Y'all!

Once upon a time I ran a news site, now I just have opinions on the news. 

Good morning, RVA: Vision Zero progress!, superintendent search, and Stranger Things

Good morning, RVA! It's 43 °F, and today's highs should make their way into the 70s. Expect similar temperatures throughout the weekend and possibly some thunderstorms on Sunday.

Water cooler

Good news, people! Mayor Stoney will "sign a pledge to make Richmond a Vision Zero city" today at 9:00 AM down at the Turning Basin (near the notoriously scary-to-cross right turn ramp from 14th onto Dock). Vision Zero, which I talk about in this space a lot, is a world-wide initiative to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero—it's not acceptable that people die from using our roads. Vision Zero has had City Council support since March of 2016, and now with mayoral support perhaps we can get some actual changes made to make our streets safer—slower speeds, better enforcement, more education, changes to road and infrastructure design.

Justin Mattingly at the RTD has two excitingish updates on Richmond Public Schools' search for a new superintendent. Neither of those updates include telling us who are the finalists for the position. Booooo! It does, however, sound like the School Board could make a decision as early as Monday. Stay tuned!

The impact of the Short Pump Middle School locker room video continues to grow. Henrico's School Board got an earful from angry parents, students, and teachers at their meeting last night, Michael O'Connor and Vanessa Remmers report. Folks want changes in policy and a broadening of the focus from this specific middle school to the school district at larger. Michael Paul Williams weighs in and points out the changing demographics of the County. This isn't the same Henrico County from 50 years ago—enrollment in Henrico County Public Schools is majority-minority! I'm really interested to see what effect this incident has on a region whose outlying counties have historically not been considered diverse places but increasingly find that to no longer be the case.

Sarah King at Richmond Magazine interviews 8-year-old Richard Broady about a new program to get prescription glasses to Richmond students. Of his week, he says, "It feels good to have glasses...My birthday was on Wednesday, and my party was on Saturday, and today I shook the mayor's hand!" THIS IS ADORABLE AND AWESOME. Seriously though, to paraphrase the governor, you can't read if you can't see.

The New York Times has these terrifying maps of drug overdoses and deaths by county across America. Also terrifying: "Deaths from overdoses are reaching levels similar to the H.I.V. epidemic at its peak."

The second season of Stranger Things is out on Netflix and ready for you to burn though this weekend! Remember to take bathroom breaks, stay hydrated, and get a bit of sleep here and there.

Sports!

The third game of the World Series, which is tied 1-1, begins tonight at 8:20 PM on FOX.

  • Spiders host #23 Stony Brook on Saturday at 3:00 PM.
  • Hokies welcome Duke to Blacksburg at 7:20 PM.
  • Wahoos head to Pittsburgh for a 12:30 PM kickoff.
  • Washington will take on Dallas, Sunday at 4:25 PM.

This morning's longread

“No Fatties”: When Health Care Hurts

Dang, there is a lot of sad stuff to think about in this piece.

That’s along with pervasive stereotyping about fat people in the medical community. In a study of 318 family physicians, two-thirds reported that their obese patients lacked self-control, and 39 percent stated that their obese patients were lazy. Even health care professionals specializing in nutrition thought poorly of their obese patients: “Attitudes toward obesity and the obese among professionals,” a study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, reports that 87 percent of health care professionals specializing in nutrition believe that obese persons are indulgent, 74 percent believe that they have family problems, and 32 percent believe that they lack willpower. In 2013, the American Medical Association labeled obesity a disease.

Good morning, RVA: The treasurer, the sheriff, and hundreds of zombies

Good morning, RVA: Words matter, more on rally costs, and zombies