Good morning, RVA! It's 50 °F, and today's highs are back up near 70 °F. Expect some clouds to roll in and ruin the fun but otherwise uneventful (as far as weather goes) day.
Water cooler
Police are reporting two homicides that occurred over the past three days.
On Sunday afternoon, police were called to the 1100 block of E. 16th Street and found Rita B. Hawthorne, 27, stabbed to death.
Early yesterday morning, police were called to the 1900 block of Raven Street where officers arrived to find Kendell L. Coward, 34, shot to death at the scene.
These are the 15th and 16th murders of 2017.
Last night, Will Wade signed a six-year contract with LSU, leaving VCU after just two seasons. The response on the #LetsGoVCU Twitter was...not pleasant. I get that this is part of the deal for a successful midmajor program, but, man, am I tried of riding the coaching carousel at the end of every single season. Rice head coach Mike Rhoades appears to be at the top of the list to replace Wade. I imagine the athletic department will want to hire someone as quick as humanly possible to try and save whatever current recruits and players that they can. The blerg is palpable in this Paul Woody piece over on the RTD.
Tonight you can join bike people from across the city at the second Big Bike Lanes Meeting! From 5:00–7:00 PM at the Main Library (101 E. Franklin) you can give the city your feedback on the "90% detailed design plans" of bike-related improvements for nine corridors. We'll hang out, talk bikes, leave some comments—it'll be a blast!
I don't know if there's enough money floating around to cover an additional increase in funds for Richmond's police and fire departments, but I love the way Ned Oliver describes this interaction between Council, the mayor's office, and those two departments. It gives me hope!
Meanwhile, the description of this interaction between Finance Director John Wack and City Auditor Umesh Dalal drains me of hope. There's something strange in the neighborhood, and I'm hoping this whole situation gets resolved quickly.
Another week and another new business heads to Brookland Park Boulevard! Jennie Trejo in Richmond Magazine has the news that The Luncheonette will open a second location in the Northside neighborhood. Once the Richmond Transit Network Plan and the Pulse open I will have so many milkshake places I can easily bus myself to!
P.S. Yesterday, I got around to listening to the Cheats Movement interview with gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello, and it was definitely worth my time.
Sports!
- Spiders take on TCU tonight at 7:00 PM on ESPN2.
This morning's patron question!
From Patron John comes this question related to tonight's Big Bike Lanes Meeting:
Can we make Monument Ave one lane each direction for car traffic from Stuart Circle in Richmond to Glenside/Horsepen in Henrico, with the two remaining old lanes turned into cycling/walking paths paved with pervious pavers?
What a fun idea! I would love to see better east-west bicycle connections in the city. However, looking at the Richmond Bicycle Master Plan, the main east-west corridors as you move west are Floyd Avenue, Patterson Avenue, and Grove Avenue. Although that same document does list Monument as the top-5 corridor that folks would like to see improved with better bike infrastructure.
So don't hold your breath, but maybe?
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This morning's longread
'London Bridge is down': the secret plan for the days after the Queen’s death
So long, so fascinating.
Unlike the US presidency, say, monarchies allow huge passages of time – a century, in some cases – to become entwined with an individual. The second Elizabethan age is likely to be remembered as a reign of uninterrupted national decline, and even, if she lives long enough and Scotland departs the union, as one of disintegration. Life and politics at the end of her rule will be unrecognisable from their grandeur and innocence at its beginning. “We don’t blame her for it,” Philip Ziegler, the historian and royal biographer, told me. “We have declined with her, so to speak.”