Good morning, RVA! It's 60 °F, and it might get a little warmer and a little wetter today. Temperatures drop this evening as some possibly-severe weather rolls through. Boots weather tomorrow, I think!
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 1,432 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 23 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 183 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 69, Henrico: 73, and Richmond: 41). Since this pandemic began, 1,208 people have died in the Richmond region. Not much new to report in COVID-19 world today—which, I think, itself is a sign of the phase of the pandemic we're in. I do want to encourage folks, if they have not already, to head over to vaccinate.virginia.gov and either pre-register for a vaccine or update their information as necessary. With Phase 1c and Phase 2 right around the corner, you'll want to make sure you're in the system with the all the correct details. Near to my heart: Mediafolk fall under Phase 1c! If you're a reporter or work in media, make sure you've checked that box!
5th District Councilmember Lynch announced on her Facebook yesterday that she has COVID-19. I hope she's hanging in there, and I appreciate that her announcement reminds folks to continue mitigation measures as the weather warms up and the pull of hangouts grows irresistible.
Remember parklets? After a bunch of years, the city will finally see its first parklets installed—thanks to the work of Venture Richmond. I've already written about that rad, bee-looking parklet headed to Brookland Park Boulevard at some point in the future, but these are pre-fabbed parklets getting installed as we speak. From the City's press release: "This week, construction will begin on five prefabricated parklets at locations adjacent to businesses who participated in the Picnic in a Parklet program. The first two pilot locations include N 29th Street in Church Hill, adjacent to the Nile Ethiopian Café, and N Shields Avenue in the Fan, adjacent to Joe’s Inn. Three additional locations are currently in the works with interested business owners." Also, I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever read a local press release that had a link to NACTO in it.
I've got two quick casino updates for you this morning. First, tonight at 6:00 PM, you can tune in to a virtual meeting about the 8th District casino site. Second, Amy Wentz got a similar push poll text to the one I got the other day, but this one focused on the 8th District site. Notably it didn't mention increased crime like the 2nd District text that popped up on my phone. Intentional? I have no idea. The Mayor, in his weekly press briefing, condemned some of the garbage, racist language that's been floating around about the casino lately, and I really like this quote: "The past few days have been so very disappointing. I've seen derogatory, disrespectful, and even blatantly racist rhetoric used by some, not all, in our affluent communities to distance themselves from our fellow Richmonders, who—because of their skin color or social economic status—they consider less important, less consequential, and less worthy of respect."
The Richmond Times-Dispatch's Ali Rockett reports on the task force charged with creating the City's Civilian Review Board. The group is already behind schedule due to City Council's delays in approving their membership, and, as you all are intimately aware, we are in the midst of budget season. Should we want to fund a CRB for next year, we'll have to get that figured out in the coming weeks. I did a quick command+F in the Mayor's proposed budget and don't see a line item for a CRB (which doesn't mean it's not in there), but I think this may be on Council to fund. Keep an eye on it when we get to the amendment portion of budget season!
Whittney Evans at VPM reports that the Governor has amended several parts of the marijuana legalization bill, including pushing the date of legalizing possession to July 1st. Those amendments will go back to the General Assembly for consideration on April 7th. I will not predict the fate of these amendments, because bills die in frequent and interesting ways!
The press release about the Governor's big train announcement is, I think, the longest press release I've seen—23 paragraphs, each linked together like a train bringing good news for the Commonwealth's rail enthusiasts. Scroll to the bulleted list in the middle of the press-release train to get the gist: doubling Amtrak service to provide nearly hourly service, increasing VRE service by 60%, "laying the foundation" for a Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor, and "create the potential to expand rail to all parts of the Commonwealth." The Long Bridge is in there, too! Basically, everyone involved—the federal government, state government, Amtrak, and CSX—will spend a bunch of money on train stuff over the next couple of decades. The WaPo has some more details.
Related: It's infrastructure week! I guess! The New York Times has a preview of Biden's infrastructure plan, dubbed the American Jobs Plan, which he'll discuss at an event in Pittsburgh later today. I excitedly await federal transportation nerds to sift through the details and tell me what's what. I do see lots of money for public transportation and lots of money for electric vehicle infrastructure—two things we'll need as we work to keep from incinerating our planet.
This morning's longread
What Killed These Bald Eagles? After 25 Years, We Finally Know.
We're doing wild things to the world around us, and it's hard/impossible to know how all of nature's complex systems will react to our shenanigans.
What’s more, this molecule had a formula never seen before, and, unusually, it contained five atoms of the element bromine. So the team tried adding bromine to its growing cyanobacteria. Lo and behold, the same strange molecule appeared, and this new batch of cyanobacteria caused the brain lesions in chickens. Another group of collaborators confirmed the team’s work further, by finding the cyanobacteria genes likely responsible for synthesizing the toxin. The team ultimately named this toxin aetokthonotoxin, “poison that kills the eagle.” Twenty-five years later, it finally had a name.
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