Good Morning, RVA: It’s coffee that does the awakening around here

Alright week, that’s a wrap!

December 18, 2015; 7:11 AM • by Ross Catrow

Good morning, RVA! It’s 51 °F, and that might just be today’s high. Whoa, I know, a kind-of-chilly day two thirds of the way into December! Similar temperatures should stick around this weekend along with the sun and its shine. Things start heating up on Monday, leading to a sockless, 72-degree Christmas.

Water cooler

Ned Oliver has a sneak peek at the Big Bike Race™ economic impact report that’ll be released later today. I think my takeaway, without seeing the report firsthand, is that it’s extremely hard to generate economic impact reports.

The governor introduced his budget yesterday, and you can read his speech to the Joint Money Committees, if that’s your thing. The mayor took the opportunity to send out a press release about the new proposed budget, saying, “I’m especially encouraged because I’ve always believed that a strong city is one where all residents care about public education, even if they don’t have kids in the school system.”–emphasis mine. This is quite different than, “The reality is that only about 11 percent of our population is being served by RPS,” which is something the Mayor’s been saying since last September and his office said again earlier this week. For some more between-the-lines context, first read this (slightly bombastic) editorial by former Wilder staffer Paul Goldman, and then read this editorial by Michael Paul Williams in the RTD.

With so much dang food news each and every week, it can be hard to keep the bigger picture in focus. Luckily, Brandon Fox does the focusing for you with this piece that looks back at 2015 and reminds you all about the many delicious things that happened.

New Orleans’s city council voted 6-1 (PDF) to declare three Confederate monuments and one white supremacy (seriously, read about the Battle of Liberty Place (also, maybe that’s an unnecessary distinction)) monument a “nuisance,” paving the way for their removal. Look! New Orleans still stands! It can be done!

Here’s the best tweet of the week.

Don’t forget, the third Democratic Party debate is this Saturday at 8:00 PM on ABC.

Sports!

• Rams try and pick up a P5 win against #23 Cincinnati this Saturday at 4:00 PM.
• #7 Richmond heads to Fargo to try and upset #2 North Dakota State in the FCS semifinals tonight at 8:00 PM.
• #8 Wahoos return to action against #12 Villanova Saturday at 12:00 PM on ESPN2.
• Hokies host Grambling State at 6:00 PM on Saturday, watch on ESPN3.
• Washington takes on the Bills at 1:00 PM on Sunday.

This morning’s longread

New Orleans Votes to Remove Four Confederate Monuments

History is crazy.

New Orleans witnessed multiple street battles that occurred between 1865 and 1877, pitting a Republican Party coalition of African Americans, white northern newcomers, and southern Unionists against the state’s white ex-Confederates, who organized behind the Democratic Party. By 1866, conflict over home rule and the push to return African Americans to a position as close to slavery as possible helped Republicans obtain the necessary Congressional majorities to pursue radical change in the South. In Louisiana, General Philip Sheridan and Republican Governor Henry Clay Warmoth protected black political action and passed legislation, by relying on military support capable of subduing the Ku Klux Klan and other terrorist groups.

This morning’s Instagram

Earlier at the Byrd waiting for The Intern to start! Prettiest fucking movie theater I've ever been in. The seats were hands down the shittiest so it's a trade off, but hey. #byrdtheater #rva

A photo posted by Randy Kern (@empirespk) on Dec 17, 2015 at 6:52pm PST

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December 18, 2015 7:11 AM 0