RVANews

Maggie L. Walker monument plaza plans approved

Ross Catrow — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 15:50:26 +0000

Update #3 -- July 19, 2016; 11:39 AM

According to the RTD last night the Richmond Planning Commission on Monday unanimously approved the design of a memorial plaza. The vote and process was not without it's own controversy.

Sarah Driggs, a member of the art commission, though speaking in favor of the plaza Monday, expressed dismay that the city administration “ignored and manipulated our process.”
“We hope that we will all learn from this,” she said.
Other art commission members have said the project was fast-tracked to try to finish it before Jones leaves office and could compromise other public art projects.

As you can see from the latest image above there have been some tweaks to the design since February.

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Update #2 -- February 22, 2016; 11:14 AM

You can get a feel for the design through the images below which are part of this Maggie L. Walker Presentation (PDF).

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Update #1 -- January 6, 2016; 10:49 AM

Meeting to discuss the future of the plaza:

Please join the City of Richmond’s Public Art Commission, Public Artist Toby Mendez and the design team to explore ideas for the urban plaza at Adams and Broad St. This will be an excellent opportunity for community members to give input for their vision for the plaza that will be the home of a public art project to honor Maggie L. Walker.

You can register to attend here.

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Original -- October 13, 2015

Today, Mayor Jones announced a new monument commemorating Maggie L. Walker that's headed to the intersection of Broad and Adams. You may have noticed that the intersection of Broad and Adams--which, with Brook Road, forms a neat little triangle¹ destined to become a "new plaza and gathering space"--is not Monument Avenue. That particular Rue de la Statue, for better or worse, was not the goal for this monument, which has been in the works for a while (PDF). The City's Public Art Commission focused exclusively on sites in Jackson Ward within walking distance of the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site.

Here's a presentation made back in June of 2014 (PDF) that'll give you a bit of insight into the process, and here are the findings of their public meetings (PDF). You can dig up a few more PDFs over on the Public Art Commission's website.

The artist chosen for this monument is Antonio Tobias "Toby" Mendez. I rather like his Gandhi.

Construction on the plaza / gathering space begins this fall. The full press release from the city follows.

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Mayor Dwight C. Jones and the City's Public Art Commission (PAC) announced today a new monument commemorating Maggie L. Walker that will be created by artist Antonio Tobias "Toby" Mendez. The Public Art Commission worked with a Site Selection team of neighborhood leaders and stakeholders to choose the artist and the location that would best reflect the important legacy of Maggie L. Walker and her contributions to the City of Richmond. The monument will be integrated into a new plaza and gathering space on Broad Street at North Adams Street.
The Maggie L. Walker monument will become embedded as a landmark in the City's Downtown Arts District. "Not only will Richmond gain an important new monument that can reflect the diverse heritage and history of a significant local hero, but this effort will also underscore her role as a champion for civil rights on the national landscape," said Mayor Jones. "Maggie Walker was a revolutionary leader in business, a champion for breaking down barriers between communities and showed incredible strength as a person that came out of extraordinarily challenging circumstances to create great things."
Maggie L. Walker devoted her life to civil rights advancement during the Jim Crow-era. Maggie Walker's home and business -- where she broke ground as the first woman of any race to found a bank -- are located within walking distance of the planned monument site. The downtown Broad Street location is also symbolic as that corridor once served as a divider between historically racially segregated neighborhoods. The new monument, targeted for completion in the fall of 2016, will serve as a gateway to the historic Jackson Ward community and the new home of the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia at the historic Leigh Street Armory.
The Public Art Commission led an extensive community process that asked the public what elements of Maggie Walker's life should be reflected in the art work. The images of her strength, perseverance and dedication to empower and educate were all consistent themes that will be reflected in the new monument.
Artist Toby Mendez said, "I see my role as a story teller or a director in search of a good story. I have had the luck to create monuments to Thurgood Marshall and Gandhi. Maggie Walker is in that realm, a person who did so many great things. Her story is not just one story as she was a pioneer on several levels; a business person, a banker, a teacher and an innovator when it came to creating significant jobs for women in the community. She did this with every stumbling block placed in her path. As an artist, this is the story you want to tell."
Sarah Driggs, chair of the Maggie Walker Memorial team of the Public Art Commission shared that, "Richmond has been proud of Maggie Walker for generations. It is about time that we raised a monument to honor and share this strong woman's messages of economic literacy and the power of community."

Called Lone Pine Park. ↩

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Good Morning, RVA: Memorial garden, a word to the wise, meat fests, and writing well

Ross Catrow — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 11:11:04 +0000

Photo by: jon starbuck

Good morning, RVA! It's 65 °F, and today looks perfect. Which is great, because...Friday! Expect highs in the mid 80s, a gentle breeze, beauteous sunshine, and me to cut out of work and head to the pool at some point. Join me!

And then continue to join me as I try to escape from weekend temperatures that could approach 100 °F.

Water cooler

Somehow, I've missed the new garden at Floyd and Colonial, which is dedicated to a 2002 murder victim. It looks beautiful and should serve as a reminder for just how much Richmond has changed over the last 15 years. Back in 2002, Richmond saw 83 murders, with 14 both in November and December. Even this year, which a lot of folks feel like is an extremely violent year, we're "only" on pace for 54 murders. Fatal shootings in the Museum District and those 2002 numbers are just so hard for me to envision now, in 2016.

There is a thing that I'm struggling with whether or not to talk about because I fully believe in the value of earned media. So instead, I will just encourage folks who may be downtown or on campus tonight to express their anger and emotion in legal ways that don't end with them in jail and with Richmond on the front page of the New York Times.

There are, however, a lot of other things going on this weekend that I feel no apprehension calling out by name! Behold! Two meat-based festivals: The Bacon Festival and the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival!

Delete your account happened. Compare that bit of inspired writing to this overly dry description of it in the NYT: "Mrs. Clinton's tweet telling Mr. Trump to delete his Twitter account was one of the most widely shared of the campaign." Writing, man, it's hard, but when you get it right, it feels so, so good.

A federal appeals court in California ruled that you can't just carry around a concealed gun in public. What does that mean for gun laws across the nation? Probably not much since the Supreme Court is not yet (and may choose not to be) involved.

Sports!

Squirrels swept New Hampshire! Not, like, they tidied up New Hampshire's floor. No, they beat the Fisher Cats three times in a row and now move on to face Portland tonight at 7:00 PM.
Kickers host the Pittsburgh Riverhounds tomorrow at 5:00 PM. Check out this cool promotion they're running: For $20 you get a ticket, a beer, and a rad USA/Richmond scarf. My sources tell me it is a summer-weight scarf, a thing I need more of in my life.
Nats fell to the White Sox 1-3 and begin a new series with the Phillies tonight at 7:05 PM.

This morning's longread

We R Cute Shoplifters

What.

In the summer of 2015, Barbie and her longtime friend, who goes by the handle Unicorn-Lift, had just discovered Liftblr. Liftblr, Tumblr's notorious shoplifting community, is an ever-changing group of mostly young female bloggers who trade tips, write about criminal exploits, and post images of stolen merchandise known as "hauls." Unicorn-Lift actually discovered the community through an anti-lifting post, written by someone enraged by the existence of the "shoplifting fandom." She showed Barbie, and the pair found themselves drawn into the Liftblr world. They wanted to be part of it and earn a "lift" title. The only way to do that was to steal something. Unicorn-Lift, also 15 years old, hit the local Wal-Mart. Barbie found herself at the Dollar Tree.

This morning's Instagram

https://instagram.com/p/BGde-TlL5Cv/

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Picture of the Day: Good night!

Ross Catrow — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 11:00:27 +0000

Good Morning, RVA: The B, to the WPA, to the GOV, to the TAX.

Ross Catrow — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 11:20:50 +0000

Photo by: bionicteaching

Good morning, RVA! It's only 57 °F right now, but today's highs are expected to hit 85 °F. This is excellent weather to get outside and experiment with human-powered locomotion.

Water cooler

Yesterday, the confluence of Richmond's bike share announcement and the exceedingly temperate day, had my various timelines filled with folks out riding their bikes. That fills me with joy, you guys. The new bike share system--"the B," if you will--looks super rad and adroitly combines friendly branding with Black & Gold. Hmmmm what else in the immediate footprint of the bike share system cares about Black & Gold stuff? VCU. The answer is VCU. I don't think that (necessarily) means VCU will be involved at the sponsor level, but I do think it was a smart branding decision that both gives you a leg up with the massive number of VCU students milling about and counters the feeling that bike share is only something for awkward tourists. As for pricing (full fee schedule in the previous link), it costs $1.75 per trip (unless you pay a Netflix-style monthly (or yearly) membership) and that includes the first 45 minutes of your trip. If you fail to return the bike to a station within 45 minutes (which, what's taking you so long, brah) you start to incur time-based fees. Remember: bike share works best when the bikes exist to share, not when all the bikes are locked up outside Kroger while you do your grocery shopping.

I guess this is a thing to keep an eye on: "More than 70 donors to Stoney's campaign got state posts under McAuliffe administration," reports the RTD's Graham Moomaw. Stoney's job before he began running for mayor, as Secretary of the Commonwealth, was literally to appoint people: "One of the functions of our office is to assist the Governor in his appointments of nearly 4,000 individuals to serve on Virginia's boards and commissions." Is it all that surprising that when Stoney sat down to make a list of all the rich people he knew that 70 of them would be people he had worked with in his previous job? Don't get me wrong, the last thing we need is Yet Another Pay For Influence Scandal, I just don't think this is that.

Related, if you didn't click on Graham's link in the previous paragraph, go back and do so and read the whole thing. There's some great analysis at the bottom of the piece on who's donating to these mayoral campaigns, where they live, that kind of thing. At some point, VPAP will update and we'll all be able to poke at the financial data.

Southsiders! Your life has just improved as Karri Peifer says a new WPA Bakery has just opened on that side of the river! I have looked at their menu and confirmed that both of these things exist: Buttermilk pie and hummingbird cake. I didn't see their delicious canelés on the menu, but I'll keep my stomach crossed that they'll be available in the new shop.

Style Weekly's Jack Lauterback hung out with the governor of Virginia at the Greek Festival. Who's even handling this guy's schedule?? Is he going to the GWAR B-Q (tickets on sale tomorrow)?? It wouldn't surprise me??

Whoa, Philadelphia is close to passing a 1.5 cent-per-ounce tax on soda sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners. How'd they sell the public on the idea? Not public health reasons, but funding--funding for things like schools. People running for City Council: One of you should 100% propose legislation like this. If we're too scared to tax cigarettes because we're home to Altria, maybe we won't be too scared to tax soda?

Oh! I almost forgot, there's a Richmond Region Transit Vision Plan meeting tonight at Central Montessori! If you want to weigh in on the long term vision for transit in the region, you should totally be there.

Sports!

Squirrels are riding a three-game win streak, don't jinx it! They take on New Hampshire tonight at 7:05 PM.
Nats are also celebrating a three-game win streak! Great job everyone. They finish up their series against the White Sox at 8:10 PM.

This morning's longread

Unplugging the Colorado River

Here's the really fascinating story of what we keep doing to the Colorado river to make sure people out west have enough water to survive.

The result was an elegant, sweeping structure engineered in an arch bowing against the pressure of the water, enabling a relatively thin sheet of concrete to withstand unfathomable forces. The reservoir behind the dam would be so deep that the sheer height of the water promised to generate enormous currents of power. By all measures, its completion was a feat. It took 17 years for the reservoir to fill; 19 years later, a steady decline began. Thanks to the steady overuse of the Colorado River system -- which provides water to one in eight Americans and supports one-seventh of the nation's crops -- Lake Powell has been drained to less than half of its capacity as less water flows into it than is taken out. Look for the B to drop later this summer and, of course, for some public meetings where we can discuss the proposed station locations.

This morning's Instagram

https://instagram.com/p/BGbkkoXRPkj/

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Picture of the Day: Jump!

Ross Catrow — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 11:00:05 +0000

Good Morning, RVA: Historic moments, mayor moments, bike share moments, and motorist moments

Ross Catrow — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 11:17:07 +0000

Photo by: watsonsinelgin

Good morning, RVA! It's 62 °F, which, technically, is colder than yesterday but seems great to me. Highs today will reach 80 °F, and the sun will shine, and you should remember to water your garden today, I think. Casting our eyes to the weekend, we should be aware that real summer temperatures--mid-90s sweat-a-thons--await us.

Water cooler

Last night, Hillary Clinton clinched the Democratic presidential nomination. This seems like a crazy and unbelievable feat! Our current president is a Black man and one of the major-party nominees is a woman. What a time to be alive. You can watch her address her supporters after securing the nom, but I don't know, maybe you don't want to cry this early in the morning.

(I am super disappointed that I've seen so many headlines choosing to frame Clinton's historic nomination as how Bernie Sanders reacted to it. Disappointed, but unsurprised, I guess.)

That still-too-early Northside mayoral forum took place last night, and I totally forgot to remind y'all about it. Luckily, Ned Oliver never forgets anything--he's like an elephant that way--and has the details, such as they are. Two things I am suspicious of coming from a mayoral candidate: 1) Sweeping promises to change deeply entrenched state laws, 2) Cost saving measures limited to teensy amounts of money that would have no real impact on anything. If either of these two things are the core of your entire platform, I will be over here making a skeptical face at you. I will also be over here totally willing to grab beers and hear you out, though.

Virginia has two cases that are possibly headed to the SCOTUS, and whenever that is the case, I turn to the SCOTUSblog. The first is G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board, and it involves a transgender student and going to the bathroom. When the school board finds time away from its busy schedule of telling people where to poop, it must file its appeal to the Supreme Court by August 29th. The second is related to redistricting, which seems boring but could have a far-reaching impact on a lot of our lives. Let's turn to the RTD's Jeff Schapiro for a grim look at what our future holds.

You guys! I have seen the designs for the bike share bikes, and they are...totally rad! I had, perhaps unfairly, low expectations for the branding of these things and am so happy to be proven wrong. I have a PDF of the designs sitting in my inbox that is technically embargoed until the mayor's press conference at 10:30 AM today, so follow me on Twitter (@rosscatrow) for the link after said embargo lifts. And speaking of bike share, somehow Ned Oliver got his hands on this blurry map of the proposed bike share stations. Then I made this map that shows you the best way to combine BRT and bike share to drink beer in Scott's Addition. So many Bs.

"How does one even function as a motorist on Floyd Avenue anymore?," you may ask. Mike Mackenzie would love to tell you.

Maybe just don't get in the river until this weekend?

Sports!

Squirrels beat New Hampshire, 5-3, and will go for two in a row this morning at 10:35 AM.
The Nationals 10-5 win over the White Sox is the second game in a row where they've scored 10 runs. Those teams tee up tonight at 8:10 PM.

This morning's longread

The True Story Of The Fake Zombies, The Strangest Con In Rock History

What! This is crazy.

The Zombies, unaware of their stateside success -- this was possible in 1969 -- had already moved on to new musical projects or day jobs. This vacuum meant anyone could tour the United States pretending to be the Zombies, even a four-piece blues band from Dallas. As the Beatles and Stones went from garage and blues rock beginnings to more adventurous music, the Zombies took their early, more raucous hits ("She's Not There," "Tell Her No") and refined them. But replicating a refined sound was hardly the priority.
There were in fact two different bands touring the United States in 1969 calling themselves the Zombies. Both impostor groups were managed by the same company, Delta Promotions, the owners of which insisted they'd legally acquired the songs of the Zombies and other bands. It was an operation that would be impossible to attempt today, perpetrated in an era when fans didn't have unlimited access to artists' whereabouts, or, in some cases, even know what they looked like.

This morning's Instagram

https://instagram.com/p/BGWZgUpAmzA/

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Picture of the Day: Party down by the river (don’t build a fire down by the river)

Ross Catrow — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 11:00:09 +0000

Good Morning, RVA: Goodbye, fundraising, libraries, and primaries.

Ross Catrow — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 11:11:12 +0000

Photo by: 2nified

Good morning, RVA! It's 71 °F, and the majestic heat and humidity continue! Throughout the day there's a small chance of rain to which I turn up my nose. Patios and porches and happy hours for all!

Water cooler

Big news in both Richmond's media landscape and the landscape of my life: This Friday, I'll be shutting down RVANews. If you want, you can read my weepy thoughts on the whole thing. While you're there, take some time to read through all those comments, because dang! The outpouring of support has been amazing and surprisingly life-affirming. Thanks Richmond, y'all are great. Oh! Also! Good news for readers of Good Morning, RVA: This column will continue on, because, as Marie Kondo says, it sparks joy.

While I was busy weeping, Ned Oliver was busy stalking the Virginia Public Access Project updates to Richmond's mayoral fundraising totals. Keep in mind this is money raised and spent between April 1st and June 2nd. There are several more financial reporting deadlines ahead of us, so this is definitely not the final picture. It's also not even a great initial picture as totals are missing for a bunch of candidates that have probably raised at least some cash. While we wait for more info to trickle in, let's sit and stare in awe at the $303,641 raised by Levar Stoney in the first reporting period. To put that in context: Mayor Jones spent $314,499 in all of 2012 (running unopposed, of course)! Mayoral candidates in 2008 spent between $400,000 - $500,000, and Wilder spent $277,897 in 2004. What all that means, I think, is that Stoney has taken Richmond's mayoral race to the next level. Half a million bucks might no longer be enough to get it done. I guess we will have to wait until November to see if that's a good thing or not?

Last night, School Board made the first steps towards a regional computer science high school, and Louis Llovio has all the details. Check out CodeRVA's website and prepare to be fascinated by the concept.

Yes! Libraries serving meals to kids over the summer! Food insecurity is a big freaking deal in our region, and schools do a lot of the heavy lifting to make sure children get fed throughout the year. But once dumb ol' summer hits, a lot of that insecurity gets even more insecure. Libraries seem like a logical place to fill some of that gap. Although, I would love to hear some thoughts from actual librarians about pushing libraries to become more community hubs and less shelves of books.

Speaking of libraries, Valerie Catrow fell in love with Henrico's newest (and beautifulest) library.

I feel weird about beauty pageants--is that even what they're called? Regardless, I did want to point out that Miss USA 2016 Deshauna Barber is a VSU grad. Remember, too, that Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron was a VCU grad. Central Virginia: Hotbed of American beauty pageant titleholders.

Ugh. I realize this Vox article does a shallow, cherry-picking job talking about the media's racial double standards, but ugh nonetheless.

Californians (and folks from a few other states) head to the polls today to pretty much close out the 2016 primary season. The Republicans will have their convention on July 18-21 and the Democrats on July 25-28.

Sports!

Squirrels kick off their away series against New Hampshire tonight at 7:05 PM.
Nats and White Sox begin their work at 8:10 PM.

This morning's longread

Louisiana Refuses to Budget for Public Defenders

Read this over the weekend and have thought about it at least once an hour since then.

Statewide, public defenders represent more than 85 percent of those who pass through the criminal courts, many of them black and uneducated. Without public defenders available, pretrial detainees awaiting representation will clog the jails, judges will be unable to clear dockets, detention costs will rise, and the state will sink, eventually, into a constitutional crisis for failure to provide adequate counsel.

This morning's Instagram

https://instagram.com/p/BGUwDj8pvQ9/

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Picture of the Day: Broad Appétit

Ross Catrow — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 11:00:51 +0000

So long, RVA

Ross Catrow — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 18:46:04 +0000

Well y'all, I've got some bad news. Next week, after almost a decade of local newsing, I'll be shutting down RVANews.

That's some sad news right there, but it's some true news.

What do you say in a public goodbye that's not super cliche and boring? I'm not sure, and I'm not sure avoiding cliches is even possible. So, with that in mind, now prepare yourself for the RVANews version of the part at the end of The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy tells everyone how great they are and how much she'll miss them all.

And it's true. I really will miss working with all of the incredibly talented folks that made RVANews possible.

Richard has been at the front of Richmond's community news scene since the very beginning of time. Without him and his incredible willingness to work with me and my crazy ideas, none of this would probably ever have happened. I can't imagine local news without him, and doubt I will have to--the guy can't stop covering the ins and outs of Richmond's neighborhoods. Also, he writes the best headlines of any person in town.

Lauren's extremely hard work over the last forever has kept the lights on and put RVANews in a position to do what we do and do it while paying our bills. She took a risk on a young, desperately unproven news website, and I'm very thankful for that. She's grown our book of business over time to include basically every company in Richmond. It's been impressive to watch.

Shoutout to our events calendar maven, Autumn! The blood and sweat she's poured into the RVANews calendar over the years would fill multiple growlers.

It'd be impossible to enumerate through all of the freelancers we've worked with over the years--impossible because the number is truly uncountable. When I look back over our archives, it's like looking through a Who's Who of smart, funny, Richmonders that I wish I hung out with more. Thank you guys for making up the fleshy bits of what we do here (gross).

Susan is my best friend, my pal, and my confidant. She was with me the night--at a booth in Ipanema, where all great ideas begin--I first talked about starting something like RVANews. If I'm being honest, the whole thing was probably her idea anyway. She's been there to filter all my dumb ideas, celebrate each success, and encourage me when things looked bleak. She's steered the direction of RVANews in a totally not-creepy, not-Rasputiny way since the very, very beginning. My biggest regret is not bringing her on in an official capacity sooner. She's the smartest and funniest person I've ever worked with / known in real life. I just googled the lyrics to "Thank You For Being a Friend" and started crying.

The theme here is that I've surrounded myself with great people that, despite all of my nonsense, made it possible to do cool things. Together, sometimes we made a difference.

Our regularly scheduled content will run through Friday, and RVANews The Website will stay up for as long as I can manage it. There's a lot of Richmond's history in there, and it'd be a shame to lose it all. You can read below for a couple of my anticipated FAQs.

So...I think that's it, you guys. I'm very proud that I was part of making something that you guys, all of our readers, thought was a cool place to come hangout. Now, let's move those hangouts to real life and maybe add in a few beers? If you have any other questions, you can find me on Twitter as @rosscatrow. Feel free to ask away!

-Ross

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Wait, what?

Yeah, crazy, right? RVANews will cease to function as it currently does this coming Friday, June 10th, 2016.

What the heck happened, you guys?

A bunch of things. The short-term thing is that our one-woman sales machine was offered and accepted a great opportunity elsewhere. Longer term: We struck out on a couple of attempts to grow our sales machine beyond the one, very hard-working woman.

Well, just hire a new dang person!

Unfortunately, there's just not enough cash floating around to get us through hiring another person, bringing that person up to speed, and then having that person start crushing the ad sales.

I'm a rich business mogul and would like to throw an obscene amount of cash at you to continue your small, local news website.

Cool!

What are all the RVANewsers going to do now?

I'm not sure, but you should totally ask them! They're all very wonderful and would probably love chatting with you.

What are you going to do now?

I have no idea! For the longest time, my identity has been wrapped up in this website. It's strange to imagine a world where that is not the case--it's almost like I've small-businessed myself out of actual, employable skill sets.

If you have any great ideas for the future of my life, please let me know!

But, but, but, what about <insert your favorite column name>?

A small piece of good news: Good Morning, RVA will continue unabated. I've found it to be very rewarding, so I'm gonna keep doing it.

Other than that, though, who knows! I don't want to commit to anything, but you know how sometimes I just can't not write about busses, or bikes, or education, or City Council...

As for our other authors, you should 100% definitely reach out to them (especially if you're an editor in town!) and drop them a kind word.

Good Morning, RVA: 24, breweries cost a lot, big tall buildings, our terrible past, and always wear sunscreen

Ross Catrow — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 11:18:33 +0000

Photo by: taberandrew

Good morning, RVA! It's 71 °F, and boy is it humid. Fine by me though, I much prefer a hot, humid, sunny day with highs in the 90s, to a dreary, rain-for-ages sogfest. Good thing, because we're totally headed for the former today! In fact, it might not rain at all this entire week. Can you imagine such a thing? Or is your brain too waterlogged to contemplate it?

Water cooler

Richmond police are reporting a murder that occurred on Friday night. Officers were called to the Midlothian Inn for a report of random gunfire, where they found Paige E. Johnson, 25, fatally shot. This is Richmond's first homicide in June and 24th on the year.

This piece by Ned Oliver is ostensibly about why the Stone Brewing Co. deal cost the City so dang much--more dang much than Virginia's two other recent West Coast brewery deals combined. But, really, I think it's about how complex economic development is and how it impacts the City a lot more than whether or not we get a new brewery. Anyway, two points to Gryffindor for the county administrator of Botetourt County getting in a quick burn on us big-city Richmond folks, saying, "And if we were going to spend that kind of money, I suspect it would be on police and schools." I suspect that's often not how municipal budgeting works, but hey, what do I know.

That big, tall building on Broad Street (aka the Central National Bank) is finally open to residents. Carol Hazard at the RTD has lots of specific details about the building's layout and design as well as the role historic tax credits played in its redevelopment. Also, she's got details on the rent, which, gasp! Is that what it costs to live downtown now?! Looks like I've already entered the phase of my life where I gasp at the cost of things and say stuff like "Time was, our cell phones were articulated and came free with a long distance calling plan."

The VCU East Marshall Street Well Family Representative Council submitted their draft report (PDF) about what to do with the over 50 African American remains found back in 1994 as part of VCU construction. They recommend some more studying, DNA analysis of the remains, and the establishment of a research advisory board to help with the previous two things. There are also some recommendations on how to properly memorialize and inter the remains. This is part of a larger, ongoing conversation about Richmond's decades-long inability to outwardly and publicly speak to our history of slavery. The new Black History Museum is part of that conversation, as is the continual public meetings about the African Burial Ground in Shockoe Bottom. I would wager that this conversation will feature prominently into the lives of our next set of elected officials.

Aw dudes, BRUX'L Café is closing this month. That place served one of the most delicious burgers I've ever had the pleasure of cramming into my mouth.

In more positive restaurant news, Susan Howson and I stopped by the newly-opened Peter Chang's on Broad Street and grabbed a couple photos of the menu. Important piece of information: They are definitely open for lunch, y'all.

This Vox article about sunscreen does nothing to assuage my intense anxiety about getting a sunburn. Ugh! How terrifying is this quote: "But here's the bottom line: Though high-quality evidence is a little patchy and hard to come by, sunscreen very probably helps reduce the risk of cancer." Probably?! I'm never going outside again.

Here's the New York Times obituary of Muhammad Ali, read it today, on the first day of Ramadan.

Sports!

Squirrels lost three of four to Harrisburg and now have the day off before leaving for New Hampshire to think about what they've done.
Kickers scored in stoppage time to avoid a loss to FC Cincinnati. Whew.
Nats lost two of three to the Reds. Despite that, they're still in first place in the National League East and have today off.

This morning's longread

In The Mood For Drama? Go To An Urban Tree Hearing

Every public tree? I cannot fathom what those poor public officials go through.

In urban Massachusetts, civic-mindedness has pretty much always included a soft spot for trees. In 1636, colonial Bostonians passed an ordinance insisting that planted trees be "prevented... from being spoiled." In 1775, to mess with revolutionary morale, the British cut down one of the Common's largest elms, the so-called Liberty Tree. Increased industrialization led to a brief period of frenzied chopping, but this was short-lived, and since 1899, Massachusetts statute has mandated that every public tree facing removal must first receive a hearing. Even now, other states that have adopted similar legislation tend to refer to it as "the Massachusetts law."

This morning's Instagram

https://instagram.com/p/BGRnNaJzR3N/

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Picture of the Day: Returning from the graveyard shift

Ross Catrow — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 11:00:15 +0000

Good Morning, RVA: Doughnuts!

Ross Catrow — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 11:11:20 +0000

Photo by: Magalie L'Abbé

Good morning, RVA! It's 70 °F, and the rain has returned. Beginning this afternoon through tomorrow there's a decent chance of thunderstorms. Then, late tomorrow afternoon through Sunday, we've got another round of possible storms. Same goes for Sunday, too. Fingers crossed that everything magically slips by us and my weekend at the pool is not ruined.

Water cooler

It's National Doughnut Day! This means doughnuts are weirder, maybe free, and you'll have to stand in line longer to get one than any other day of the year. Sugar Shack and Duck Donuts have some deals you may want to check out. Early Bird Biscuit will have a doughnut biscuit?!

The Commonwealth Institute released a report detailing the lack of state-level funding Virginia provides to its low-income public school students. Richmond has a much higher percentage (for now) of low-income students than its neighbors, so underfunding in this way impacts Richmond more and is one of the reasons why comparing Richmond to Chesterfield / Henrico is not super fair. The report says that if funding levels had been raised by the General Assembly, RPS would have seen $10 million more this fiscal year. We can argue about the mayor's $500,000 security detail all we want, but that's pennies compared to an extra ten million bucks from the state--which would have gone a long way to closing RPS's $18 million budget gap. State funding accounts for 36% of the 2016-2017 general fund revenue for Richmond Public Schools. That's almost $100,000,000. If we want to truly fund our public schools, we've got to start working on state-level policy, too.

Here's an article about a weird / interesting thing: an "adventure park and lifestyle center" in Chesterfield County. What does that mean? I'm not sure! But it involves some apartments, a man-made lake, and sounds kind of like West Broad Village, but with, like, water skiing? I dunno. Dude from Sweet Frog is involved and owns the land, so it's definitely more than a pie-in-the-sky plan.

Intern Chris sat down and interviewed his history teacher, Chad Ingold, a guy who also happens to be running for mayor. They talk about education, what makes a good teacher vs. a good mayor, and then there's a video of Chad rapping. Yes!

I think we need to start a 6th Street Marketplace drinking game.

Despite the chance of bad weather hanging over us for the entire weekend, there's still a ton of stuff to going on--including the dry-surfaces-required Chalk Up the Town, which has already been canceled once due to rain and, augh, I feel so bad for them! Heavy hitters over the next couple of days: The Greek Festival ft. baklava, RVA Tonight ft. Governor Terry McAuliffe, and Broad Appétit ft. a trillion local restaurants. If you can believe it, even more things exist to do, luckily Rachel and Val have done all the hard event research for you.

Sports!

Squirrels blanked Bowie, 3-0. Over the course of the weekend, Richmond hosts Harrisburg before leaving town for a week--so get your baseball fix in now, while you can!
Kickers head out to take on FC Cincinnati tomorrow at 7:00 PM.
Nats begin a series with the Reds tonight at 7:10 PM.

This morning's longread

The Achilles Wheel of the Mars Curiosity Rover

Space science people are maybe my most favorite of the science people.

The Curiosity rover arrived at Mount Sharp in September of 2014, and has been exploring and ascending it -- slowly -- ever since. The wheels are certainly the weakest point of the rover and are likely to be the ultimate source of its failure: its Achilles wheel, if you will. There was a good reason for the thin aluminum, as even making them even one millimeter thicker would have added a kettlebell's worth of weight, and the novel landing was made possible by the light, thin wheels.

This morning's Instagram

https://instagram.com/p/BGJyBvHG878/

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Picture of the Day: Let’s launch over it!

Ross Catrow — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 11:00:25 +0000

Good Morning, RVA: Baklava, security details, emotions, and nemeses

Ross Catrow — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 11:18:30 +0000

Photo by: stevendepolo

Good morning, RVA! It's 69 °F, and today's highs will approach 90 °F. We've got some clouds out there, but things should stay pretty dry most of the day (but pretty humid also, so maybe, like, your armpits will not stay dry).

Water cooler

The Greek Festival opens its 41st year today at 11:00 AM and runs through Sunday at 7:00 PM. Hitting up the Greek Festival for a weekday lunch has definitely become an early summer ritual that I look forward to every year, and this year is no different: I had a legit dream involving spanakopita last night. If you're somehow unfamiliar with the festival's culinary offerings, check out the menu before heading over. Side note: Every year I am reamazed that our Greek festival owns the greekfestival.com URL.

The Mayor's security detail is officially kaput now that the deadline for him to issue vetoes on Council's budget amendments has passed. The detail costs about a half a million bucks, and those officers will now be reassigned to other duties. This is definitely a mostly symbolic, but publicly appreciated, act by our government to eliminate some spending--but we're only talking $500,000 and no spending was actually eliminated. Baby steps, though.

Speaking of spending, every panelist at last night's RVANews Live--the Executive Director of Peter Paul Development Center Damon Jiggets, School Board Chair Jeff Bourne, Richmond Forward's Garet Prior, and a handful of students from George Wythe High School--all said Richmond Public Schools need more money to get the job done. And we're not talking, like, a fanciful, gold-plated job. Just the base-level, regular-type job of safely educating kids. And right now it feels like we're failing at that. It's tough to hear a high school student say that we've given up on him.

Folks who have Anthem health insurance: You can now go to Patient First again and they will accept this insurance!

Yo, bike thieves might be the worst kind of thieves--especially ones that steal kids' bikes. Get out of here with that garbage!

This is a pretty neat story in Style Weekly about the Poe Museum's acquisition of some new anti-Poe materials: Papers from his nemesis Rufus Griswold, who has maybe the best nemesis name ever! Also, you gotta click through and check out the painting of this guy who definitely looks like a total nemesis.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. NASA posted a super detailed photo of the surface of Pluto and nobody told me?? For shame people. FOR SHAME. (BTW, the resolution of that amazing picture is 260 feet per pixel, that's about 50 miles across)

From the NYT's daily briefing, I learned that Donkey Kong debuted in the U.S. 35 years ago today.

Sports!

If the NBA is your thing, the finals begin tonight, FYI.

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers eliminated the Kickers from the U.S. Open Cup on penalty kicks yesterday. That's a bummer.
Flying Squirrels split yesterday's double header with Bowie. That series wraps up tonight at 6:35 PM, and you can get tickets online.
Nats swept the Phillies and now take the the day off to celebrate.

This morning's longread

Confessions of a Wasteful Scientist

Read this immediately, then, to be fair, read the Senator's report (PDF) which is surprisingly compelling and readable. I wonder how much government time/money went into putting it together? Words just don't write them self, y'all!

Last week, U.S. Senator Jeff Flake released his list of top 20 science investigations that he considered most wasteful uses of government funds. The list is meant to be read. It's written in fifth-grade language and filled with colorful cartoons of animals. When I see the report, I think of my own two children, 5-year old Harry and 3-year old Heidi, who will soon be able to read about the featured studies. When my children read it, they will learn two things. First, there is such a thing as wasteful science and that it is rampant. Of the 20 studies listed, there are likely thousands of others that beg for explanation and motivation. The second thing that my children will learn is that three of the 20, or 15 percent of America's most wasteful science, was contributed by their father.

This morning's Instagram

https://instagram.com/p/BGGKXp3FyaJ/

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Picture of the Day: RVA at night

Ross Catrow — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 11:00:42 +0000

Good Morning, RVA: Boutique hotels, grandpas, the best meals, Julien Baker, obits, and flour

Ross Catrow — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 11:08:43 +0000

Photo by: Sky Noir

Good morning, RVA! It's 67 °F, and ha!, the weather's clearing up nicely. In your face previous forecasts! Highs in the mid 80s continue, as do the mostly clear skies, and there's a small chance of rain later this afternoon. It's certainly not enough to make me bring an umbrella to work or wear a jacket--you only live once, you know?

Water cooler

Alright dudes, this is the last time you will be reminded about RVANews Live #007: The State of Education, because next we speak the event will be in the past. Join us tonight, if not for the enlightening questions and conversations, then for the chance to hang out in real life! Tickets are $15 and you can snatch one up right here.

Another boutique hotel coming to downtown? Ned Oliver says...maybe? I'm not sure I knew that the Economic Development Authority had a downtown business incubator space that it wanted to get rid of, but a bit of googling leads me to RVA Works. Now I know!

I really enjoyed this piece on Grandparents, What's The Deal? by Kelly Gerow. Having a child makes everyone involved an equal amount of crazy, and that's comforting to me.

You can be sure that I made my most skeptical face at this headline from Discover Richmond: "26 Favorite Dishes from Richmond-Area Restaurants." But, turns out, they checked almost all of my overly-snobby boxes--including carnitas from La Milpa! Now, I must know, what's missing and what would you include?

The A.V. Club does a thing each year where they invite 25 bands to cover 25 songs, in a first-come-first-serve kind of way. Julien Baker, who's on local label 6131, covered Death Cab For Cutie's "Photobooth". I felt unexpected Richmond emotions on seeing GWAR scrawled on the wall behind her.

For the entire summer, the New York Times will reach back into their massive archive of obituaries and feature some of the lives that once were. Today, on the anniversary of her death, they feature Helen Keller.

E. Coli in flour?! This is a thing that I did not was possible. The connection between General Mills flour and a multi-state E. Coli outbreak seems tenuous, but, hey, better safe than sorry, I guess?

Sports!

Squirrels were absolutely dominated, 0-10, by Bowie. Let's forget that ever happened and focus on today's double header which begins at 5:05 PM.
With yesterday's 5-1 win over Philly, the Nats have put together a little three-game win streak. Tonight at 7:05 PM, they close out the series with the Phillies (and look for the sweep).

This morning's longread

I Got High With My Mom at HempCon

Normal people want to smoke weed for normal-people reasons, but, unfortunately for everyone involved, potheads still exist.

The sole virtue of this motel is that it is within walking distance of Hempcon, "America's Largest Medical Marijuana Show," a several-times-yearly display of all that is newly decriminalized in the world of pot and newly discovered in the world of ailments that can be treated with marijuana, which is apparently all of them. Being within walking distance was necessary because my mother is an ultra-Orthodox Jew, and Hempcon weekend includes a Shabbos (like all weekends do) and my mother will not take a cab or train on Shabbos. But as bad as she wanted the weed, she wanted to live through the weekend, as well. In other words, we were desperate, but not this desperate.

Pair this article with this episode of the Another Round podcast which talks about marijuana as a legit means of reducing menstrual pain and pain cause by endometriosis. As an added bonus, there's a mostly NSFW game of FMK with...Republican strategists?

This morning's Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF12Y6ooP_E/

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Picture of the Day: Gotta have sun to have shadows

Ross Catrow — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 11:00:49 +0000

Good Morning, RVA: RVANews Live, Zika, Double Dutch, and Roots

Ross Catrow — Tue, 31 May 2016 11:11:37 +0000

Photo by: Sunny_mjx

Good morning, RVA! It's 68 °F, and today we're in for all sorts of weather. Early on we should see the sun peak through the clouds, then maybe some rain after lunch, and then clear skies again before everything wraps up for the day. Highs in the mid 80s though, so that's nice.

Water cooler

People! Tomorrow we host RVANews Live #007: The State of Education in Richmond at the wonderful Coalition Theater. It will be an excellent night of conversations and Q&As with teachers, advocates, and even a school board member. We are very excited. Tickets are $15 and you can get them right now.

Teresa Cole, who you may remember from our EDU FAQ series and who you can totally meet and hangout with at the aforementioned RVANews Live, drops some education knowledge and context for WRIC. She nails one of the core issue facing Richmond Public Schools: the School Board is going to have to "make tough decisions that may be unfavorable to white and/or affluent families in the city, such as those who use Holton, Fox, and Munford..." Read more in her absolutely brutal EDU FAQ #006.

The state is taking the threat of Zika pretty seriously, according to this article on Roanoke.com. They've spent $700,000 of federal money on prevention kits (that include condoms!) and are trying to "determine if they have an ordinance that allows officials to enter private property to look for mosquito breeding grounds." That last thing sounds intense and controversial! But I tell you what, I'm going to do a loop around my yard this morning looking for mosquito-sheltering containers of standing water: "If you are bitten in your yard by a mosquito, there's a 95 percent chance it is an Asian tiger and that it came from a container in your yard or your neighbor's yard. They do not come from anything but containers."

I don't think my brain groks how Double Dutch works. Seriously, watch the video in this Richmond Magazine piece by Tina Griego, and tell me that makes sense within your understanding of the laws of physics.

Dang teens, with their Hulk-like strength!

Brent Baldwin has a surprisingly long and charming interview with Steven Glover aka Steve-O from Jackass. The later is in town at the Funny Bone June 2nd - 5th.

Bernies! Vox has a list of folks running for congressional seats that match up with the Vermont senator's lefty vibe and are trying to create a "Bernie Congress". This is super interesting. When was the last time a presidential candidate who didn't get the bid inspired a platform for other folks to run on?

The Roots remake started last night and will continue to air over the next couple of days--with part two showing tonight. If you missed it, you can catch part one over on the History Channel's website.

Sports!

Since we last spoke, the Squirrels won a few and lost a few. Tonight they return home to face Bowie at 6:35 PM. Welcome back! (Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back).
Nats take on the Phillies tonight at 7:05 PM. They're up 1-0 in the series.

This morning's longread

Everybody Loves Walter

An amateur bird watcher, he saw right away the place was special -- it had least terns, one of several endangered species of shorebirds that shelter in the area. "Oh, I like this!" he thought, and returned day after day during breaks from his security guard job toting his binoculars. Later, after a series of layoffs left him out of work, he spent all his time there, watching for birds and keeping copious notes about what he saw. His records became prized by city officials and environmentalists. At one point, the nearby Navy air base even used them for flight planning to prevent bird strikes. When Fuller became homeless, the city brought in a shipping container, strung it with fluorescent lights and plopped it down by the parking lot.

This morning's Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGC1qimxtyR/

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Picture of the Day: Soft sunrise

Ross Catrow — Tue, 31 May 2016 11:00:18 +0000

Picture of the Day: Sup, RVA

Ross Catrow — Mon, 30 May 2016 11:00:21 +0000

PODCAST: Sam & Ross Like Things—Ep. 19: The Karate Kid & Buster Keaton

Ross Catrow — Fri, 27 May 2016 20:11:26 +0000

Every couple of weeks myself and Sam Davies, who you may know from his fortnightly work on Raising Richmond, get together to record an episode of Sam and Ross Like Things. This is a "podcast"--you know, like Serial but with fewer murders and AWOL military personnel. Or, if it helps you understand better, like old timey radio shows with newfangley technology.

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This week Sam sweeps the leg and loves The Karate Kid, and Ross thinks silent-film star Buster Keaton is just the best.

If you enjoy what you hear, hit up the back catalogue while you wait for us to record episode 20! Or go ahead and subscribe already!

Listen

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/55676d9ae4b0217a0aee3dbe/t/57487e8b8a65e2aa30794f3f/1464368851387/The+Karate+Kid+%26+Buster+Keaton+--+Episode+19.m4a/original/The+Karate+Kid+%26+Buster+Keaton+--+Episode+19.m4a

Notes

Sam's PO Box:

Sam & Ross Like Things
PO Box 25914
Richmond Virginia, 23260-5914

This week at Friday Cheers: Natalie Prass / Lady God / Sam Reed

Ross Catrow — Fri, 27 May 2016 15:15:57 +0000

Photo by: NRK P3

Things kick off at 6:00 PM; tickets are $5, and children under 12 are free. Here's a quick preview of what to expect this week, and, of course, there's more info on their Facebook page.

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Natalie Prass

Genre: Soulful singer songwriter indie jams. With trumpets.
Sounds kinda like: Someone whispering beautifully to you over a really great R&B song.
Sweet jam: "Bird of Prey"
Listen to the album: Natalie Prass on Apple Music »
natalieprassmusic.com

Natalie Prass, y'all! Her record comes out of local Spacebomb Records, so you can count on those classic Matthew E. White sounds--things like brass, strings, cool vibes, that kind of stuff. She's also incredibly funny and rad, which I will prove to you by linking to this great interview with her.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h50Q47W80ao

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Lady God

Genre: Fuzzy garage rock
Sounds kinda like: Drinking too much, falling into the river, but safely making your way back onto dry land.
Sweet jam: "More Bang for your Buck"
Listen to the album: Lady God #2 on Bandcamp »
Bandcamp

Some music is perfect for hot, hot, hot summer afternoons spent outside. Lady God is exactly that. It's almost too exactly that, as now I kind of feel like I should be mowing the lawn.

https://youtu.be/iE61l_R4noY

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Sam Reed

Genre: (Funk + R&B) / 2
Sounds kinda like: The inner soundtrack of the coolest dude you know.
Sweet jam: "Come Inside"
Listen to the album: This is Love on Band Camp »
Facebook

You may recognize Sam Reed from her work in the Photosynthesizers, which, if you do not, you should totally familiarize yourself with because they're great. Now, she's out on her own, singing up a soulful storm, and being great in her own right.

Good Morning, RVA: Recyclables! City money! More mowing! Wayfinders! River safety!

Ross Catrow — Fri, 27 May 2016 11:16:42 +0000

Photo by: m01229

Good morning, RVA! It's 70 °F already, and that sounds fantastic. Later this afternoon, however, there is a teeny, tiny chance of rain--but I don't think it's enough to spoil anyone's day. Other than that, just plenty of sun and highs in the upper-80s.

Water cooler

OK people, make sure you're sitting down, because I have big news: At some point in the very near future (most likely July 1st) we will be able to recycle all plastics #1-7, not just dumb ol' #1 and #2. But! Before you rush out and start digging through your super can (or your old bin) you need to know that the boring business details behind all of this are still being worked out, so nothing is official yet. Theoretically your hopes and dreams of recycling the prolific #5s in your life could be crushed like so many Miller High Lifes. Don't worry, we'll let you know once all of the Is and Ts have been dotted and crossed.

You may have seen this headline from NBC12 floating around yesterday: "Report: $28.6 million missing from Richmond finances." Ned Oliver was at last night's Governmental Operations Standing Committee meeting--because he's simultaneously at all public meetings at all times--and councilfolk brought up this report to the Administration. Selena Cuffee-Glen responded strong, and Oliver levies this sick reporter burn: "[NBC12] did not have a reporter at Thursday's council committee meeting." So. Is it possible that the City lost $30 million in our collective couch cushions? Before Selena got here, I would have said ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, but now, I'm pretty sure that if this were the case she would just straight up say "We are $30 million short due to XYZ reasons." Unfortunately the damage has been done, and for the next several months you'll hear folks talking about how the City lost millions of dollars and that's why the grass is so long and why there is no new baseball stadium and why the Sixth Street Marketplace failed.

Mowing update! The Sheriff has announced a partnership with the City to get non-violent residents from the Richmond Justice Center to "focus on the beautification of public owned City parks" aka help cut the grass. Keep in mind that these folks must be compensated for their work, so it's still a cost for the City...kind of. Ned Oliver will tell you what that cost is.

I will link to anything that's a How to Win Friends and Influence People joke.

Call me old-fashioned, but a "175-foot long 'lazy river'" is not something I'm looking for out of the new--and totally theoretical at this point--ballpark.

So, what do the colors on the new wayfinding signs mean? I've been wondering for months! Mike MacKenzie finally tells me.

The beautiful weather this weekend will have folks flocking to the river as if called by some sort of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? river Sirens. If you feel the irresistible call, please, please keep in mind these Dos and Donts. Also keep in mind the actual river: it's current stage is over five feet and will probably remain so throughout the weekend. This means you must have a life jacket to even get in the river, but maybe just don't get in at all?

Sports!

That's three straight wins for the Squirrels, plus they took the series against Binghamton! They start a series at Erie tonight and won't return home until Tuesday.
Kickers host FC Montreal tomorrow at 7:00 PM. Get your tickets online.
Nats picked up their first win in the series against the Cardinals, 2-1. They'll continue tonight at 7:05 PM.

This morning's longread

Crying

What would happen if you logged every time you cried for an entire year? This is amazing.

I've always considered myself to be a bit of a crybaby, triggered frequently and privately and sometimes for hardly any reason at all. I've also always considered myself to be a fairly strong person, stable and resilient and able to work through challenging situations. I found it difficult to reconcile that part of myself with my overwhelming sensitivity, and I wondered about the exact nature of the things that were capable of pushing me over the edge. Naturally, I turned to spreadsheets to help me find the answers to my curiosities.

This morning's Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF2pkuAFI_J/

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Picture of the Day: RICHMOND!

Ross Catrow — Fri, 27 May 2016 11:00:35 +0000

Good Morning, RVA: Sad feelings, Zika, Speed, pitching in, and bees

Ross Catrow — Thu, 26 May 2016 11:11:17 +0000

Photo by: @ifatma.

Good morning, RVA! It's 64 °F, and we've got another great day lined up--with highs that may even top 90 °F. It's nice to sweat again, y'all. In fact, the rest of this entire week looks pretty nice, and at some point in the next few days you may even need to water your garden. I've got my eye on next week, though. I'm not sure I like the cut of its jib.

Water cooler

Lots of folks showed up at last night's meeting to talk over the updates on the proposed redevelopment of the Westhampton Theatre. Most of the concern was over parking, which, isn't it always? My concern, however, is that I still feel unreasonably sad about never being able to watch a movie in that upstairs theatre again. Let's have a public meeting about that, OK?

What's the deal with Zika in the Commonwealth? Is it time to freak out and batten down our personal hatches? Or nah? Susan Howson explains (with help from the CDC). Also, the featured image for that article is something else.

Susan also absolutely loved the Science Museum's newest exhibit: Speed. She's not the only one, either. It feels like I can't accidentally have a meeting at the wrong Lamplighter without someone gushing about how good this new exhibit is.

Guys! It's 2016, The Year Everyone Pitches In™! This article about folks stepping up around town and pitching in to get the mowing done warms my heart, as does this one about a principal cutting her school's grass. Remember, if you want to help out the City asks that you call first and give them a heads up. I wonder how else we can all Pitch In™?

A great way to pitch in is to pay your dang taxes; WRIC reports that about $52 million is owed to The City in outstanding tax payments. Concilman Agelasto says publishing a shame list of delinquents could help with collections, which Petersburg just did and ended up collecting $581,000. Sure, that's only slightly more than one percent of $52 million--but every little bit helps when you're looking at deficit.

That kid is back in the Scripps National Spelling Bee!

Don't forget about Breakaway RVA's inaugural ride tonight. If you're looking to casually hang out with regular folks doing regular-folk things but while riding a bike, this is for you. Think the opposite of spandex and energy bars--this is more like Sambas and beers.

I guess you should read the inspector general's report on Hillary Clinton's email situation. Man, so boring. Vox has an only slightly less boring summary.

Sometimes I feel like President Obama's just a regular dude, up there in D.C., running the country. Then I learn that the rent in his next home will be $22,000! Per month?!

Sports!

Well, well, well! With the win last night, the Squirrels have put together a two-game winning streak and have won four of the last five. They have a chance to win the series against Binghamton today at 10:35 AM.
Nats were blanked by the Mets, 0-2. A shiny new series with the Cardinals begins tonight at 7:05 PM.

This morning's longread

Star Wars Episode IV in one picture

Seriously. It's all of Episode IV in one awesomely long image.

Infographic adaptation of Star Wars A New Hope, 123m (403.5 ft) of scrolling by graphic novelist Martin Panchaud.

This morning's Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFzOhTyv1H2/

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Picture of the Day: Catching wet air

Ross Catrow — Thu, 26 May 2016 11:00:56 +0000

Good Morning, RVA: Beer, fried fish, bike hangs (best day ever?)

Ross Catrow — Wed, 25 May 2016 11:11:15 +0000

Photo by: cpjRVA

Good morning, RVA! It's 62 °F, and today's weather forecast looks beautiful. Expect highs in the upper-80s, tons of sun, and an extremely likely chance of patio-based happy hours throughout the city.

Water cooler

Ballast Point, makers of the absolutely delicious Grapefruit Sculpin IPA (which scores a 99 on Beer Advocate), announced they will open a location out in Botetourt County. This makes for the fourth West Coast brewery to open an East Coast outpost in Virginia: Green Flash Brewing Company, Stone Brewing Co., Deschutes Brewery, and, now, Ballast Point Brewing Company. Pardon me while I sing "We are the Champions" quietly to myself.

Karri Peifer at the RTD reports that Croaker's Spot will reopen their original location in Jackson Ward, which, dang, has been closed for six years. The same folks also own the recently-opened Sugar's Crab Shack on Chamberlayne, a place I've yet to try but, along with Sugar Shack Donuts (no relation), makes my bike ride home from work smell amazing.

Keep your eye on this Danville court case related to HB 587--that's the one dealing with whether or not localities can remove Confederate war memorials. While I don't agree with the lawyer who's fighting to keep a Confederate flag flying over Danville, I do agree with him that the current legislation is confusing.

This...does not seem awesome. Audio from that Public Safety Standing Committee will be up on The Boring Show soon (now on iTunes).

Style Weekly's Best of Richmond issue is out! There a million and a half categories (including most addictive de-cluttering technique--I bet you know what that one is), so you may just want to go pick up a paper copy and settle down with a beverage of your choosing for a good long while.

Communal bike hangs! I am into this idea and will totally be taking part in tomorrow's inaugural Breakaway RVA ride. You should, too!

Vox has put together some links and context surrounding the investigation into Governor McAuliffe's fundraising. Honestly, the article is more about how campaign finance is gross and works counter to what most people believe should be allowed.

Sports!

In your face, Binghamton! Squirrels even the series with a 3-0 win. They'll continue tonight at 6:35 PM.
Nats beat the Mets 7-4 and wrap that series today at 1:05 PM.

This morning's longread

The Insane Story Behind Iconic Hot Sauce Brand Tapatio's Legacy

Hot sauce longread!

Why the name Tapatío? Is there a story behind that name?
Luis: When my father started the business, it was called Cuervo. Because on my mother's side, there was a direct relation to the Jose Cuervo family.
Dolores: She was a Cuervo. Oh, wow.
Luis: And so, my father, when he started the company, he said, "It's a family name, it's a catchy name." So probably two years into it, he got sued by Jose Cuervo! But the funny thing is, he had the state trademark here in California to sell Cuervo. So if Cuervo was to sell or advertise, they would be infringing on our trademark. So he had several meetings with them through an uncle. Basically he said, "Look. They need the name, we need the money to grow, so why not just buy out that name?" Cuervo said, "Okay, that's fine. Let's do that." So we had that full year to make the slow transition to Tapatío.

This morning's Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFzYVCqD1tT/

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Picture of the Day: On the other side, adventure awaits

Ross Catrow — Wed, 25 May 2016 11:00:54 +0000

Good Morning, RVA: Wegmania, RVANews Live, biscuit quest, urban agriculture

Ross Catrow — Tue, 24 May 2016 11:13:48 +0000

Photo by: Lisa MSE Moore

Good morning, RVA! It's 55 °F, and we did it, you guys. Today's forecast is nothing but temperatures in the 80s and sunshine. Tomorrow, Thursday--heck, the entire weekend--feature nothing but warm days with clear skies. Our long, wet, regional nightmare is over!

Water cooler

Last night's City Council meeting was a generally snoozy affair, with all but one of our agenda highlights (ORD. 2016-137) passing on the consent agenda (here's a full list of what was passed). Things did get heated at one point between Councilwoman Trammell and Council President Mosby while they discussed RES. 2016-R034, a settlement of a lawsuit for unpaid overtime. Trammell questioned why money exists to pay this legal settlement, but Department of Public Works must do their jobs severely underfunded and understaffed--turns out, money for the settlement comes from a special bucket set aside for unexpected expenses just like this. For a while, Mosby tried, unsuccessfully, to rein things in before everything got snoozily back on track.

The RTD's Louis Llovio has a few details on the budget the School Board passed last night. I will now patiently wait until Teresa Cole can dig into what parts and pieces of our public school system were defunded and cut to make this budget work. In the mean time, you can catch up on the rest of Teresa's Education FAQs if you have not already.

(Speaking of education, it's the very topic of RVANews Live #007 which is set for next week! Join us for a rad and definitely educational time. Get your ticket for just $15.)

Aw man: "Still, I found the breathless Wegmania slightly unsettling. Is this store really all that, or are we a bunch of rubes so bored with our lives that a new grocery store passes for The Next Big Thing?" via Michael Paul Williams.

BISCUITS. Stephanie Ganz is busy eating her way through Richmond's biscuit offerings and has posted volume one of her crumbly tales. Watch out! There are pictures! So if you wanted to avoid a morning biscuit craving, you may want to avoid that previous link.

I would like Richmond Magazine to make reporter Mark Robinson attempt and write about more feats of strength.

Whoa, Duron Chavis's Harding Street Urban Agriculture Center at VSU sounds fascinating. He's using hydroponics and aquaponics (fish!) to efficiently multiply the amounted food you can grow in a tiny, indoors space.

Be aware of that federal prosecutors are investigating Governor McAuliffe for campaign contribution reasons. Also be aware that there are basically no more details than the previous sentence.

Sports!

After winning a couple games over the weekend, the Squirrels got back to their losing ways with a close 1-2 loss to Binghamton. The series continues tonight at 6:35 PM.
Nats fell to the Mets, 1-7, and will try again at 7:05 PM.

This morning's longread

The cave divers who went back for their friends

Nope.

In February 2014 two divers died at a depth of more than 100m in a huge cave system in Norway. The authorities said it was too dangerous to retrieve their bodies, but four friends of the men decided to take the risk - and seven weeks later they descended into the dark and glacial waters.

This morning's Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFwxEjzPor9/

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