Good morning, RVA! It’s 48 °F, and today looks beautiful. Enjoy highs in the mid 70s and lots of sunshine. If you work from home, take the opportunity to sit outside for a minute. If not, take a minute to enjoy your commute.
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 1,267 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 42 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 146 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 60, Henrico: 65, and Richmond: 21). Since this pandemic began, 1,225 people have died in the Richmond region. First, I apologize for my unannounced absence on Friday. As a member of Phase 1c (non-frontline public health worker), I got my Johnson & Johnson shot Thursday afternoon, and, whew, I did NOT sleep well Thursday night. But, just 24 hours later I was back in action. Science is amazing. Here is the stacked graph of new reported cases, hospitalizations, and deaths that I normally share on Friday. Please ignore the deaths graph for at least another week until it sorts itself out.
Over in vax world, I have a graph correction to make! Unfortunately, my previous attempt at a graph illustrating our progress toward herd immunity plotted doses administered, not people with at least one dose. Big failure on my part. Double unfortunately, I don’t know how to mine the VDH website for historical “people with at least one dose” data, so I’m starting from scratch. That’s OK, though, it’s fun to watch these graphs grow—here’s the corrected version. Also vaccine-related, the governor announced that all of Virginia will be in Phase 2: Everybody Else by April 18th, one day before President Biden’s goal of April 19th. If you’ve patiently waited for your vaccine as part of Phase 2, make sure you pre-register over on vaccinate.virginia.gov ahead of time.
City Council and Friends have a lot going on today! First, Council will host their third budget work session (audio, of course, to appear on The Boring Show later this week). Looks like they’ll walk through the operating budget via this in-depth presentation by the Council Chief of Staff. Scroll down through that aforelinked PDF to see how each department plans on adjusting its expenditures in this year’s budget. Second, Planning Commission will also meet today and consider CPCR.2021.095, a resolution to declare an intent to do a citywide rezoning that would allow for Accessory Dwelling Units in all residential zones. ADUs are just one tool to start addressing our housing crisis, and we should get this thing passed as quickly as possible so we can move on to more solutions to address our affordable housing shortage. As y’all are intimately aware, this is just one step in the long and public rezoning process. Don’t worry, though, I’ve added this paper to my legislation tracker so we can all keep an eye on it. Finally, Council’s Organizational Development committee meets today and will dive into the details of the Confederate monument disposal process! There are three really interesting documents available if you too want to dive in to the details: How the disposal process works, who all requested monuments and their applications, and how those applications will be scored.
Quick casino update from last week: Chris Suarez from the Richmond Times-Dispatch almost got some public comments from 8th District Councilmember Reva Trammell about the proposed casino in her district: “Reva Trammell, who represents the area where media conglomerate Urban One plans to build its casino off Commerce Road, denied an interview request and did not respond to two sets of emailed questions this week. A representative of the company, however, said she’s ‘actively supporting’ the project.” Like I said, almost a public comment. I get not wanting to weigh in for fear of disrupting negotiations, but, at some point, we’ll need to hear what each councilmember thinks about the core idea of bringing a resort casino to Richmond, right?
The Collegian, UR’s student-run newspaper, reports that “by unanimous voice vote, The University of Richmond Faculty Senate censured Paul Queally, the rector of the Board of Trustees, for ‘his decisions regarding the renaming of Ryland and [Mitchell-Freeman] Halls, his disrespectful treatment of university employees and his reference to White students as regular students.’” Also, and whoa, “a request to bring a motion for a vote of no confidence against Queally will be taken up in the April 9 meeting.” This piece from the Collegian is filled with great quotes form faculty and is worth reading to get a sense for how out of step Queally’s comments feel for—at least some—of the University community.
Should we keep the GRTC free-fares pilot forever? RVA Rapid Transit’s Kendra Norrell, Faith Walker, and Nelson Reveley present convincing arguments for yes in this column in the RTD. I mean, this speaks right to it: “Zero-fare has put upward of $1,000 directly back in the pockets of each rider, money that has gone a long way on tight budgets.” The tension here, though, is that every bit of money spent on zero-fares is money that could have gone to create more and better bus service. We, meaning the region, will have to find a balance between equitable fare policy and providing equitable service. I believe that balance can be found, though!
The Mayor’s Equity Agenda is back! At least according to the most recent email I got from the City’s Office of Sustainability, which says you’ve got until April 18th to leave your feedback on the ol' EA. If you missed the chance last time I went on and on about this, consider this your chance renewed!
This morning’s patron longread
Climate Anxiety Is an Overwhelmingly White Phenomenon
Submitted by Patron Jeremy. Climate change, environmental justice, and racism are frequently all wrapped up into the same conversation.
One year ago, I published a book called A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety. Since its publication, I have been struck by the fact that those responding to the concept of climate anxiety are overwhelmingly white. Indeed, these climate anxiety circles are even whiter than the environmental circles I’ve been in for decades. Today, a year into the pandemic, after the murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed, and the attack on the U.S. Capitol, I am deeply concerned about the racial implications of climate anxiety. If people of color are more concerned about climate change than white people, why is the interest in climate anxiety so white? Is climate anxiety a form of white fragility or even racial anxiety? Put another way, is climate anxiety just code for white people wishing to hold onto their way of life or get “back to normal,” to the comforts of their privilege?
If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.
Picture of the Day
Look at this little baby turtle.
