Y'all!

Once upon a time I ran a news site, now I just have opinions on the news. 

Good morning, RVA: ICE, electric scooters, and the ERA

Good morning, RVA! It's 74 °F, and...there may be more thunderstorms later today. But maybe not! I’m really digging the cooler temperatures, though.

Be aware: The flash flood watch remains in effect.

Water cooler

The Richmond Police Department announced that they have submitted their report on the officer-involved killing of Marcus-David Peters to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. Once the Office completes a review of the report, RPD will “host a community discussion about the Department’s training in defensive tactics, use-of-force, and crisis intervention.” No date and time yet for the community meeting.

This piece in the Richmond Times-Dispatch by Mark Bowes about ICE arrests in the area is scary. Bowes talks to Kim Bobo of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy who says of the folks apprehended, “...these are not people who are dangerous to us. They may be technically breaking some of our laws. But again, that’s because we have no path to citizenship now.” ICE officials claim that the immigrants targeted were “violent offenders, gang members, sex offenders, fugitives from justice, and those who otherwise pose a significant public safety threat.” Here is the list of example offense committed by immigrants in Central Virginia who have now been apprehended by ICE: assault, driving under the influence, driving under the influence, drug possession, driving under the influence, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Obviously I don’t know the any of the details of any of these cases, but it’s hard for me to align the supposed list of reasons for apprehension with the list example offenses.

Whoa! Mike Platania at Richmond BizSense says Lime may bring an electric scooter fleet to Richmond. If you haven’t ridden one of these electric scooters, I know what you’re thinking: Seems dumb. That’s what I thought! But then I had a chance to ride one around for a hot second, and, dang, those things are FUN. They’re also incredibly useful for getting to places not easily served by public transportation, our existing bike share system, or at the top of a big hill. But! Before these dockless scooters (dockless meaning you use them and just kind of leave them...wherever...when you are done) show up on our streets, City Council should move to pass an ordinance defining how they can be used, where they can be parked, and what kind of incentives the City gets from the relationship. I like this ordinance from Nashville which sets some rules about parking the scooters, requires comprehensive data sharing with the City, charges a per-vehicle fee paid to the City, caps the fleet size, and requires a plan for equitable access (including discount programs for unbanked and low-income individuals). We should definitely do and require all of these things!

Ned Oliver at the Virginia Mercury has a neat piece on the Equal Rights Amendment, which would guarantee equal rights for all Americans regardless of sex. With Illinois ratifying the amendment earlier this year, should Virginia follow suit it that would bring the number of ratifying states above the three-fourths threshold set in the Constitution and unleash a tidal wave of posts from constitutional law professors about how the ratification process works.

Michael O’Connor at the RTD says Henrico’s thinking about building its own “big indoor sports facility.” It is, of course, way smaller than the Coliseum, but it’s still, of course, awash in hundreds of parking spaces. Henrico is big, but, depending on where this thing ends up, maybe don’t use valuable space for housing as a place to store empty cars for a couple hours a day.

The RTD Editorial Board has decided to run another Walter Williams editorial, this one suggests that experts in quantitative fields are actually morons and shouldn’t be trusted. This sort of thing, questioning the existence of facts and the testimony of scientists and experts, is dangerous and terrifying. Why would a newspaper that’s ostensibly dedicated to The Truth want to run an editorial like this? It makes no sense. Why is there ever a Walter Williams column in the RTD?? That also makes no sense! You might remember Walter Williams as the author of a previous editorial that victim-blamed rape survivors and questioned the existence of white privilege—the paper had to apologize and remove that one.

Sports!

  • Squirrels got postponed against Erie yesterday and will try and make it up today starting at 12:05 PM.
  • Kickers host RCD Espanyol out of LaLiga in a friendly at City Stadium tonight at 7:00 PM. Tickets are available online.
  • Nats missed against Milwaukee, 4-5, and will try to avoid the sweep today at 2:10 PM.

This morning's longread

I’m in My 40s, Child-Free and Happy. Why Won’t Anyone Believe Me?

Found this via Tressie McMillian Cottom’s newsletter—something you should check out.

He thought he was being kind, I knew, but that didn’t change the fact that on an otherwise perfect spring evening in Manhattan, I again faced a dilemma I’d been struggling with since turning 40: how to counter other people’s disbelief that I, single and child-free, could possibly be enjoying my own life. It’s a particularly frustrating Catch-22 for 21st-century ladies of a certain age. If I insisted that I really was having a great time, I was a lady who doth protest too much (men never seem to doth too much in this regard). Politely allow the assumption that I was in a pitiable state, satisfied by the fact that I knew better? That just perpetuated the problem.

If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.

Good morning, RVA: Assessments, new podcast, and beer knowledge

Good morning, RVA: West End rezoning, bike lanes are good, and beer + BBQ