Good morning, RVA! It's 65 °F, and there's a chance of rain this afternoon and evening—a chance of thunderstorms, even. The wet weather will continue through the weekend into next week, so soak up whatever sun you can today!
Water cooler
Michael Paul Williams talks to the filmmakers behind An Outrage, a documentary about lynching in the American South. I tried to find the 1886 newspaper article mentioned in this piece and failed. But this reminded me that Chronicling America is an excellent site if you ever want to search around for really old newspapers from around the country.
Whoa, WTVR reports preliminary construction work has already begun on the Westwood Tract just days after the City issued construction permits. And, oh snap!, the mayor weighed in! With the mayor's comments, Council moving forward on a resolution to study the impact this development will have, a petition floating around with more than 500 signatures, and a bunch of news stories like this one...I don't think we're done hearing about this, yet.
Richmond BizSense's J. Elias O'Neal has more details on the barcade coming to Scott's Addition—including the name and projected opening date! Boring Ross Fact: This new spot is exactly one block from a BRT station.
There are one billion things going on in town this weekend. I will present just a small set of them to you now, in bulleted form:
- The inaugural RVA Lit Crawl seems cool. Brent Baldwin at Style Weekly has more info for you if you'd like to spend a day or two chatting up professional writers.
- Gallery5 will host a Teach-In and March for Science, if you love science (you better love science).
- Speaking of science, the RVA Earth Day Festival takes place in Manchester on Saturday. Style Weekly's Jackie Kruszewski has an interview with the lady who brought the first Earth Day celebration to Richmond in 1971.
- BEARDS. The Mid-Atlantic Beard & 'Stache Championships take place on Saturday at the Canal Club. BEARDS.
Sports!
If you've ever watched VCU basketball on TV, you know that announcers loved to mention how Mo Alie-Cox would make an excellent NFL tight end. Turns out they were right: Alie-Cox signed a free agent deal with the Indianapolis Colts yesterday!
- Squirrels split the series with Bowie after a big, 12-2 win. They return home tonight to host Reading at 7:05 PM. Get your tickets online—the first 1,000 fans in the door tonight get a free T-shirt.
- Kickers host the Pittsburgh Hounds, Saturday at 5:00 PM. Tickets are available online.
- Nats swept Atlanta with a 3-2 win last night. They open a series with the Mets tonight at 7:10 PM.
This morning's longread
Diary of a 24-Hour Dive Bar
If I sat in Brothers III and ordered nothing all day—but joked, teased and chewed the fat alongside the other bar patrons—no one would bat an eye. Perhaps the largest part of the dive bar experience isn’t drinking at all, but feeling as if you are part of a larger, welcoming community. Dive bars are inherently patient places.