Good morning, RVA! It's 61 °F, and etc etc more of the same. Honestly, for at least the rest of the week, you can expect hot, dry days with some number of clouds. After that, maybe we’ll stumble upon some cooler temperatures. Until then, best of luck, and you know the hot-weather drill!
Water cooler
Thad Green at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner have “secured $750,000 toward reworking the natural buffer along the James River,” part of which includes rerouting the Virginia Capital Trail off of Dock Street and into the nearby wilderness. I don’t know if this was always the funding plan, but federal money is the best kind of money, so great work everyone involved! Related, I rode by the site of the under-construction James River Center the other day, and, whoa is it coming along!
Also in the RTD, Michael Martz reports that Virginia’s Senate and House budget negotiators may have finally reached a deal. Sounds like both parties plus the Governor will meet today, and, if everything looks copacetic, the Gov will call a special session to get the thing formally approved. Of course, during that special session, anyone is free to propose amendments and spin things off into an infinite number of distracting directions, but it really does sound like both sides are now close to compromise—just in time for the start of the 2024 budget season! Wooooooblerrrrrghh.
Jack Jacobs at Richmond BizSense reports on The Glades, “a food truck park that’s planning to open next month at the old Innsbrook After Hours location.” I think this is a clever and probably low-cost re-use of open space out in the suburbs. When the actual owner of the space wants to throw up some office buildings or apartments, it’s much easier to delete a food truck park, than, say, a parking deck or a bunch of single-family homes. We’ll have to see if this place succeeds; theoretically you’ve got lots and lots of nearby office workers that would love to grab a taco and a beer after the workday. That, of course, assumes it’s not a huge pain in the butt for folks to get over there given the incredibly suburban layout of the stroads and highways.
I don’t know if this will ever exist and, if it does, if it’ll be worth reading, but we need more of it (via /r/rva): “Hey y’all! I’m starting a review blog about crab rangoons at various restaurants here in rva and the surrounding towns. .” An entire blog dedicated to reviewing crab rangoon in the Richmond region. Amazing. Everyone should follow the original poster’s lead: Start a blog! Write or create things! Share them with the world from a place on the internet that you own, not from behind the gate of some billionaire’s website!
Also via /r/rva, pictures taken as DPU prepares to dig a 30-foot hole in the ground as part of their Combined Sewer Overflow work down by Gillies Creek. I demand ongoing updates!
I’m not recommending you watch it, but eight Republican presidential hopefuls will attend their first debate of the season tonight on Fox News at 9:00 PM (or on “Rumble,” whatever the heck that is). Trump will not participate and, technically, Governor Youngkin is not (yet) running for president. I mention it more for awareness and to, once again, remind you that here in Virginia we have big elections this coming November. Please, please, please make a plan to vote, because the results of those elections will impact the health and safety of many Virginians (and determine large portions of Candidate Youngkin’s presidential resume).
This morning's longread
Man Called Fran
Here is a wonderful story about plumbing in old houses. Well, really, it’s about expertise or maybe about people and how weird they are. As an owner of an old house with its share of plumbing issues I laughed (while taking some pipe-related notes).
Content warning: Derogatory language describing people who use drugs.
Listen, if I don’t figure this out, we’re going to have to move. If there is anything you could suggest, or anybody—like some kind of expert? Sean sort of cocked his head. He wore cut-off shorts and a sleeveless tee. “There is this one guy,” he said. “He’s kind of a guru. He works for the city.” The guy’s name, he added, was Mike Sullivan, which was my father’s name. I trust doublings like that. I called city utilities and asked to speak with Mike. He showed up: a tall, clean-shaven man with a drawl, full of plumbing jokes. Wore an official blue jumper and brown bangs, looked younger than he was. He listened to my tale as if he had heard it not only before but that morning. His response was so quick and flat it was as if I had asked him for his address. “Here’s what you should do,” he said, and laid out this whole series of steps. Drive an hour, across the border, into South Carolina. Find a fireworks stand. Buy some smoke bombs, the real powerful ones.
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Picture of the Day
Always Be Propagating.
