Good morning, RVA! It's 68 °F, and highs today are again back in the 90s. We’ve got about another day of this wonderfully warm weather until things cool off this weekend.
Water cooler
My friend Daniel Farrell died yesterday. I’m extremely grateful to have known him and for the impact he had on my life—without Daniel there would be no Good Morning, RVA and no RVANew before that. Looking back, so much of what I do with my life now was built on his brilliant mind and exceptional generosity. Early on, I can remember many, many times texting him during a technology emergency, “Hey! Uh...no big deal, but the website is down again, and I don’t know what to do.” He would always drop whatever he was working on and cheerfully get things back on track. And then, later, I can remember many, many times asking for his advice on what an independent local news business should look like in Richmond. He always had thoughtful, opinionated things to say. I remember his hugs—he was a good hugger but very tall and I had to stand on my tiptoes. I remember tailgating a Hokie football game with him in D.C. and drinking too many beers as we walked to the stadium. I remember his laugh. He had a great smile. I just remember him being such a good person—like, truly, amazingly good. That’s such a rare thing, and I will miss him very much.
This is an intense tweet from RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras: “Just leaving excellent meeting about trauma-informed care at Richmond Justice Center (jail). So grateful to everyone whose leadership made the construction of this modern facility possible. As I left, I was struck by how much nicer it is than some of our schools...” 🔥🔥🔥! I love calling the jail by its true name and the hardly-subtle shade thrown at elected leadership for moving on a jail but not on school facilities. There’s a ton going on related to schools right now—and not all of it facilities related—but, so far, I feel like Kamras has responded very well. Now we wait to see if he can get some of these issues fixed. Anyway, you should follow him on Twitter for sure.
Richard Hayes at RVAHub says there’s a new, local true crime podcast coming to your earbuds on May 30th. I dig the 10-episode format and look forward to listening. You can subscribe over on SouthernNightmare.com.
Nobody eat the beef! The Beef. Has. Gone. Bad. (There’s a recall for some Kroger brand ground beef that you should know about.)
Hey, that new Lidl adjacent to the CookOut on Broad and extremely accessible via the Pulse opens up today at 7:40 AM. It will be impossible for me not to also pick up a milkshake if I’m out there for groceries. In fact, the milkshake situation at CookOut may just make me a frequent Lidl customer.
This NYT piece about how Washington’s NFL team treats its cheerleaders is disgusting and disturbing. If we’re stuck with an NFL team at Richmond’s training camp facility until the heat death of the universe, maybe we can at least switch to a less offensive team? The Jets are coming to town this summer and the mayor loves the Jets, maybe they can work something out over a few CookOut milkshakes?
Sports!
- Squirrels fell to Altoona and have a day off before hitting the road to take on Reading.
- Nats continued to dominate the Pirates with a 9-3 win, that series wraps up today at 1:05 PM.
- Caps and Penguins (lots of Washington vs. Pittsburg this week) face off in Game 4 of the second round of the NHL playoffs tonight at 7:00 PM.
This morning's longread
Chasing Drinks with Lies, and Lies with Drinks
Alcoholism is intense.
Joe wasn’t much of a drinker. I told him I wasn’t much of one, either. This is the kind of lie only a long distance relationship can maintain. A few weeks before I was set to visit Joe, I began an effort to turn myself into the occasional drinker I’d made myself out to be. I tried not to drink so much in the morning and afternoon, waiting until evening to really get started. I began working with a personal trainer — something my fancy new job encouraged — ignoring the trainer’s comments about how I smelled like booze, even thought it was a Tuesday morning. “Big night last night?” he’d ask with a wink, probably picturing me out late with coworkers, friends, guys. I shrugged. What could I say? No, I was drinking alone in my sister’s guest room. I drank until I passed out and when I woke up, I started drinking again. I am afraid if I stop drinking, the pain will kill me. I am drinking to stay alive.
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