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

Yes! A classically Richmond summer day! Bring it on!

June 6, 2016; 7:18 AM • by Ross Catrow

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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June 6, 2016 7:18 AM 0