Good Morning, RVA: Welcome back to weekends and winter
I thought we’d decided to move past winter and on to spring?
Photo by: cpjRVA
Good morning, RVA! It’s 34 °F, and remember when I made a joke yesterday about winter being over? Well, joke’s on me, because depending on where you’re reading this, it may be snowing. Not only that, but there may be some additional snow queuing up early next week. Fine, winter. FINE.
Water cooler
Police are now confirming Richmond’s sixth murder victim, Velda Garner. At this point in 2015, the city had seen one murder.
As the city readies itself to tear down the old Armstrong High School building to make way for new housing in the East End, the community focuses on how to properly memorialize the school. Michael Paul Williams has the editorial you need to read to get a good understanding of what’s going on. You can take a look at some of the plans and documents related to the East End Transformation process here, and, finally, learn about Armstrong’s namesake in this lovely piece by Grant Martin. Lots of learning for a Friday, I know. You can do it!
Are you looking for new places to grab a bite to eat? If so, Susan Howson welcomes January’s new restaurants to town, while saying goodbye to those that are no longer with us with the song from 1992’s The Bodyguard.
I’m sure you know that this Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday, or as I like to call it: Chips For Dinner Night. Our own Stephanie Ganz coaches you through putting together your own super spread or suggests that you just buy a bunch of bags of Doritos.
Remember when Roanoke’s mayor recalled America’s Japanese internment camps and hinted that maybe we needed something like that for Syrian refugees? And then remember how George Takei was like, “Uhhhh I was in a Japanese internment camp, and maybe you should rethink your position?” Well Takei himself is coming to Roanoke in May to talk about inclusion and diversity!
Politico has a good article about Obama’s plan to announce a $10 fee on every barrel of oil as a way of funding modern transportation in America. Apparently it has no hope of passing and is more of a conversation starter. BUT! The article mentions Richmond’s BRT as the type of forward-looking project the president wants to fund and that the new money would go towards more TIGER grants–the major funding source for our BRT project.
Vox breaks down last night’s Clinton vs. Sanders debate. Worth reading if you missed the live event.
If Doug Wilder was our next mayor (again) he’d be 90 at the end of his term.
Sports!
- Rams return home to face George Washington, Saturday at 12:00 PM on CBSSN.
- #9 Wahoos travel to Pitt, Saturday at 12:00 PM.
- Hokies host Clemson at 4:00 PM on Saturday.
- Spiders and the Minutemen tip off in the Robins Center at 6:00 PM on Saturday. You can watch on CSN+.
This morning’s longread
Anthem of Freedom: How Whitney Houston Remade “The Star-Spangled Banner”
It was this knowledge of how a song should be shaped and her bodily understanding of where her voice should fall that Houston brought to her famous performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in 1991, at the outset of the first Iraq War, twenty-five years ago today. In its way, the performance remains as influential a moment in television history as Elvis on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Houston’s rendition of the anthem is studded with vocal gems and remains a master class in vocal prowess. Its hold on us, however, can be attributed, ultimately, to a single powerful effect: the startlingly beautiful sound Houston makes when she sings the word “free.” This was a sound for the ages.
You gotta watch the video, too.
This morning’s Instagram
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Ross Catrow
Founder and publisher of RVANews.
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