Good morning, RVA! It's 73 °F, and, except for some possible thunderstorms later this evening, today looks like a wonderful, albeit hot, day. Expect highs back up in the mid 90s and then for temperatures to cool down after the rain moves through tonight.
Water cooler
It's Bike to Work Day! Meet at Kanawha Plaza around 8:00 AM, eat some breakfast with your bike pals, then join the mayor for a short ride at 9:00 AM. I'll see y'all down there!
It's been a while, but Katy Burnell Evans at the RTD has a Petersburg Woe Watch™ update. Sure, this piece is about Petersburg not being able to fund their school system to the level required by the state, but make sure you really hear what's going on. From the article: "Most school divisions in Virginia receive millions above the state-mandated minimum from local governments eager to improve student achievement. The average division received 85% more than the state minimum during the 2016 fiscal year." Put another way, on average, localities are saying state education funding levels are waaaaay too low! To even call it the minimum amount required for a quality education seems disingenuous when so many jurisdictions are pumping so much extra cash into schools. When we have 18-hour-long budget meetings in Richmond, trying desperately to fund our schools, make sure you keep in mind what's going on in those buildings on the other side of Broad Street.
Whoa, look at this: An anti-Confederate monument editorial from the RTD's editorial board. I think we may have most folks on board with the idea that these things send a message of fear and hate (the statues, not the editorials). That's progress! Now let's get together and do something about it. But not just plaques, OK?
In Richmond Magazine, Lauranett Lee writes this plea for deeper and more authentic conversations about interpreting the history of Shockley Bottom and the Devil's Half Acre.
RVA Mag has a great piece about artist Marlena Magnolia who uses mud to create art about domestic and sexual assault. She'll be in town this weekend hosting two workshops.
Dominion Riverrock begins tonight. You can find the full schedule here, but basically any time you stumble down to Brown's Island this weekend you'll find something worth watching / Instagramming.
I don't know why it popped up in my feed today, but here's a piece from this past October by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It's her advice for living! Why would you not read this instantly!?
Sports!
- Squirrels return home to host the Harrisburg Senators tonight at 7:05 PM. Tickets are available online—and it's Free Shirt Friday!
- Kickers head to Rochester to take on the Rhinos tomorrow at 4:05 PM.
- Nats fell to the Pirates, 10-4. Next up: Atlanta, tonight, 7:35 PM.
This morning's longread
What James Comey Told Me About Donald Trump
Never not linking to Trump stories these days. It's wild that James Comey was fired just ten days ago—feels like forever!
In retrospect, I think I know what Comey must have been thinking at that moment. He had been asked to pledge loyalty by Trump. When he had declined, and even before, he had seen repeated efforts to—from his point of view—undermine his independence and probe the FBI’s defenses against political interference. He had been asked to drop an investigation. He had spent the last few months working to defend the normative lines that protect the FBI from the White House. And he had felt the need personally to make clear to the President that there were questions he couldn't ask about investigative matters. So he was asking himself, I suspect: What loyalty oath had Rosenstein been asked to swear, and what happened at whatever dinner that request took place?