Good morning, RVA! It's 72 °F, and today looks hot but with a chance of rain this morning and perhaps this evening as well. I think if you're waiting on cooler temperatures, you should instead just make peace with the fact that you're gonna be a sweaty mess for the next forever.
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 598↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 23↘️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 49↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 28, Henrico: 7, and Richmond: 14). Since this pandemic began, 221 people have died in the Richmond region. The COVID Tracking Project now has state-level graphs that exactly match the Virginia graphs I have in my own personal spreadsheet. Check out the Commonwealth's couple-weeks plateau of new cases and it's worrying increase in new deaths. Important, considering: We're in Phase Three, y'all! Most places and businesses can now reopen as long as folks keep six feet of social distance between themselves, and gatherings of up to 250 people are now allowed. Yesterday, at the last minute, the Governor took the smallest step back from full Phase Three and extended the ban on bar seating in restaurants. This is good news, but better news would have been to just keep bars closed. Here's what Dr. Fauci has to say: "Bars: really not good, really not good. Congregation at a bar, inside, is bad news. We really have got to stop that."
Peter Coutu at The Virginia-Pilot has an update on the State's contact tracing program, which sounds like is still—on the 1st of July—in the process of spinning up. The Virginia Department of Health declined the Pilot's interview requests, so the Pilot journalismed them with a FOIA request instead. Way back on March 13th—basically Coronavirus Day One—I said I wanted high-quality and up-to-date information from our State, City, and institutions. That's still true 100-and-some days later, and it applies to infection/death stats just as much as it does to the ongoing work to crush this virus. Expect to hear more on this story as reporters continue to dig in.
While City Council did not meet to introduce Confederate monument legislation at 12:00 AM last night, they will do so at 11:00 AM today instead. While a meeting at the stroke of midnight would have signaled something about the speed at which Council wants to take these monuments down, in general, middle-of-the-night public meetings are not the best. I think 11:00 AM works just fine. Note that the very brief agenda (PDF) for today's special meeting calls for the introduction of "legislation related to monument removal and police reform." I imagine we'll see Councilmember Lynch and Councilmember Jones's ordinances (fingers crossed they are ordinances and not non-binding resolutions) to ban the use of chemical weapons by the Richmond Police Department. If you've got time, you should tune in, because I imagine Council will take the opportunity to do a bit of speechifying.
Good vibes continue at the Lee Circle, which, for most folks spending time there, has been renamed Beautiful Marcus-David Peters Circle. The guerrilla landscaping around the guerrilla signage continues—now with mulch! Plus a new basketball hoop showed up the other day. This is the second or third replacement hoop, and it's clear to me that basketball should be part of this space moving forward. That's probably not something that would have showed up on whatever placemaking survey I'd have made y'all fill out!
Related, I do not know what to make of this Executive Order the Governor signed on Monday (PDF). Technically, its an amending of the previous Executive Order 64 and extends a State of Emergency in the City of Richmond until July 30th. You can see the original EO here (PDF), which calls for the exact same actions as the newly amended EO. Some folks are concerned about the preamble language, including this bit that totally ignores the Virginia State Police's role in gassing and shooting Richmonders with rubber bullets: "Often, peaceful demonstrations evolve into conflicts with law enforcement during late night and early morning hours." Gee, I wonder how that evolution takes place? That said, a State of Emergency declared by the Governor gives the City more authority to do the things required to ameliorate emergencies. For example, Councilmember Lynch repeatedly referenced the State of Emergency at a recent committee meeting as a possible way around the State's dumb and required Confederate monument process. Mel Leonor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, has a quick piece that says the Mayor did request the extension.
Hey! It's July 1st, which means a ton of new State laws go into effect. Caleb Stewart at WHSV has a long round up, which I appreciate because who can even remember this past General Assembly session? Of interest to you, probably, are: no more guns in parks or government buildings, photo IDs no longer required for voting, and decriminalization of marijuana. Ned Oliver at the Virginia Mercury has more on what the last thing on that list actually means.
The RTD's Mark Robinson looks at the abbreviated?, rushed?. expedited? process to hire the City's new police chief. Today is new Chief Gerald Smith's first day on the job, and, whew, there is a lot going on. Robinson closes out his piece with this optimistic quote from Councilmember Lynch, "He’s stepping into this climate and has committed to listening, so if we get off to a collaborative start and he’s a part of this process, my sense is he’s committed to work with us."
Tonight, at 7:00 PM, you've got an opportunity to listen to a ton (maybe all?) of the Richmond region's delegates. Delegate Adams has set up a zoom with: Delegates Aird, Bagby, Bourne, Carr, McQuinn, VanValkenburg, and Willet plus Senators Hashmi and Morrissey. That's a lot of legislators in one (virtual) place, and you can sign up for the Zoom over here.
This morning's longread
Trump Is Boring Now, and He Can’t Do Anything About It
I liked this piece because "Trump is boring" is one of the few things that have given me hope about November's election. Also, it's good to be reminded that no matter how wrapped up we get about Confederate monuments in Richmond, there are much bigger, much more terrible fish to fry.
This might have been effective were statue supporters a major voting bloc. But with more than 120,000 Americans dead from a pandemic, current COVID-19 rates exploding, and 40 million people having lost their jobs, it’s a little hard to imagine that the elevation of the problems of dead Confederates over those of living Americans is going to excite a great many voters. At a time when the country is experiencing not just the pandemic and the resulting economic collapse but also a genuine outpouring of anger about racial inequities, the president is not merely swimming against the tide of public opinion; he is doing so on a matter that seems like a non sequitur. And it’s hard to revive interest in yourself by spouting non sequiturs.
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