Good morning, RVA! It's 64 °F, and you can expect heat, humidity, and storms today. Highs will top out near 90 °F, and NBC12's Andrew Freiden says we could see a couple inches of rain burst outta the sky this evening. I think I'll make a huge jar of ice tea while keeping an eye on the hot, humid, and wet outdoors from the safety of my air conditioned home.
Water cooler
I knew the Pulse's red lanes would be red, but, whoa they're real red. Here's a quick video of Mayor Stoney applying the first stretch of coating at the Convention Center westbound station—in white shoes no less! Bold move!
Yesterday you could have attended a Richmond Connects kick-off meeting, today you can fill out a very quick Richmond Connects survey. The survey is incredibly short, incredibly broad, and asks just one long-answer question: What needs to be improved to make transportation in Richmond safe and easy for everyone? After writing the previous sentence, I submitted "There is no safe way for pedestrians or people on bikes to cross Chamberlayne near Lombardy." You can submit as many responses as you'd like, so feel free to brain dump the 600 specific places Richmond's transportation infrastructure makes you feel unsafe.
Quick correction! Yesterday, I mentioned RES. 2022-R033, which would take some steps toward changing Oregon Hill's future land use from "Neighborhood Mixed Use" to "Residential." I'd said Planning Commission would take a look, but, actually, it was on Council's Land Use, Housing and Transportation committee's agenda (the resolution asks Planning Commission to take a look at the land use change). Sorry about that. Either way, this sort of change is a big deal, and this specific change would make future development in Oregon Hill more challenging—development of things neighborhoods need, like places to buy milk and toilet paper, restaurants, and more weird dead-stuff stores. Oregon Hill should stay Neighborhood Mixed Use, just like other similar neighborhoods in the city: The Fan, Jackson Ward, Carver, the entirety of Church Hill, and parts of Forest Hill (check out page 53 of Richmond 300 for the Future Land Use Map). RES. 2022-R033 sits on Council's Consent Agenda for next week, so I imagine this paper will be in front of the Planning Commission, for real this time, soon.
Chris Suarez at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports on some progress for GRTC's second (I think?) temporary transfer plaza. No new news here, except that construction will begin in September and take about 10 months. I'd hope to tap through and read a hint or two about a possible permanent solution for transferring buses downtown, but, alas!
RICtoday has a write up on Point 5, a non-alcoholic bottle shop in Carytown—like bottle of booze but with no alcohol—that opens this coming Friday. From the piece: "Point 5 sells many brands that mimic the look, taste, and mouthfeel of wine, gin, beer, rum + whiskey." Fascinating!
I have listened to the new Beyoncé song, "BREAK MY SOUL", like, 50 times since yesterday. I recommend you do the same!
This morning's longread
The 'divisive' ban whitewashing Virginia's classrooms
Y'all probably know most of what's in this Scalawag piece about Governor Youngkin's chilling effect on education in Virginia. That said, I always think it's interesting to read national perspectives on what's happening in the Commonwealth—especially from an outlet like Scalawag, that has a mission to work "in solidarity with oppressed communities in the South to disrupt and shift the narratives that keep power and wealth in the hands of the few."
Virginia is not alone in navigating the vague nature of these laws. According to EdWeek, since January 2021, 42 states have introduced bills that would restrict schools from teaching critical race theory or freely discussing racism, and 17 of those states have passed legislation. Newby-Alexander said it's not possible to teach American history without talking about horrible, racist things. Although Youngkin says all this oversight is an attempt to make people feel less uncomfortable, he only has one group in mind: white people, especially white parents. He's prioritizing politics over teaching real, accurate history, Newby added. "I have real issues with that," she said. "You're telling me that the discomfort of a white person is more important than my discomfort. That's what you're saying."
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