Good morning, RVA! It's 62 °F, and temperatures today will end up in the 80s. Expect some clouds and a small chance of rain throughout the day. Cooler weather returns on Friday.
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 3,333 positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth, and 63 people in Virginia have died as a result of the virus. VDH reports 505 cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 128, Henrico: 267, and Richmond: 110). Yesterday's data reported more new cases (455) than any previous day. Michael Martz at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that four more people died at the Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center. About half of the COVID-19 deaths in the entire state are in this one facility. Martz also has some more details about other long-term care facilities fighting to control virus outbreaks—but nothing like what's happening in Henrico. It's shocking and eye-opening to see how quickly a few infections in a closed environment can quickly ignite into a tragedy.
City Council has updated and released their meeting schedule for the FY21 budget season. Beginning with a two hour meeting on April 13th, Council will have two work sessions, three amendment work sessions, two public hearings, and a goal of adopting the budget on May 11th. That seems like a lot of meetings when listed out like that, but it's four fewer than originally planned, and this year's schedule already cut a handful from what took place last year. Obviously, I'm bummed about a shorter budget season (the most wonderful time of the year), but I do still plan on tuning in on the 13th—assuming Council staff gets all of the technical difficulties worked out. The biggest question I have at the moment is if the Mayor will submit a new budget (or new budget guidance) to Council, or if Council will just start working on the pre-virus budget they have in hand. The former seems like a significantly better way to move forward to me.
Superintendent Kamras has updates on how the School District will calculate grades for students. I appreciate these two goals they had in mind while trying to figure out grades: "1) do no harm to students; and 2) create guidance that is simple to execute and east to understand." I feel like, applied generally, this is good virustime advice for almost anyone. Elementary school students will not receive final grades, and middle and high school students will receive the "average of the grades for Marking Periods 1, 2, and 3, each making up 33% of the final grade." If you've got a high school student in your life, you probably should read this document that provides guidance on how they can continue to make progress on credit-bearing courses (PDF).
Remember all of that cool stuff in the State's proposed budget? Yeah, well, not so much. Ned Oliver at the Virginia Mercury says the Governor has put a stop to all new spending and that "the state will enter the next fiscal year on July 1 with the same budget it’s currently operating under with the exception of some mandatory spending categories." Ugh. That's going to especially hurt locally, where the City planned on taking advantage of millions of new state-level education money. Moving forward, localities are going to need just tons and tons of money from both the federal and state governments to keep people safe and thriving.
GRTC has announced their first service cuts due to the coronavirus. Beginning today, most express routes will see reduced trips, and the 28x is suspended until further notice. Note that the 95x Petersburg route will maintain its normal schedule. If service cuts must be made, express routes are the right place to start making them: A lot (but not all) of the folks who ride express buses are stuck at home during This Most Unusual Time.
Also bus-related, I talked with the RTD's Michael Paul Williams about how critical bus operators are during times of crisis and how we need to do everything we can to protect them. What's a good, easy-to-scale way to show appreciation to bus operators? I'm thinking something simple and visible like the yellow Support Our Troops ribbon? Who's got good ideas?
A couple days ago (I think?), I mentioned the Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund, which the Community Foundation helped put together. Already the fund has raised over $4.1 million from foundations, corporations, and individuals. If you're looking for a way to get involved, you can donate cash through the aforelinked website (matched by the United Way of Greater Richmond for the moment) or volunteer through HandsOn (they've got both in-person and virtual ways to help out).
This morning's longread
The unlisted: how people without an address are stripped of their basic rights
This piece is kind of all over the place, but I love the idea that a straightforward thing like giving every place an address can massively improve folks' lives.
Street addresses tell a complex story of how the grand Enlightenment project to name and number our streets coincided with a revolution in how we lead our lives and how we shape our societies. And rather than just a mere administrative detail, street names are about identity, wealth and, as in the Sonny Carson street example, race. But most of all they are about power – the power to name, the power to shape history, the power to decide who counts, who doesn’t, and why.
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