Good morning, RVA! It's 46 °F, and today looks like a stunner. Expect highs right around 80 °F and less wind than yesterday. Honestly, I think we may have some perfect hammock weather on our hands. Temperatures heat up tomorrow and Friday with some rain moving in late Saturday—so use that information wisely and plan your weekend accordingly!
Water cooler
Huge news from GRTC’s most recent Board of Directors meeting: “GRTC’s Board of Directors just approved a 40% increase in the hourly rate for bus operators, making the transit company one of the highest-paying agencies in the region for CDL (commercial driver’s license) drivers. The new starting pay for a GRTC bus operator is $24.91, up significantly from the previous starting pay of $17.43.” This change, more than any other recent thing, will have the biggest impact on the quality of public transit in the region. You can’t have high-quality, frequent bus service if you don’t have enough operators to drive the dang buses! And its not like lack of operators, in part due to uncompetitive pay, is a far-off future problem. Bus riders feel the impact of the ongoing operator shortage every day: Currently just 68% of GRTC buses arrive on time. I haven’t dug around in the bus company’s budget to see exactly how much this critical pay increase will cost, but I imagine it’s significant enough that the State, Richmond, and Henrico (and, to a lesser extent, Chesterfield) will all have to up their contributions to GRTC. It’s either that or cut service, and that’s obviously a move in the wrong direction. Anyway, stay tuned to see how the governments that pay GRTC’s bills react, and lets check back in six months to see if/how that “on-time performance” statistic is impacted by this pay increase.
Em Holter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the teensiest update on the Flying Squirrels’ ongoing will-they-won’t-they about leaving Richmond. Mayor Stoney sat down with the RTD and said, “We don't foresee the Squirrels leaving...We plan on delivering a state-of-the-art baseball facility for the residents in the city, for the residents of the metro area, and for the franchise.” It sounds like a lot of the right pieces are in motion and that “the city is in its final stages of negotiations to obtain a development agreement.” Personally, I think if Richmond puts a good-faith effort towards building a new baseball diamond, the Squirrels will stick around even if the City misses the deadline by a bit. I could be wrong, which would be such a brutal swing-and-a-miss.
Also in the RTD, also by Em Holter, and also from Mayor Stoney: “I think I am young enough to still serve the public and I am seriously considering my next step, and that would be taking a look at the governor's race in 2025.” This isn’t a huge surprise to anyone whose hobby is local politics, but its the first I’ve seen of Stoney going on record about his plans for the Governor’s mansion.
Tonight, RPS will hold the first public hearing in the process to rename John B. Cary Elementary School (6:00 PM in the auditorium, if you’re part of the Cary community). Folks can share feedback on the final five names selected by the school’s renaming committee: Lois Harrison-Jones Elementary, Maplewood Elementary, Mildred Loving Elementary, Grace Harris Elementary, and Carillon Elementary. As with the Ginter Park renaming from a couple weeks back (which I don’t think we’ve heard the results from yet), I prefer the place and plant names!
Also tonight, at 7:00 PM (doors at 6:30 PM), VPM and the ICA will host a panel discussion “exploring themes from Admissible: Shreds of Evidence, a podcast that shines a light on how evidence itself can be flawed, mishandled, or even manipulated.” I haven’t yet listened to Admissible (it’s certainly on my queue, though!), but, for those of you that have, tonight’s event will feature host and reporter Tessa Kramer, local advocate Chelsea Higgs Wise, and a few other interesting-sounding experts. The event is free, but you’ll need to RSVP over on the Eventbrite.
This morning's longread
How a Louisiana Café Became Home Base for Environmental Justice
Food and activism often go together—really, food and any cooperative human activity. This story about a cafe in Louisiana, with a former plantation on one side and a proposed grain processing facility on the other, made me think about the cafes, restaurants, bars, and parks in Richmond that support the people working to make our own city a better place.
We’ve had people who go to the plantations, which is a heavy experience, and they just need to decompress. They come out in the yard, enjoy the tree, and see a different side of life, outside the plantation. They see that we’re still here. They understand that some people were able to get off the plantations and create the communities that we have now. I had a customer and he was very quiet, and he just wanted beignets and coffee. He said, “I’m sorry. I just came from Whitney, and I’m all in my feelings. I just need to eat.” And I said, “Look, go ahead. I totally understand.” We’ve had many people who needed that time to ground themselves. And we’re actively working to build out and make space for dealing with trauma.
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Picture of the Day
Love a good Art Deco blacksmith.
