Good morning, RVA! It's 75 °F already! Expect highs today in the 90s and Feels Likes near 100 °F. I think, if you can, stay inside until things cool off later this week.
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 487 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 19 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 110 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 76, Henrico: 18, and Richmond: 16). Since this pandemic began, 198 people have died in the Richmond region. The number of reported new cases of the virus in Virginia are down, the number of deaths are down, and, slightly concerning, the number of reported testing encounters are down as well. As per always, I am not an epidemiologist, so I have no idea what the data portends, but I do know Virginia is still not meeting its goal of 10,000 tests per day (regardless of how you define "tests"). The seven-day average of new tests sits at around 8,600. I know percent positivity governs how we practically move back into the world, but, like, we still need to test a lot more folks, right? While we are in the "anyone who wants a test can get a test" phase, maybe the non-coronavirus related events of the last two weeks have prevented people from getting a test? Or at least knocked it down a few spots on their todo lists? I have no idea but will continue to update my sisyphean spreadsheet each day.
On Friday, Richmond joins the rest of the Commonwealth and moves into the Governor's Phase 2 of recovery. You can find all of the details of what that means for various industries and businesses over on the RVA Strong website. The short of it: Restaurants, breweries, gyms, salons, barbers, pools, and places of worship can all reopen with a bunch of restrictions—mostly limiting indoor occupancy to 50% capacity or less. Let the hangouts commence, I guess! Wash your hands, wear your masks, and keep two yard sticks between you and the person next to you. I'm incredibly interested in which businesses decide to open up, how it all works out, and what we'll learn about how to function as City moving forward. I bet we'll figure a bunch out in the next couple of weeks, and I'm perfectly happy to sit at home during that process.
Yesterday, the Governor announced his phased reopening guidelines for schools which you can read here (PDF) or, not for the faint-of-heart, attempt to flip through the very intense Virginia Department of Education version here (PDF). Lately, I'm in a continual state of confusion about most things, so I'm thankful for Superintendent Kamras for explaining how these phases relate to the Governor's other phases: "As you read through the reopening guidance, please note that the school reopening phases align to the business reopening phases. So when the City of Richmond moves into Phase II for restaurants and such, it will also move into Phase II for schools. Additionally, it's important to note that the guidance lays out what is allowed under each phase, not what is required. That means we have some discretion in determining the pace of our reopening." Phase Two for schools means summer camps, "limited in-person instruction to preschool through third grade and English Learner students," socially-distanced extracurricular activities, and no-contact sports. Phase Three, which, I assume is the goal before the the school year starts in the fall, allows in-person instruction to all students but with a bunch of physical distancing measures. School will look different this coming year and us olds will be amazed at how quickly the kids get used to it.
A quick Henrico police reform update: John Reid Blackwell, at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, says that Supervisor Nelson wants to create a community review board and wants the Board of Supervisors to discuss it by July. If you're a Henrico resident, and you want to see meaningful police reform, now is the time to get involved!
Last night protestors pulled down the Christopher Columbus statue in Byrd Park and dumped it in the paddle boat lake. These videos from @GoadGatsby, who seems to be everywhere at all times, made me feel feelings. After the statue found its new watery grave, an artist projected "THIS IS POWHATAN LAND" and "BLM" on the remaining plinth and surrounding wall." From /r/rva, check out this morning's beautiful sunrise over the lake. Productive night for anti-racism in Richmond!
Brad Kutner, from Courthouse News, says the deadline for submitting your paperwork to get on the ballot for City Council or School Board in Richmond, which was last night, has now been extended. Now folks have until June 23rd and only need 50 signatures from their Districts. This is something that Richmond For All sued to get changed and means the bar for someone getting on the ballot in Richmond is now incredibly low—especially as the City moves into Phase Two of recovery. 50 is very few people! You probably know 50 people within a five minute walk of wherever you're sitting right now! Have you ever thought about running for Council or School Board? There has literally never been an easier time to see your name on the ballot. Of course, getting your name on the ballot is like the first, teeniest step in winning an election—but, you can't win if you don't play!
I'm so stoked on Bike Walk RVA's newest event, All Streets RVA, which aims to inventory all 1,900 miles of streets in Richmond. They've combined biking/walking/rolling, exploring the City, data collection, and mapping into the absolute perfect quarantine event for me, specifically. Here's how it works: You go out into the world, observe the quality of the streets, sidewalks, and infrastructure around you, and then fill out a survey. That info then finds its way on to this map, and we end up with a great community-built resource for demanding better streets from our city leaders. It's a great idea, and you should sign up and start mapping today.
Superintendent Kamras reports another RPS COVID-19 case, this one at G. H. Reid Elementary on June 4th. You know the drill: If you happened by Reid you need to self-isolate for 14 days and call up the Richmond City Health District to get yourself tested (804.205.3501).
The Richmond 300 summits continue with the Thriving Environment summit tonight at 6:00 PM. It's free, but make sure you register on the Eventbrite. Also make sure you take the time to read Chapter 6 of the Richmond 300 draft plan (PDF) so you can come prepared with all of your smart thoughts.
This morning's patron longread
7 things the United Daughters of the Confederacy might not want you to know about them
Submitted by Patron Kathleen. From a couple years ago, this piece in Salon will give you the necessary context for the work the United Daughters of the Confederacy has done across the country to spread the Lost Cause narrative.
It’s helpful, in the midst of any conversation about this country’s Confederate monuments, to understand who put these things up, which also offers a clue as to why. In large part, the answer to the first question is the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a white Southern women’s “heritage” group founded in 1894. Starting 30 years after the Civil War, as historian Karen Cox notes in her 2003 book "Dixie’s Daughters," “UDC members aspired to transform military defeat into a political and cultural victory, where states’ rights and white supremacy remained intact.” In other words, when the Civil War gave them lemons, the UDC made lemonade. Horribly bitter, super racist lemonade.
If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.