Good morning, RVA! It's 74 °F, and today's highs are in the mid 80s—plus, we’ve no tropical storm to cancel events and make me worry about trees falling over. Expect sunshine today, maybe some clouds this evening, and then rain (regular rain) probably tomorrow.
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 1,145↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 26↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 142↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 44, Henrico: 75, and Richmond: 23). Since this pandemic began, 296 people have died in the Richmond region. Looking at the latest COVID Tracking Project graphs and I wonder if we’ve passed over and through this current national peak of coronavirus cases? Locally, at least, new cases seem to be going up, but percent positive has remained fairly consistent (testing, testing, testing). Looking forward, though, now would be a great time for making plans about what happens when October rolls around and, after spending six months inside, we all get seduce by Richmond’s Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Should we revisit open/slow streets to give folks space to safely spend the best three weeks in Richmond outside? Do we need to prepare to ban bars again? What’s going to be the deal with our three colleges and universities as students pour back into town (usually one of my favorite signs of the fall)? I’ve got a lot of questions!
Justin Mattingly at the Richmond Times-Dispatch says VCU professors have similar questions about the planned return to in-person instruction this fall (and by "this fall" I mean August 17th!). Mattingly reports that "nearly 100 Virginia Commonwealth University professors are formally asking the school to switch to a fully virtual fall semester." It's hard to keep the timelines straight when all of time has become a flat circle, but it feels like local higher education made the quick and earlier decision to return to in-person instruction. Then, a couple weeks (months?) later, local K–12 decided no way, that they'd go full-virtual for at least the first nine weeks. Teacher safety played a big part in the latter's decision to avoid in-person classes, and now we have this tension between what we've decided is definitely not safe for K–12 teachers and what is totally fine for university professors. I imagine we'll hear more about this, from both staff and from the university itself!
This column by the RTD's Michael Paul William is thoughtful. I'm with Williams: I think protestors showing up at Black elected officials' homes is more intimidation than persuasion. And, to be honest, because I am a white man born in the 80s I had to have this explained to me by a friend in a similarly thoughtful way. So! I hope you'll read this MPW piece in full, and let it kick around in your brain for a while, but here's a short excerpt: "I’m not feeling the visits by Black Lives Matter protesters to the residences of Black leaders: Mayor Levar Stoney, City Councilwoman Kim Gray and Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin. The message of the movement is not enhanced by showing up at their doorstep. It looks more like an attempt to intimidate than to persuade. I understand your revulsion at respectability politics, but we must move beyond raw anger. There are no gains without engagement...This is your movement; your moment, your methods. I’m just terrified that the opportunity it presents could slip away. And rolling up on an elected official’s doorstep is one direct action that gives me pause."
2019 National Teach of the Year Rodney Robinson has accepted a new position within the Richmond Public Schools administration and will now “lead the division’s efforts to develop a male teachers of color initiative and establish partnerships with organizations that will help RPS with recruiting and supporting male teachers of color.” This seems awesome, and I'm so glad we didn't lose Robinson to bigger and better things (which would have been fine! Bittersweet, but fine!).
Tomorrow, the City's Urban Design Committee will consider UDC 2020-13, the Parklet Baseline Design. Parklets are a rad, formalized way to convert a parallel parking space into a tiny, public park. The City's current parklet ordinance has existed for a while now but has sat totally unused—at the moment, we've had exactly zero parklets take advantage of the program. The design and construction elements required by the ordinance are challenging and business owners are plenty busy owning businesses. They don't have a ton of time to become parklet architects, although that does sound like a fun job. This is where where Venture Richmond's Picnic in a Parklet program and UDC 2020-13 come in to create a pre-approved template for folks to use when designing and building a parklet for their street. From the paper: "The Baseline Parklet Design for consideration by the Urban Design Committee is intended to be the platform and railings used for the parklets submitted through the Picnic in a Parklet program. Each parklet application will use the same Baseline Parklet Design which can be further customized according to specific location and preferences of the applicant. A customizable 'kit of parts' include elements such as waste receptacles, shade, bike racks, seating, etc." So cool! Like parklet LEGO! Check out page six in the aforelinked document for how a business could use different pieces out of the kit of parts to make a unique place for people to hang out. This paper could totally use your support, so please consider emailing <alex.dandridge@richmondgov.com data-preserve-html-node="true"> before 5:00 PM today to let UDC know your thoughts and feelings.
I have one question for the RTD's Johanna Alonso after reading this piece on what the owners of Greenleaf's Pool Room will replace the pool hall with: Will they still serve the city's best French fries?
Today, while supplies last, you can get 20% off online booze orders over $100 through the ABC’s website. While you can’t get liquor shipped directly to you (yet), you can arrange for contactless curbside pick-up. Because I am selfish, I have already put in my order this morning and waited until now to tell y’all!
Via /r/rva a gif of how splitting granite with a hammer and some spikes works. First, physics is incredible. Second, as the original poster notes, you can see evidence of this technique all over our parks and down by the river!
This morning's patron longread
The Mysterious Life of Birds Who Never Come Down
Submitted by Patron Maggi. Whoa, I really enjoyed reading this piece about swifts. I learned a lot and felt a general sense of well-being afterward.
During World War II, swifts in Denmark and Italy grabbed chaff, reflective scraps of tinfoil dropped from aircraft to confuse enemy radar, flashing and twirling as it fell. They mate on the wing. And while young martins and swallows return to their nests after their first flights, young swifts do not. As soon as they tip themselves free of the nest hole, they start flying, and they will not stop flying for two or three years, bathing in rain, feeding on airborne insects, winnowing fast and low to scoop fat mouthfuls of water from lakes and rivers.
If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.