Good Morning, RVA: OK, that’s enough

We’re finished with winter, right?

March 6, 2015; 7:41 AM • by Ross Catrow

Photo by: tfelds

Good morning, RVA! It’s 15 °F, and the world is coated in a crusty layer of ice and snow. VDOT tells me that due to the super cold overnight temperatures, salt has lost its effectiveness and roads cannot be plowed. Basically, they’re asking you to postpone travel because of science. ALWAYS LISTEN TO SCIENCE.

Things are closed and delayed today, but you knew that already.

Water cooler

Carol Hazard at the RTD has a bit more news on the future of the Westhampton Theatre. The real estate guy representing the building’s owners says “even the news of the closing has not helped generate more revenue.” I am not a theater manager (IANATM), but I think programming has a lot to do with that (showing this week: The Second Best Marigold Hotel and Red Army). Best case scenario in my mind is University of Richmond buys it and creates the very best independent theatre in the commonwealth.

Style Weekly’s Ned Oliver has a long piece on our new Police Chief Alfred Durham that you should read.

We now have a meadery in town! Mead was one of the very first alcohols ever made by man, dating back at least four thousand years ago. Now you can enjoy it at the new Black Heath Meadery in Scott’s Addition which dates back to at least March 1st.

Looking for things to do this weekend? Here are five, here are five more with a family bent, and here’s our big huge calendar of events.

Sports!

• Rams were absolutely dominated from start to finish by Davidson, 55-82, in a game that, if you were wearing black and gold, was hard to watch. VCU is back in action against George Mason at 5:30 PM on Saturday in the final home game of the season.
• Caps fell to the Wild 1-2.
• Hokies host the Hurricanes at 12:00 PM tomorrow.
• #2 Wahoos take on #16 Louisville Saturday at 6:30 PM. They’ll continue to be without Justin Anderson who had an appendectomy earlier this week.
• Spiders welcome the Billikens to Richmond tomorrow at 8:00 PM.

This morning’s longread

The Shockingly Simple, Surprisingly Cost-Effective Way to End Homelessness

The shocking thing about this article is not so much the straightforward solution presented, but the fact that my terrible brain kept trying to come up with reasons why folks might not deserve a place to live.

In 1992, a psychologist at New York University named Sam Tsemberis decided to test a new model. His idea was to just give the chronically homeless a place to live, on a permanent basis, without making them pass any tests or attend any programs or fill out any forms.

“Okay,” Tsemberis recalls thinking, “they’re schizophrenic, alcoholic, traumatized, brain damaged. What if we don’t make them pass any tests or fill out any forms? They aren’t any good at that stuff. Inability to pass tests and fill out forms was a large part of how they ended up homeless in the first place. Why not just give them a place to live and offer them free counseling and therapy, health care, and let them decide if they want to participate? Why not treat chronically homeless people as human beings and members of our community who have a basic right to housing and health care?”

This morning’s Instagram

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March 6, 2015 7:41 AM 0