Good Morning, RVA: Wake up, flawless

Despite the rain, I’ve got a good feeling about today, you guys.

March 26, 2015; 6:58 AM • by Ross Catrow

Photo via: VCU Libraries Commons

Good morning, RVA! It’s 51 °F, and with highs way up in the 70s, today will be much, much warmer than yesterday. Unfortunately, starting around 8:00 AM and continuing through the afternoon, there’s a good chance of rain and even thunderstorms. Bring an umbrella with you this morning, but don’t forget to bring it home this evening as there’s more rain on the way tomorrow.

Water cooler

The Governor, presumably after reading Good Morning, RVA and sensing my frustration with the ABC’s enforcement officers, signed this executive order. It forces some retraining, shakes up the reporting structure, makes folks more accountable, and sets up some reviews. Not a ton of concrete steps, but you have to remember he’s not the legislative body. The General Assembly had their chance to fix this problem and failed to do so.

VCU Libraries is the 100th organization to join the Flickr Commons. The Commons, if you were somehow unaware, is a huge stack of digital photos that have no known copyright restrictions. This is a huge deal if you’re a guy who works for an online news publication and a smaller-yet-still-big deal if you’re a person with a natural amount of curiosity about the city in which you live. Check out the collection here.

Speaking of the city in which you live, after you’ve lived in Richmond for awhile it’s easy to forget that some of the Confederate monuments we have scattered about town are super embarrassing. Mike Sarahan, writing on the back page of Style, really brought it home for me in this piece about the Big Bike Race™ and the Jefferson Davis monument: “[the monument] was dedicated June 3, 1907. On the front page of the next day’s newspaper, The Richmond Times-Dispatch declared the monument to be ‘the emblem of those martyred principles for which the Lost Cause suffered.'” Barf.

From the present-day RTD: “Police arrived and encountered two men who started running, and one of the fleeing men pulled a gun and fired a shot into his lower leg.” Don’t play with guns, suspected criminals who are running from the cops. And, as a mini study on local news, check out how WTVR frames the same story: “Fleeing drug suspect fired two rounds at cops in South Richmond.”

Here ya go, olds: “Who is Zayn Malik, and why are 11-year-olds crying about him? via Vox.

Sports!

• Caps host the Devils of New Jersey tonight at 7:00 PM.

What to expect

Rejoice! A new section! Below you’ll find a list of what’s coming up on RVANews today. Other stuff may pop up, but here’s what to expect:

• Today’s TIP! is about snacks, and you can’t beat that.
• 5 Things with which to fill your weekend calendar–assuming it’s not already packed to the brim.
• Our weekly RVA food news round up, which seems to grow longer and longer each week. Did you miss this bit from yesterday about eating the only sheep considered native to Virginia? BAAAAA!
• Steve Case is coming to Richmond?

This morning’s longread

How ‘Flawless’ Became a Feminist Declaration

It’s perhaps our first untroubled word for human beauty, free of the whiff of sexism that clings to many others. It doesn’t denote marriageability (like “nubile”) or beauty born of fragility (“comely”). Unlike its close relations “fair,” “perfect” and “immaculate,” it carries no overt religious connotations. And unlike “beautiful” itself, with its associations of perishability and status, “flawless” feels vigorous. It’s a word for integrity and excellence of execution. Over the years, this publication has reserved it for Babe Ruth’s swing, Sarah Bernhardt’s turn in “Cléopâtre” and a few especially strong competitors at the Westminster Dog Show.

Word nerd stuff, but with Beyoncé.

This morning’s Instagram

— ∮∮∮ —

Email

Want to automagically get Good Morning, RVA in your inbox every morning? Sign up below!

March 26, 2015 6:58 AM 0