Good morning, RVA! It's 73 °F and slightly hotter than yesterday. Expect highs to top out at 93 °F, and then we should see some cooler temperatures beginning tomorrow and through the weekend.
Water cooler
I really enjoyed this piece in Richmond Magazine by Evans D. Hopkins about the education we need to do alongside the unveiling of new (and awesome) monuments. It hits home for me, as just this week, I took a couple area high school students on a bus adventure (!) to the Civil Rights Memorial and the Maggie Walker Monument—places they had never been to see statues of people they'd never heard of. I'll use this as another opportunity to remind you of the Monument Avenue Commission's public meeting on August 9th at 6:30 PM at the Virginia Historical Society.
Robert Zullo at the RTD writes about the plans to bring a massive distribution center to an area near the Port of Richmond. My favorite part of this piece is: "there are no specific city incentives for the development." While the project is in an existing enterprise zone, it seems like the Department of Economic and Community Development just put in the hard work to bring this project to Richmond. A thought: If this area continues to grow, we probably need to start thinking about pedestrian, bike, and transit improvements over there so folks from around the City can safely get to whatever future employment opportunities pop up.
Whoa, J. Elias O'Neal reports that Chris Tusi of the EAT Reasturant Partners bought the downtown River City Diner, which closed yesterday as part of the deal. Dang! That's a piece of my young-adult history right there! Pair this—and all of the other new spots opening up in the Bottom—with the now-ongoing renovations of the 17th Street Market, and you've got the potential makings of a strong public space.
The river is awesome, in both the literal and colloquial sense of the word, and that two people have drowned over the past day should remind you to take the river seriously when you're out there having a blast. You should also be reminded never to bring glass bottles to the river. Just don't do it, OK?
Mark Holmberg has this charming piece about a bellfoundry in the area that still makes 'em like the used to. Seems like a lot of work if you ask me!
Aw man, the Governor's dog, Guinness, died yesterday.
Sports!
- Squirrels popped Portland, 7-5 and finish that series today at 12:00 PM.
- Nats got blanked by Miami, 0-7.
This morning's longread
The Life and Times of Whittaker, the Turkey That Stood in Traffic
Sometimes you read a fantastic piece of writing about a turkey that decided to live in a left turn lane.
Part of his appeal was that Whittaker consistently evaded capture, and eventually authorities just gave up trying. Staff from Michigan’s department of natural resources tried to apprehend him twice with a rocket net—which is exactly what it sounds like—to no avail. “They did not want to unduly stress the bird, so after the second attempt, they let the turkey be,” Holly Vaughn of the DNR told me in an email. The Humane Society made “over a dozen attempts to capture and relocate Whittaker” as well, Welch told me. They also set out a trap, but someone stole it. “Turkeys are extremely clever birds and are generally very wary when they perceive that something dangerous may be close by,” Vaughn added. “This bird responded well to the perceived danger of the rocket net, but did not seem to perceive cars as a danger.” Indeed, he exhibited a blatant disrespect for the killing power of cars, often pecking at them, or lying languidly in the road as they rolled by. “There are personalities to some degree,” Carpenter said. “Some birds are a lot more tolerant of people and are much more bold.”