Good morning, RVA! It's 53 °F, and maybe a little rainy. You can expect the rain to taper off this morning and for temperatures to stay right where they are for most of the day. Cooler temperatures return tomorrow.
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 1,736 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 170 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 150 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 58, Henrico: 57, and Richmond: 35). Since this pandemic began, 976 people have died in the Richmond region. That's now seven days with a seven-day average of fewer than 2,000 new reported cases across the State. We're now back at pre-Thanksgiving levels of new cases, and that certainly makes me feel some optimism. VDH continues to work through the backlog of winter death certificates, and locally the results are grim: Since February 19th, our region's death toll has increased by 253 and now stands at 976. 26% of the deaths caused by COVID-19 in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield were reported in the last nine days.
In exciting vaccine news, over the weekend the CDC authorized the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use. That means we now have a third vaccine to use to fight this disease, and it means a small bump to our local supply, too. VDH says that the Commonwealth expects to receive 69,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week, and that it will be "prioritized for mass vaccination clinics across the state." Remember! The best vaccine for you is the first one you're offered.
Eric Kolenich at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that a freshman student at VCU "was found dead early Saturday after a fraternity rush event involving alcohol." Just awful and terrible. Both VCU and the national Delta Chi fraternity have suspended the local chapter, and you can read the University's full statement here.
The RPS School Board will meet tonight and discuss three things I find interesting: Graduation rates (PDF), a reopening "Safety Dashboard" (PDF), and the results of the year-round school survey (PDF). About the first, the administration projects that the dropout rate across the division will drop by 13% this year. About the third, caregivers and teachers both are pretty split about a year-round school calendar.
GRTC updated their Regional Public Transportation Plan page to include a handful of new and useful maps. They've now got both concepts—the ridership and coverage concepts—overlaid on poverty data and race/ethnicity data. Additionally, they've got a bunch of these cool neighborhood maps (PDF) comparing the new places, jobs, and residents that are accessible should we implement either the ridership or coverage concepts. The aforelinked map for Richmond Community Hospital shows how the ridership concept would unlock access to almost all of Northside—frequency is awesome! After you've finished tapping, zooming, and scrolling, make sure you fill out the survey to let them know which concept you prefer. Oh! Also! You can read a bit more about this regional plan over on Jarrett Walker's blog.
NBC12's Hannah Eason reports that the City will install pedestrian hybrid beacons at 12 locations, beginning with one at Grove and Somerset in March (which I think I've written about before). These beacons aren't just your typical flashing yellow light that drivers tend to ignore until you thrust your body in front of their vehicles hoping for the best. No! These have actual red lights and require drivers to stop. The list of planned locations is amazing and addresses some of the most dangerous street crossing for pedestrians, cyclists, and folks trying to catch the bus. Here are a few of my favorites: Belvedere Street at the War Memorial, Laburnum Avenue at Holton Elementary, and Main Street & 24th Street. I've nearly been hit by a driver at each of these locations, so to see the City doing something about it is pretty exciting.
Tapping around City Council meeting agendas this morning, and I came across this presentation on "Deferred Facilities Maintenance and Fleet Replacement Planning" (PDF). It's boring. But! Page seven says "The City does not have defined capital funding sources to address the aging [fire department] fleet...we recommend that the RFD work with Fleet Services to identify the aging fleet and to identify actions which need to occur in the Capital Improvement Program to replace apparatuses as they approach the retirement age." Also boring! BUT! Fire truck access is a constant barrier to creating slower, safer streets for people. Big, huge fire trucks require big, huge streets, which results in other drivers flying around at fast and dangerous speeds. Smaller fire trucks _do_ exist, and if we're at a critical point for replacing the RFD's fleet, we should replace them with smaller vehicles as part of the City's ongoing equitable transportation work. P.S. Page four of this presentation also has a pretty comprehensive list of other important plans and documents if you wanted to add a few PDFs to your collection.
The City has released one-pagers provided by each of the six operators who filled out the casino RFP. I couldn't find the actual responses to the RFP, so maybe they're Top Secret for now while negotiations are ongoing. I dunno, but I imagine some intrepid reporters are firing up their FOIAs as we speak. Also, the City has outlined the engagement process (PDF), which kicks off with a virtual citywide meeting on March 9th to talk about "1) the community engagement process and 2) the community benefits a resort casino may provide, how communities have used resort casino revenues, and how a resort casino may mitigate negative impacts."
The marijuana legalization bill working its way through the General Assembly almost died an interesting and sudden death over the weekend. Mel Leonor at the RTD reports that, as it stands, Virginia will create a new, regulated market by 2024, but "punted to next year key decisions on the regulatory framework for the market and the new criminal penalties that would go into effect when marijuana is legalized." We'll see if the Governor makes any tweaks this week.
This morning's longread
The Lies Hollywood Tells About Little Girls
A good chaser to the Golden Globes by Mara Wilson.
At 13, I already knew all about The Narrative. As an actor from the age of 5, who was carrying films by age 8, I’d been trained to seem, to be, as normal as possible — whatever it took to avoid my inevitable downfall. I shared a bedroom with my little sister. I went to public school. I was a Girl Scout. When someone called me a “star” I was to insist that I was an actor, that the only stars were in the sky. Nobody would touch the money I made until I turned 18. But I was now 13, and I was already ruined. Just like everyone expected.
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