Good Morning, RVA: Where we’re going we don’t need roads

JK, we’ll probably always need roads.

October 21, 2015; 7:07 AM • by Ross Catrow

Photo by: bionicteaching

Good morning, RVA! It’s 46 °F, and this week’s trend of hard-to-dress-for weather continues. Highs today in the mid-70s will make you feel real dumb for wearing those wool socks and that sweet cable-knit sweater.

Water cooler

It’s October 21st, 2015–Back to the Future day! I’m into made up, movie-based holidays as much as the next person, but I think I need someone to tell me how to properly celebrate this occasion. Like, I found this cool placeholder text generator called DeLorean Ipsum, does that work? Or how about geniusman Elon Musk talking about why flying cars are a terrible idea? Why not just go watch all three films at the Goochland Drive-In? Anyway, may your day be filled with red vests, baseball almanacs, and trucks full of manure.

There’s a lot to unpack in this piece by Maat Free, but the gist is that the folks on the Slave Trail Commission are serving expired terms. With the ongoing community conversations about the future of Lumpkin’s Jail and Doug Wilder’s intimations about a slavery museum on Broad Street, now is the time to shake out the dust and get this commission working properly for the citizens of Richmond. If you think you’re the next best person to serve on the Slave Trail Commission, you can apply online.

Chesterfield is making progress towards an updated county-wide bike plan, which has really cheesed off the Chesterfield Patriot Caucus. Patriots hate bikes, I guess? Here’s a map of the proposed bike lane network. For city residents, the connections to Jeff Davis Highway, Huguenot Road, and Pocahontas Park via Belmont are particularly useful.

Jim Webb announced that he’s peacing out from the Democratic primary, but left open the option of running as an independent. Webb’s an interesting guy that clearly doesn’t fit in either the current Democratic or Republican Parties. I feel like a more charismatic candidate like that would be something to watch.

Style Weekly’s 2015 Top 40 Under 40 exists. Give it a read and get inspired by your fellow Richmonders!

Vox explains to me where we are in the Speaker of the House election situation. This stuff continues to fascinate me, but I wish it was, like, a reality TV show instead of the future of America.

This morning’s longread

The Lonely Death of George Bell

Here’s your longread of the week, for sure.

Each year around 50,000 people die in New York, some alone and unseen. Yet death even in such forlorn form can cause a surprising amount of activity. Sometimes, along the way, a life’s secrets are revealed.

This morning’s Instagram

The Egyptian Building: 1845 #Richmond

A photo posted by Jonathan Richman (@jonrichman) on Oct 20, 2015 at 1:37pm PDT

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October 21, 2015 7:07 AM 0