Good Morning, RVA: Cinco de Mayo, schools, George Takei, the Richmond Vampire, and moms.

Colder today with less chance of head-scratching weather mood swings.

May 5, 2016; 7:14 AM • by Ross Catrow

Photo by: Bluestocking42

Good morning, RVA! It’s 53 °F, and highs are only forecasted in the lower 60s–it’s a cold snap! Today should, theoretically, also be a lot drier than the last couple of days, with almost no sudden outbursts of rain followed by intense bouts of sunshine. I think the weather has chosen to settle down just in time for the weekend.

Water cooler

It’s Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates not the day of Mexican Independence but a victory over the French. Please make sure to keep your celebrations culturally appropriate and sufficiently Ubered.

Ned Oliver continues to cover City budget stuff, this time from the School Board side of things. The Board says that they’re working hard to keep every single school open, despite not getting the funds to really do so. In Superintendent Bedden’s budget, he requests $4.97 million to decompress teacher salaries. Council has agreed to give RPS an additional $5.5 million. If the majority of that goes towards teacher raises, there’s just an additional half a million bucks floating around to help keep things afloat. Plus, there’s not enough extra money on the capital side of things to build new schools in place of the ones that are falling down. I don’t know how the School Board’s going to balance this equation, and, man, do I not envy them for having the task. Council has to officially pass their budget next Friday, which, I think, will include a public hearing. You know what that means…a super special Friday night #rvacouncil! Clear your calendars!

Remember when the mayor of Roanoke said that really embarrassing stuff about how the Japanese internment camps were a cool idea? Well George Takei was down there yesterday and, as he usually does, made everything OK again.

Earlier this week, the Lore podcast dropped an episode featuring Richmond. It’s a podcast all about the history behind our communal fears and horror stories, and finally gives the Richmond Vampire and spooky Byrd Theatre ghost the national spotlight they deserve! Our biggest fear, successfully completing a large-scale public project, is not mentioned.

Star Wars day, Cinco de Mayo, and Mothers Day all in the same week?! What are you trying to do to us, calendar?? Luckily, Stephanie Ganz has your back as it relates to the latter and food–all moms gotta eat. And if your mom is really into Soylent, check out the rest of our Mothers Day Guide for some help with celebrating that lady.

The U.S. Department of Justice has stepped in and told North Carolina that it’s discriminatory transgender bathroom law violates the Civil Rights Act. They gave the State until Monday to confirm “that the State and will not comply with or implement H.B. 2.” Screwing around with the DOJ is risky business because it puts millions of federal bucks on the line.

Sports!

• Squirrels beat Bowie 4-3, and will finish that series today at 10:35 AM before hitting the road for the weekend.
• Nats crushed the Royals, 13-2, and move on to face the Cubs today at 8:05 PM.
• After last night’s 2-3 loss, the Caps have now lost three straight to the Penguins. This makes Saturday’s game a must-win situation.

This morning’s longread

Donald Trump and the Death of the Republican Party

Grim writing from Molly Ball.

The combined might of the Republican Party’s best and brightest–16 of them at the outset–proved, in the end, helpless against Trump’s unorthodox, muscular appeal to the party’s voting base. With his sweeping, 16-point victory in Tuesday’s Indiana primary, and the surrender of his major remaining rival, Ted Cruz, Trump was pronounced the presumptive nominee by the chair of the Republican National Committee. The primary was over–but for the GOP, the reckoning was only beginning.

This morning’s Instagram

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

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May 5, 2016 7:14 AM 0