Good morning, RVA! It's 40 °F, and it's cold again. Today you can expect highs in the 50s, a bunch of clouds, and maybe some rain this evening. Actually, there's a decent chance for rain most days this week.
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 1,173 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 34 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 150 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 62, Henrico: 53, and Richmond: 35). Since this pandemic began, 1,169 people have died in the Richmond region. On March 14th, 2020 I started keeping my spreadsheet of coronavirus cases and have continued to do so every single day for an entire year. That's bananas, and I'm impressed with myself, but I do really need to figure out what my metrics are for wrapping up this project. The COVID Tracking Project, which was part of The Atlantic, shut down on the 11th. Maybe I should follow suit once the COVID-19 numbers drop to flu-like levels? Something to noodle on!
Over on the vaccine side of things, there's still plenty of interesting stuff to consider, though. Last week, for the second week in a row, the region hit its newish Stupid Math Goal of administering 37,000 vaccines. Henrico Supervisor Tyrone Nelson said on Twitter that the region vaccinated 12,500 people just between Thursday and Saturday. That's impressive and great. Also great: GRTC has partnered with the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts to provide free, on-demand trips to vaccination appointments for residents they identify with transportation barriers during ongoing community outreach. You can learn more about what that community outreach looks like in this piece from the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Sabrina Moreno about how community health workers have helped Richmond's Latino communities throughout this pandemic.
And then, not great: Software continues to stymie the vaccine rollout in Richmond and beyond. Please take a minute to read this piece in the New York Times all about the headaches caused by PrepMod's busted appointment registration platform. When addressing the fact that anyone can share a PrepMod link—a link to register for an actual vaccination appointment—with their friends, family, and to the randos on Facebook, a PrepMod spokesperson had this to say: "That’s not a problem with our system. That’s a problem with people who should be responsible." Yikes. Blaming users for issues with software is never a good look—especially when those users are anxious, frustrated people trying to get a life-saving vaccine.
Tonight, perhaps, the RPS school board will vote on moving the District to a year-round school calendar. The Superintendent has put together another slide deck explaining the particulars of the proposal, which now includes the updated results of the parent/caregiver and teacher/staff surveys. Those data are now disaggregated by race, income, students with IEPs, and English learners. Here's the top-line takeaway: "With over 4,600 family responses and over 1,800 staff responses, our calendar survey indicates that a plurality of both stakeholder groups are 'comfortable' or 'very comfortable' with the proposed calendar, as is every subgroup (race, economic status, IEP status, and English Learner status)." We'll see how that translates into votes tonight, though. Tune in at 6:00 PM on the Richmond Public Schools Facebook page, and read this piece by Kenya Hunter in the Richmond Times-Dispatch for some more details.
Well this is unexpected! The RTD's Chris Suarez reports that GRTC's route #111–Chesterfield's only local service route—"is meeting GRTC’s ridership expectations despite the pandemic, exceeding a daily average of 140 rides during the week." Not only that, but, "After decades of limiting bus service to only a few rush-hour commuter routes, the county is now looking to run more buses and regular routes to low-income communities with limited transportation options, to foster growth and redevelopment in aging suburban highway corridors." Whoa! Who knew that putting decent transit along a corridor full of people and stuff would result in people riding transit to stuff!
I don't know what this is all about, but NBC12 reports that someone toppled a bunch of gravestones at Hollywood Cemetery over the weekend. It's a big enough deal that Mayor Stoney released this statement: "This weekend’s desecration at Hollywood Cemetery is morally wrong. Disturbing final resting places is contemptible, criminal and will not be tolerated."
In sports news, five men's basketball teams from Virginia (VCU, UVA, Virginia Tech, Liberty, and Norfolk State) made it to the NCAA tournament—this despite COVID-19's best attempt at ruining the postseason for a whole lot of folks. I mean, really, it's despite everyone's better judgment on doing indoor sports at all, but, whatever. Anyway, the Bracket is set, and you've got just a couple of days to get yours filled out. The clock is ticking!
This morning's patron longread
America Is Not Made for People Who Pee
Submitted by Patron Lisa. Remember when we almost had a public bathroom as part of the Monroe Park redesign? It's disappointing how few places we have to pee downtown—unless you buy something.
In the 19th century, the United States did set up public toilets in many cities. They were often called public urinals, abbreviated as P.U. (this may be part of the origin of “P.U.” to mean something that stinks, although there are competing theories). In the early 20th century, these were supplemented by “comfort stations” for men and women alike, but most closed in waves of cost-cutting over the years. That’s partly because this is a class issue. Power brokers who decide on infrastructure priorities can find a restaurant to duck into, while that is less true of a Black teenage boy and utterly untrue of an unwashed homeless person with a shopping cart.
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