Good morning, RVA! It's 70 °F, and it looks rainy out there, y'all. You can continue to expect a chance of rain, on and off, for most of the day. Saturday and Sunday, though, look beautiful if rather hot. This weekend, enjoy some time outside, stay hydrated, and get some rest.
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: 229, 31, and 9.1, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 28.7 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 7.3; Henrico: 5.9, and Chesterfield: 15.6). Since this pandemic began, 1,329 people have died in the Richmond region. 43.8%, 54.8%, and 51.1% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Here's this week's stacked chart of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, and you can, finally, really, totally, see a drop off in COVID-19-related deaths across the state. These are truly low numbers that we haven't seen since last July. Now, with the power of a ton of folks being vaccinated, I'm hoping we'll see those number fall even lower and stay there.
Speaking of the power of vaccines! I know that's a lot of numbers up there to throw at you before you've had a sufficient amount of coffee, but I do want to point out that both Henrico and Chesterfield now have more than 50% of their population with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Possibly related, or at least worth bringing up in that conversation, Sabrina Moreno at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports on the low vaccine uptake among Black Richmonders who, at this point, make up the largest share of positive COVID-19 cases—75% of the city's cases from April to May. It's complicated stuff why a person may or may not choose to get vaccinated, and I encourage you to tap that link and read through some of the reasons.
Whittney Evans at VPM scored an interview with Richmond Police's Chief Smith, which you should definitely read in its entirety. Actually, give the audio at the top of the page a listen so you can get a feel for the tone, which sounds a lot less defensive than the text reads. Evans asks if RPD has made any new policy changes since last summer's protests, to which Chief Smith responds: "A few...You're gonna have to give me a chance to go back and pull some of those. We changed the chemical munitions policy. The way chemical munitions are used and when they are used...You're asking very specific questions that you did not prepare me to go get—I would have to get the policy." I have a lot of thoughts on that, both policywise and PRwise. Mostly about that latter though: The Chief is the face of the Police Department and one of the top four or five public figures in the entire City. Part of that job is being prepared, taking interviews, and building trust with the public. Again, please listen to the audio to get a feel for the Chief's tone—but that you need the audio to clarify these pretty bad quotes is not great. I'm thankful that VPM decided to include the audio (and RPD should be, too).
The RTD's Michael Phillips reports that the Washington Football Team will bring its summer training camp back to Richmond, but with one big change: "the city will not be asked to make a $500,000 contribution to the team for its appearance. Instead, the team will rent out the Leigh Street facility for the week at a cost of $100,000." Not having to pay the richest NFL team in the country, but having them pay _us_ seems like the right order of things.
Mike Platania reports in Richmond BizSense that Leek & Thistle will open down in the Bottom this weekend. This spot will sell mostly frozen to-go meals that you reheat at home, and it's another one of those pandemic-inspired changes that I'm interested to see if/how it sticks around. For whatever reason, maybe a year of not going to restaurants, but picking up a frozen meal seems way more appealing to me now than it did in 2019.
This is an actual headline in the actual New York Times newspaper website: "U.S. Finds No Evidence of Alien Technology in Flying Objects, but Can’t Rule It Out, Either." OK.
For anyone keeping track, Sunday is the five-year anniversary of me shutting down RVANews. It makes me sad to think about, but I love doing what I'm doing now. It is wild, though, to think that some readers of this newsletter have never even heard of RVANews!
This morning's longread
Our Digital Pasts Weren’t Supposed to Be Weaponized Like This
I specifically remember having conversations a decade ago about how leaked nudes or embarrassing social media missteps wouldn't be a thing in the 2020s. How could they with whole generations of people growing up on the internet while documenting and sharing more and more of their lives publicly? Turns out, I was way, way wrong.
Ms. Ball thought so too. She lost that long-ago Congressional race and is now a media commentator and the author of a book about the new political age. She said in a recent interview that she thought her so-called scandal would be a temporary blip before society adjusted and “that people would grow more accepting” of photos or problematic comments from the past. “It’s the polar opposite,” she said. “It’s more reactionary and judgmental than it’s ever been.” Why haven’t repeated calls to replace digital shaming with empathy and compassion resonated? Or at the very least, why hasn’t a fear of mutually assured destruction set in?
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