Good morning, RVA! It’s 66 °F, and the rain is on its way out. Today, expect highs around 80 °F and sunshine eventually.

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It is (Primary) Election Day for some of you! Who is even on your ballot?? I dunno, that’s personal, but rather than slog through some PDFs on the Department of Elections website, which is what I did yesterday, you can go to the Virginia Public Access Project’s website, type in your address, and see what your own ballot situation is. Thanks to Twitter user @SmithNicholas for pointing this out to me. Today it is important for you to get out there and vote for folks who will work hard for a progressive future of our region—that means folks who want stronger gun violence laws, more school and transportation funding, plans to address climate change, and who will respect/are women.

Mayor Stoney announced that the City has hired Leonard Sledge as the new director of Economic Development. Sledge comes to Richmond by way of Henry County near Atlanta and, before that, Hampton. To be honest, I’d forgotten we didn’t have a director of ED, and, I think, with this hire, the City’s Economic and Community Development section of the org chart is all filled out (at least at the executive level). It’d be nice to have an up-to-date version of that org chart on the City’s website somewhere, and not just this one which lumps all of the departments under the CAO (PDF).

Good morning, RVA! It’s 70 °F, and, today, you can expect both highs in the 80s and rain—rain this morning, rain this afternoon, and rain this evening.

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Tomorrow, depending on where you live, you’ve got the opportunity to vote in a primary! Democrats have options in the following Senate Districts: 10th (Eileen Bedell, Ghazala Hashmi, Zachary Brown), 11th (Amanda Pohl and Wayne Powell), 12th (Veena Lothe and Debra Rodman), and 16th (Rosalyn Dance and Joe Morrissey), plus the 62nd House District (Lindsey Doughtery and Tavorise Marks). I’ll leave you to Google their websites! If you don’t know, you can check which districts you live in here. For some background, Ned Oliver at the Virginia Mercury has a look at some of the hot primary issues across the state—basically guns, racism, and abortion.

City Council meets for their regularly scheduled meeting tonight at 6:00 PM. On the docket tonight (at least as the evershifting agenda stands at this moment): An amendment to Councilmember Gray’s ordinance to create the Navy Hill Development Advisory Commission (ORD. 2019–119) which sets relative due dates for their final report since no one knows when we’ll hear the next thing about the Mayor’s proposed downtown arena; some special use permits, including one for converting an old, vacant Urban Farmhouse into an apartment at 310 N. 33rd Street (ORD. 2019–133); and Councilmember Agelasto’s resolution to require some more oversight during the zoning compliance process (RES. 2018-R092) which has floated around on various agendas since last October. Overall, it sounds like an uncontroversial meeting—although the list of folks giving citizen comment (PDF) looks like it could touch on some interesting topics.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 70 °F, and, today, you can expect both highs in the 80s and rain—rain this morning, rain this afternoon, and rain this evening.

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Tomorrow, depending on where you live, you’ve got the opportunity to vote in a primary! Democrats have options in the following Senate Districts: 10th (Eileen Bedell, Ghazala Hashmi, Zachary Brown), 11th (Amanda Pohl and Wayne Powell), 12th (Veena Lothe and Debra Rodman), and 16th (Rosalyn Dance and Joe Morrissey), plus the 62nd House District (Lindsey Doughtery and Tavorise Marks). I’ll leave you to Google their websites! If you don’t know, you can check which districts you live in here. For some background, Ned Oliver at the Virginia Mercury has a look at some of the hot primary issues across the state—basically guns, racism, and abortion.

City Council meets for their regularly scheduled meeting tonight at 6:00 PM. On the docket tonight (at least as the evershifting agenda stands at this moment): An amendment to Councilmember Gray’s ordinance to create the Navy Hill Development Advisory Commission (ORD. 2019–119) which sets relative due dates for their final report since no one knows when we’ll hear the next thing about the Mayor’s proposed downtown arena; some special use permits, including one for converting an old, vacant Urban Farmhouse into an apartment at 310 N. 33rd Street (ORD. 2019–133); and Councilmember Agelasto’s resolution to require some more oversight during the zoning compliance process (RES. 2018-R092) which has floated around on various agendas since last October. Overall, it sounds like an uncontroversial meeting—although the list of folks giving citizen comment (PDF) looks like it could touch on some interesting topics.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 70 °F, and, dang, yesterday was sweaty. Today, however, you should expect highs in the mid 70s—which is plenty less sweaty. To make up for any potential lack of body moisture, there’s an ever-increasing chance of rain until this evening.

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Richmond Police are reporting a murder that occurred on Wednesday night. Officers arrived at the 3200 block of Stockton Street and found Leroy Williams, III, 26, shot to death.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 73 °F, and highs today are back up near 90 °F. Keep a lookout for some rain later this evening.

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It’s scooter day! Today Bolt will launch their scooter fleet in Richmond at 2:00 PM in Monroe Park, and I’m very excited to add electric scooters back into my collection of tools for getting around town Also, somehow I missed that Usain Bolt is a “co-founder and backer“ of Bolt Scooters? Anyway, get yourself a scooter ride today!

Micheal Paul Williams’s column today is about Virginia’s Republicans and how they refuse to address gun violence 💸. It’s a good one, and I’ll just quote this sentence while linking to the voter registration page again: “Nothing will come of this special session with the same cast of GOP characters extinguishing bills in committee.”

Good morning, RVA! It’s 65 °F, and highs today are back up in the 80s. Keep an eye on the sky this afternoon, because the forecast holds a steadily increasing chance of storms starting after lunch.

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The Governor has called a special session of the General Assembly to address gun violence. You can read his remarks as prepared here, and I just love this sentence: “I will be asking for votes and laws, not thoughts and prayers.” Here’s the list of what he’s proposing, none of which is anythign earth shattering: Universal background checks; a ban on assault weapons, to include suppressors and bump stocks; an extreme risk protective order; reinstating the one-gun-a-month law; child access prevention; requiring people to report lost and stolen firearms; and expanding local authority to regulate firearms, including in government buildings. As you can probably guess, Republicans in the General Assembly most likely have no interest in any of these things. In fact, House Speaker Kirk Cox has said they’ll focus on mandatory minimums—something that A) doesn’t solve the problem of too many guns, and B) he knows the Governor has committed to veto. I’ll tell you what, though, the classic Republican position of “Gasp! I cannot believe Democrats are rushing to pass laws so soon after yet another gun tragedy, how dare they! So politicizing!” is tired and tone deaf. It may have worked 15 mass shootings ago, but it doesn’t any more. People are traumatized from watching their neighbors die and want the people with the power to prevent it to do something. Again: All General Assembly seats are up for reelection this fall, and you can check your voter registration status here.

Justin Mattingly at the Richmond Times-Dispatch says that the Richmond School Board has approved “a new policy aimed at cutting down on the discrimination faced by LGBTQ students.” 💸 You can read the revised draft of the Student Code of Responsible Ethics (PDF), but it’s a 67-page PDF with track changes turned on—not for the faint of heart! Luckily, Ted Lewis, executive director of Side by Side, says the policy changes are “a big step for the city,” and that’s good enough for me. Stay tuned for a separate policy that will allow students to use a chosen name and their preferred pronouns plus more work on providing gender-neutral bathrooms. Side note: Only 3rd District’s Kenya Gibson and 4th District’s Jonathan Young voted against the proposal, but Mattingly doesn’t really say why and even says Gibson “supports the changes for LGBTQ students.” Also! If you’re a teacher or parent wondering what to do when you learn that someone’s pronouns have changed or are different from what you’ve been using, read this quick and lovely FAQ from Richmonder Erin White. It’s about coming out as nonbinary at work, but a lot of the advice applies more widely.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 49 °F, but, don’t worry, highs today are back up near 80 °F. Enjoy another excellently early-summer day.

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I haven’t mentioned the mass shooting in Virginia Beach yet because I’m having a hard time processing it, and I don’t really know what to say about it. At this moment, for me, things feel hopeless and inevitable. That said, Ned Oliver at the Virginia Mercury has a short story about local jurisdictions advocating for the right to ban guns in municipal buildings. Guns are, of course, banned in all State office buildings, but the Republican-controlled General Assembly hasn’t seen fit to give that power to localities—which is total garbage. In the past couple of days, Richmond City Councilmember Mike Jones has been vocal about this, saying, “I want to see how many members of the VA General Assembly are going to tweet condolences and heart felt sentiments versus writing legislation that will secure Municipal Buildings.“ It’s a small change, banning guns in our local municipal buildings, but it’s a start. It’s at least something. Maybe this is something, too: Graham Moomaw at the Richmond Times-Dispatch says the Governor has scheduled a press conference for today at 10:00 AM to discuss guns 💸 and, possibly, “call for a special session of the General Assembly or issue an executive order.” Unfortunately/realistically, until there are fewer gun-loving Republicans in the General Assembly, Virginia will continue to do absolutely nothing to prevent people from dying due to gun violence. But, as my friend Nicholas constantly reminds me: All seats in the General Assembly are up for election this November (check your voter registration here). By the way, if you are looking for details and coverage on the Virginia Beach shooting, I’d skip the local and national stuff, and head directly to the Virginian-Pilot.

Colette Wallace McEachin has announced that she will seek the nomination to fill Mike Herring’s spot as Commonwealth’s Attorney. McEachin, tapped by Herring, will serve as the interim CA until the election, which, most likely will be on November 5th—the same date we vote for all of our state legislators (see above) and a new 5th District councilmember. The RTD has some of her background. P.S. 10 points to whichever reporter or editor kept the mention of McEachin’s husband out of the piece until the very last sentence.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 63 °F, and today looks exceedingly temperate. Expect sunshine and highs in the mid 70s for most of day. Rain later this week, so do your outside stuff as soon as you can.

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Today, City Council will hold a special meeting at 5:00 PM to officially petition the state for a special election to fill Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Herring’s spot. Herring announced his resignation on Friday and said in a statement that he’s leaving the City to join a private law firm. I have no idea what precipitated this or if dude just has a good opportunity and a chance to make more money in the private sector (which I 100% accept). You can read the Mayor’s statement on Herring’s sudden (to me) resignation here.

I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much about this, but it looks like buses might start running on Route 1 in Chesterfield County as soon as spring of 2020?? I wrote more about this over on the RVA Rapid Transit blog. This is a total no-brainer for Chesterfield thanks to a potential state grant that will pay for 80% of the operating costs of the new route. Although, if you want to see how some of the members of the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors see this opportunity to expand public transportation, you should listen to the audio of the presentation (skip forward to about 2:08:00). Some of the supervisors don’t want folks to get too attached to the potential bus service, which would be the only local bus service in the entire county, because the cost would be too high without the state grant. Give me a break! We’re talking about $1 million bucks annually, or 0.07% of the County’s $1.3 billion dollar budget.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 67 °F, and today, with heighs in the 80s, will feel like a tiny bit of relief from the sultry heat of the last few of days. There’s a couple chances for rain scattered throughout this morning and this evening. Andrew Freiden says this evening’s storms could be severe, so pay attention!

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Michael Paul Williams has a long column about Chuck Richardson 💸 that comes real, real close to a 5th District City Council candidacy announcement. Richardson has lived a full and interesting life, and the story is worth reading, but does that make him the best candidate for the 5th District? His time on Council predates me, so my only exposure to him has been recent combative comments during public meetings and the current lawsuit against Councilmember Agelasto. I want to learn more about his positions (and officially-running candidate Thad Williamson’s positions, too) on things like: a response to the recent gun violence in the 5th, sidewalks & bike lanes & investments in public transit, the Big TIF that comes along with proposed Downtown Arena, and public housing. I want a City Council that does more things and spends less time creating studies, continuing papers, and arguing with the Mayor’s administration. I’m not sure Richardson is what I’m after, but I’m willing to have my mind changed.

This weekend, Replenish Richmond will host its second I Have A Dream Festival, and it’s basically a festival and public meeting combined. I feel seen! Mayor Stoney and Superintendent Kamras will serve as grand marshals for a parade led by No BS Brass Band, while festival attenders are encouraged to learn about a proposed new park (under the MLK bridge!?) and the Dreams4RPS Strategic Plan. Of course, there will be vendors and stuff, too, plus a bike tour of the East End by Bike Walk RVA. This all sounds wonderful, and we should make every public meetings into a festival.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 70 °F, and today looks a lot like yesterday: hot and sunny. Temperatures will cool off tomorrow, though, as some rain moves into the region.

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Mark Robinson at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has some follow up on Paul Goldman’s lawsuit against the City to get the Mayor to release some of the documents related to the proposed downtown arena. Yeah, that’s right! I think we’re headed back to arenatown, y’all! Anyway, FOIA intrigue is one of my least favorite genres of story, but this one has some interesting details—like how the Mayor’s administration wanted to charge Goldman for the same information it accidentally handed over to the RTD free of charge. The whole thing is not a good look for either the Mayor or the proposed project. About 100 weeks ago, I said something along the lines of “every day the Mayor waits to release the details of this proposal it gets harder and harder for folks to support it.” That’s still true, and this kind of story doesn’t help the public perception of whatever proposal we end up with. An important side note: Paul Goldman is not a man without an agenda, and I’m exceedingly hesitant to celebrate his victory as some sort of win for government transparency and citizen oversight. I wonder if he’ll release the documents to the general public…

Jeanna Smialek at the New York Times has a fascinating article about how Trump’s trade war with China has impacted Pello, a local company that makes bikes for kids. My first reaction was “Dangit! That Trump’s is at it again!” which, honestly, is almost always appropriate in any given situation. My second reaction was “I…don’t know how Economy works.” This is a simplistic thought but, idk, maybe all of the things we buy are artificially cheap because labor in China is artificially (or unacceptably) cheap? Maybe there are tons of climate and human-rights concerns wrapped up in this whole conversation that I am way too out of my depth to addresses in a couple dozen words? MAYBE.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 74 °F already! Expect another hot one today with highs in the mid 90s. As always, stay cool and stay hydrated.

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Bridget Balch and Ali Rockett at the Richmond Times-Dispatch have more on the Carter Jones Park community coming together to process the murder of 9-year-old Markiya Dickson. First, it’s a good piece that does a good job of describing the feeling of senseless loss and grief. That’s important, and it’s necessary to make space for that. Second, I’m looking for the City’s leaders to begin working through the loss and grief to figure out how we can make sure this never happens again—that’s Delegates Bourne and Carr; Senators McClellan, Sturtevant, and Dance; the Mayor; City Council; the interim Chief of Police; Superintendent Kamras; and even the Director of Parks and Rec. Someone needs to do something and it needs to be bold, it needs to be new, and it needs to push the envelop of what cities are allowed by the Commonwealth to do to combat gun violence in our communities. You should feel empowered to contact any and all of those folks and ask them for answers. Third, if this is true, it’s unacceptable—from the RTD: “Community members expressed frustration Tuesday evening, saying they are often treated with suspicion when they try to help — like Markiya’s father and another young man who were handcuffed after they brought her bleeding body to the hospital.”

Debbie Truong, who once wrote for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and does so now for the Washington Post, has a piece about the “borderline criminal” state of public school facilities in America—but mostly focuses on Richmond Public Schools. This shouldn’t be new news to any of y’all, but it’s good/terrible to see the inhumane reality of our schools make national news. Something that stuck out to me: Our Democratic Governor was ultimately only able to get $35 million in new money for school construction into his budget, which seems like a lot until you consider RPS’s construction needs alone total $800 million. Perhaps this embarrassing national coverage will push state legislators to finally and fully fund education, as they are required to do. Keep these sorts of things in mind as we get ready for a huge General Assembly election this coming November.

Photo by: sandy’s dad

Good morning, RVA! It’s 67 °F, and you should expect a hot, sunny afternoon with highs in the 90s. Get ready for a hot, hot week.

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Richmond Police are reporting two murders that took place over the weekend. First, Jerson S. White, 37, was shot and killed in the alley behind the 2100 block of West Cary Street. Second, a child was shot and killed at Carter Jones Park. NCB12 reports that the victim, 9-year-old Markiya Simone Dickson, was caught in gunfire that “came from some men on a nearby basketball court.” This is just so incredibly awful. I don’t know what the City’s response to the killing of an innocent child in a public park will be, but it needs to be something. If it were me, I’d get with a bunch of smart lawyers and start writing and passing progressive gun violence laws at the city level with the hope of having them challenged in court—force our Commonwealth’s gun-loving legislators to explain why, year after year, they do everything in their power to support policies of death and violence.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 74 °F, and today looks a lot like yesterday—same same. Expect highs in near 90 and some sunshine for the next couple of days as we head into Memorial Day weekend and pool season.

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Ah yes, the Friday before Memorial Day—one of the slowest news days of the year and when anything of note gets held until Tuesday. One small logistical note: Since Monday is a federal holiday, Good Morning, RVA is also on hold, and I will see you jokers on Tuesday! Have a great weekend, y’all.

Dang there have been a thousand and one articles about fare evasion on the Pulse. Here’s one more, a paywalled editorial from the RTD Editorial Board 💸 that’s mostly reasonable, but, like almost every other article on the subject, throws a bunch of distinct issues at the wall and declares “Aha! Fare evasion!” I’m bad at finances, so I can’t speak to how missing budget projections and revenue targets impacts the transit agency’s bottom line—and if this problem? issue? regular finance thing? is related to inaccurate projections, fare evasion, the black and gold flood of VCU-related humans into the system, or what. I’ve got a lot of thoughts, but here’s the most important one: Ridership on Richmond’s bus system is way up, defying trends across the entire country. There is literally no other city in all of America doing what Richmond is doing when it comes to public transportation. Despite the thousand and one articles you read, we’ve got a lot to celebrate. City Council, the Mayor, GRTC leadership—really everyone—needs to keep that in mind before they get real intense about something like fare evasion. Like this sign in the bathroom of Cobra Cabana says, “We have a real fragile ecosystem happening here and its balance must be maintained at all costs.”

Good morning, RVA! It’s 61 °F, and that hot hot summertime weather is back. Today you should expect highs near 90 °F. Please remember to hydrate!

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Eastern Virginia Medical School has concluded its investigation into Governor Northam’s racist yearbook, and, as expected, did not come up with anything conclusive. The full, 55-page report is available for you to read (PDF), but Ned Oliver at the Virginia Mercury has some of the more interesting the details. While the investigation ultimately did not uncover the identities of the men wearing blackface and KKK robes in the yearbook photo, it did reveal a lot of bad moves and chaos among the Governor’s staff as they put together his (real bad) response. The sentiment from Northam’s staff that folks across Virginia would accept the Governor’s admission of guilt and move right along is kinda of shocking, especially for people working in politics (and living in the world) in 2019. You can also read the Governor’s response to the report, in which he again denies appearing in the photo but recommits to spending the rest of his term working toward “meaningful progress on issues of equity.”

Often a report from the City Auditor signals Bad News for the Mayor and his administration. This time, however, the news is pretty good and encouraging: The City has implemented 55% (96) of the Auditor’s open recommendations, a huge increase over both last year’s 25% and the 10-year average of 37%. 76 recommendations remain open (but 11 of those haven’t reached their original due date), so there’s still work to do. But, progress! Hats off to the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities; Budget and Strategic Planning; and the Department of Finance for closing out nearly all of their past-due audit recommendations. You can read the Auditor’s short annual report (PDF) or take a look at the list of open recommendations by department over on the Auditor’s website. Hooray for transparency and efficiency in government!

Good morning, RVA! It’s 51 °F, and we’ve got another beautiful day queued up. Expect a dry, sunny day with highs in the upper 70s. Summer heat returns tomorrow.

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This week’s edition of Superintendent Kamras’s email is worth a read. Of note: His administration presented the first draft of the revised Student Code of Responsible Ethics to the School Board this week (long PDF, but a summary of the changes is right at the top). They worked on decriminalizing existing language and policies as well as including new language to affirm and embrace LGBTQ+ students. Kamras worked with Side by Side on the latter, which seems like a really wonderful partnership. Also, the Superintendent describes further issues with student transcripts and graduation rates following an audit, an overview of which you can read for yourself (PDF). You may remember last year’s transcript situation that revolved around incorrectly calculated GPA’s? Well, this new issues fell out of the audit of that. The Superintendent says “We also now know all of the issues related to our transcripts and graduation rates and will be able to put in place the necessary guidelines, supports, and accountability structures to improve outcomes for our students going forward.” I know it feels like a lot, but I think we’re nearing the end of the “new Superintendent learns about XYZ terrible thing that happened at RPS before his time and pledges to fix it” cycle.

I’ve got two piece of GRTC news for you this morning—one good, one bad. Let’s start with the good news first: Bus ridership continues to go way, way up (PDF) to the point where it feels kind of boring to keep talking about it. But make no mistake! It is not boring! Richmond’s ridership increase is amazing, incredible, and unique across the country. We’re doing something that no other American city is doing, and it’s happening because we’ve decided—as a region—to begin reinvesting in public transportaiton. Specifically, ridership is up 17% year-over-year in April; GRTC has seen already seen more rides this year than all of last fiscal year—with two months remaining (6.3 million versus 5.5 million); and the Pulse has doubled the original 3,500 weekday rides projection. Whoa! Now, the bad news: As part of a City Council-requested attempt to address fare evasion, GRTC has proposed a really terrible marketing camping that uses unnecessary and aggressive language to shame transit riders and threatens to “expose” them. Roberto Roldan at WCVE has more, including my thoughts on the matter: “I don’t think we should shame transit riders, a significant number of whom are people of color and lower-income Richmonders…We don’t use the same kind of language for people who park illegally and we shouldn’t use it for people who are trying to ride the bus.” GRTC needs to go back to the drawing board on this, and maybe get inspired by what @transitrunner said on Twitter, that the proposed signs “squash the joy of transit” and that “transit stations should feel welcoming.”

Good morning, RVA! It’s 61 °F, and highs today aren’t quite as steaming hot as yesterday. Expect temperatures to stick somewhere in the mid 70s. Warmer weather returns later in the week.

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Thank you to everyone who came out to Max and Ross Bike Things last night! We had about 40 people on bikes cruising through the city, checking out transportation infrastructure, riding in (and adjacent to) bike lanes, and listening to me and Max talk out what the City’s getting right and complain about how things could be better. I had a blast and hope y’all did, too! We should do more real-life hangs!

With the downtown arena discussion interminably on pause, we can turn our attention to discussion of the other giant stadium project over on Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Michael Martz at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has an update on VCU’s plans to buy the ABC property from the state 💸, plus additional property nearby, and build an athletic village (Ned Oliver has a paywall-free take on the Virginia Mercury). Two of VCU’s plans include a baseball stadium, one does not—and that third one would severely bum out the Squirrels, I imagine. Here’s draft drawings of the three plans (PDF) with Robin Hood Road on the right and Hermitage at the top. I feel compelled to mention that while the City does not collect real estate tax on the existing ABC property since it’s owned by the State, any other property bought up by VCU would fall off the tax rolls and into the University’s ever-growing pot of untaxable land. With this project, however, you hope that building a new baseball diamond nearby frees up the Diamond’s existing space on Arthur Ashe Boulevard for incredibly dense, valuable, and supremely taxable development. You hope, at least. The Hanover Board of Supervisors first needs to approves moving the ABC warehouse into that County, which Martz says could happen as soon as tomorrow, at which point VCU has first dibs on the property in the City. Stay tuned!

Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, and today’s highs are back up near 90 °F—that’s hot! We may see a few cooler days this week, but these summery temperatures are pretty much what you should expect.

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Last week, Alabama’s Republican-led Government passed a law banning abortions in that state. Make no mistake: This law is designed to challenge Roe v. Wade in court and is extremely terrifying and will only serve to make the lives of women living in Alabama—especially women of color—more dangerous. As Virginians who presumably don’t want our state to turn into Gilead, we need to keep our eyes on our leaders and legislators as we creep towards elections and this coming General Assembly session. Unfortunately, some of our Republicans, gleefully high on Alabama’s successful attempts to restrict the rights of women, will try and introduce similar legislation in Virginia. Look, here comes one now: Republican Delegate Bob Thomas who represents Fredericksburg and Stafford County. Luckily, at the moment, we have a Democratic Governor who says “My veto pen is ready and full of ink.” We’re also lucky to have excellent Democratic legislators like State Senator McClellan who has a good Twitter thread about how abortion bans cause women to suffer. Get used to hearing about this topic, because I’m sure abortion will join blackface as the top issues in this coming November’s elections. Put another way: The rights of women and people of color are at the core of this year’s elections, and there is a lot at stake for the Commonwealth.

Dang do I emphasize with this Bill Lohmann column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about traveling as a Richmonder 💸. Every time I travel, even just last week taking the train to Newark, I feel like a country mouse in the Big City—regardless of which city I’m in and how big it may actually be (population of Newark: 285,00; population of Richmond: 227,000). But, after a few years, getting around in other cities has gotten easier and it always involves taking public transportation and lots of walking. Lohmann says he’s found the same thing about his travels: “We’ve actually gotten pretty good on the Paris Metro, the city’s subway system, and we rode trams around Amsterdam as if we actually knew what we were doing. When we weren’t mastering public transportation systems, we were hoofing it everywhere. We walked an average of more than 12 miles a day…” What is it that makes us more comfortable with walking a dozen miles in a faraway city but unwilling to do even a fraction of that in Richmond? How do we take that freedom you feel in getting around as a carless visitor and bring it back home to RVA?

Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, and today’s highs are back up near 90 °F—that’s hot! We may see a few cooler days this week, but these summery temperatures are pretty much what you should expect.

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Last week, Alabama’s Republican-led Government passed a law banning abortions in that state. Make no mistake: This law is designed to challenge Roe v. Wade in court and is extremely terrifying and will only serve to make the lives of women living in Alabama—especially women of color—more dangerous. As Virginians who presumably don’t want our state to turn into Gilead, we need to keep our eyes on our leaders and legislators as we creep towards elections and this coming General Assembly session. Unfortunately, some of our Republicans, gleefully high on Alabama’s successful attempts to restrict the rights of women, will try and introduce similar legislation in Virginia. Look, here comes one now: Republican Delegate Bob Thomas who represents Fredericksburg and Stafford County. Luckily, at the moment, we have a Democratic Governor who says “My veto pen is ready and full of ink.” We’re also lucky to have excellent Democratic legislators like State Senator McClellan who has a good Twitter thread about how abortion bans cause women to suffer. Get used to hearing about this topic, because I’m sure abortion will join blackface as the top issues in this coming November’s elections. Put another way: The rights of women and people of color are at the core of this year’s elections, and there is a lot at stake for the Commonwealth.

Dang do I emphasize with this Bill Lohmann column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about traveling as a Richmonder 💸. Every time I travel, even just last week taking the train to Newark, I feel like a country mouse in the Big City—regardless of which city I’m in and how big it may actually be (population of Newark: 285,00; population of Richmond: 227,000). But, after a few years, getting around in other cities has gotten easier and it always involves taking public transportation and lots of walking. Lohmann says he’s found the same thing about his travels: “We’ve actually gotten pretty good on the Paris Metro, the city’s subway system, and we rode trams around Amsterdam as if we actually knew what we were doing. When we weren’t mastering public transportation systems, we were hoofing it everywhere. We walked an average of more than 12 miles a day…” What is it that makes us more comfortable with walking a dozen miles in a faraway city but unwilling to do even a fraction of that in Richmond? How do we take that freedom you feel in getting around as a carless visitor and bring it back home to RVA?

Good morning, RVA! It’s 57 °F, and today we’re looking at highs in the mid 80s, a few clouds, and a potential chance for rain later this evening. Weatherwise, the rest of this weekend looks incredible, though.

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Richmond Police are reporting that William Reed, Jr., 22, was shot and killed on the 1100 block of Floral Avenue on Wednesday morning. According to the RPD, this is the 22nd murder of 2019.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 53 °F, and today looks beautiful. Expect highs in the upper 70s and lots of sunshine. Enjoy!

Water cooler

I’m still in Newark, NJ, where I’ve had a total blast! However, I thought I’d do a late-arriving email today, mostly to remind me how this all works, before getting back to the regularly-scheduled grind tomorrow. Here we go!

BUDGETCHATS CONTINUE! This article by Justin Mattingly in the Richmond Times-Dispatch is mostly a recap of this past budget season but does include this sentence: “A day after the Richmond City Council approved a budget that fully funds what school officials requested, Mayor Levar Stoney did not rule out the idea of proposing a real estate tax increase to fund the city school system again next year.“ Heck yeah! We’ve got a million and one priorities left to fund, and there simply are not enough efficiencies to find, vacancies to cut, or capital money to raid to get them all done.