Good morning, RVA! It's 63 °F, and today's highs are in the mid 90s!? For what it's worth, the all-time high, set in 1974, stands at 94 °F.
Water cooler
Bikes, bikes, bikes! Style Weekly's Jackie Kruszewski has a big, long piece about bikes, bike lanes, and bike safety. Read this, and you'll have a good picture of all the bike-related pieces coming together in town over the next year (fingers crossed!). While this piece does get me excited about Richmond's bikefuture, I can see how it could leave some folks afraid and nervous about riding around town. But, as a person who uses a bicycle for about half of his commutes, I don't think you should walk (ride?) away from this article terrified of hopping on a bike! Give it a try and see how it feels (bring an extra undershirt today, though, because it's going to be hot!).
Take two minutes to watch this WRIC piece about Mayor Stoney and Councilwoman Larson's reactions to City Council passing the programmatic-level budget that I keep talking about in this space. Sometimes, it's nice to hear and see folks talk about their position rather than just read words about it. Also, I kind of want to be the person that writes the cheesy jokes for reporters to read as they intro their segments.
Ned Oliver details all the state government's construction in and around the city. I knew that the state will renovate Old City Hall, but I did not know this bit: "...the state plans to ask the city to close a lane of traffic on Ninth and Broad streets fronting the building. He acknowledged that means the city’s new bus rapid transit system will be without an eastbound lane not long after it opens, but said the state hopes to work with the city to develop a workaround." First, this is a reason why buses are more flexible than trains. Second, what. Will they close the lane for the length of the entire, theoretically-two-year project? Will this impact the Government Center station on southwestern corner of that intersection? Will I continue to make exasperated noises whenever the State just rolls in and does whatever they want on our streets?
Katy Burnell Evans has a bit of a recap from yesterday's School Board listening session about finding a new superintendent. If you've got thoughts and opinions on what the next superintendent should be like, make sure you hit up one of the three remaining meetings on the 18th, 23rd, or 25th.
This Vox video about naming and categorizing colors is wild. If your language only has three words for colors, there's a good chance that they're black, white, and red. Whoa!
Sports!
- Squirrels lost to Akron, 1-6. That series wraps up today with another 10:35 AM game.
- Kickers begin their Open Cup run tonight at 7:00 PM against Christos FC. More info here.
- Nats beat the Pirates, 8-4, and look to do it again tonight at 7:05 PM.
This morning's longread
My Family’s Slave
This is some dang good writing, but make sure you read her obituary, which was written back in 2011, too.
The ashes filled a black plastic box about the size of a toaster. It weighed three and a half pounds. I put it in a canvas tote bag and packed it in my suitcase this past July for the transpacific flight to Manila. From there I would travel by car to a rural village. When I arrived, I would hand over all that was left of the woman who had spent 56 years as a slave in my family’s household