Good morning, RVA! It's 28 °F, and our warmish winter continues. Today you can expect highs near 50 °F, but, alas, we'll have a bit of rain move into the area this afternoon. Maybe we'll see a bit more on Saturday, but, by Sunday, we should pick right back up where we left off with clear(er) skies and temperatures that make me go hmmmm. Enjoy!
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 5,294 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 74 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 388 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 146, Henrico: 133, and Richmond: 109). Since this pandemic began, 621 people have died in the Richmond region. As you can see, our mini-trend of three days below 5,000 new cases reported did not continue. Here's the stacked graph of statewide new reported cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, and here's the graph of the seven-day average of cases in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield. All of these graphs are discouraging. It really seems like our statewide strategy is to ramp up vaccination and just hold on tight for the next several horrifying months.
To whit, the Governor held a press conference yesterday where he announced moving folks aged 65 and up and people with "certain conditions or disabilities that increase their risk of severe illness from COVID-19" into Phase 1b of the vaccination distribution plan. Tap that previous link for a list of the conditions we're talking about here. Cancer, obesity, smoking—it's a lot of folks. In fact, Sabrina Moreno and Mel Leonor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch say now about half of all Virginians fall into Phase 1b.
Additionally, the Governor told public schools that they need to start putting together a plan for reopening to in-person learning. Kate Masters at the Virginia Mercury has the details, and you can read through VDH's interim guidance in this PDF. I've only skimmed that document, but it sounds like they're flipping the CDC's core indicators and prioritizing a school's ability to implement mitigation measures (social distancing, masks-wearing, that sort of thing) over the amount of coronavirus in the community. I still believe that schools aren't a major driver in the spread of disease, but I also believe we can't have school without teachers! Remember that article by Eliot Haspel? If we can't keep teachers and staff safe and healthy outside of school, we're gonna have a hard time doing school at all.
As far as I can tell, the Governor did not announce any new restrictions or guidance to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Ronald E. Carrington at the Richmond Free Press has an update on the RPS school board's discussion over extending Superintendent Jason Kamras's contract: "According to the sources, the School Board is aware that Mr. Kamras will not accept a two-year contract and, if one is offered, he would leave the district...Sources close to the board said board member Kenya Gibson, 3rd District, initiated an effort to restrict the contract term." It is totally incomprehensible to me that a single member of the school board—let alone four—would even consider screwing around with Kamras's contract in such a way. Especially after the job he's done over the last couple of years unearthing and repairing decades of broken systems, rebuilding trust with communities (or just building from scratch in a lot of cases), and leading the entire region in his response to the pandemic. @amyinthe8th put it well on Twitter: "Our students need consistency, something our Boards rarely give superintendents. We are constantly in transition mode, making it hard to ever achieve progress." The School Board needs to stop playing political games, extend Kamras's contract by four years, and get back to work.
Readers! I think it's probably time to once again fire up your email clients and let your school board rep know that they need to vote to extend Kamras's contract by four years and avoid throwing the District into turmoil. This advocacy action applies to folks without children in Richmond Public Schools, too! The quality and consistency of our public school system is something everyone cares about and something everyone can have a say in. This next thing is stupid but true: Business owners and homeowners have outsized power in local politics. If either of those describe you, you should definitely email your school board rep. Also, from reading the piece in the Richmond Free Press, it sounds like 4th District's Jonathan Young is the swing vote, so folks living in the 4th need to be especially vocal.
You can find all of the School Board's contact information here, and I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.
What is even happening this weekend?? The City has declared a state of emergency, and City Council has a special meeting at 1:00 PM to discuss "plans to protect public safety." The Richmond Police Department will close a bunch of streets beginning Sunday, January 17th at 6:00 AM through 6:00 PM on January 18th (ostensibly Lobby Day). The RTD's Chris Suarez got this quote from the Governor: "I’ve just heard the intelligence...that all 50 capitals in this country are potentially under attack this weekend and during inauguration...We take those seriously. We’re going to be prepared." I think I'd recommend everyone staying as far from Downtown as possible until...late next week? Or maybe just wait until 2022?
Via /r/rva: Trains can be really long!
FYI, if you need it: Today, from 1:00–3:00 PM, the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts will host a free community testing event at the Eastern Henrico Health Department (1400 N. Laburnum Avenue).
Logistical note! Monday is a holiday, which means I will be taking the morning off—and, whew, after the week that was, I need it. Together, we'll resume our endless march forward on Tuesday! Have a great weekend, get some rest, and stay hydrated.
This morning's longread
The Dark Reality of Betting Against QAnon
This is genius. Q is so completely and utterly wrong, you can reliably make money by just betting against whatever they say.
Cage began scanning PredictIt for QAnon theories and betting against them. He’d look for anything weird—usually something like suspiciously high odds that a Democrat would be indicted. Then he researched to make sure he hadn’t missed something in the news cycle. “If I saw conspiracy-theory chatter in the comments section of Google News articles, that was a plus for me,” Cage said. When he couldn’t find any legitimate news on the bet, he’d dive into QAnon YouTube channels or message boards. If he determined that people were following a QAnon theory, he’d bet against them. Cage has made money every time QAnon has been wrong—which they have been on every bet he’s made so far, he told me. He’s put about $800 in and made around $400 in profits.
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