Good morning, RVA! It's 56 °F, and coolish temperatures remain today. Andrew Freiden says you can expect humidity to make its sticky return, though, and possibly bring with it some rain. Temperatures steadily increase from here straight on through to the middle of next week. Enjoy what looks to be a pretty great weekend!
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 134, 10, and 6, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 11.4 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 3.1; Henrico: 4.4, and Chesterfield: 3.9). Since this pandemic began, 1,353 people have died in the Richmond region. 46.0%, 57.5%, and 54.0% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. I know we're nearing the end of the usefulness of all these charts I have, but you should really take a look at this week's stacked chart of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Look at that precipitous drop in new cases and that strong steady decline in new hospitalizations! There are probably lots of reasons why we're seeing these dramatic decreases, but they all match up pretty well with the middle of April, when Virginia opened up vaccination to the general public.
I like this line from a column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about how scientists can and should reach out to folks who are hesitant about getting a COVID-19 vaccine, "To be clear, I am not shaming Thomas. I frequent Starbucks twice a day because I know that the vaccines are just as safe as my caramel latte." I think a lot of the vaccine work over the next several months means making vaccination as regular, commonplace, and boring (but life-giving nonetheless) as your morning coffee.
Yesterday, Brendan King at WTVR celebrates the third anniversary of the Pulse—and I totally missed it! The Pulse had such smashing success its first two years of operation, and it still exists after an entire year of pandemic so I'm counting that as a big win. King also talk to Dr. Scientist Jeremy Hoffman who reminds us that, "Really, it is transportation that’s driving our contribution to global climate change. What’s one way that we can tackle that? It’s investing in reliable, frequent, public transit." He said this while literally getting on the Pulse, which is beyond charming. Next up for rapid transit in our region will be painting the bus-only lanes red this coming spring and using that pile of new regional transportation money to start planing for a second BRT (most likely a north-south route).
Quick City Council update: It looks like the Land Use, Housing and Transportation committee decided to continue that laundry list of changes to Richmond 300 for another month. Because I'm a delight at parties, I love keeping track of which legislation has been kicking around on City Council's agenda the longest, and, turns out, it is this very same resolution (RES. 2021-R026)! Introduced on April 26th, it's now 60 days old—which is nowhere near Council's record but now definitely something I will keep an eye on.
It's Infrastructure Week! Again! Yesterday, the Senate came to an agreement on $579 billion in new spending on our country's infrastructure—with lots of that earmarked for roads and bridges ($312 billion). For insight on federal transportation-related things I always turn to the Ubran Institute's Yonah Freemark, and, if you're interested, you should spend some time scrolling through his timeline this morning. Fascinating to me, is that it sounds like Biden will only sign this bipartisan bill if it's paired with another massive bill that can be passed through the 50-vote reconciliation process. Here's a quote from the president, "If this is the only thing that comes to me, I’m not signing it...It’s in tandem." So we'll see if we get any of the promised investment in health care, child care, high education, and climate change in the coming months.
This morning's longread
Edgar Allan Poe’s Other Obsession
As a Richmonder, I feel obligated to link to Poe stuff.
By 1840, Poe was working at a men’s magazine, where he launched a feature called “A Chapter on Science and Art,” consisting of the sorts of squibs on innovation later found in Popular Mechanics. (“A gentleman of Liverpool announces that he has invented a new engine,” one entry started.) With this column, Tresch suggests, “Poe made himself one of America’s first science reporters.” He also made himself one of America’s first popular skeptics—a puzzle master and a debunker, in the vein of Martin Gardner. Poe wrote a column on riddles and enigmas, and he made a gleeful habit of exposing pseudoscience quacks.
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