Good Morning, RVA: Beautiful weather continues

So soak it up!

July 17, 2014; 6:57 AM • by Ross Catrow

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Good morning, RVA! It’s 69 °F, which makes today the first day in a long time with a morning temperature in the 60s. The rest of the day looks beautiful and sunny with highs in the mid-80s. If you wanted to find a patio on which to drink some booze after work today, I wouldn’t blame you–nay, I would celebrate you! Or with you!

Water cooler

Remember when students from Fairfield Court Elementary had to finish out the year at Clark Springs Elementary because their school was crumbling to pieces around them? Richmond Public Schools’ new Chief Operations Officer Tommy Kranz says repairs will cost more than twice what the previous administration estimated. Kranz said Richmond’s schools “are in worse condition than any schools he has seen in a career that includes work in Louisiana, Florida and Tennessee.” Florida, people, Florida! Make sure you read the entire linked article; there’s a ton of work to be done before Richmond’s schools get back on track.

But! The School Board is taking steps: they just approved the purchase of 78 new busses, about a third of the entire fleet. The new busses should see action before the end of this year.

The proposed Floyd Avenue bike-walk street (née bike boulevard) continues to roll forward. Style Weekly’s Ned Oliver has the slightly sarcastic rundown of the most recent public meeting. The current plan includes traffic circles and bump outs but lacks traffic diverters–which was kind of the whole point. But, as Councilman Agelasto says, “I think a lot of folks are saying, well, we should just become Portland, Oregon, immediately. Well, Richmond is Richmond and we can’t do that. It’s going to take time to plan for all of our residents needs. But you’ve got to start somewhere.” You can download the full plan and presentation on RVANews.

There’s a hop farm in Chesterfield County! I had no idea. Virginia only has 30 acres of commercial hop farmland–sounds like a business opportunity for someone.

Sports!

• Squirrels return to action tonight, at home, against Harrisburg at 7:05 PM. Tickets are available online.

This morning’s longread

What to do when an Israeli-Palestinian ‘peace’ is out of reach

That’s why the first step might be to stop using the debilitating word “peace,” which has long since taken on transcendental and messianic meanings in both the political left and right wings, and replace it immediately with the word “compromise.” It might be a less rousing word, but at least it reminds us that the solution we are so eager for can’t be found in our prayers to God but in our insistence on a grueling, not always perfect dialogue with the other side.

Photo by: Michael Chronister

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July 17, 2014 6:57 AM 0