Good morning, RVA! It’s 60 °F, and the cooler, fall vibes continue. Expect highs in the mid to upper 60s—maybe in the 70s. While yesterday was great jeans jacket weather, today may be a bit too warm for your favorite denim.

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WTVR reports that a pedestrian was hit and killed by a GRTC Pulse driver yesterday evening. The Richmond Times-Dispatch talked to the police who said that the pedestrian “was crossing Broad just west of Bowe Street, from south to north, when she was struck by an eastbound Pulse bus.” Other than that, I haven’t seen any more details; the buses have cameras on them, and I’m sure that GRTC, the police, and City officials will all review it.

The whole situation is so awful and sad and infuriating. I’m having a hard time processing it in a coherent way, but here are a couple of jumbled-but-related questions: Will the City look at this fatal crash and implement actual changes to the street to keep it from happening again? Are there GRTC policies or procedures that need to change? Why did this person decide to cross mid-block? Does the alternative of crossing at Broad and Lombardy feel safe (no)? Should we paint the bus lanes red to alert drivers and pedestrians to the existence of the Pulse (yes)? If the City does decide to implement infrastructure or policy changes after this fatal crash, will they do something at the many, other places across the city where drivers have killed people with their cars? Will anything change at all?

Good morning, RVA! It’s 60 °F, and, from where I sit at this exact moment, it is raining. It doesn’t look like we’ll experience real, serious rain today, but it’s nice to remember that it exists. Expect way cooler temperatures today with highs in the upper 60s.

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A bunch of Richmond Public Schools updates this morning.

First, the Commission of Architectural Review will meet for their quarterly meeting at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers. On the agenda is “George Mason Elementary School update.” Remember that CAR decided to delay demolition of the old portion of George Mason Elementary which put the status of athletic fields for the school in question. Because this is CAR’s quarterly meeting and the agenda seems to suggest they aren’t considering actual papers, I’m not sure what the possible outcomes of tonight’s meeting will be. That was a less than helpful update. Moving on!

Good morning, RVA! It’s 62 °F, and highs today should hit somewhere in the low 80s. I think this might be the warmest day of the week and True Fall temperatures are on the way / here to stay.

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Richmond Police are reporting that Devon A. Lyles, 22, was fatally shot yesterday morning on the 200 block of N. 18th Street. Police found him collapsed on the 1700 block of E. Broad Street.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 71 °F, and temperatures today are not blazing hot! You can expect highs in the upper 70s and, gasp!, even cooler days over the weekend.

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This headline in the Richmond Times-Dispatch makes me nervous: “New buses, bathrooms and teachers: Richmond Public Schools rezoning could have high price tag” 💸. Superintendent Kamras presented details—including costs—for pairing a handful of schools at a recent rezoning meeting, and you can read all of those details in this PDF. Depending on how things work out, it’d cost the District between $617,500 and $842,500 per pairing. This new money would cover hiring teachers and staff, transportation costs, and a few other things. “High price tag” seems a weirdly relative phrase to use to describe what’s happening here. We’re talking a couple million dollars—some of that one-time capital expenses. For my household that’s a high price tag. For a city with an $800 million operating budget and a $230 million capital improvement program? Maybe not so much. And maybe it’s not a new cost at all, but the deferred cost of decades of racist and segregationist policies? So I’m nervous. Not because of the cost, but I’m nervous because any additional cost is a real easy thing for people—elected officials and otherwise—to use to rationalize our current, unacceptable status quo.

Y’all! You did it! After a bunch of emails from regular folks, the State’s Department of General Services has pulled their plan to redesign 9th Street—a plan that would have punched a huge whole right in the middle of Richmond’s Downtown bike network. This is excellent news! However, as usual with these sorts of things, our work here is not done. DGS will almost certainly rejigger and resubmit their plan for 9th, and, when they do, it must include a safe and protected bike path connecting the existing bike lane on Franklin Street to Bank Street all the way through to 12th Street. Because DGS answers to the General Assembly, now we need to let Del. Jeff Bourne (@JeffMBourne) and Sen. Jennifer McClellan (@JennMcClellanVA) know that a safe east-west bike passage is a priority for any redesign of the streets around the Capitol. I know that reactive civic emailing is a lot easier than proactive civic emailing, but if we can get the State moving in the right direction we can start using our time to advocate FOR things instead of AGAINST things. Anyway, holler at those two electeds and tell them what’s up.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 70 °F, and highs today are once again back up in the mid 90s. Yesterday was the hottest October 2nd on record, with temperatures of 98 °F shattering the previous record of 91 °F set in 1986. The hottest October day ever? October 6th, 1941 when highs hit 99 °F. Tomorrow, though! Tomorrow looks brilliant.

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Earlier this week I had you fill out the Richmond 300 survey about the neighborhood in which you work. It was an easy way to participate in the City’s master planning process—good work team! If you want to kick the difficulty level up a notch, though, tonight you can attend the first of seven Richmond 300 Forums. at Huguenot High School (7945 Forest Hill Avenue) from 6:00–7:30 PM. Here you can ask all the burning land-use questions you may have, like “what’s a land use” and “who owns the air above my house,” and “can we tear down or at least hide the highways that run through our city?” That last one is totally included in the draft Future Connections map! Anyway, you can expect a 30-minute presentation, 60 minutes of Q&A, and to learn a whole bunch of stuff about how to plan for the future of our city.

So, this exists: Former Governor McAuliffe and Democratic Senator Dick Saslaw held a fund raiser for Joe Morrissey yesterday, says the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Patrick Wilson. The fundraiser was held at Morrissey’s home on Richmond’s Northside which is definitely not in nor anywhere near the 16th Senate District that he hopes to represent. I’m sure this is part of a plan to keep Morrissey toeing the Democratic line once he gets elected, but I don’t know what data from his past suggests that this sort of thing (or any sort of thing) would lead to predictable behavior on his part. State-level Democrats are so close to total control of the House, Senate, and Governor’s Office that they can taste it and are willing to do whatever it takes to get there. Sometimes that’s hosting fundraisers for Joe Morrissey, I guess.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, and temperatures are way back up in the mid 90s. We’ve got one more day of these hot summer temperatures and then things begin to cool off dramatically. You can make it!

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StreetsCred has a new post up about how the State’s plan to redesign 9th Street will create a huge, gaping hole in Richmond’s Downtown bike network. This is terrible and just one of a handful of recent examples of the State government doing whatever they please to our city streets and leaving us to pick up the pieces and deal with the mess (the Bank Street balls and closing the eastbound Pulse lane for years are two other examples). Luckily, there’s something you can do to help stop the State from breaking east-west trips by bike! Their plan must first go through the City’s Urban Design Committee and then through the Planning Commission. UDC is up first on October 10th. So, if you’ve got one minute this morning, email the UDC secretary, Josh Son (Joshua.Son@richmondgov.com), and let the committee know that a safe and protected bike path connecting Franklin Street to Bank & 12th must be part of any proposal to redesign the area around the Capitol. The reality is that the State does have a lot of power to do whatever they want—including steal and redesign streets to make them hostile to people walking, biking, and taking the bus. To mount an effective campaign to save our growing bike network and give folks more and safer ways to get around, we’ve got to get involved early and often. This is just the first step, and it’ll take just a single minute of your morning!

Michael Paul Williams in the Richmond Times-Dispatch says people are pissed about Kehinde Wiley’s Rumors of War statue coming to the VMFA in December 💸. This quote from the Monument Avenue Preservation Group (unclear to me whether this is the same folks as the Monument Avenue Preservation Society) is just really something: “Richmond’s cultural elites beclown themselves in adulation of a monument commemorating nothing.” Maybe I’m naive, but I think that sentiment comes from a minority of vocal and grumpy people who mostly have nothing better to do with their time. The vast, vast majority of folks I’ve heard talk about the new monument feel something along the lines of this, from @ChelseaWiseRVA on Twitter, “In grad school I lived directly across from the VMFA and just never imagined such a disruption could exist…so thankful Kehinde Wiley did the imagining for us.”

Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, and temperatures are way back up in the mid 90s. We’ve got one more day of these hot summer temperatures and then things begin to cool off dramatically. You can make it!

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StreetsCred has a new post up about how the State’s plan to redesign 9th Street will create a huge, gaping hole in Richmond’s Downtown bike network. This is terrible and just one of a handful of recent examples of the State government doing whatever they please to our city streets and leaving us to pick up the pieces and deal with the mess (the Bank Street balls and closing the eastbound Pulse lane for years are two other examples). Luckily, there’s something you can do to help stop the State from breaking east-west trips by bike! Their plan must first go through the City’s Urban Design Committee and then through the Planning Commission. UDC is up first on October 10th. So, if you’ve got one minute this morning, email the UDC secretary, Josh Son (Joshua.Son@richmondgov.com), and let the committee know that a safe and protected bike path connecting Franklin Street to Bank & 12th must be part of any proposal to redesign the area around the Capitol. The reality is that the State does have a lot of power to do whatever they want—including steal and redesign streets to make them hostile to people walking, biking, and taking the bus. To mount an effective campaign to save our growing bike network and give folks more and safer ways to get around, we’ve got to get involved early and often. This is just the first step, and it’ll take just a single minute of your morning!

Michael Paul Williams in the Richmond Times-Dispatch says people are pissed about Kehinde Wiley’s Rumors of War statue coming to the VMFA in December 💸. This quote from the Monument Avenue Preservation Group (unclear to me whether this is the same folks as the Monument Avenue Preservation Society) is just really something: “Richmond’s cultural elites beclown themselves in adulation of a monument commemorating nothing.” Maybe I’m naive, but I think that sentiment comes from a minority of vocal and grumpy people who mostly have nothing better to do with their time. The vast, vast majority of folks I’ve heard talk about the new monument feel something along the lines of this, from @ChelseaWiseRVA on Twitter, “In grad school I lived directly across from the VMFA and just never imagined such a disruption could exist…so thankful Kehinde Wiley did the imagining for us.”

Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and temperatures are headed into the mid to upper 80s today. Things heat up even more tomorrow. In fact, Climate Scientist Dr. Jeremy Hoffman says if we hit “90°F or above twice this week like it is supposed to, 2019 will tie 1977 for the second-most such days (70) since we started keeping track out at the airport (1930). Summers like this one are projected to be the “usual” by around 2040.” Sweatybleh.

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Well here’s this week’s bananas story: The Chesterfield County GOP has kicked state Senator Amanda Chase out of the local party for talking trash about the County’s Republican sheriff. Chase has been in the news for variety of embarrassing things recently, which, whatever—it’s her unabashed love of guns that’s disqualifying for me. My only interaction with the sheriff has been to give him a mental high five for being the only outspoken Republican supporter of bringing public transportation to Chesterfield County (that I’m aware of at least). Remember! Every person in the entire General Assembly is up for reelection this November, and Amanda Pohl is the Democrat running in the 11th Senate District against Chase.

This week’s RPS email from Superintendent Kamras is almost unsummarizeable because there’s just so much going on. You really should tap and read—you’ll learn more about new accreditation numbers, VUU scholarships to RPS 8th graders, and a shoutout for the District’s work supporting LGBTQ+ families from Side by Side. A quick note about accreditation: You can download the raw data from the Virginia Department of Education here, but beware because its in an enormous hard-to-parse Excel spreadsheet. What you’re probably after, instead of an intimidating spreadsheet, are these School Quality Profiles—which, honestly, are less a measure of school quality and more a measure of a set of quantitative metrics set by the State. When you look at these reports, remember, like 8th District City Council Candidate Amy Wentz said on Twitter, it’s not just about accreditation, but sustained improvement across all categories.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 70 °F, and highs today may stick right around 80 °F. Keep your hot-weather gear at the ready, though, because on Wednesday and Thursday we could see temperatures back up in the mid 90s. NBC12’s Andrew Freiden says we could even see record heat on both days.

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Correction! Last week, I slipped up and misattributed the delay in demolishing the old George Mason elementary school building. That delay lies solely on the Commission of Architectural Review, as Richmond’s School Board approved the demolition back at their August 19th meeting. CAR next meets on October 22nd.

Kehinde Wiley’s Rumors of War sculpture is even more incredible than I imagined, and I’m having a hard time believing it’s going to end up in front of the VMFA this December. After seeing it for the first time on Twitter, I immediately want to get rid of the Stonewall Jackson statue and replace it with this one. It’s just…perfect. The New York Times has a write up and a bunch of great pictures that you’re goign to want to check out.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 67 °F, and temperatures have cooled down a bit from yesterday. You can expect highs in the mid 80s today, with a slightly warmer Saturday and Sunday. There is a small chance for rain Saturday morning—fingers crossed!

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Today at 2:00 PM, artist Kehinde Wiley will unveil his Rumors of War sculpture in Times Square. Then, in December, this massive statue will make its way to the VMFA where it will live forever. Here’s how the VMFA describes the piece: “Mounted proudly on its large stone pedestal, Wiley’s monumental bronze sculpture, Rumors of War, is the artist’s direct response to the ubiquitous Confederate sculptures that populate the United States, particularly in the South. Sitting astride a massive horse in a striking pose, Wiley’s young, African-American subject presents a powerful visual repositioning of young black men in our public consciousness while directly engaging the national conversation around monuments and their role in perpetuating incomplete narratives and contemporary inequities.” I’m sure pictures aplenty will exist this afternoon, so poke around on social media a bit, but I’ll make sure to include a few in Monday’s email.

Earlier this week, Richmond’s School Board voted to delay tearing down a circa-1922 building on the old George Mason Elementary School site. I think it’s important to keep saying this part out loud: The new school under construction there will still open for the 2020 school year, but now it’s unclear where athletic fields and a playground will go if the old building remains. The Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Justin Mattingly has put together an absolutely fascinating Twitter thread about this history of that 1920s building. Take the time to tap—it’s one of the more interesting things I’ve read this week. Did you know the bricks to build it came from another, older Richmond school building? 💫

Good morning, RVA! It’s 66 °F, and it’s hot again. Expect highs near 90 °F, maybe a slight cooldown tomorrow, and then more warmer weather over the weekend. Will it ever rain again? No one knows!

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For the last couple of years, the James River Association and Art on Wheels (the cubey, guerrilla bus-stop bench folks!) have worked with the Department of Public Utilities to paint stormwater drains in an effort to raise awareness of river pollution. You’ve probably seen these painted drains scattered around the city, and they do a nice job of making what’s basically a sewer drain into something interesting to look at—while also reminding you not to throw your garbage into the river. This year they’re working with Richmond Public Libraries to paint Ripple the Library Otter (you knew we had a library mascot and that it was an otter, right?) on seven drains at three libraries. You can see the design and exact locations in this PDF. The Public Art Commission will consider this plan at their meeting today, 4:30 PM, in the 5th Floor Conference Room of City Hall.

Ali Rockett at the Richmond Times-Dispatch says that Richmond Ballet’s Maggie Small and Fernando Sabino will both retire—Small this weekend and Sabino this coming spring. Back when I helped run an online news magazine, one of our favorite things in town to cover was the Richmond Ballet, especially Small and Sabino. Along with VCU basketball, the Ballet is one of the region’s best cultural exports—two things that punch above their weight and shake off those small-town vibes. Don’t get me wrong: Small-town vibes are great, and are part of the reason we all live here, but, dang, when you see a thing that’s Objectively Really Good, that’s something else. So, if you’re like, “I thought ballet was about sugar plum fairies and loud, unhappy children at the Carpenter Theatre,” I want to suggest that you check out some of the Studio Series performances. They are usually beautiful and amazing in a way that’s hard to describe, and you will not be disappointed. Tickets are available for Studio One (November 5th–10th), if you can swing the cost.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 54 °F, and we’ve got another absolutely beautiful day ahead of us. Expect highs in the low 80s, tons of sun, and a spectacularly good chance of seeing me zoom by on my bike. Get out there and enjoy it!

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As usual, I’ve got some North of Broad updates!

First, it feels like a million years ago, but last week I put together this set of aerial images of “the competitive set of the new arena” as identified by a Hunden Strategic Partners report from last year. After listening to many, many hours of public NoBro meetings (more on that in a minute), I wanted to put together another set of aerial images of the downtown arenas the NoBro folks have pushed as most comparable to our current situation: Allentown’s PPL Center, Kansas City’s Sprint Center, Los Angeles’s Staples Center, and PNC Arena in Columbus. Unlike the first group, these arenas are all generally in downtowns and (mostly) not surrounded by seas of surface parking. I’ve never been to any of these spots, so I have no idea if they’re worthy comparables or not.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 71 °F, and temperatures should spend most of the day in the low 80s. Sounds great—but keep an eye on this weekend when things are expected to heat up again.

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The Richmond Police Department is reporting that Jamal W. Ellis, 31, was shot to death on the 700 block of Spaine Street on the City’s Southside. According to the RPD’s major crimes website, his was the 42nd murder of 2019.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 57 °F, and look at these lovely temperatures! We’ve got highs in the mid 70s for at least the next day or two. Enjoy!

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Police are reporting that Davonte S. Stovall, 23, was shot and killed on the 2300 block of Seldon Street in the East End this past Monday night.

Photo by: Garritos Photography

Good morning, RVA! It’s 69 °F, and there’s a chance of rain this morning, but, after that, expect cooler temperatures right around 80 °F plus drier skies.

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Police are reporting that Charles L. Whittle, 58, was stabbed to death early yesterday morning on the 6700 block of W. Carnation Street. This is the 40th murder in Richmond in 2019 according to the RPD.

Photo by: JOzPhotography

Good morning, RVA! It’s 67 °F, and hot and humid weather returns today. Temperatures start to cool down as the week progresses, though. True Fall will be here before you know it!

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Richmond Police are reporting that Jacobs S. Jones, 34, was shot and killed early yesterday morning on Richmond’s Southside.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 74 °F, and that’s basically the temperature for the entire day. I’m sure we’ll see another set of blazin’ hot days before the year’s out, but, until then, enjoy these cooler temperatures. Oh, also, you should probably keep an eye out for a bit of rain today, but the weather for the weekend looks pretty stunning.

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Yikes. Patrick Wilson at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a description of the defamation lawsuit filed by Lt. Governor Fairfax against CBS News, and whoa is it messy. While the lawsuit is focused on CBS News, the Mayor and current 5th District Council Candidate Thad Williamson are thrown under the Uber for kicking off the Lt. Gov’s sexual assault revelations—and, allegedly, doing so for political gain. Personally, I don’t believe it. I can, however, see this public bad blood feud among three local politicians having some sort of impact on someone’s political career. Who though and what impact? I have no idea.

@RVADirt has a Twitter thread covering most of last night’s 5th District council candidate forum. Of note: According to the thread, when asked what they would do to protect pedestrians and bicyclists, Chuck Richardson had “no idea what to do about that problem,” while Williamson pointed to the City’s Vision Zero efforts and McCoy said we need to invest in alternative transportation. Honestly, there was a bunch of pro-multimodal transportation chatter throughout that thread.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 73 °F, and you should expect another hot and sunny summer day. Look out for highs in the mid 90s and plenty of chances to sweat through your shirt.

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Alright, before we get started, a quick correction/clarification. My favorite PDF of all time, which I was so stoked on yesterday, was not created by the clerk transcribing Councilmember Agelasto’s do-it-live resolution. It was Agelasto’s notes requested by the clerk to make sure they got the right text read into the record. This does not lower my level of stokedness at all, and I think that’s dang solid work by the clerk. Yesterday’s link to this PDF is busted, but you can now find it here.

Ben Campbell and John Moeser have a good column in today’s paper walking through some of the actual, awful history of what city planning did to the neighborhood that was Navy Hill and how the proposed North of Broad project is a missed opportunity to repair some of that damage. This bit has been my general take since the project’s full details came out: “If non-resident investors are eager for a new Coliseum, they can build it somewhere else. They can use their own money instead. They can build the parking decks, promote the events and assume the significant risks of failure.” But this section, though, I really love: “The community’s needs must no longer come second. Richmond does not need the massive debt of another developer’s fantasy North of Broad. Navy Hill’s resources belong to the community who built Navy Hill. The wealth of the community must be used to remedy the lasting shame of its destruction. Schools, housing, hope. Now. Finally.”

Good morning, RVA! It’s 66 °F, and highs today will settle into the mid 80s while we attempt to fly under the radar of any rain. Honestly, sounds like a good day to get outside for a bit!

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Mark Robinson at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has an update on the membership of the Navy Hill Advisory Commission after last night’s City Council meeting. Apparently Councilmember Jones, who wasn’t super stoked about the commission’s nominating process, nominated VUU President Hakim J. Lucas as a member, citing a lack of diversity in the proposed group. Diversity is good (and I am kind of shocked that there are zero millennial members of this commission—you know, the people who will actually have to live with a downtown arena for the next generation), but I was unaware that Council had this role in nominating members. While the enabling legislation (PDF) says “The Commission shall consist of nine members appointed by the Council,” it also says that Council appoints the Chair and Vice Chair and then they nominate the remaining seven members of the commission. So, process-wise, I’m not really sure what’s going on. Additionally, the nomination of Lucas is real interesting as he’s a supporter of the North of Broad development and is, at the moment, caught up in the #ghostgaffe op-ed authorship situation. Five Councilmembers supported adding Lucas to the commission, which, I dunno, sure feels like an early list of NoBro yes-votes to me: Addison, Hilbert, Robertson, Newbille, and Jones. Theoretically, Council needs seven votes to pass some of the ordinances required to kick of the North of Broad project, so the Mayor’s team is still looking for two votes. Suddenly, the 5th District special election seems like it’s about to become a referendum on a Downtown arena, right?

Jim McConnell has an absolutely wild story in the Chesterfield Observer about the state of the County’s public school facilities. After they found Legionnaires’ disease in the cooling towers of four different school buildings, the County Board of Supervisors is now debating taking responsibility of school facility maintenance away from the School Board. It definitely sounds like it’s an unclear legal question of if that’s even possible, but that hasn’t stopped the two elected bodies from publicly sparring over it. Two things to note! First, the County cut their real estate tax by a penny two years ago in the face of protests from schools advocates. That’s where I’d point to when Supervisor Jaeckle says “Where is the maintenance budget that should be there?” Second, can you imagine if Richmond’s City Council was openly considering a similar power grab? We’d have a stack of headlines a mile high screaming about yet another embarrassing and dysfunctional story coming out of City Hall. I’m grateful for McConnell (and fellow reporter Rich Griset) for the work they’re doing down in Chesterfield County. It helps give us a more balanced picture of what’s really going on in the region.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 69 °F, and temperatures will climb up into the mid 80s today. There’s a persistent but small chance of rain throughout the entire day, so plan wisely!

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I’ve written before about how the ways in which the City can provide real estate tax relief or exemptions are extremely limited. Basically, the State allows us to create a couple of programs for seniors, folks who have disabilities, and disabled veterans or their surviving spouses. Other than that, without changes to state law, our hands are tied, and there’s not much we can do other than encourage folks who qualify to sign up. Roberto Roldan at Virginia Public Media, looks at a report by Public Policy Analyst Benjamin Paul that estimates only one quarter of residents eligible for those programs apply. We can do better! The report makes a couple of suggestions about how to get more folks enrolled—updates to the City’s website and important communication improvements like including Spanish-language resources. I’d say, though, that to really make people aware of the program and get them enrolled will require some money for shoeleather, which is probably why the Mayor’s original budget included funding for “two additional tax relief program administrators.” City Council ultimately removed the money for those positions in their version of the budget. This should remind you that when City Council passed a budget that they said funded all of the Mayor’s priorities with no increase in taxes, that it was by no mean “free.” The costs were just less obvious and less immediate. The City needs to spend the money now to get as many eligible residents to sign up for these tax relief programs, not only so those folks can save hundreds of dollars but to make sure they’re not impacted when we roll back the Recession-era real estate tax cuts—whenever we finally get around to doing that.

Wayne Epps in the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a pretty lukewarm look at the sports-related possibilities a new arena could bring to downtown 💸. He also says VCU and UR will keep their basketball teams on their respective campuses 💸, which, duh. For whatever reason, it seems like the developers involved in the project don’t have a strong preference for landing an anchor tenant/team—which, honestly, makes them sound kind of bored when talking about it. I get it, I’m kind of bored about it, too. An NBA G League and minor league hockey are fine, I guess, and I would love to go to an Atlantic 10 men’s basketball tournament in Richmond, but none of those things do a whole lot to convince me of the need for the arena in the first place.