Good Morning, RVA: Welcome back!

Now, that’s what I call a weekend.

July 6, 2015; 6:58 AM • by Ross Catrow

Photo by: Surrounded By Light

Good morning, RVA! It’s 71 °F now, but don’t worry, the hot, hot, heat returns this afternoon with highs in the upper-80s and plenty of humidity to go alongside. The potential for a thunderstorm exists this afternoon, as it usually does.

Water cooler

The USWNT absolutely dominated Japan over the first 20 minutes of the Women’s World Cup Finals, scoring four goals–three by Carli Loyd in just 16 minutes. The 5-2 win gives the USA its first World Cup Championship since 1999. Watch the highlights, especially the 54-yard monster goal by Lloyd.

Katy Burnell Evans at the RTD lets us in on the City’s new online data portal. You can grab all kinds of stuff, like a map of the GRTC bus stops, street sweeping dates, and every check written by the City. Lots of the data is available to download or follow via an RSS feed. For us nerds, this is exciting news! I’ve already got suggestions for about a dozen datasets they should add!

Also from the RTD this past weekend is a tale of woe and a forecast of doom for City’s finance department. Graham Moomaw has all the continually more and more depressing details and quotes, including ones like this, “I think to get the basics nailed down, with as many problems as the department has had, would take at least three years–and that’s with bringing in consultants and throwing a lot of money at it…” Godspeed to new Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Finance and Administration Lenora Reid.

Greece voted no to the current financial offer on the table from the IMF, EU, and European Central Bank–which means some things. Economics is something that I cannot grok, but this all-star economist says the No Vote was the right call in a surprisingly easy-to-understand interview.

Sports!

• Despite a delay, the Squirrels picked up a 7-3 win over Akron on Independence Day and a 2-1 win yesterday. They wrap the series tonight at 7:05 PM. Get your tickets here.
• Kickers were blanked in Louisville on July 4th, 0-3.
• Nats did some work over the weekend and swept the Giants in a three-game series. They’ll host the Reds tonight at 7:05 PM.
• D.C. United fell, 0-1, to the Seattle Sounders.

What to expect

Today, we’ll ease you back into the swing of things with:

• Parenting from afar
• The story behind VUU’s big, gray tower
• We’re not quite done celebrating the 4th of July yet

This morning’s longread

Why Lego Is Spending Millions To Ditch Oil-Based Plastic

Lego’s 57-year-old toy empire was built on plastic. But now the giant Danish toy company is investing millions into getting rid of it. By 2030, Lego bricks will no longer be made from ABS, the oil-based plastic in the 60 billion blocks the company makes each year.

This morning’s Instagram

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July 6, 2015 6:58 AM 0