Good morning, RVA! It’s 45 °F, and, today, temperatures are on the rise. Expects highs in the 60s and some good ol’ sunshine. Cooler temperatures return tomorrow, and snow is still a possibility on the weekend horizon. John Boyer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the weather science behind this weekend’s potential winter wonderland.

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I thought Councilmember Newbille was the safe bet for new City Council president, but I didn’t think she and Councilmember Hilbert would pull the ol’ switcheroo and trade jobs, but that’s just what happened. For the second half of this particular Council’s term, we’ve got President Newbille and Vice President Hilbert. Sarah King at Richmond Magazines has some quotes from our new/familiar Council leadership. First meeting under the new president will take place next week, and all eyes (JK, very few eyes) will be on the dais!

In related news that I need to try and be more aware of, RPS School Board reelected Chair Dawn Page and picked new Vice Chair Liz Doerr. Justin Mattingly at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the details on the stressful, definitely not unanimous votes.

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Good morning, RVA! It’s 40 °F, and we’ve got highs in the mid 40s—much chillier than yesterday—and a bunch of clouds in the forecast. After a warm tomorrow, temperatures will drop for the rest of the week which could even end with some snow!

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Reminder! City Council will meet today at 5:00 PM for a special meeting to elect a new president and vice president! This is terribly exciting for all councilwatchers and probably of not much interest to normal people. But! Council president does serve an important role in that they appoint committee members and run meetings—I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but recently Council meetings have had a tendency to spin out of control and stretch deep into the night. I’m hoping new leadership from the dais will lead to more sensible meetings which will lead to more predictable ways for Richmonders to get involved in the legislative part of their government.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 44 °F, and the clouds and rain are back. Starting around lunchtime and continuing through to tomorrow, we’ve got a good chance of chance of showers while temperatures will stay just under 50 °F. Sunday, though, things should warm up and dry out.

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Richmond Police are reporting two murders from earlier this week. First, in the afternoon of January 2nd, officers were called to the 4500 block of Norbourne Road and found Michael E. Halford, 43, shot to death. Later that day, police responded to a shooting on the 100 block of W. Brookland Park Boulevard. James Moorehead, 18, was taken to the hospital with a fatal gunshot wound.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 47 °F and kind of rainy. You can expect a slightly warmer and a bit drier afternoon, and you can also expect this sort of weather to carry on through the next couple of days.

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Ali Rockett at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has put together their end-of-year look at all of Richmond’s murder victims. I really appreciate the work that goes into both humanizing the victims and attempting to follow these murder cases to whatever end they have in the courts. Through a numbers lens, which isn’t always the best or the only way to look at things, the City has seen a marked decrease in murders compared to 2017: Down to 28.2% to 56.

Please read this absolutely excellent post by Bike Walk RVA that shares the stories of the actual humans who ride bikes on Brook Road. You won’t be surprised to learn that most people who get around by bike on Brook are not spandexy white fitness dudes, but a wide range of people who are mostly trying to get to and from work or school. In case you didn’t put it together, this piece is great advocacy work in building support for the Brook Road Bike Lane, and clearly points out how Councilmember Grey’s anti-bike lane ordinance (ORD. 2018–194) will hurt families, folks with lower incomes, and people simply trying to safely get to work. I love this quote from John, who puts it perfectly, “It seems to me, anyone that is bound up about a bike lane on Brook Road, should take a ride to burn off some stress. There are too many people in this city, just like me, who rely on a bike for everything. We need this.” When I think about how to do effective advocacy today, during a period of time when a list of facts doesn’t have the same impact as it once might have had, personal and compelling stories like this are so, so perfect. Councilmember Grey’s anti-bike lane ordinance sits on the January 22nd Land Use, Housing, and Transportation committee’s agenda. Remember to share these stories if you find yourself contacting your councilmember or giving a public comment.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 46 °F, highs will top out around 50 °F, and today’s got clouds and possibly a little bit of rain in store. That’s pretty much the weather outlook for the rest of the week, too.

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Hello again! It’s been forever, and I bet stuff happened over the last week or so, but I sure couldn’t tell you what. Let’s just dive right back in with this the first Good Morning, RVA of 2019!

It took less than six hours for Richmond to see its first pedestrian killed by a driver. Police were called to the 4800 block of Midlothian Turnpike, near George Wythe High School, around 5:45 AM on New Years Day and found a female victim dead in the road. There have been at least a half dozen injuries along that stretch of Midlothian over the last few years. What will the City do in 2019 to make our streets safer for people (and, necessarily, slower for cars)?

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Good morning, RVA! It’s 62 °F, which seems kind of warm for winter. Rain may continue on and off throughout the morning, after which things should clear up a bit. As for the final week of 2018, looks pretty warm and mostly sunny. Not too shabby!

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Remember how I spent the better part of the summer complaining about Paul Goldman’s unnecessary ballot referendum? Well, that unnecessary ballot referendum passed in November, and, with it, a December 31st deadline for the Mayor to present a plan to fully fund Richmond Public Schools’ capital needs without raising taxes or—and I always thought this part was overly dramatic—DECLARE IT IMPOSSIBLE. Well, impossibility be damned!, the mayor has delivered that plan ahead of schedule. If you were to ask me how to fully find $800 million of school-related capital needs without raising taxes and with the City’s debt limit maxed out until 2024, I would have said “Uhhh, I guess we just wait until 2024 and then borrow some more money as our debt capacity opens up? Boom?” And, lo, this is what the plan appears to be. To me, this mostly seems like a Paul Goldman-required waste of time and something that could easily change because of a 1,001 future factors—things like school closings and rezonings, increased funding from the state, the mysterious fate of the proposed Coliseum redevelopment, or a set of elected officials willing to restore the property tax back to pre-Recession levels. As I’ve said in this space a trillion times before, I am often too dumb to understand municipal finance, so take everything I just said with a grain of salt. I’m more than willing—nay, excited—for folks to correct me on how this all intends to work.

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Good morning, RVA! It’s 43 °F, and today the rain begins. Keep your umbrellas and raincoats at the ready because we’re in for some serious precipitation beginning this afternoon and stretching through the rest of the day and into tomorrow.

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I forgot this was happening! Mayor Stoney and Superintendent Kamras broke ground yesterday on the three new schools that are a direct result of increasing the meals tax. Mark Robinson at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has allllll the details, including a few you’ve probably forgotten. There’s still lots left to do when it comes to Richmond Public Schools’ capital needs—and don’t forget about school closings and rezonings—but this is a great first step (of many (I’m serious, we’re not finished and we should hold our leaders accountable to continue taking steps forward)).

Good morning, RVA! It’s 34 °F now, but it’ll be 51 °F later—sounds like a day to wear a couple of layers, for sure.

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After a week or more of teases, here are the Governor’s full remarks to the Joint Money Committees on his proposed budget amendments. Because, sure, why not, here’s the entire proposed budget as a set of PDFs if you should want to really dig in. Maybe of particular note for folks is the Revenue Forecast section (PDF). Mechelle Hankerson at the Virginia Mercury has a more human readable summary, plus some details about how tax changes at the federal level unintentionally mean more money for Virginia.

Richmond Magazine has a huge stack of articles all about Arthur Ashe that make up a commemorative issue. They span from essays, to history, to present-day impact, to all sorts of things. Read them all!

Good morning, RVA! It’s 38 °F, and today you should look forward to sunshine and highs in the upper 40s. Rain heads our way later this week, but, until then, enjoy the clear skies!

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Police are reporting a murder on the 1300 block of Coalter Street. At 11:50 PM on Friday, officers arrived and found Antoine R. Orange, 27, shot to death.

I think this is the 48th murder in Richmond in 2018. For some of the context (certainly not all of it), the City saw 67 murders last year.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 39 °F, and highs today are way up—up around 60 °F! You can expect warmer weather for the next bunch of days.

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City Council will meet tonight for the final time of 2018! And oh what a time we’ve had! On the agenda (PDF), which could, of course, shift at any moment like sand through an hourglass: Sticking up to $1 million into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund via some expiring tax exemptions on tax delinquent properties (ORD. 2018–238), requiring a strategic homelessness plan (ORD. 2018–241), creating a Navy Hill Development advisory commission plus some publicly hearing dates for the coliseum redevelopment project (ORD. 2018–297), and a handful of housing-related ordinances via Councilmember Robertson. It’s a meaty agenda that has only grown meatier over time due to this Council’s prime legislative strategy of “continue this paper forever and ever amen.” It’s not my favorite strategy as it wrecks the public process and makes it harder for folks to advocate for or against all sorts of things. At some point, you either have the votes or you don’t and you shouldn’t keep something on the agenda for months and months hoping that the political picture changes.

The Gov continues to pre-announce his budget plans, the latest an investment in universal broadband infrastructure. Over at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jeff Schapiro provides the longform political take behind Northam’s strategically-timed press releases 💸. And, finally, the Commonwealth Institute digs in and gives us some analysis on the education-related components of the coming amendments to the 2018–2020 budget—which, don’t forget, has still got to make it through the General Assembly early next year. I enjoy this last piece because it gets to the core of some of the problems facing the Commonwealth (and also the solution to a lot of those problems): “So long as Virginia is 48th in the revenues our state and local governments are collecting relative to personal income, then these funding challenges will remain for schools.”

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Good morning, RVA! It’s 37 °F, and there’s a good chance of rain beginning this afternoon and continuing through the evening. In fact, we’ve got a pretty decent shot at a rain-filled weekend. Enjoy!

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Michael Paul Williams at the Richmond Times-Dispatch writes about the East Marshall Street Well Project, and how this is an opportunity for VCU to lead rather than simply do damage control. If you’re unfamiliar, this is a project to properly memorialize the Black people whose graves were robbed and bodies used for medical research by the Medical College of Virginia during the 19th Century. Back in the 1990s, 50 bodies were found at the bottom of well during a VCU construction project, and the University is just now getting around to figuring out an appropriate response. I agree with Williams, there are so, so many things Richmond and Richmond institutions could choose to lead on if we wanted to—especially on matters or race and reconciliation.

Photo by: sandy’s dad

Good morning, RVA! It’s 37 °F, and there’s a good chance of rain beginning this afternoon and continuing through the evening. In fact, we’ve got a pretty decent shot at a rain-filled weekend. Enjoy!

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Michael Paul Williams at the Richmond Times-Dispatch writes about the East Marshall Street Well Project, and how this is an opportunity for VCU to lead rather than simply do damage control. If you’re unfamiliar, this is a project to properly memorialize the Black people whose graves were robbed and bodies used for medical research by the Medical College of Virginia during the 19th Century. Back in the 1990s, 50 bodies were found at the bottom of well during a VCU construction project, and the University is just now getting around to figuring out an appropriate response. I agree with Williams, there are so, so many things Richmond and Richmond institutions could choose to lead on if we wanted to—especially on matters or race and reconciliation.

Photo by: cpjRVA

Good morning, RVA! It’s 31 °F, and, today, temperatures will hit the mid 40s . Theoretically this should be enough to finally clear up the roads. Fingers crossed!

Other than public schools, it seems like most things are open for business today. Depending on the makeup of your household and the level of your introvertedness, your patience with other humans may or may not be wearing thin.

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Photo by: cpjRVA

Good morning, RVA! It’s 31 °F, and, today, temperatures will hit the mid 40s . Theoretically this should be enough to finally clear up the roads. Fingers crossed!

Other than public schools, it seems like most things are open for business today. Depending on the makeup of your household and the level of your introvertedness, your patience with other humans may or may not be wearing thin.

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Good morning, RVA! It’s 29 °F, and everything that was wet has now frozen solid. Expect temperatures today to creep up into the 40s later this afternoon, melt everything, and start the whole process over again.

Some things are closed, some things are operating on a delay, and some thing are open for business. Check a website before you do a thing!

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Ned Oliver at the Virginia Mercury has the report on a new Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) study about the state of Virginia’s foster care system. Sen. Janet Howell calls the report “devastating.” If you’d like to dig in further for yourself, here’s JLARC’s summary, their actual report (PDF), and their list of recommendations (PDF).

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Good morning, RVA! It’s 22 °F and snowing. Expect the snow to continue throughout the morning until it switches over to sleet around lunchtime. This evening, temperatures increase and the rain begins.

Things are probably closed! Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, and Richmond schools are all closed, as are VCU and VUU. University of Richmond will open at 10:30 AM. It’s also Presidents’ Day (aka Washington’s Birthday), so all of the things that would be closed on a federal holiday are still closed today.

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Good morning, RVA! It’s 30 °F, and basically everything’s closed. Highs today will reach the upper 30s, but with a pretty cloud sky will it be enough to work through all of this snow? I dunno!

The National Weather Service at Wakefield says we got 11.5 inches of snow yesterday, that’s good for the second highest snowfall amount in December. December 2nd, 1908 holds the record at 15 inches.

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On this cold and snow-filled day, Catherine Komp at WCVE has a story about the limited capacity of shelter for folks who are homeless. Housing Families First, which I’ve mentioned in this space before, gets a mention, too, and they explain what happens if you find yourself suddenly without a place to stay. Komp also talks to Councilmember Robertson about her ordinance to create a strategic plan to address homelessness (ORD. 2018–241, which was on tonight’s Council agenda, but will be pushed back to next Monday due to snow). One thought: The Director of the Department of Social Services is concerned about coming up with the funds for a strategic plan, which is legit. I’d hope the City, State, or philanthropic community provides the necessary funding should this ordinance pass.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 31 °F, and that’s cold! Temperatures will rise above freezing, but it’ll take a bit. Be careful if you’ve gotta use a road for some reason. As for this weekend’s possible winter weather, Andrew Freiden and the team at NBC12 have the update.

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What pound of flesh was the Richmond region willing to give Amazon to entice them to move their HQ2(s) to the region? Ned Oliver and Michelle Hankerson from the Virginia Mercury have all of the embarrassing details! I get urbanism embarrassment transfer when reading through some of these things: “Chesterfield County pitched Amazon on undeveloped land five miles outside the city center at the intersection of Powhite and Chippenham parkways, which they said offered ‘a bespoke solution in an urban location.’ They dubbed the area ‘The Galleria.’” Sure.

A couple weeks ago, General Assembly Republicans asked to delay primaries as The Courts figure out Virginia’s redistricting situation. That’s still all up in the air, but Graham Moomaw reports that the Virginia State Board of Elections and the Department of Elections are real wary of doing so. Moomaw also says the court-appointed map drawer should have his new map ready as soon as tomorrow.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 40 °F, and today should see highs in the mid 40s. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your wintertime disposition), the chance for snow this coming weekend is…uncertain. The Richmond Times-Dispatch’s John Boyer sounds skeptical.

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Richmond Police are reporting a murder on the 1900 block of Raven Street. On Sunday evening, an officer on routine patrol found Yishawn Robinson, 17, shot to death.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 56 °F, and today temperatures will wander up into the 60s. The real thing to keep an eye on is a possibility for snow this coming weekend! NBC12 says we’re still too far out to know for sure, though.

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An important event for your calendar: The March for More! This coming Saturday, December 8th, at 10:00 AM, all sorts of folks will march from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School (1000 Mosby Street) to the Capitol to demand more state funding for public education. You can read the press release from the Mayor’s office (PDF), but a ton of folks are supportive of the effort: the Virginia Municipal League, Virginia First Cities, and a bunch of mayor-type folks from places like Alexandria, Arlington, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Martinsville, Norfolk, Pennington Gap, Portsmouth, Roanoke, and Staunton. There’s a good one-pager on the MoreBetterStronger website if you’re looking for background information.

J. Elias O’Neal at Richmond BizSense has the final details on the sales of the Quality Inn in Scott’s Addition to developer Louis Salomonsky. On the plus side: Dense development—a 12-story residential tower—adjacent to transit. On the negative side: Instead of affordable housing, we end up with 322 market-rate units and 550 parking spaces. Even with 100 of those planned for public parking, that seems like a lot of dang parking so, so close to the Pulse.