Good morning, RVA! It's 27 °F, and today we’ve got clear skies and highs right around 50 °F. The forest daffodils have popped up but not yet bloomed, and just yesterday I noticed something poking up through the mulch in a bed where I planted bulbs (for the first time ever!). It’s still winter, but the signs of the approaching spring are all around us!
Water cooler
Richmonders, please welcome Shavonda Dixon as the 9th District’s new RPS School Board representative! Dixon replaces Nicole Jones who replaced Mike Jones on City Council who left for the General Assembly at the start of this year. From the School Board’s press release: “Last night, the Richmond Public Schools (RPS) School Board voted unanimously to appoint Ms. Shavonda Dixon as the School Board Representative for the Ninth District. A Virginia native and dedicated mother of two, Ms. Dixon is a proud RPS alumn and graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School. She is a passionate advocate for serving the community and enriching the lives of children in Richmond Public Schools. Ms. Dixon will be sworn in next week and will be seated at the School Board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 20 at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School.” You’ll probably also want to read Dixon’s own statement over on Facebook, which John Murden at South Richmond News picked up. Dixon says, in part, “I am eager to collaborate with fellow school board members, the superintendent, and our constituents. Together, we can continue to create and reimagine an environment where learning flourishes for our children, teachers receive the support they need, and parents are actively engaged through collaboration and transparent communication.” It’s nice to hear new folks on School Board state explicitly that they want to work with the superintendent and not spend their whole lives feuding with him.
Em Holter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that, at some point last week, the City removed the employee directory from their website. City officials cited “outdated information” and cybersecurity as reasons for the removal, but, as Holter points out, probably not a good look: “The decision, which was made swiftly and without notice, comes as City Hall is facing backlash regarding bill collection and a lack of communication from city officials.” True...but should we expect to be able to look up an email address for any ol’ staff person working at any level of city government? Apparently the counties don’t post their full directories online, although the State does. I’m ambivalent. On the one hand, I bet a handful of staff got flooded with angry constituents emails given the recent meals tax situation—and those emails are much better handled by a department head or a public information officer. On the other hand, it’s pretty cool being able to email public employees—they are public after all. Honestly, I think the “swiftly and without notice” part is more concerning to me than not having easy access to everyone’s email addresses.
Yesterday, the Virginia Department of Health released their annual list of the past year’s most popular baby names—with Liam and Charlotte coming out on top. Here are the top 15 names for both boys and girls in Virginia:
- Boys: Liam, Noah, James, Oliver, William, Lucas, Henry, Theodore, Benjamin, Levi, Elijah, Luke, John, Michael, and Gabriel.
- Girls: Charlotte, Emma, Oliva, Sophia, Amelia, Evelyn, Ava, Isabella, Elizabeth, Mia, Eleanor, Harper, Sofia, Luna, and Abigail.
We’re living in an age of olde-tyme baby names—except for Luna, which is an excellent name if you ask me.
Did you know that today, February 7th, is Crossing Guard Appreciation Day? It is, and, drumroll, Safe Routes to Schools Richmond has posted this year’s most outstanding crossing guards: Tianda Hunt, Gary Lewis, and Carmya Dorsey. Really, every crossing guard is an all star, so, this morning, let your local crossing guard know you appreciate their hard (and, at this time of the year, cold) work keeping our kids safe. If you want to put together something a little more formal, VDOT, of all places, has some resources for you—like this pre-written thank you card.
The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia opens two new exhibits today, Visions of Progress and Stolen Lives, Dreamed Lives, both of which run through the end of February. The former focuses on photography from the pre-Harlem Renaissance era of African American life in Virginia and the latter on sculptures that “tell the chronological story of a people depicted as healers and nomads, the tribulations of slavery, and life on the plantation, lynchings, exodus, and freedom.” Tap through for a striking preview!
Want to learn how to give a great public comment? Or, more specifically, give a great public comment in support of getting more bus shelters installed across the region? Well, tonight from 5:30–8:00 PM at the Main Library (101 E. Franklin Street), RVA Rapid Transit can help with exactly that at their Public Testimony Workshop. The event is free and dinner is provided!
This morning's longread
No Car, No Gnar, No Far: Pedaling 20,000+ Miles on a Cargo Bike
I love a good mantra, and this one’s right up my alley. Even if you’re not a bike person, think about how you can apply these three guideposts to your own adventures. Can you force yourself to keep things simple? How can you reimagine the area around you that you’ve seen six million times before? What can you discover in your own backyard? This all should remind you a lot of another recent longread, “A Single Small Map Is Enough For A Lifetime.”
Okay, I get it, you’ve been riding in the same city for years, maybe a lot of years. You’ve definitely passed everything interesting there is to see, right? Even the most dedicated bike commuter wouldn’t vary from the smoothest safest speediest route from home to work/bar/LBS/grocery store/etc. once they’ve solved that problem. There’s no reason to take Avenue G to Groom when Speedway is right there, but then you’d never find the pocket park for next week’s #coffeeoutside or the crochet sign street art or that one house with the grrreat porch!
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Picture of the Day
I don’t know what this is, but it says “PORK CHOP” on it.
