—weather over the holiday weekend.

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 532↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 30↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 51↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 25, Henrico: 12, and Richmond: 14). Since this pandemic began, 235 people have died in the Richmond region. So you can see everything in on place, I put together the graphs of new reported positive cases, new deaths, and new hospitalizations plus their seven-day averages here. New positive cases have stuck right around 500 for the past couple weeks, while deaths have increased, and hospitalizations have bounced around a bit. According to VDH the Commonwealth’s percent posititivity is on the rise since about a week ago, but they just reported a ton of tests (increasing the denominator) a couple days back so that could change. When taken together…I’m not sure what to make of all that. Virginia is certainly not in the same dire straights as our Southern neighbors: Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida all reported more than 1,500 new coronavirus cases yesterday. In fact, Florida became the first state to report over 10,000 new cases in a single day since New York back on April 15th. I don’t know what keeps Virginia from slipping off of its 500-cases-per-day plateau, but, like, keep doing whatever it is we’re doing! If you’re hanging out this weekend, please, please keep your distance and your masks on.

The Mayor’s march down Monument Avenue continues, and yesterday saw the removal of the Maury statue (his globe still remains) and two Confederate memorial cannons from the median of Monument that I’d totally forgot existed. It requires, admittedly, an immense amount of privilege and a massive lack of curiosity to live in a place and just plain forget about its monuments to white supremacy. I had a chance to ride past the now-empty Jackson plinth, and the statue’s absence is striking (see above). The statue took up a building-sized spot in the intersection and now that it’s gone, the space feels open and airy. Getting rid of that plinth—even though it looks pretty rad and definitely serves as an arresting reminder for what we allowed to stand for 100 years—should be at the top of the City’s list. After we work our way through he State’s dumb and required monument process, the Department of Public Works should redesign that intersection to make it way safer for folks trying to walk, roll, or ride on through.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and today does look a little bit cooler than the last couple of days. You probably don’t need to worry about sporadic downpours, either. Honestly, sounds like bike-riding weather to me.

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 416↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 23↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 33↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 17, Henrico: 12, and Richmond: 4). Since this pandemic began, 228 people have died in the Richmond region.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, and today looks hot but with a a chance of rain this morning and perhaps this evening as well. I think if you’re waiting on cooler temperatures, you should instead just make peace with the fact that you’re gonna be a sweaty mess for the next forever.

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 598↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 23↘️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 49↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 28, Henrico: 7, and Richmond: 14). Since this pandemic began, 221 people have died in the Richmond region. The COVID Tracking Project now has state-level graphs that exactly match the Virginia graphs I have in my own personal spreadsheet. Check out the Commonwealth’s couple-weeks plateau of new cases and it’s worrying increase in new deaths. Important, considering: We’re in Phase Three, y’all! Most places and businesses can now reopen as long as folks keep six feet of social distance between themselves, and gatherings of up to 250 people are now allowed. Yesterday, at the last minute, the Governor took the smallest step back from full Phase Three and extended the ban on bar seating in restaurants. This is good news, but better news would have been to just keep bars closed. Here’s what Dr. Fauci has to say: “Bars: really not good, really not good. Congregation at a bar, inside, is bad news. We really have got to stop that.”

Peter Coutu at The Virginia-Pilot has an update on the State’s contact tracing program, which sounds like is still—on the 1st of July—in the process of spinning up. The Virginia Department of Health declined the Pilot’s interview requests, so the Pilot journalismed them with a FOIA request instead. Way back on March 13th—basically Coronavirus Day One—I said I wanted high-quality and up-to-date information from our State, City, and institutions. That’s still true 100-and-some days later, and it applies to infection/death stats just as much as it does to the ongoing work to crush this virus. Expect to hear more on this story as reporters continue to dig in.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 69 °F, and today looks exactly like yesterday. Expect hot, humid weather, plus more of the same for the next couple of days. It’s definitely summer!

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 453↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 8↘️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 29↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 13, Henrico: 5, and Richmond: 11). Since this pandemic began, 220 people have died in the Richmond region. Just a quick reminder, the increasing/decreasing emoji arrows represent the change in the seven-day average of that stat since yesterday. I know it’s uninteresting to turn this section of the email into just reposts of terrifying graphs from the COVID Tracking Project, but I thought this particular one from yesterday showing new cases by state was fascinating. Maybe it’s a lack of mandatory mask requirements, maybe it’s more robust testing than what we have here in the Commonwealth, maybe it’s some other as-yet-unknown factor, but Virginia’s neighboring states are absolutely exploding with positive coronavirus cases. Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia all reported more than 1,000 positive cases yesterday. It’s like we’re being surrounded! Now, on that note, remember that tomorrow Virginia moves into Phase Three of the Governor’s recovery plan (PDF).

I think, but am not certain, that the city saw no after-dark protests last night. If so, that’d be the first day in over 30 days, which is fine by me. Everyone needs to take some time to get rest and hydrate! As far as changing the policies around policing in our region, the Henrico Board of Supervisors wants your input on potentially creating a civilian review board. If you live, work, or travel through the County on a regular basis you definitely should drop them your thoughts by sending an email to civilianreviewboard@henrico.us. There are many types of civilian review boards with many different types of powers, and it’s important to build one that fits your community. If you’re looking for a place to start learning about CRBs, this PDF from the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement is the best I’ve found so far. Also in Henrico, C. Suarez Rojas in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, says the County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office “will soon add a deputy prosecutor in charge of overseeing complaints against police officers.”

Good morning, RVA! It’s 73 °F, and you can expect a hot, humid day ahead of you. No rain for the next couple of days, so take care to water your plants and gardens!

Water cooler

Richmond Police are reporting that last Thursday afternoon, Dominic Thompson, 31, was shot to death on the 2600 block of Ford Avenue in the city’s East End.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 64 °F, and today looks a lot like yesterday which looks a lot like tomorrow and the next couple of days. I can handle the heat and humidity and am just happy for clear skies.

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 432↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 14↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 80↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 25, Henrico: 37, and Richmond: 18). Since this pandemic began, 219 people have died in the Richmond region. For the past two weeks, the number of new reported cases in Virginia has remained relatively stable, as testing (however you choose to define that) has continued to increase. I haven’t had the time, but I’d love to break down the number of new reported cases by region. I wonder if some regions are seeing cases increase at a similar rate to regions seeing a drop in cases? Kind of like what was happening across the country for several weeks, as the Northeast cooled off while the South and West heated up? Maybe over the weekend! One last bit of virus news, Kate Masters at the Virginia Mercury says the Governor will “discontinue his twice-weekly briefings, citing a rise in testing and a decreasing percentage of results that come back positive.” OK. I don’t get it. More communication is always better than less, and I just can’t understand why our elected officials—and this applies locally, too—have decided to dip out during a time of crisis.

I think, for the most part, for the first time in 27? 28? days, there were no major protests in Richmond last night. The word “major” is doing a lot of work in that sentence, because the Richmond Times-Dispatch says 50 folks were at the Lee Circle until 12:00 AM, and WTVR says 15 folks were arrested for conducting a sit-in out front of the Commonwealth Attorney’s home. Both of those things would be ultra headline news at any other moment in time but not this morning!

Good morning, RVA! It’s 64 °F, and today looks a lot like yesterday which looks a lot like tomorrow and the next couple of days. I can handle the heat and humidity and am just happy for clear skies.

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 432↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 14↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 80↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 25, Henrico: 37, and Richmond: 18). Since this pandemic began, 219 people have died in the Richmond region. For the past two weeks, the number of new reported cases in Virginia has remained relatively stable, as testing (however you choose to define that) has continued to increase. I haven’t had the time, but I’d love to break down the number of new reported cases by region. I wonder if some regions are seeing cases increase at a similar rate to regions seeing a drop in cases? Kind of like what was happening across the country for several weeks, as the Northeast cooled off while the South and West heated up? Maybe over the weekend! One last bit of virus news, Kate Masters at the Virginia Mercury says the Governor will “discontinue his twice-weekly briefings, citing a rise in testing and a decreasing percentage of results that come back positive.” OK. I don’t get it. More communication is always better than less, and I just can’t understand why our elected officials—and this applies locally, too—have decided to dip out during a time of crisis.

I think, for the most part, for the first time in 27? 28? days, there were no major protests in Richmond last night. The word “major” is doing a lot of work in that sentence, because the Richmond Times-Dispatch says 50 folks were at the Lee Circle until 12:00 AM, and WTVR says 15 folks were arrested for conducting a sit-in out front of the Commonwealth Attorney’s home. Both of those things would be ultra headline news at any other moment in time but not this morning!