Good morning, RVA! It's 65 °F, and today’s highs are back up in the mid 80s. It’s like a sunny, summertime day out there. Meteorologist John Boyer says we can even expect a (temporary) dip in the mugginess! Enjoy!
Water cooler
Vanessa Remmers at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has an eye-opening update on Chesterfield’s Goodwill + Uber pilot program. The program, which is only available to Chesterfield residents who receive treatment for opioid addiction, has served 11 total people. Eleven. I’m sure that this service has proved critical for those 11 people, and it’s pretty incredible that, in the face of a countywide transportation desert, Goodwill just went and created a solution for some folks in need. But dang y’all, do not let anyone tell you that a program serving 11 people is a good faith effort to provide meaningful public transportation into and out of Chesterfield County.
I know I keep talking about this Franklin Street bike lane, but I’ve ridden my bike in it to a bunch of meetings over the past couple of days and it just feels so magical! While I was pretty underwhelmed and disappointed at the eventually watered down Floyd Avenue Bike Walk Street, today, I feel 100% the opposite about Franklin Street. This is strong bike infrastructure that will get more people out biking around Richmond in a totally no-big-deal kind of way. While the lane is technically open for business, crews are still installing some finishing touches: First, signs went up yesterday to help confused car drivers figure out where to put their vehicles (see above picture). Second, we’ve got the first (I think) turn boxes in the City! A turn box helps people on bikes make turns across car traffic, and, because Canadians are helpful, here’s a YouTube from Calgary that shows you exactly how to use one. I clamor for more protected bike lanes! Immediately!
Speaking of bikes, Breakaway RVA is back with their first ride of the season tonight. Register on their website, and then take an ultra chill communal ride that ends up somewhere fun. I’d be heckin’ surprised if most of tonight’s routes don’t dip into the Franklin Street bike lane for at least a couple of blocks.
I’m still looking for a cool new thing to open in the City during July to round out our summer of urban delight. Via Mark Robinson at the RTD, it sounds like the 17th Street Farmers’ Market will not be that cool new thing.
An all-girls robotics team from Chesterfield won their age group (ages 6–12?!) in the 2018 Wonder League Robotics Competition. That’s awesome!
Sports!
- Squirrels beat Binghamton, 4-1, and wrap that series up at 10:35 AM this morning.
- Kickers advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup with a 3-2 win over Penn FC.
- Nats dropped one to San Diego, 1-3, and have the day off today.
- Caps shut out the Lightning, 4-0, and move on to their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1998!
This morning's patron longread
In 1983, four people were murdered in a home in Chino Hills, Calif.
Patron Alex shared this incredibly interesting story about a man sentenced to death for murders he almost certainly did not commit.
Maybe in the grand scheme of things, the fate of one man on death row doesn’t seem so important; innumerable people die tragically every day. Yet we aspire to be a nation where we are all equal before the law, and if we execute a man in so flawed a case without even bothering to test the evidence rigorously, then a piece of our justice system dies along with Kevin Cooper. Governor Brown, if you’re reading this, I understand that you may believe that Cooper is guilty. But other smart people, including federal judges and law school deans, believe him innocent. So how can you possibly execute him without even allowing advanced DNA testing, at the defense’s expense, to resolve the doubt? What’s your argument for refusing to allow testing?
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