Good morning, RVA! It's 55 °F, and we’ve got highs in the low 60s today along with a tiny chance of rain. Tomorrow brings a bigger chance of rain, so do your outside stuff today.
Water cooler
Police are reporting that William L. Lee Jr., 22, was shot to death on the 5900 block of Glenway Court.
Oooo, y’all! Planning Commission meets today for their regularly scheduled meeting (1:30 PM, City Hall, 5th Floor Conference Room, you can find the agenda here (PDF)), and they will consider some big, big rezonings. As part of their regular agenda, they’ll look at declaring an intent to rezone the areas around the Science Museum, Allison Street, and VCU/VUU Pulse stations. This is, of course, part of the Pulse Corridor plan and is, I think, the City’s third such rezoning. The idea here is that we spent all this time and money on high-quality transportation, we should have high-quality (and high-density) land use to match. Declaring an intent to rezone is just the first step in this process, after which begins the time-honored Community Engagement Process—so keep an eye out for that if you live, work, or play in the area(s). You can check out the initial proposed rezoning map here (PDF). I’m probably most excited about getting rid of all the industrial zoning around Lowes and replacing it with more mixed-use type stuff.
Late last week, the Governor awarded $6 million in “School Security Equipment Grants” to 340 public schools in the state. “The grants will pay for video monitoring systems, voice and video internal communications systems, mass notification systems, visitor-identification systems, access control systems, two-way radios, security vestibules, and other security upgrades.” Richmond schools—Armstrong, Franklin Military, and John B. Cary—will benefit to the tune of $171,673. Chesterfield County Schools received $250,000, the maximum amount, for Falling Creek Middle. I guess some of the listed improvements can help in situations that aren’t school shootings, but the grant program was definitely created in the wake of Sandy Hook back in 2013. This is what we’ve landed on instead of laws and policies to reduce gun violence—it should, in a sane world, be in addition to. I mean, how heart breaking is this: “This year...additional weight was given to the applications from elementary schools.” Seems like a good time to remind you that every seat in Virginia’s General Assembly is up for grabs on November 5th. Put it only our calendar.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch has made some changes to the design and organization of their print edition. You can learn more about it, if, like me, you’ve not interacted with a physical paper in probably over a decade. I point it out, not because it’s news, but because it’s great to read this bit from Executive Editor Paige Mudd about the paper’s focus: “Our focus now is on providing the strongest local news coverage, which is why our front page is almost always entirely local news stories. We know our readers want news of the country and world, but there are myriad sources for that information.” This wasn’t always the case for the RTD, but in my opinion, that’s exactly what I want my local paper dialed in on.
The RTD reports that a driver hit and killed a pedestrian on Nine Mile Road in Henrico County. This means a driver has killed at least one pedestrian in each of Richmond, Chesterfield, and Henrico in the last couple weeks. While Richmond has an active Vision Zero program, I’m not sure either Chesterfield or Henrico do. Maybe it’s something the three localities could collaborate on regionally?
/r/rva has a list of good study spots Downtown, which are defined as “somewhere I can stay for a lot of hours without feeling pressured to leave.” It really is amazing/sad/amazingly sad how few places exist for a person to hangout without buying something. My favorite spots that fit this description are: any Richmond Public Library branch, the Library of Virginia (although they won’t let you bring in a pocket knife), Capitol Square, and, in the winter months, I’ve been known to exercise my privilege and hang out in an office or hotel lobby between meetings.
Professional cornhole exists and the #8 ranked player lives in Mechanicsville?? Honestly, neither of these two facts are all that surprising. Emily Carter at Richmond Magazine has the details.
This morning's longread
Facing unbearable heat, Qatar has begun to air-condition the outdoors
This article is bananas, and I don’t know what we (humanity) do about places we’ve decided to live that are now inhospitable to human life.
By the time average global warming hits 2 degrees Celsius, Qatar’s temperatures would soar, said Mohammed Ayoub, senior research director at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute. In rapidly growing urban areas throughout the Middle East, some predict cities could become uninhabitable. “We’re talking about 4 to 6 degrees Celsius increase in an area that already experiences high temperatures,” Ayoub said. “So, what we’re looking at more is a question of how does this impact the health and productivity of the population.” The danger is acute in Qatar because of the Persian Gulf humidity. The human body cools off when its sweat evaporates. But when humidity is very high, evaporation slows or stops. “If it’s hot and humid and the relative humidity is close to 100 percent, you can die from the heat you produce yourself.”
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