Good morning, RVA! It's 68 °F, and today's weather looks pretty great. Expect highs in the 80s, less humidity, and a break from the blazing heat of the last couple of days. These cooler temperatures continue right on through the weekend. Enjoy!
Water cooler
As of last night, Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield all remain in the high COVID-19 Community Level. The 7-day case rate per 100,000 people for each locality is 236, 239, and 267, respectively, and the new COVID-19 hospital admissions over the last seven days per 100,000 people for the entire region is 10.5. That's a lot of numbers to wrap your brain around, but they're a touch lower than they were a week ago, and, overall, the CDC's map of Virginia has a whole lot less orange than it did last I checked. A high level in our region, though, still means you should be wearing a mask in indoor public places regardless of your vaccination status! Speaking of, yesterday, President Biden's coronavirus response coordinator said children under five could receive their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as early as June 21st! This, of course, assumes smooth passage through the time-honored authorization process we've all come to know and love—and we have been burned by this before! But, now it really does sound like almost evvvvveryone will soon be eligible for vaccination. Fingers crossed, because that's a big deal.
Last night, President Biden addressed the nation and called on congress to pass gun violence legislation. You can read a recap over on the New York Times. I'm incredibly cynical about the possibility of Republicans considering any legislation—any at all—that would protect the lives of Americans. So while it's nice to hear the President calling for an assault weapons ban and naming Republican Senators as the problem, I don't think it'll have any actual impact on those senators. At this point, I'd like to see Biden sign a bunch of legally-tenuous Executive Orders and see what sticks. That's not how things are "supposed to work," but it's better than begging a bunch of bad-faith legislators who have no intention of listening.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a nice column from the president of Richmond Crusade for Voters in support of ranked-choice voting, specifically supporting Councilmember Jordan, Addison, and Lynch's ORD. 2022-119. That ordinance, which Council's Organizational and Development committee will consider this coming Monday, would pilot ranked-choice voting in the 2024 City Council elections. I'm excited to see some public support for this big and positive change to how we elect our councilfolk but am still a little nervous about its chance of passing. Elected officials who have been in office forever typically get skittish when you talk to them about changing the systems that have...kept them in office forever. Tune in on Monday to catch their vibe and get a bit of a preview for how a vote in full Council might go.
As foretold, the courts are about to get involved in Richmond's second attempt to build a casino! Graham Moomaw at the Virginia Mercury reports that "Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and his would-be casino partner are threatening to go to court to try to keep the city’s casino plan on track." Even more interesting: A combined statement from the Mayor and Urban One "suggested the casino referendum planned for November will proceed as planned, despite the budget language that says the city can’t vote on it again until 2023." I am definitely not a lawyer, but it certainly seems like a court would have to do a thing to invalidate the language in the budget—which is totally the law!
Ned Oliver at Axios Richmond reports on a small change to Virginia's marijuana legalization journey that, at least for me, has totally flown under the radar: "The decision effectively means THC products created in a lab from hemp [like Delta-8] will be legal to sell, while naturally occurring THC from marijuana plants will remain illegal to sell." Seems like progress, but until we have straight-up, legal, legit retail sales, things will remain a bit of a mess.
For the past few days, the Department of Public Utilities has closed a couple streets here and there to perform its annual floodwall testing. That continues this weekend, and if you're headed Downtown, be on the lookout for closures—including no through traffic on Mayo Bridge both Saturday and Sunday!
Here's a cool weekend event that found its way to my inbox: "Thirteen-year-old Callie Coffrey and a group of 8th graders are leading a rally for climate justice now! They'll be welcoming a group of elders who are completing a two-week walk along the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline when they end in Richmond, Virginia. As the hikers arrive, they will be cheered on by young people who are ready and able to fight on against climate change on behalf of future generations." Stop by on Saturday near the Bell Tower at Capitol Square starting at 12:00 PM and get inspired!
This morning's longread
I'm a Coastal Grandmother. Stop Appropriating Our Culture.
Here's the essay on costal grandmothers you maybe didn't know you were looking for.
The post-menopausal costal grandmother is powerful not because she’s been a corporate wife for 40 years. She’s powerful because she was her own corporate wife for 40 years. When she decides to paint her antique wicker chaise in the exact same shade as her bedroom walls (Pride of the Regiment Eggshell), she’s empowered as hell. She’s earned it. She fought the patriarchy and then smothered it in a cashmere pashmina; she bought the big screen and has total command of the remote. She knows that things can always be a little more delicious, more relaxing, more high-end. She’s not stomping around in a nap dress; she’s napping.
If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.
