Good morning, RVA! It's 73 °F, and, guess what? More of the same! Expect hot, sticky highs in the 90s, with even hotter Feels Likes, plus a possibility for rain this evening. Cooler temperatures move in tomorrow, though!
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: 202, 35, and 8.4, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 23.6 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 7.7; Henrico: 6.4, and Chesterfield: 9.4). Since this pandemic began, 1,330 people have died in the Richmond region. 44.4%, 55.5%, and 51.9% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Biden Goal update! As of this morning, 68.2% of adult Virginians have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. So close! But gains of just 0.1% per day will push the Commonwealth’s target for hitting the 70% goal out to around June 26th. I’ve become irrationally interested in this number!
The Virginia Public Access Project has the results of last night’s Democratic Primary. Here’s what November’s statewide ticket will look like: For governor, Terry McAuliffe; for lieutenant governor, Hala Ayala; and for Attorney General, Mark Herring. Locally, both incumbents, Colette McEachin and Antoinette Irving won their Commonwealth’s Attorney and Sheriff races respectively. You can check out the results of the General Assembly primaries here, which feature a lot of victorious incumbents as well. As per usual, I didn’t vote for a lot of these folks, but I’m excited to support them heading into November. I like the moment after primaries where we can all take a moment, regroup, and get on the same page. Speaking of same page, look at this map of localities that went for McAuliffe—it’s all of them, like, 100% of them. That’s impressive. Now, what I want to see, is former Governor McAuliffe turn on his money printing machine and start out raising Republic candidate Youngkin ASAP. Virginia! We have elections every year! It’s exhausting!
The Richmond Land Bank has put out an RFP for the former Bank of America branch building and the attached parking lot at 1307 E. Brookland Park Boulevard—that’s right off the roundabout at Six Points. The nearby Six Points Innovation Center has already done some community engagement work, and applicants should consider submitting proposals for a grocery store, restaurant, coffee shop, cafe, bakery, community center, or doctor’s office. Or maybe some clever combination (or something else entirely!). You should tap through and read that community engagement report, though, regardless of your interest in this property. It’s a great example of how to put together something like that. Anyway, I’m not sure how many developers read this email, but surely a few are within at least a half a Kevin Bacon of some of y’all—so please share this really interesting opportunity in Highland Park with the developers in your lives.
Via this story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about political donations and casinos, here’s a long list of the local investors involved in the ONE casino project. It’s a list I’ve not seen before, and you’ll definitely recognize some of these names. Fascinating. I wonder if a similarly lengthy list existed for the 2nd District casino proposal? As for the political donations stuff, I know “and are you surprised?” is not a helpful response, but it’s what I feel in my heart. Because I am a complex and inconsistent human, I will hold my general disgust with money in politics in tension with the above sentence I wrote about how I hope McAuliffe out money-in-politics his Republican challenger.
VPM’s Whittney Evans reports that, yesterday, the Virginia Supreme Court heard the Governor’s case about removing the Lee Monument. Evans says it could be six to nine weeks before the Court issues an opinion. Bleh.
RRHA will hold two public meetings today to review their Annual Agency Plans and hear public comment on them. The first meeting kicks off at 12:00 PM and the second at 5:30 PM. Zoom info on the aforelinked website. If you want to dig into those plans ahead of the meeting, you can do so here.
Rich Griset at Style Weekly talked with a handful of local folks who run Instagram accounts dedicated to documenting very specific foods—like nachos, cheese fries, or, specifically, the Bloody Mary at Bamboo. I have yet to find a nacho that surpasses the old Bellytimber nachos, but I’ve got an open mind (and stomach).
This morning's longread
A Love Letter to Black Queers in the Rural South
The Scalawag newsletter, which is a wonderful newsletter y’all should subscribe to, has put together a great set of articles and essays for Pride. Here’s one that I thought was beautifully written.
I wish my narrators spoke of Souths that were different from my own. But they tell me what I know too well about Southern queer and transgender people navigating a lack of resolution with acceptance—bound by religious mores—and their own God-given identities. For my narrators, being out offers little reprieve. There remains a binding expectation to not be too open—an expectation that is complicated by the lingering hold of HIV and the way it divulges too much about sex or who one might love. The result is disconnection.
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