Good morning, RVA! It’s 67 °F, and todays highs will creep back up into the mid 80s. Add that to plenty of sun, and we’ve got a pretty warm day on deck.

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Michael Paul Williams opens his new column on who’s to blame for the state of Richmond Public Schools 💸 with a Jay-Z quote that most likely zooms by, far over the heads of a large portion of the paper’s subscription base. While MPW says there’s no time to point fingers and assign blame for the current situation, he does spend a significant number of words pointing fingers directly at Kamras’s administration for a few changes to RPS’s organization structure that run counter to one of the audits I linked to yesterday. I’ve seen this criticism highlighted in a couple of stories over the past few days. For context, though, the audit in question (PDF) lists 21 recommendations, several of which have many sub recommendations, and span six entire pages (about 10%) of the document. There are a lot of recommendations. I don’t know why we’re so hung up on this one thing? You could write many, many more interesting stories (maybe one about how currently the District lacks regular reconciliation of accounts 😳), but it’s like we‘re excited to tear down the new guy before he even gets started. I dunno. Moving forward, I‘m looking forward to however the Superintendent plans to address (or maybe not address) both of the audits’ recommendations.

Mike Platania at Richmond BizSense says Planning Commission approved new apartments near the post office on Brook Road. The apartments will require a zoning change, but they do fit in with the 2016 VUU Chamberlayne Neighborhood Plan that is an actual factual part of the city’s current Master Plan. This is a good example of why master plans are important, and, as a fun homework assignment, you should download the neighborhood plan (PDF) and the project plan (PDF) and decide for yourself whether or not the new apartments are a good fit for the area and inline with the Master Plan. Fun homework, I say!

Good morning, RVA! It’s 65 °F, and today looks amazing. Expect sunshine and highs in the low 80s. Spend some time outside doing stuff!

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Richmond Police are reporting that Wayne E. Friday, 35, was murdered on Friday night. Officers arrived to the 1600 block of N. 19th Street and found Friday shot to death.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 65 °F, and today looks amazing. Expect sunshine and highs in the low 80s. Spend some time outside doing stuff!

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Richmond Police are reporting that Wayne E. Friday, 35, was murdered on Friday night. Officers arrived to the 1600 block of N. 19th Street and found Friday shot to death.

Photo by: sandy's dad

Good morning, RVA! It’s 61 °F, and highs today will top out around 80 °F. Keep an eye out for some brief rain, but expect a mostly cooler and cloudy day.

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The Mayor has announced that the Conrad Center, over on Oliver Hill Way, will serve as the City’s Cold Weather Shelter for 2018–2019. This is a nice and fairly new facility and definitely an improvement over the deteriorating Public Safety Building. Unfortunately, the Conrad Center is in a public transit wasteland and you’ve got to walk about 15–20 minutes to get there depending on which direction you’re coming from. With any luck, next year the City will find a partner organization to work with that has a good location that’s easily accessible by folks of all mobility levels.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 71 °F, and temperatures will drop just a tiny bit throughout the day as rain clouds move in. Cooler days await!

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Colleen Curran at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has an update on the Museum of the Confederacy, which will close this weekend. The American Civil War Museum has already subsumed the Museum of the Confederacy way back in 2013, and finally moving the latter down to Tedegar from their enclave deep within the VCU Medical Center seems smart. It’s definitely weird to have a ton of Confederacy stuff, with no other context or interpretation, stuck in the middle of a hospital complex. I’m glad to see it move!

Monroe Park was already kinda open, but today at 3:00 PM it officially opens with a ribbon cutting ceremony ft. the Mayor, VCU President Michael Rao, and Monroe Park Conservancy President Alice Massie. I rode through the park yesterday, and it was filled with folks just hanging out. I loved it, and it’s great to have what was a huge hole in the city filled back in with green space.

Photo by: Tim Evanson

Good morning, RVA! It’s 73 °F, and today you should expect highs in the mid 80s with a chance of storms this evening.

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The Mayor introduced his first take at an ordinance regulating dockless, shareable vehicles (aka scooters and bikes) on Monday, and it finally made its way to legistar for you to download and read (PDF). The regulations require companies to acquire a permit that lasts for one year; set an annual fee of $40,000 for under 100 vehicles; define where users can and cannot park a scooter (17 sub bullets(!) found on p. 6); request applicants to provide a pricing structure for low-income users and a way for bankless customers to use the system; and demand data sharing with the City. I’m pretty pleased with this ordinance and application, and I think its got all the pieces I was after. One weirdness/quibble: The text of the ordinance seems to only allow for 100 vehicles per vendor, while the text of the application allows for tiers of up to 500. 100 is far to few—we’ve probably got more Birds than that on the ground now—and I expect that number to go up as the ordinance winds its way through the legislative process. ORD. 2018–262 will head to the Land Use, Housing and Transportation committee on October 16th.

Photo by: Tim Evanson

Good morning, RVA! It’s 73 °F, and today you should expect highs in the mid 80s with a chance of storms this evening.

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The Mayor introduced his first take at an ordinance regulating dockless, shareable vehicles (aka scooters and bikes) on Monday, and it finally made its way to legistar for you to download and read (PDF). The regulations require companies to acquire a permit that lasts for one year; set an annual fee of $40,000 for under 100 vehicles; define where users can and cannot park a scooter (17 sub bullets(!) found on p. 6); request applicants to provide a pricing structure for low-income users and a way for bankless customers to use the system; and demand data sharing with the City. I’m pretty pleased with this ordinance and application, and I think its got all the pieces I was after. One weirdness/quibble: The text of the ordinance seems to only allow for 100 vehicles per vendor, while the text of the application allows for tiers of up to 500. 100 is far to few—we’ve probably got more Birds than that on the ground now—and I expect that number to go up as the ordinance winds its way through the legislative process. ORD. 2018–262 will head to the Land Use, Housing and Transportation committee on October 16th.

Photo by: sandy's dad

Good morning, RVA! It’s 71 °F, and today we’ve got highs in the mid 80s and probably a respite from the rain. Enjoy!

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At last night’s City Council meeting, councilmembers approved a resolution in support of the off-track betting emporium proposed for an old K-Mart on Midlothian Turnpike. They also adopted ORD. 2018–205 (which I forgot to talk about yesterday), making the Public Art Master Plan an official part of the city’s existing Master Plan. You can read through the amended plan (PDF), which has some fascinating edits that illustrate a bit of the tension in deciding who controls what when it comes to public art. Also on this topic, last night several councilmembers spoke in support of public art and of its importance to the community. Just so we’re all on the same page, here’s the list of councilmembers who supported taking $2 million from the Percent For Arts Fund this past budget cycle to pay for their own amendments to the Capital Improvement Program: Andreas Addison, Kim Gray, Kristen Larson, Ellen Robertson, and Cynthia Newbille.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 64 °F and looks like we’ve got plenty of clouds and potentially some rain in our future. Highs will top out around the mid 70s.

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City Council will meet tonight at 6:00 PM for their regularly scheduled meeting, and you can find the agenda here (PDF)—as always, be aware that it can and will change at the councilmembers’ whims between now and then. Some important highlights: ORD. 2018–194, the ordinance banning bike lanes on Brook Road, has been continued until November 13th; ORD. 2018–153 which reinstates a southbound left turn from Belvidere onto Broad (thereby screwing up the timing of the Pulse) has been continued until December 10th; Councilmember Jones’s resolution asking the state for local control of our Confederate monuments has been continued until October 8th; almost every interesting housing ordinance has also been continued; and there are a ton of ordinances accepting funding from VDOT to build and improve sidewalks throughout the City. It looks like Council will adopt a resolution in support of an off-track betting facility in the 9th District with up to 700 “historical racing terminals (PDF)”—read more about that from Mark Robinson at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Also, the Mayor will probably introduce his scooter ordinance tonight which means we should get a peek at the specifics tomorrow.

In affordable housing news, the Community Foundation has awarded the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust a $1 million grant. The Trust is an important piece of our region’s affordable housing strategy (in as much as we have a stated strategy as a region), and this grant will allow them to add 40 properties to their portfolio. Remember, this should be just one tool in our affordable housing toolkit! The Trust deals in single family homes and makes those available to folks who earn up to 80% of the Area Median Income (or 115% depending on the program). Richmond needs more multi-family residential homes and they need to be affordable to people making much less than 80% AMI. You can read more about the Trust and how they keep homes permanently affordable over on their website.

Photo by: cpjRVA

Good morning, RVA! It’s 71 °F, and today’s forecast looks a lot like yesterday’s: Highs in the mid 80s and plenty of sunshine.

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I enjoyed reading this long piece from Sarah King at Richmond Magazine about Alina Kilpatrick—Abbie Arevalo Herrera’s lawyer. Herrera is the woman seeking asylum from domestic violence at First Unitarian Universalist Church, and Kilpatrick seems uniquely suited for the job of defending her and guiding her through the legal system.

Photo by: sandy's dad

Good morning, RVA! It’s 69 °F at the moment. Today you can expect highs in the mid 80s and…no rain! Just sunshine from here to wherever—enjoy!

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Richmond Police are reporting that Joshua A. Grey, 23, was shot to death on Monday afternoon at the intersection of Mechanicsville Turnpike and Carver Street.

Photo by: sandy's dad

Good morning, RVA! It’s 76 °F, and today we’ve got highs in the mid 80s and a chance of thunderstorms later this afternoon.

Yesterday, the area saw its first deadly tornadoes “since the 1990s.” John Boyer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the science reasons behind the storms and here’s a few drone photos of the major damage in Chesterfield County off Hull Street Road. Over the course of the evening, the National Weather Service issued 19 tornado warnings for the region.

Richmond and Chesterfield Public Schools will open two hours late as crews work to assess, clear, and repair any damage. Be safe if you’re out and about today!

Good morning, RVA! It’s 75 °F, and we’ve got rain in the forecast today. Temperatures will hover around in the mid 80s, but there’s a pretty decent chance for rain all day long.

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Last week, I wrote about ORD. 2018–236 (PDF), introduced by Councilmember Gray, which would allow certain homeowners to defer the payment of increases in their property tax. I posted some of my concerns and questions on Twitter, and what resulted was an excellent, thoughtful, and interesting conversation. It’s worth your time to explore the thread and read what all the folks, way smarter than me, have to say.

Colleen Curran in the Richmond Times-Dispatch says someone has bought Sharp’s Island—a small island in the middle of the river near Mayo Island. While the new owner sounds like an outdoors-focused dude, I’d prefer if all the river’s islands that sit within the James River Park System belonged to the City. The new, private owner puts it perfectly on why the public should own resources like this: “When I think of the James River, I want to go and explore…And to know that one of those places is mine where I can take my kids and bring my friends, you can’t put a price on that.”

Good morning, RVA! It’s 74 °F, and today you should expect wind and rain as the first bits of hurricane Florence begin to move through the region. You should continue to expect this throughout the weekend. As always, John Boyer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the even-handed and level-headed coverage of the storm that I’ve enjoyed all week long.

Lots of things are and continue to be canceled. Make sure you check before you head out into the wide, wide world.

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Starting this Sunday you can take a bus to Short Pump! This, of course, is huge and major in many ways, not least of which is that it demonstrates Henrico County’s willingness to work with the City to begin creating a truly regional and functional public transportation system. Also, there are just a ton of jobs out there that are now, for the first time, accessible to folks who can’t or choose not to drive a car. You can see a long list of all the changes that begin on Sunday over on GRTC’s website, or you can just download and marvel at the new #19 West Broad Street schedule (PDF).

Good morning, RVA! It’s 74 °F, and you should probably expect some rain later today.

Here’s last night’s Florence update from the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s John Boyer. The storm has slowed way down and shifted south, leaving Richmond’s weekend wet but without having “to worry about hurricane conditions.” Of course there’s plenty of uncertainty when predicting what a massive rotating wall of wind and water will do with it’s time and energy, so keep an eye on things.

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Ned Oliver at the Virginia Mercury has the update on the Virginia General Assembly’s attempts at redistricting. To summarize: 🙄 and 🤷‍♂️. It’s hard to be optimistic about this story, a story about people’s right to fair elections, when the central plot-line focuses on sketchy tactics and partisan bickering. I mean, it certainly is not lost on anyone that a letter Republicans wrote complaining about Democrats writing a letter and giving that letter to the press was itself given to the press. Come on! Remember, the GA is required to have a new map in place by October 30th, or federal courts will go ahead and draw the map for them. At this point, that seems likely to happen.

Photo by: adamwilliams4405

Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, and it’s cooled off a bit. Today, expect highs in the mid 80s and maybe a few showers here or there.

As for Hurricane Florence, models have rain totals in Virginia trending downward—with Richmond seeing 2 to 4 inches of rain over the next seven days. The Richmond Times-Dispatch’s faithful John Boyer has the update from last night, but check back later this morning for the new news.

Weather-related cancellations are flooding in, too, with Virginia Tech’s football game against ECU cancelled; UVA’s game against Ohio moved to Nashville; VCU is closed beginning tomorrow; and Henrico and Richmond public schools are closed on Friday. Lots of folks are waiting to see how or if the forecast shifts today to make a call on Thursday, so this list could change a ton.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, and today you can expect reasonable highs in the mid 80s and a pretty good chance of rain scattered throughout the entire afternoon.

Florence-related rain, though, begins on Thursday, and weather-related cancellations are starting to trickle in. Prepare accordingly and double check with event coordinators and websites if you’ve got something on your calendar Thursday through Sunday.

Andrew Freiden from NBC12 says there’s maybe a bit of good news for Virginia with the latest hurricane update.

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Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and today we’ve got highs in the upper 80s and a small chance of storms late this afternoon. At this point, everyone’s got their eye on Hurricane Florence and the potential for sustained rain and flooding in the region—the Governor has already declared a state of emergency. In the next couple of days, follow some good weatherfolks, try and stay away from clickbait panic trash, and do a bit of prep work ahead of time.

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On Saturday evening, Richmond police arrived at the 2000 block of Mansion Avenue on the City’s Southside and found Norbert D. Laury, 30, shot to death.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and today we’ve got highs in the upper 80s and a small chance of storms late this afternoon. At this point, everyone’s got their eye on Hurricane Florence and the potential for sustained rain and flooding in the region—the Governor has already declared a state of emergency. In the next couple of days, follow some good weatherfolks, try and stay away from clickbait panic trash, and do a bit of prep work ahead of time.

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On Saturday evening, Richmond police arrived at the 2000 block of Mansion Avenue on the City’s Southside and found Norbert D. Laury, 30, shot to death.