Good morning, RVA! It's 62 °F and rainy. You can expect the rain to, as predicted, continue for most of the day with temperatures staying below 70 °F until things dry out a bit. Don't worry, though, after this rain moves through, it looks like we'll be set up for a really pleasant weekend.
Water cooler
Yesterday, the FDA authorized new, bivalent COVID-19 boosters for children (ages six and up for the Moderna booster, and ages five and up for the Pfizer booster). CDC quickly followed suit, and now, I think, we wait on the Virginia Department of Health to update their guidance. This is exciting news, and the quick pace of these eligibility expansions is a pretty welcome change to the last two years of waiting, waiting, and waiting. Well, wait no longer! Make your appointment today if you haven't yet—everyone aged five and older is now eligible! But do give your primary care physician, local pharmacy, or health department a call before you rush on over with your small child in tow. It'll surely take folks a minute to get these new boosters up and running.
Eric Kolenich at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a quick update on Bon Secours and Richmond Community Hospital. Kolenich points to this recent public letter by Rep. McEachin calling the health system to task: "During our meeting, I was troubled by [Bon Secours's] explanation that the community served by Richmond Community Hospital did not demonstrate sufficient need to justify retaining more comprehensive services...Seeing a lower patient volume in disadvantaged communities speaks to the barriers people face in accessing health care—rather than the absence of need for health care." McEachin is still looking for answers—which I think a lot of folks are—and I'm glad Kolenich is still covering this story.
Do you know an incredible RPS teacher, staff, or administrator? Take a minute and nominate them for one of this year's RPS Shines awards. You've got a couple options, too: The Lucille Brown Impact Award (for teachers, staff, and administrators who have made significant impacts over the course of their career), the Rodney A. Robinson Equity in Education Award, the 2022 Principal of the Year Award, and the 2022 Support Staff of the Year Award. Nominations are due this coming Wednesday, so you've definitely got some time over the weekend to bang out a nomination letter!
Ned Oliver at AXIOS Richmond reports on a new poll about abortion conducted by Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center. As of a week ago (and with a 4.5% margin of error), "67% of respondents said they think abortion should be legal in all or most cases," "58% said they oppose or strongly oppose the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade," and 51% support Governor Youngkin's proposed 15-week abortion ban. First, I think it's pretty naive to believe that Virginia's current administration will stop at a 15-week abortion ban. A lot of folks in that 51% are going to be very upset should Republicans get their way and make access to abortion practically impossible for all Virginians. Second, I am definitely not sure what these numbers will look like a year from now when we vote for a bunch of General Assembly humans to craft new abortion-related legislation—so take this polling with a boulder of salt.
For the next entire week week you can celebrate the 3rd Annual ArborDayRVA which, according to the press release, "was born out of a last-minute effort to distribute 12,000 donated eastern redbud trees in 2020 [and] has evolved into a coordinated citywide celebration of Richmond’s urban forest." This year's ArborDayRVA kicks off on Saturday with a rain barrel workshop and tree giveaway hosted by the James River Association and continues nonstop for seven days with about a billion tree-related events. Take advantage of a ton of opportunities to learn about trees, plant new trees, help existing trees thrive, and, of course, get your own tree for free.
Did you know there's a podcast festival in Richmond this weekend? Now you do! The ICA will host the Resonate Podcast Festival on Friday and Saturday for two days of workshops, performances, and exhibitions. Could be just the thing to get you motivated if you've been noodling on starting your own podcast. Grab tickets over on the website (discounted prices for students!).
This morning's longread
When Andrew Lloyd Webber tried to buy this painting, his grandmother called it junk
I don't typically read art criticism, because I'm not smart enough to understand it and it generally feels like eye-rolly mush. However, this piece by Seabastian Smee in the WaPo about Frederic Leighton's "Flaming June" was delightful, and had me copy/pasting sections out of it and into the group chat. Turns out, Pulitzer Prize Winning Art Critics know a thing or two about writing.
The Puerto Rican museum has lent the works to New York while its main galleries are closed for repair following the devastating earthquakes of January 2020. In the meantime, of course, Puerto Rico, which had not yet fully recovered from Hurricane Maria in 2017, was recently battered by Hurricane Fiona. To be thinking about “Flaming June” in such a context is to be haunted by varieties of cognitive dissonance. It is beyond my capacities as a critic to distill that dissonance into a cheap thread of contrived wisdom or false consolation, so (forgive me) I’m just going to babble on about the painting.
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Picture of the Day
Look at this stunner!
