Good morning, RVA! It's 54 °F, and it rained some last night. Today looks a bit cooler, a bit cloudier, and, with any luck, a bit less polleny. Expect highs in the mid 60s and fewer yellow footprints.
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 1,301 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 4 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 158 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 57, Henrico: 59, and Richmond: 42). Since this pandemic began, 1,249 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 1,579. Also, for what it's worth, I've switched the first number in the subject line to the statewide, seven-day average.
An update on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause: The NYT reports that ACIP, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices which advises the CDC on immunization practices (duh), "determined on Wednesday that they needed more time to assess a possible link to a rare but serious blood-clotting disorder." Sounds like the J&J pause will continue for at least a week, which, other than limiting vaccine supply here in the United States, has big consequences elsewhere in the world. From the same article: "South Africa, devastated by a worrisome variant of the virus that emerged there, also suspended use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Australia announced it would not purchase any doses. And the European Union indicated that it would consider new deals only with companies that were not using the technology employed by the Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca vaccines." Stressful.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch's Kenya Hunter reports on the Richmond School Board's recent vote to "take back its authority to build new schools, a process that since 2018 has been led by a team of city and school officials." Superintendent Kamras opposed the resolution and "the city is researching whether the resolution is binding"—never a good sign. School construction is one of the handful of issues that involve all three elected parts of our government, and, honestly, I thought the current status quo worked pretty OK. To get our three, recently-built new school buildings—Henry L. Marsh Elementary, River City Middle, and Cardinal Elementary—required the Mayor to raise the meals tax in his budget, Council to approve that budget, and then the City and the School Board to work together on construction through the Joint Construction Team, which meets weekly. School Board does not control the City's Capital Improvement Program nor does it have the authority to raise its own money for school construction. They don't have the staff to get this done at the moment and would need to hire "four new positions that would provide the school system with the capacity to oversee school construction, something Kamras said the division doesn't have." Seems like a lot to take on in this current pandemic-recovery moment, especially with the RFP for a new high school to replace George Wythe about to head out the door.
The audio from City Council's fourth budget work session now exists on The Boring Show. I haven't listened yet but the last couple minutes of comments from Council seem juicy, and I'm excited to put it on while I casually ride my bike around the city. We've got just one more work session left before the first of the amendment sessions, which is when we'll see if Council wants to tinker with the Mayor's proposed budget or not. For example, Councilmember Jones has already promised to submit an amendment funding the Civilian Review Board. Of course, I'm interested in how much and where the money comes from. Note: There are about seven minutes of silence at the top of this episode for some reason.
The RTD's Chris Suarez helps me understand why the City sent out a press release stating that "the Stoney Administration has informed the three remaining respondents to the city’s Resort Casino RFQ/P that the city will not consider alternative sites to the primary site identified in their proposals." Suarez unlocks it for me, reporting that "after facing backlash from Stratford Hills area residents, a development company is asking Richmond officials to consider an alternate location for its proposed casino resort." So that's fascinating and speaks to the seriousness with which at least the developers are taking the recent (negative) feedback from the nearby communities.
Roberto Roldan at VPM reports that the Richmond Electoral Board has hired Keith Balmer as their new General Registrar. Balmer replaces Kirk Showalter, who headed up the office during a time when all sorts of situations landed the Registrar on the front page of the paper. Balmer has some ideas for how the Registrar can work with the public moving forward, but, if it were me, my primary goal would be that I not end up on the front page of the paper for a minute.
I've got two interesting ways for you to learn more and get involved today. First, at 5:00 PM the City's Office of Sustainability will host RVAgree Gab: Buildings and Energy, a virtual event focused on how to "accelerate the equitable transition to healthy, resilient, climate neutral buildings and energy sources." Second, at 6:30 PM RVA Engage, which is an initiative out of the Community Foundation, will host a panel discussion on discovering and evaluating civic-related information. This panel features some librarians and a civic leader (the 8th District's Amy Wentz!). Obviously I believe knowing how to find information about your city or county is extremely important and a lot of fun—but maybe that last part is just me (and probably those librarians).
/r/rva has gone the extra mile, and user AndrewTheGovtDrone watched 16 hours of footage of the Brookland Park Boulevard Stop for People sign and reported the results. Over the course of 16 hours spread across three days, the sign was hit by 22 drivers! At some point, someone tied balloons to the sign and: "As silly as the balloons were, they had a significant positive impact on driver behavior. Prior to the balloons, the sign was hit six (6) times on Monday. Following the balloon placement, the sign was hit only one (1) time."
The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts will host a free COVID-19 testing event today at Hotchkiss Field Community Center (701 E. Brookland Park Boulevard) from 1:00–3:00 PM. With the rise in cases, you need to go get COVID-tested should you start experiencing COVID symptoms. By the way, this location is just down the street from that poor Stop for People sign that folks keep crushing with their cars.
This morning's longread
The Unlikely Rise of the French Tacos
French tacos sound amazing. Honestly, anything folded inside of anything else and toasted on a grill is totally my scene.
French tacos are tacos like chicken fingers are fingers. Which is to say, they are not tacos at all. First of all, through some mistranslation or misapprehension of its Mexican namesake, the French tacos is always plural, even when there’s only one, pronounced with a voiced “S.” Technically, the French tacos is a sandwich: a flour tortilla, slathered with condiments, piled with meat (usually halal) and other things (usually French fries), doused in cheese sauce, folded into a rectangular packet, and then toasted on a grill. “In short, a rather successful marriage between panini, kebab, and burrito,” according to the municipal newsletter of Vaulx-en-Velin, a suburb of Lyon in which the French tacos may or may not have been born.
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