Good morning, RVA! It's 58 °F, and a little rainy. You can expect temperatures to stay right about where they are for most of the day and for sunny skies to return later this afternoon.
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 2,117↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 0↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 219↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 77, Henrico: 79, and Richmond: 63). Since this pandemic began, 449 people have died in the Richmond region. VDH has reported over 2,000 new cases for six of the last seven days, and the seven-day average of new cases now sits at 2,262. The graph of new cases has gone full hockey stick, y'all—with cases dramatically increasing both statewide and in all of the Commonwealth's regions. As for schools, VDH's K–12 Schools Reporting Outbreaks of COVID-19 dashboard shows three outbreaks in Chesterfield (at Al Madina School of Richmond, Bon Air Elementary, and O.B Gates Elementary), VCU reports 30 active cases, and UR reported 21 new cases at the end of last week. Abby Church at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a good look at how a few families in Hanover are wrestling with the decision to send their kids back to in-person instruction or keep them home for virtual learning. Church says that 1,236 Hanover families hope to return next semester and only 186 families want to switch out back to virtual learning. I know so much of the focus over the last couple of weeks has been on the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday—when folks will travel, poke holes in their bubbles, and spread the disease like gravy over an entire plate of startchy side dishes. I think, though, given the numbers, now's a good time to reevaluate your household's general safety procedures. Today's coronacontext looks a lot different than it did in the summer, and if you're still doing summertime things, it might be worth thinking about layering on a few more precautions for you and yours.
The Richmond Police Department reports that a pedestrian was hit and killed by a driver on the 2600 block of Hull Street. Here's RPD's (victim-blamey) description of what happened: "At approximately 8:50 p.m. [on Friday], an adult male pedestrian was crossing the road in the 2600 block of Hull Street when he appeared to have fallen. He was lying in the street and was struck by a vehicle heading east on Hull Street." I don't know any more of the details, but I do know that the intersection of Hull and Mildo and E. Clopton is big and weird. I also don't know if this already happens or what, but every time someone dies using our streets the City should conduct an analysis of the area and rapidly deploy temporary infrastructure. Does this intersection need traffic calming? Better lighting? Curb extension to slow turning? Longer pedestrian signal timing? All of those (maybe even the lighting!) could be quickly implemented with cheap materials to make the area safer for people.
Mike Platania at Richmond BizSense says a developer plans to build 85 apartments on the 1100 block of Hull Street. As more and more stuff—restaurants, retail, residential—comes to this part of town, we're gonna need more and better public transit. We've already got a couple really solid buses nearby, but I think we need to figure out how to add some bus lanes to Hull Street ASAP.
Alonzo Small at WRIC says that a John Tyler Community College task force has recommended renaming the community college. Tyler was a slaveholder, sided with the Confederacy, and sat in the Confederate House of Representatives. I enjoy this quote from Wikipedia: "Some scholars have praised Tyler's political resolve, but historians have generally given his presidency a low ranking." He's buried in Hollywood Cemetery if, after that glowing review, you want to go check out his final resting place. We'll learn about possible new names for the community college in March.
Richmond Magazine's photographer Jay Paul has put together his 2020 in Photos, and, dang, a lot has happened over the past 11 months. Remember when they imploded the old Dominion building and it was, like, second-page news?
Your moment of whimsy: Video of a hot air balloon (intentionally) landing in a Henrico suburb. This is the most calming internet video I've seen in weeks.
This morning's longread
Shades of Grey
This piece about why greyhound racing might be OK was more convincing than I thought it would be!
I don’t mourn for greyhound racing and its long-delayed reckoning. I do sympathize with working-class people who genuinely love their dogs and who feel overlooked and overpowered by the currents of political change. And selfishly I feel sad that I’ll probably never have another dog like Vesper; I so love the bony ridge of her spine, the way her teeth chatter when she gets excited, the skin that clings to the cartilage between her eyes, softened by so many hands like an ancient piece of pottery. I don’t know if she was happier in the starting block at the track or tucked into her monogrammed bed here with me, but I’m open to the possibility that it was the former.
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