Podcast appearances and mentions of Richmond Public Schools

Plus: Haleon, a global consumer health corporation, will be investing more than $54 million to upgrade its Richmond research and development facility; Richmond Public Schools remains committed to its students in a time of “uncertainty and anxiety.” 

Plus: The Charlottesville City Council talks trucks, Richmond Public Schools has a new electronic devices policy — and other Central Virginia news.  

Across the country, states and school districts have been changing their approach to early literacy, particularly how reading is taught. In this two-part series, we're highlighting two school districts that have been on the front lines of this shift. In our first episode, host Gloria Riviera sits down with Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras and Literacy Coach Megan Siepka. They talk about literacy as a means for empowering students and the real, hard, everyday work of teaching it.  This episode is created in partnership with the Schusterman Family Philanthropies. Thank you to Richmond Public Schools for making this conversation possible.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In her first major TV interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris clarified why her positions on some issues, including fracking and immigration, have shifted since she first ran for president in 2019.CBS News contributor Dr. Celine Gounder discusses a new study about hormone therapy for women during menopause. Researchers found hormone therapy slows the aging process and can benefit women's health.While most schools nationwide are starting the new academic year, students at a district in Virginia have already been back for nearly six weeks. Richmond Public Schools started their 200-day school year July 22 for some of its elementary schools. The experimental program started in 2023 as a way to make up for the learning loss from the pandemic.Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was detained in Russia for over nine months, accused of spreading false information about the Russian military, before she was released as part of a historic prisoner swap. She discusses the emotional reunion with her husband and two daughters and her time in Russia.Fans across the country are excited for a new football season, but in some places, the Friday night lights for high school football have been overshadowed by tragedy. At least seven teenage football players have died just this month. Experts give tips on how to best protect kids.LinkedIn recently asked hiring managers about mistakes made by job candidates during an interview. Topping their list is showing up late. Using foul language, appearing disinterested and dressing inappropriately also made the list. LinkedIn career expert Catherine Fisher offers advice on how to stand out in a positive manner.CBS Sports college football analyst and College Football Hall of Famer Aaron Taylor breaks down the biggest storylines of the season as college football gets underway.CBS News senior business and tech correspondent Jo Ling Kent met with entrepreneurs helping to grow bubble tea's popularity in the U.S. David Fan, Andrew Chau and Bin Chen founded US Boba Company. They make the iconic chewy balls that make up most boba drinks at their California factory, instead of importing from Asia.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our top audio story today is a feature on how one school division is tackling the problem of chronic student absenteeism.  Richmond Public Schools is using incentives and engaging with students to battle chronic absenteeism following the COVID-19 pandemic. It's an issue plaguing schools nationwide.  Ice cream and sneaker raffles are some of the ways staff at Boushall Middle School have worked to improve student attendance. 

The 70th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision that found racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional is Friday.  One of the court cases that led to that decision began in Virginia, with calls for newer and better school facilities for Black students. This VPM News series examines the issue of school conditions — then and now — to unpack why so many Virginia schools are in disrepair today, especially in districts like Richmond Public Schools, which remains largely segregated.

Hello Everyone! Thank you for your patience as we make some changes to our episode releasing schedule. We are back with such a good interview! In today's episode we sit down with Rodney Robinson, the 2019 National Teacher of the Year. This interview is so motivating! Rodney shares his story with us and teaches us about the difference between equality and equity.  Rodney has over 20 years experience as an educator with Richmond Public Schools. He taught secondary social studies in middle and high school for 20 years. He spent 5 years of that time at Virgie Binford Education Center, a school inside the Richmond Juvenile Jail. Rodney's accomplishments in education vary from his professional growth to his students' personal growth. He was named the 2019 National Teacher of the Year and used his time as national teacher of the year to advocate for economic equity and cultural equity to make sure students have teachers and administrators who look like them and value their culture. Rodney is currently a Senior Advisor with Richmond Public Schools in charge of Teacher and Leader Pathways. He has started the RVA Men Teach Program to recruit and retain male minority teachers in Richmond Public Schools. In 2022, he partnered RVA Men Teach with the Virginia State University School of Education to launch the first Paid HBCU Teacher residency in America. His passion is helping the underprivileged and underrepresented populations in America.

Richmond Public Schools has made a third-party report on the Huguenot graduation shooting available to the public; General Assembly Democrats reject bills to repeal California vehicle emissions standards; and other stories

Most of Virginia under a drought advisory; Richmond Public Schools launched the Build Our Own Teacher program to help full-time staff become fully-licensed; and other stories

In Part 2 of our series on how schools address gun violence, reporter Moriah Balingit dives into the life and death of Huguenot student Jaden Carter and how school officials in Richmond try to save students like him. Read more:It took months to find out more about what happened the night Jaden Carter was fatally shot behind Huguenot High School's baseball fields. In that time, The Post learned how and why school officials, from his teacher to a Huguenot police officer, tried to intervene and set Jaden on a better path. It's part of a district-wide program in Richmond Public Schools: an ambitious bid to build a safer community. But sometimes students stray into danger anyway. Today on “Post Reports,” education reporter Moriah Balingit explores what's working – and what's not.

The death toll in Gaza is over 7,000 people since Israel began retaliating for a Hamas attack on October 7th; A federal appeals court has denied a request from six Southwest Virginia property owners to halt the Mountain Valley Pipeline's construction; Richmond Public Schools will host its second annual “fall for all festival” at River City Middle School this weekend; and other local news stories.

Virginia opened a new trade office in Taiwan on Tuesday; Richmond Public Schools school board approved changes to specialty school admissions; Hardywood Park Craft Brewery recently announced they'll be phasing out bottled beers to aluminum cans to be more sustainable; and other stories.

The city's school board approved a third-party investigation into the June 6 Huguenot High School graduation shooting that killed a graduating student and his stepfather. Last month, the school board received a 7-page internal review of the shooting — including districtwide recommendations to implement. Those included adopting enhanced security protocol for all graduations and large events, as well as more robust mental health and communication plans in the event of future crises. That report wasn't enough for board members like Shonda Harris-Muhammed, who has lingering questions about Richmond Public Schools' responsibility in keeping students and staff safe — and preventing another incident in the future.

Henrico Schools will welcome five new principals for the 2023-24 school year for two schools in the Fairfield District, two schools in the Varina District, and one school in the Tuckahoe District. Cherita Sears, who previously worked in Richmond Public Schools, will join Varina High School, and Dr. Tyrus Lyles, who worked in Petersburg City Public Schools, will join Elko Middle School as the new school principals. Leah Segar, who previously taught at Fairfield Middle School before becoming a principal, will serve at Wilder Middle School, and Michael Powell, previously a principal in Richmond Public Schools, will serve at Laburnum...Article LinkSupport the show

George Wythe isn't the most well known Founding Father, but he is probably my favorite. He was a fascinating figure and was a Mentor to many of the Better Known Founding Fathers. But here in Richmond, he is no longer seen as someone respectable enough to name a school after. If someone like Wythe can be "Canceled" then Washington and Jefferson are certainly next. WE POST DAILY! If you don't see us, check our other socials. If you got a favorite, we are most likely on it!The AllmyLinks has all of our Socials! - https://allmylinks.com/robisright

The Developing Story of the senseless murder of Shawn Jackson and his father, Renzo Smith continues to develop and new details have arisen. Countless lives have been impacted by this Mass Shooting and we need Accountability. Commentary on various Social Media platforms and from Richmond Crime Insiders sheds light on Amari Palmer's Motives. Rob and Stu discuss the failures of Richmond Public Schools, Richmond Police Department and Richmond City in properly addressing what to do when a Student is knowingly being targeted. If this was such a known thing as it seems to clearly be, why wasn't Shawn Jackson protected? What is the RPS' Policy on such a matter like this in the first place? Why was this ignored if it seemingly was such a known thing? As always, this is developing story. It is a sensitive story. We want answers. You want answers. We are simply reporting what we have found and what we are seeing. WE POST DAILY! If you don't see us, check our other socials. If you got a favorite, we are most likely on it! The AllmyLinks has all of our Socials! - https://allmylinks.com/robisright

In the polarized world we live in, often journalists don't tell the full story because it doesn't serve their agenda. As Rob and Stu both attempted to understand a shooting that happened in their community, they uncovered some startling footage. It doesn't serve either to show it, but we believe it may save others to do so. Even though the footage shows the victim of the shooting in a troubling light, it is important to cover it because this young man, Shawn Jackson was failed. Richmond Public Schools failed him. Huguenot High School failed him. And the leaders in his community failed him. What we found was a young man who idolized and mimicked the violent imagery and culture of his musical idols. Jackson's persona as OTG Shawn was a known thing. We are certain there are staff members at Huguenot High School who knew of this and were aware of his troubling online presence. One of the things stressed by Richmond Police Department in their presser was the need for parent's to be aware of what is on their children's social media. His year long online feud with Amari Palmer ended with Amari Palmer opening fire at a high school graduation. All of this could have been averted. The RIR News Team urges Richmond Public Schools and Richmond Police Department to interview all the individuals in these music videos and to talk to them about the dangers of courting violence and to seek refuge in a high power. We believe Chii2Raw and Dom2hott to be high school students. There need to be accountability for this because clearly the system failed this young man. We pray for the souls of Shawn Jackson and Renzo Smith. We pray for a speedy recovery to all hurt at the graduation and understand that not all wounds are physical. We pray for the soul of Amari Pollard because our Savior said to his Father, "“Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This video ends with part of the Peace Prayer which is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi. It is a favorite of ours in sad times. WE POST DAILY! If you don't see us, check our other socials. If you got a favorite, we are most likely on it! The AllmyLinks has all of our Socials! - https://allmylinks.com/robisright

Richmond Public Schools has received four construction grants from the state, including $5.6 million dollars to help rebuild William Fox Elementary School; The Food and Drug Administration has asked a Virginia district court for more time to respond to a lawsuit filed by abortion providers; The Virginia Commonwealth University Health System has posted operating losses for 14 consecutive months; and other local news stories.

I've been following multiple news stories in the press recently, and have been posting about them as well. Well, I decided to do a short, solo podcast about my thoughts. In it, I told about the superintendent of Richmond Public Schools, the Interim Chief of Police, and a few other things that are on my mind. No script, no outline, no guests. Just me talking. Let me know what you think. Do you agree or disagree?  Do you think I'm off base? Do you think I'm racist? I'll answer that last question: I'm not. If you think I am, who cares? You're wrong. Let me know what you think.As always, thanks for listening.

Hour 3 of The Jeff Katz Show from 4-27-2023

Laura K. Drewry is now Richmond's city attorney, Richmond Public Schools is in the process of renaming four of its buildings; Governor Glenn Youngkin is pushing for parents to have a final say in whether their teenage child can use websites and apps that collect people's data; and other local news stories.

Richmond Public Schools connect with Challenge U; VDOE holds public meeting on history standards; John Marshall High School boys basketball team wins again; and other local news stories.

Officials from Richmond Public Schools gave an update about the status of William Fox Elementary School's rebuild Wednesday; The city of Richmond has appointed a new human resources director; Two Richmond city council members want to explore acquiring a pair of historic Black cemeteries; and other local news stories.

A House of Delegates subcommittee has advanced a bill that would study how to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates in Virginia; Richmond Public Schools has released its proposed budget for the year; The family of a 6-year-old boy accused of shooting his teacher at Richneck Elementary in Newport News says the gun he used had been secured; and other local news stories.

A recently launched oral history project called “Chesterfield Remembers” is gathering stories from residents that include a journey from Columbia to the county and about being a Black race car driver at Southside Speedway; About nine months after a fire gutted Fox Elementary, all of Richmond Public Schools' prior fire violations have been cleared; Congress is on the cusp of approving legislation that would protect same-sex and interracial marriage at the federal level; and other local news stories.

There's been a rise in reports of antisemitism in Virginia, according to data from the Anti-Defamation League; A new report from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services says Black and Latino drivers are more likely to be stopped by police than their white counterparts; The pandemic has intensified a shortage of school bus drivers across the state, but in Richmond Public Schools, all driver vacancies have been filled; and other local news stories.

Welcome back everyone! This week our host, Amari Robinson, tells all about educator extraordinaire, Rosa Dixon Bowser! REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Dixon_Bowser https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/bowser-rosa-l-dixon-1855-1931/

Last show, Scott Lee says no to Trump and now he has to explain himself! Biden doesn't respect MAGA people because they are semi-fascist? Student loan forgiveness is an attack on you! It's the grasshopper and squirrel story. Reagan Lee, Scott's daughter, discusses first week of school. Richmond Public Schools are failing and you wont believe how they respond. Senator Mark Warner is concerned about breakfast biscuits in public schools? 4 year old arrested for not wearing a mask…in America. Could you be using the wrong password? Richmond offers gun buy back program. UVA newspaper calls for removing Jefferson name? California bans gas cars. Those with Left-wing politics have lower testosterone.

RPS had a WILD school board meeting on August 1st. The highlight was a team of brave custodians who spoke very honestly about all the problems facing Richmond Public Schools. Rob backs up their testimony by discussing even more problems facing this school district and how the woke administration ignores the real problems. WE POST DAILY! If you don't see us, check our other socials. If you got a favorite, we are most likely on it! Our Link Tree has all of our Socials! - https://allmylinks.com/robisright

Richmond Public Schools has many unfilled vacancies as the new school starts soon; A House of Delegates redistricting lawsuit has been tossed; Youth Crimes are on the rise in Hampton Roads; and other local stories

The Richmond school board has approved an emergency procurement route to award a contract for the design of a new Fox Elementary; The Chesapeake Bay watershed received a C+ on its latest report card; Former Representative Denver Riggleman says he's no longer a Republican; and other local news stories.

Among the critical functions of K-12 schools, they are positioned to support the mental health needs of their students, faculty, staff, and families. To discuss how the research on this topic relates to everyday practice, we spoke with Patrice Beard(Mental Health Liaison for the Center for Family Involvement at Virginia Commonwealth University's Partnership For People with Disabilities), Laura Early (Coordinator of Psychological and Diagnostic Services in Chesterfield County Public Schools), Amy Johnson (Student Support and Wellness Specialist in Henrico County Public Schools), Matt Shenker (Head of Experience for Pathly, Inc), Erica Daniels (School Counselor at Vernon Johns Middle School in Petersburg City Public Schools), and Felicia Friend-Harris (School Psychologist and Lead Educational Diagnostician for Richmond Public Schools). Hosted by David Naff (MERC Associate Director and former High School Counselor).

Across the country and in Virginia in particular, there has been an assault on public education. From banned books, school-policing, and parent tip lines what’s taught, discussed and shared in public schools feels under the microscope. Kelli and Michael Paul visit with the Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools, Jason Kamras, to hear his experience as the leader of a largelay Black school system in the states capital city. Kamras notes of a sense of White fragility that seems to be so dominating everything that is discussed today.Support the show: https://richmond.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For our last episode of 2021: We are talking about mutual aid with Yaya Ogaldez of Richmond Mutual Aid and Sarandon Elliot of UVA Mutual Aid. Our conversation explores the work of building life affirming institutions in so-called Charlottesville and here at home in the fallen capitol of the confederacy. We kick it off with our last Race Capitol reframe of 2021. Airing at 10am on WRIR 97.3 FM & streaming on all platforms! P.S. stay tuned for some more goodies before the year is out! #WeTakeCareofUs #WeKeepUsSafe #VA #RVA #Cville #FundBlackFutures #DefundThePolice Follow our guests: @uvamutualaid @madrva Resources UVA Mutual Aid Free Store GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/uva-mutual-aid-free-store?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer Donate to Richmond Mutual Aid via venmo or Paypal @richmondmutualaid MADRVA website: https://richmondmutualaid.wixsite.com/resources Buy Richmond Mutual aid merch + support free store: https://madrva.squarespace.com/ As World Confronts Omicron Variant, Top 8 Pfizer & Moderna Investors Make $10 Billion in a Week https://www.democracynow.org/2021/12/7/pfizer_and_moderna_shareholders_profit Gov. Northam proposes police pay raises in upcoming budget https://vpm.org/news/articles/27718/gov-northam-proposes-police-pay-raises-in-upcoming-budget As Omicron Variant Circles the Globe, African Nations Face Blame and Bans https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/27/world/africa/coronavirus-omicron-africa.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur Omicron COVID variant was in Europe before South African scientists detected and flagged it to the world https://www.cbsnews.com/news/omicron-variant-covid-in-europe-netherlands-before-alert-raised/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=142329193 Richmond Public Schools teachers are first in the state to gain collective bargaining rights https://richmond.com/news/local/richmond-public-schools-teachers-are-first-in-the-state-to-gain-collective-bargaining-rights/article_1d74e090-bb83-5fb0-bd22-81564ac872cb.html

This episode features a conversation with Christine Bae of Virginia Commonwealth University, Tracyee Hogans Foster of Richmond Public Schools, and Michael Stange of Chesterfield County Public Schools. The three are engaged in a 5-year-long initiative funded by the National Science Foundation to examine student engagement in science instruction in the middle grades through a method called "authentic science discourse." Christine, Tracyee, Mike and Jason talk about the research base around student motivation in learning, why science is a particularly good subject in which to study student motivation, what educators are experiencing this year in terms of student motivation in general after a year of long-term remote learning, and the practice of science discourse as a way to inspire and compel students to engage more with the content. They also talk about what science discourse looks like in virtual and in-person learning settings, how the practice can be sustained over time, and the value of research-practice partnerships - like the one they are participating in - to educators and to the field as a whole. Additional Readings and Resources:Discourse and Learning LabNational Science FoundationBuilding on diverse students' funds of knowledge to promote scientific discourse and strengthen connections to science learning in urban classroomsFaculty Early Career Development ProgramVirginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmond Public SchoolsChesterfield County Public SchoolsFlipgrid

Good morning, RVA! It's 58 °F, and it rained! The storms have moved through, though, and now we've got a pleasant fall day ahead of us. Expect highs in the mid 60s, some clouds, and dry weather for at least the next couple of days. Water cooler One quick coronaupdate this morning for iPhone users: iOS 15.1 came out yesterday, and that means you can now store your vaccination card in the Wallet app. Just fill out this form on vaccinate.virginia.gov, and you'll end up with a QR code and a link that'll automatically load up your information as a fun card in Wallet.app. I think once you get boosted, you can even update it with that information, too. Neat! The Richmond Times-Dispatch's Chris Suarez has the update from last night's final City Council meeting on the Mayor's proposed ARPA spending plan, and it sounds like Council approved the whole shebang. You can find more details on the City's ARPA page, but the big-ticket investments are parks, trails, and community centers; the Affordable Housing Trust Fund; stormwater infrastructure; and a new Healthy Equity Trust Fund. While the full spending plan is approved, this huge bucket of money will be allocated over two years. Someone should definitely set up a spreadsheet or a Trello or something to track progress on all these rad projects. In particular, I can't wait for some of the new trails! Whoa there is a lot in this piece from Jessica Nocera in the RTD about how Chesterfield County Public Schools' unnecessary and mostly imaginary battle against Critical Race Theory does in fact have a chilling effect on folks in the County working against systemic racism. It's not hard to see how a policy banning CRT-related professional development has already led to the District rejecting a principal's request to take diversity, equity, and inclusion training from VCU. Not great—both scary and embarrassing. Side note: I really love the way Nocera reports this story without a lot of both-sidesism (or as NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen calls it, The View From Nowhere). Tonight at 5:00 PM, Council's Public Safety Committee will meet and hear recommendations presented by the Civilian Review Board Task Force. As a fun pregame to tonight's meeting, you can read the Task Force's recommendations yourself, one of which is "that the CRB will have its own department to avoid conflicts of interest; this is aligned with the recommendations of the City Attorney's Office. As such, we recommend creating a department or office of 'Community Oversight and Police Accountability' independent from other City departments or offices." I don't know a ton about how CRBs should work, but that is exactly why we tasked a taskforce to come up with recommendations! If you'd like to holler at your councilmember in support of the Task Force's recommendations—including the creation of an Office of Community Oversight and Police Accountability—you can find the big list of councilmember contact information here. One final note, and I'll assume that it was not intentional, but it does not seem particularly even-handed to schedule the Richmond Police Department to present on "Police Staffing and Morale" immediately before the CRB Task Force gives their presentation on police accountability. Well, I guess it's official. VPM's Ben Paviour reports that "The Virginia Redistricting Commission has missed a final deadline to draw new state legislative maps, kicking the process to the Virginia Supreme Court." Paviour helpfully lays out the next steps and timeline for the judges to get these maps drawn. This coming Thursday, October 28th, the Community Foundation will host a free, online panel focused on Everyday Nonprofit Advocacy. We've got a lot of issues to tackle in Richmond, and a ton of them are systemic issues requiring big-time policy changes to make our city a better place to live. Nonprofit advocacy (and regular-person advocacy!) plays a big role in that, and I deeply agree with this bit from the event description: "the community needs leaders who engage decisions makers well." Maybe systems-change work is too daunting or exhausting to think about—that's fine! How about this, then: Richmond Public Schools needs volunteers to provide no-contact grocery delivery to RPS families. That's about as finite and concrete of a task as you can get. This morning's longread Could removing parking requirements help revitalize Virginia's cities? I thought I'd move this extensive piece from Wyatt Gordon at the Virginia Mercury down to the longread section—it's packed with the impacts of free parking on a city like Richmond. Luckily, at least one of our councilmembers wants to make some incremental changes to the currently broken system. “People see the language of the resolution and worry I'm getting rid of parking,” said Addison, “But eliminating parking minimums just means we're not putting a burden on business owners and developers to provide and build more parking than they actually need. Parking minimums are a big barrier to housing affordability and people choosing other modes of mobility. Eliminating those outdated calculations on how much parking establishments need gets us closer to a market for shared parking that works better for everybody.” If you'd like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol' Patreon.

A protests against Dave Chappelle's uncancellable (and very funny) Netflix comedy special, vaccine mandates for kids, an ad war in the Virginia governor's race, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's wise words on race and education.  Times 00:11 - Segment: Welcome to the Show 06:02 - Segment: The News You Need to Know 07:04 - Protests against Dave Chappelle's Netflix comedy special 17:41 - The not-so-nefarious list at Coastal Carolina 24:08 - Coronavirus vaccine mandates for children 32:21 - Update on the Virginia governor's race (and an ad war!) 38:47 - Richmond Public Schools will close schools during election week for the "emotional health of teachers" 40:44 - Donald Trump starts a new social network, Truth 41:54 - Wise words from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 45:12 - Segment: Hosts in the Hot Seat

Governor Ralph Northam is calling on all K through 12 schools in Virginia to require mask wearing by staff and students; The COVID-19 outbreak now impacting the entire fourth grade at Patrick Henry Elementary is the second COVID outbreak in Richmond Public Schools since July. The district's first outbreak took place at Fisher Elementary's summer school program; The redistricting process in Virginia can now officially begin, with the release of 2020 Census data; and other local news stories.

Yesterday, the Virginia General Assembly approved the final budget for American Rescue Plan funds; Virginia lawmakers selected eight candidates yesterday to sit on the Virginia Court of Appeals; Richmond Public Schools kicked off a series of trainings for educators yesterday; and other local news stories.

Good morning, RVA! It's 68 °F, and cooler temperatures are here! Today, you can expect highs in the mid 80s—which I don't know if I'd call “cool,” but it's something.Water coolerYesterday, the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Department of Education announced their mask guidance for the 2021–2022 school year. Here's the important bit: School divisions will be given “the ability to implement local mask policies based on community level conditions and public health recommendations.” Basically, it's up to the individual school districts, which should sound familiar because it mirrors last year's guidance for returning to in-person school. VDH does, however, recommend that unvaccinated individuals remain masked (which, at this point, means allllll elementary school students), and also points to this CDC list of reasons why districts may want to require masks regardless of vaccination status. Richmond Public Schools, via the superintendent's email, has already announced that they'll “be maintaining [their] 100% mask-wearing policy for all students, staff, and visitors.” I haven't yet seen announcements from Henrico or Chesterfield. If I were to prognosticate a little, I would guess that not every school district in the region will follow RPS's lead. I think we'll probably even have a majority of regional school districts only requiring masks for unvaccinated individuals, with vaccination status checks left up the honor system. We'll have to see how this plays out at some of these school districts in areas with lower vaccine uptake—especially as the Delta variant spreads and we learn more about it. Also, for context, via the VDH dashboard, the percentages of 12–15 year olds and 16–17 year olds vaccinated in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield respectively are: 33.4%, 42.0%; 47.5%, 63.1%; and 42.5%, 54.3%. This data would have looked nicer in a table.Take a minutes and read this piece from Mark Robinson in the Richmond Times-Dispatch highlighting the nine winners of RRHA's Tomorrow's Promise scholarships. These nine students will each receive $4,000 dollars toward their college degrees, and, for at least one, they'll be the first person in their family to go to college!Ian M. Stewart at VPM reports on a zoning update in Chesterfield—a chicken zoning update! Later this summer, the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors will vote on a change to the zoning code that allows backyard chickens, increasing the minimum area per chicken from five square feet to eight square feet. I know I'm all about denser development, but this kind of chicken-based sprawl seems OK.It's Thursday, and that means I have missed most of a Richmond-based Duke's Mayonnaise week. Richmond BizSense's Noah Daboul has the details, and I have the sads. Sounds like a handful of local restaurants have put together some tomato- and mayo-based menu items, which are my favorite kind of menu items. Also, as part of this promotion, Duke's and Sauer will donate $10,000 to Shalom Farms, a local farm that works on improving food access.This morning's longreadLife in the Stacks: A Love Letter to BrowsingSome of this piece is a little too “kids these days with their dang cellular telephones!,” but I really vibe with the idea that we're losing something when we give up browsing and let the algorithm serve up whatever it thinks best.The aisles of the Blockbuster were themed, though less aggressively, less knowingly than the rows that march relentlessly down the Netflix home page. A particular shelf didn't remember if you had selected one of its videos before and thus didn't try to push a similar title at you. The real-world tiles didn't proactively rearrange themselves in anticipation of your unique wants. In lieu of tailored algorithms, there were a few shelves given over to staff recommendations. These challenged you to ignore the new-release walls, decorated by market forces, and defer to the taste of an authority (or, at least, a part-time employee majoring in film).If you'd like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol' Patreon.Picture of the Day

Good morning, RVA! It's 71 °F, and today looks hot and dry—well, super humid of course but no serious chance of rain. Expect temperatures near 90 °F today and for the rest of the week.Water coolerWelcome back, to myself! I had a lovely and much-needed break from early-morning emails but am now ready to dive back in. I am, however, using my two-week vacation as a reason to stop updating my coronacounts spreadsheet each and every day. I started updating that thing way back on March 14th, 2020 and did so every single day for 475 days! It'll live on as a historical record, and, if you're still after current data, you can always find the most recent statewide numbers on the VDH dashboard. I imagine I'll pull updates from said dashboard from time to time—and even reserve the right to revive the spreadsheet should the need present itself (fingers crossed it will not). Finally, of note to fellow datawatchers, the aforementioned VDH data dashboard has a new update scheduled and will no longer update on weekends.The City's Planning Commission has a packed agenda for their meeting today, which you can scroll through here. Most interesting to me are the plans for a proposed newly temporary GRTC transfer plaza. This new temporary transfer plaza would replace the current temporary transfer plaza that has taken up the eastern side of 9th street for a bunch of years at this point—a location that's about to become a demolition site as the City tears down the old Public Safety building. The new plaza would replace most of the weirdly sunken surface parking lot across the street, which seems like a much better use of that space. As I've said many times before, I have a real hard time understanding engineering diagrams, but it looks like the new proposal includes shelter from the sun, benches, trash cans, and a bathroom for bus operators. It also includes a fence “at the request of DPW Parking Services to prevent bus patron access to the [remainder of the] parking lot,” which as this public comment points out, seems unnecessary. Also of interest on CPC's agenda: Getting rid of a small Confederate monument pedestal in the triangle park at Meadow, Park, and Stuart; and permitting an accessory dwelling unit that's a treehouse (love this quote from the staff report: “a Special Use Permit is necessary because the short-term rental regulations do not pertain to accessory structures such as the tree house”).I'm excited when citizen scientists do pretty much anything, but especially when they help with Richmond's heat mapping efforts. Patrick Larsen at VPM reports on an update to the 2017 temperature study data that you're probably very familiar with at this point as it basically kicked off a national focus on the correlation between the urban heat island effect and redlining. This new work will update that data, plus a bunch of other cities in the Commonwealth will collect their first, baseline data. Putting it out into the world: I would like to ride my bicycle around and collect temperature and particulate matter data as a citizen scientist.It's hard not to feel a sense of overwhelmed hopelessness when reading this article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch by Colbi Edmonds: “More than 80% of a 20-year Richmond region transportation plan is dedicated for highway projects. Some want that changed.” I don't fault the regional planners too much for this particular plan's intense focus on highways and road widenings—there's only so much they can do to steer a massive group made up of nine localities, most of them suburban and rural. It is wild to me, though, that leadership in our region can look around at the world today and pour billions into infrastructure that will bake climate-destroying development patterns into our communities for the next several generations. As I am frequently reminded, most of our region is only accessible by car. This is by design. We could, instead, use this pile of money to try and retrofit those existing car-dependent communities as best we could rather than building more of them.Richmond Public Schools will put together welcome baskets for teachers when they return to in-person instruction this fall and needs your help. If you'd like to chip in, you can donate supplies for the baskets by filling out this form, or you can volunteer to help assemble or deliver the baskets by filling out this other form.This morning's longreadWho's Afraid of the Four Day Work Week?Here I am linking to an article about the four-day work week after taking a bunch of time off. Read this, though, and tell me it doesn't sound like an experiment worth trying.Harmony doesn't mean balance. It suggests each part of one's life supporting and complementing the other: you're a better person at work because of the person you're able to be when you're not working, and vice-versa. And that harmony is possible because you're able to nourish the area of life that so many of us have allowed, or been forced, to let wither. Harmony is a beautiful thing. Once found, you can't forget it. Other sounds and experiences feel meager and reedy in comparison. But it takes real work to achieve.If you'd like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol' Patreon.Picture of the DayNow you have to deal with pictures from my vacation for the next several days.

Good morning, RVA! It's 72 °F, and today you can expect highs in the mid 90s with Feels Likes above and beyond 100 °F. We're deep in dangerous heat territory, and if you've got to go outside, be smart about it! We've got at least a couple more days before temperatures cool down.Water coolerAs of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 165, 7, and 6, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 15.4 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 2.1; Henrico: 10.1, and Chesterfield: 3.1). Since this pandemic began, 1,358 people have died in the Richmond region. 46.6%, 58.2%, and 54.8% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.The big COVID-19 news this morning is that a WHO official urged the public to continue wearing masks indoors—even if fully vaccinated—as a precaution against the delta variant of COVID-19. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health quickly followed suit and issued the same recommendation for its residents. I've seen this new variant-related mask recommendation framed a couple of ways in the media, mostly as “we don't know enough about the delta variant, and wearing masks helps keep you—even if you're vaccinated—from spreading this highly transmissible variant to folks who may be unvaccinated.” But I've also seen the actual quote from the WHO official, taken out of whatever context it may have originally been in, and it reads way more intense: “People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses. They still need to protect themselves…Vaccine alone won't stop community transmission.” According to the NYT, yesterday the CDC “pointed to [its] existing guidance and gave no indication it would change.” So, here we are again with seemingly conflicting mask guidance, and I don't love it! To give you some context on the local spread of the delta variant, the VDH Variants of Concern dashboard reports 48 total cases in Virginia, with zero in Richmond, 14 in Henrico, and three in Chesterfield.Kenya Hunter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Richmond Public Schools “anticipates a 14 percentage point boost in its graduation rate, with Latino students and economically disadvantaged students seeing the most significant gains.” This year, according to preliminary figures, 85.7% of students will graduate on time, compared to 71.6% last year. That's a lot of dang percentage points to increase, and I wonder what it all means given the year students just had. Will those numbers hold for next year? Was something about virtual learning better for high school students? Or maybe, as RPS's Chief Academic Officer Tracy Epp, says “This is the culmination of three years—we're seeing that we're finally gaining traction, based on the past three years of our efforts.”Quick City Council update: Last night Council passed all of the Jackson Ward street dedication ordinances. DPW will now get to hanging up some new signage!I'm fascinated by ghost kitchens, and Richmond BizSense's Mike Platania reports that Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick will bring one to Broad Street near Arthur Ashe Boulevard. If I'm being honest with myself, I'm mostly fascinated by the generic, keyword-heavy names that some delivery-only restaurants using ghost kitchens come up with. Mine would be called “Wings are Good.”Twitter user Doug Allen made this super useful map of all (?) the Richmond-area bike shops. I know bike shops are like tacos—everyone has a favorite spot—but, if you don't already have a favorite of your own, check out the map and try one out near you. I definitely prefer taking my bike(s) to the shop and having them actually fix a thing rather than watching a YouTube and getting frustrated that my brain can't understand simple machines for some reason.Brent Baldwin at Style Weekly talked to Chris Haynie, cofounder of Happy Trees Agricultural Supply, about how to grow marijuana in your house. Honestly, sounds waaaaay too complicated for me. I do love this quote, though, which makes me feel like I could at least keep a plant alive as an ornamental, “Cannabis is not some crazy plant that aliens gave us from some other world, it grows like a pepper, man. It's a fast-flowering annual.”The Washington Post has a nice article from a couple weeks back about how Virginia is crushing it when it comes to expanding passenger rail. It'll still take the better part of a decade to realize some of the planned improvements, but I'm pretty stoked to take the train everywhere when I'm retired.This morning's longreadWhy ‘tiny forests' are popping up in big citiesI live in a very shady, tree-filled neighborhood—which we know is because where I live was never redlined and has seen decades of investment in its trees and other infrastructure. Many neighborhoods near me—in fact, the one just across the street—haven't had the benefit of all that investment and of all those trees and sits sweltering and shadeless in 100 °F heat. I wonder if strategic tiny forests could be part of the solution?The small-footprint projects are based on the work of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, who, beginning in the 1970s, pioneered a method of planting young indigenous species close together to quickly regenerate forests on degraded land. Miyawaki, who extensively studied and catalogued the vegetation of Japan, surveyed forests near potential Tiny Forest sites for a mixture of their main species. “The planting should center on the primary trees of the location, and following the laws of the natural forest,” he wrote in a 2006 essay upon accepting the Blue Planet award. Competing for light, the saplings grow quickly, explained Miyawaki's collaborator Kazue Fujiwara. According to Fujiwara, the method can work anywhere, even in plots as small as one meter wide, though she said a minimum of three meters is easier to plant a mix of species.If you'd like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol' Patreon.Picture of the DayTake-out bike is back!

Good morning, RVA! It's 65 °F, and, wow that was a lot of lightning in the storm that rolled through last night. I think, however, it brought with it cooler temperatures, because we can expect highs in the mid 80s today. NBC12's Andrew Freiden says the next couple of days look stellar.Water coolerAs of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 140, 32, and 10.4, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 11.3 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 0.7; Henrico: 2.4, and Chesterfield: 8.1). Since this pandemic began, 1,343 people have died in the Richmond region. 45.1%, 56.4%, and 52.8% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.Do you still need a reason to get vaccinated? How about this set of headlines: “Distorted, Bizarre Food Smells Haunt Covid Survivors,” “Many Post-Covid Patients Are Experiencing New Medical Problems, Study Finds,” or “Coronavirus infections dropping where people are vaccinated, rising where they are not.” While the least serious of these headlines, the first one terrifies me. I once lost my sense of smell for a week and it was awful—so much of eating is smell-related! Don't lose your sense of smell or have it rewired by a coronavirus infection! Go get vaccinated today!City Council met last night and adopted a bunch of papers I had my eyes on: the rezoning of the Southern States silo (ORD. 2021–115), a resolution to earmark $7.1 million of ARP money for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (RES. 2021-R028), and, of course, the casino resolution (RES. 2021-R034). The Richmond Times-Dispatch's Chris Suarez has the meeting recap and reports that, as foretold, the casino resolution passed 8–1, with Councilmember Jordan as the only No vote. Now the decision of whether or not to build a casino in the 8th District moves to…us! If the gubernatorial election was somehow not enough to motivate you to vote this November (which, gasp), maybe having a casino on the ballot will?Ali Rockett at the RTD reports on the RPD's crime data meeting, which ended up going in an entirely unexpected, billboard-related direction. The Richmond Coalition of Police, who you may remember from this year's budget discussions when they demanded double extra raises for police, has put up a billboard saying “The safety of the city is in jeopardy. Public safety is in a CRISIS due to poor pay & staffing.” I imagine the Mayor does not love having every person driving down 95/64 see such a billboard, and I bet it puts his police chief in a tough spot when he has to answer questions about it. About the data though, making any sort of year-over-year comparisons—about crime or anything else—will be tough given the year we just had.I hesitate to even share this ConnectRVA constrained project list. It's part of our larger region's long-range transportation plan, and represents a whittled down list of potential projects the region wants to build (down from the “universe of projects”). It's an important list because it will ultimately guide future big transportation projects—like sprawly road widenings or new bus rapid transit lines—that will stick around for our entire lifetimes. Typically this sort of thing is totally my jam, but, unfortunately, these are an almost indecipherable set of documents. Here's the four-page spreadsheet of projects if you dare. It includes things like a “widening with added capacity” of Old Hundred Road (boooo) and a bunch of segments of the Fall Line Trail (yaaaay). Theoretically, this here is a map of that entire spreadsheet on which you can leave comments or you can just comment on this blog post. I don't know how a person who cares is even supposed to intelligently interact with this information. I guess you could leave a general anti-road widening, pro-climate comment? It's honestly pretty shocking the number of road widenings and expansions we're considering over the next twenty or so years given how quickly we're incinerating our planet. Anyway, you have until 5:00 PM on June 17th to share your thoughts and opinions!It's wild to go from road widenings to this piece by Sarah Vogelsong in the Virginia Mercury about the impact sea-level rise will have on the 757. Here's a quote from Virginia Beach's stormwater engineer: “We want Virginia Beach to remain a viable coastal destination for people to come to…the discussion in Virginia Beach is learning to live with water.” Bleak! It's just bananas we're over here in Central Virginia planning on ways to incentivize more and more driving and more and more climate-destroying sprawl while our neighbors down the road slowly slip into the sea.Richmond Public Schools will host their East End-focused reopening conversation tonight at 6:00 PM. If you've got questions about how in-person school will look in the fall, now is the time to ask them. Although, honestly, maybe keep a list of those questions somewhere because there's a whole lot of time until the first day of school (85 days), and who knows what will change between now and then. Zoom-in information here.This morning's longreadA treasure map for an American tyrantThe Boston Globe put together a series of short pieces describing the top reforms they'd like to see to keep our American democracy safe from future Trumps. This is pleasant to read, but it all hinges on the idea that Republicans should be motivated to make these changes because the next autocrat could be a Democrat. That's a little naive as Republicans at the federal and state level seem intent at warping our democracy to prevent Democrats from being elected entirely. Kind of eliminates the incentive to limit power, doesn't it?Trump may not have destroyed the American presidency, but he did put the institution on a perilous path. Because while Trump himself has been sitting in Mar-a-Lago brooding over his loss to Joe Biden, all the weaknesses in our legal and constitutional system that he exploited remain, waiting for a future presidential miscreant to take advantage of them — maybe even for Trump himself, if he is reelected in 2024. That's why Congress and the current president must act fast and impose more durable legal guardrails on the commander in chief. By passing stronger anti-corruption laws, strengthening existing norms and creating new ones, and deterring future presidents from abusing their power by making an example of Trump and holding him accountable, the country can protect itself against future — and potentially far more devastating — presidential corruption and misconduct. The nation can, and must, prevent the rise of an American tyrant.If you'd like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol' Patreon.Picture of the DayI bought a bead curtain.

Leadership studies associate professor Julian Maxwell Hayter and Jepson School 2020-21 Leader-in-Residence Rodney Robinson sit down for a conversation on the need to ramp up economic and cultural equity in public education. Hayter, a Richmond Public Schools parent, and Robinson, the 2019 National Teacher of the Year and Richmond Public Schools senior policy advisor, discuss how focusing on equity benefits all K12 students, particularly students of color. March 15, 2021

Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and today looks hot—but not as hot as yesterday. Expect highs near 90 °F, and, luckily, NBC12’s Andrew Freiden says to expect less humidity soaking through your shirts.Water coolerAs of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 394, 40, and 13.6, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 29.9 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 5.4; Henrico: 14.3, and Chesterfield: 10.1). Since this pandemic began, 1,324 people have died in the Richmond region. 42.6%, 53.1%, and 49.6% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. For whatever reason, Chesterfield actually reported -43 new cases yesterday, so that accounts for the significant drop in its seven-day average of new cases. Data Reporting: There’s always something.Now that Virginia is so dang close to reaching President Biden’s goal of 70% of adults with at least one does by July 4th, I cannot stop watching the numbers slowwwwwly tick upwards. Two days ago 65.7% of Virginia’s adults had one dose, today 66.2%. Forgetting for a second that fewer people are making the decision to get vaccinated each day and pretending that we’ll just continue along at the same rate we’re seeing right now, we should hit Biden’s goal on June 12th. Mark your calendars (which is a thing I actually just did)!Chris Suarez at the Richmond Times-Dispatch went through the terms sheet of the newly put-forth casino project so you don’t have to (but you totally still can if you’re into that sort of thing). Suarez reports that the casino would give the City a $25 million cash payment within 30 days of the referendum (should it pass, of course), $30,000 annual payments to Richmond Public Schools for five years, reimburse the City for up to $500,000 it spent during the casino evaluation process, and, of course, a chunk of the gambling-related revenue each year. And that’s just a short list, the terms sheet is 20 pages long and includes all sorts of things about jobs, wages, construction, and even a $325,000 annual payment to “support transit mobility solutions to support travel of its employees to and from work.” I’m interested in all of these things, but I’m particularly interested in what happens to that $25 million in cash. If it were me, I’d put it in a special fund dedicated specifically for new infrastructure improvements on the Southside with a focus on the neighborhoods near the casino. I certainly would not let it end up in the general fund, and I would be really careful to not let this $25 million get used to replace funding already earmarked for Southside projects. This is new money and should be used for new projects. I wonder if Council will start putting together a plan for all this hypothetical new money before the actual referendum as a way to sell the public on the casino?Also, the RTD continues their ongoing series talking to Richmonders one year after the murder of George Floyd. Make some time to read this piece by Kenya Hunter about Corey Stuckey, founder of the 381 Movement. You might recognize Stuckey and the 381 Movement, because recently they’ve been focused on “trying to convince the School Board to rescind a resolution that gave the board control over school construction.” I’ll tell you what, it’s life-giving to see movements built during last summer grow and expand into influencing some of the important (but day-to-day) policies of our city.Another sign that post-pandemic life finds a way: Mary Scott Hardaway has a list of newly opened, recently opened, and newly reopened restaurants in Style Weekly.It’s Thursday which means the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts will host a free COVID-19 community testing event at Diversity Thrift (1407 Sherwood Avenue) from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.This morning’s longreadWeekly Obsession: CicadasQuartz has these lovely Obsession emails, put together by Friend of the Email Susan Howson, to which you should most certainly subscribe. This week they tackle cicadas, which are big and weird but also pretty cool.Love them or hate them (at Quartz, we’re divided), they are undeniably a net positive for our ecosystem. They don’t damage plants once they emerge from the ground. They don’t bite, they don’t spread disease, they feed a lot of other wildlife, and their exoskeletons decompose into nice tree fertilizer. In a lot of ways, periodical cicadas are one of nature’s more spectacular reminders that, for the most part, the planet is still operational. If Brood X hadn’t made its entrance, it would have been a truly terrifying sign. It may feel like a bug invasion, but cicadas have been doing their thing for hundreds of millions of years. How long have you been doing yours?If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.Picture of the Day

Good morning, RVA! It’s 45 °F, and after this morning’s clouds clear, today looks pretty great. Expect highs in the 70s, some sunshine, and a chance to spend some time outside in a garden.Water coolerAs of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 336 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 7 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 36 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 16, Henrico: 15, and Richmond: 5). Since this pandemic began, 1,295 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 723. I say don’t get too distracted by today’s extremely low number of new reported cases (just 14 new reported hospitalizations and 7 new reported deaths, too). Keep your eyes on those seven day averages, which, thankfully, also continue to decrease.Last night, the FDA authorized the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use in kids 12–15. Amazing! The next step here is for the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to give Pfizer For Kids the go ahead, and then pharmacies, pediatricians, and health departments across the country can start vaccinating tweens and teens. ACIP has a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, which you can watch live if you really want! I’d expect a similar announcement from the FDA about Moderna, too, in the coming weeks. I also wanted to mention two round numbers that our stupid human brains, for some reason, are designed to care about: over 4 million Virginians have received at least one dose of the vaccine and over 3 million Virginians are fully vaccinated.I’ve got the teensiest of budget news: City Council met last night and approved the Richmond Public Schools budget. Kenya Hunter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has the details. Hunter reports that Councilmember Lynch has the same question I have about this version of the school budget and recent push for schools to run the facilities procurement and construction process: “Fifth District Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch sparked the discussion by asking whether the schools’ proposal would need to be revised to pay for people to oversee construction.” I don’t see the answer in this RTD piece—but it seems like an important thing to know? Right? If Schools needs to hire approx 10 new people, that seems like a hefty budget increase (or a hefty cut from somewhere else). Anyway, I’ll go listen back to The Boring Show once I get it online later today and try to dig up some answers that way.Michael Martz, also at the RTD, has an update on the American Rescue Plan money headed to Virginia. Our state’s independent city system, which is unique in the nation, means weird things happen when we compare our data to other cities' data. Usually it means we make top lists like the Most Number of Tattoo Parlors Per Capita (small denominator). I also suspect it has at least something to do with why five of Virginia’s cities made the top ten list of highest rate of eviction judgments in that NYT evictions piece a while back. It also means that Virginia’s cities get two ARP payments from the federal government: One for being a city and one for being a county. That means Richmond will see something like $155 million over the next couple of years! City Council will most likely have a some meetings after they pass this year’s budget to discuss how to spend that sweet, sweet ARP money—so keep an eye out. Despite wanting to take a holistic look at how a once-in-a-generation influx of cash could impact Richmond, several councilmembers have already earmarked bits and pieces of ARP money for projects here and there. We’ll see how big-picture they can stay once all this money eventually drops in their laps.Richmond BizSense’s Jonathan Spiers reports on a new plan for apartments at 17th and E. Grace Street aka the former Weiman’s Bakery property (which also includes a bunch of surface-level parking lots). The developer plans to build 145 apartments, commercial store fronts, and only 85 parking spaces. I think that’s not even a sarcastic “only”! Just a little over half a parking space per unit seems pretty good for Richmond. I’d love for folks to share with me examples of developers making it work with even less parking.The Virginia GOP has settled on Glenn Youngkin as their gubernatorial nominee, and Ned Oliver at the Virginia Mercury has a bit of a bio piece on him. Youngkin has basically no political experience, no voting record, and tons of personal wealth to contribute—all things the statewide Republican Party feels like they need to be competitive. Here’s all you need to know about Youngkin: “He launched his campaign with a focus on election security and has refused to say whether he believes President Joe Biden won the election legitimately.” Shameful.This morning’s longreadA current list of my top problems in pressthinkI’ve followed Jay Rosen for yeas now, and his thoughts on how media works (or should work) are fascinating—and usually dead on. Read this piece on some of the problems he sees for media in the immediate post-Trump world.By anti-democratic I mean willing to destroy democratic institutions to prevail in the contest for power. This is true, not only of individual politicians, but of the party as a whole. As (Republican) and Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson writes, “For the activist base of the Republican Party, affirming that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential contest has become a qualification for membership in good standing.” A qualification for membership. Journalists had adapted to the old system by developing a “both sides” model of news coverage. It locates the duties of a non-partisan press in the middle between roughly similar parties with competing philosophies. That mental model still undergirds almost all activity in political journalism. But it is falling apart.If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.Picture of the Day

Good morning, RVA! It’s 65 °F, and it looks like you should expect some rain at some point today—probably this morning, maybe this evening. Temperatures should stay right about where they are for most of the day.Water coolerAs of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 539 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 10 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 96 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 52, Henrico: 28, and Richmond: 16). Since this pandemic began, 1,295 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 762. Precipitous! The number of new reported cases continues to drop, and, over the weekend, the seven-day average of new hospitalizations fell off the around-60-per-day plateau. While certainly not the case across the entire world, these numbers and trends are encouraging. Almost 50% of all Virginians have at least one dose of the vaccine, and we haven’t even gotten to people under the age of 16 yet!Over in vaccine world, I’m starting to put together a nice little collection of vaccine-related graphs. First, the chart of new people with at least one dose in Virginiacontinues to show a nearly linear day-to-day decline. It’s not awesome, but it is fascinating. Second, the region administered fewer doses last week than it has in months. Again, not awesome, but I think to be expected. Like I said last week, the shift away from mass vaccination sites to clever, targeted vaccination efforts will come with a slower vaccination rate. That means more “work” per vaccine given, but it’s still good and important work. Third, here’s the graph our our steady march to “regional herd immunity” which is not really a thing, but tracking our progress to having 70% of the region with at least one dose is still useful I think. Remember: If you haven’t gotten your shot yet, you can head over to George Wythe High School on Wednesdays and get your one-and-done Johnson & Johnson vaccine with absolutely zero appointment or forethought required.City Council has a heckin' busy day today. First, at their informal meeting, they’ll host Director of Public Works Bobby Vincent to discuss the annual paving plan. Sounds boring, but, remember, the budget now contains a single “complete streets” bucket from which they’ll handle paving, traffic calming, and bike- and pedestrian-related projects. This is, theoretically, an efficient and smart way to handle things: Pave a road, stripe a bike lane at the same time. It does, however, mean that the rollout of critical projects to make our streets safer for people sometimes relies on where and when the City decides to pave. You can see the map of the city’s pavement conditions here, which is how DPW prioritizes paving. I don’t know how they sub-prioritize withinconditions, though. Like, I’d pave 100 “poor” streets on the Southside before tackling the “very poor” streets in Windsor Farms. After their informal meeting, Council will move into the formal portion of their night and try to tackle an existing agendaAND approve the Richmond Public Schools budget. Of note, Council will consider the legislation to put all future American Rescue Plan money into a special reserve so they can have a bit more control over it than they did with the CARES Act money (ORD. 2021–105). Also, they’ll vote on finalizing the process for “the final disposition…of certain Confederate monuments” (RES. 2021-R025). If you want to give a public comment on the schools-portion of the budget, tonight is your night!A small casino update: The two remaining casino competitors, Cornish and Urban One, have updated their information sheets on the City’s website. I have a hard time telling what’s changed and what some of the marketing speak means. For example, what does “$200 million in additional upfront/ongoing payments to support critical city services” mean? Is that just, like, real estate taxes over 30 years or additional, cash payments to the City? Also here’s this small timeline update from the same press release: “The city’s Resort Casino Evaluation Panel is now entering into the negotiation phase of the evaluation process with the objective of making a recommendation to Mayor Stoney before the end of May on a recommended operator, location and negotiated terms.”Virginia’s Republican Party used ranked choice voting this past weekend to pick their nominee for Attorney General—and that’s pretty cool (the ranked choice part)! Terrifyingly, though, Jason Miyares narrowly defeated Chuck Smith, who you can see in this picture standing next to Amanda Chase holding an assault rifle. Mel Leonor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has all the details of how the convention went, if you’re interested. I don’t know anything about the internal dynamics of the Republican Party of Virginia, but the tight AG race would make me nervous that Amanda Chase has an actual chance of picking up the gubernatorial nomination.During the deep-pandemic lockdown, I read a bunch of post apocalyptic books, and I kept thinking about how I would need to find a way to make coffee or tea after the collapse of society. That led me to discover yaupon, America’s only native caffeine-producing plant. John Reid Blackwell at the RTD has a nice write up from this past weekend on Frank Community Farm, a local farm that grows yaupon and handles all the hard work of turning it into tea for you. This is a good stopgap—for now—but if you want to corner the post-apocalyptic morning drink market, you’ll need to get to planting some yaupon in a green space near you.This morning’s longreadThe Case for Moving Back to Your HometownHome, family, and tradition—however you create and define those things—have always been more exciting and attractive to me than big-city adventure.I am wired for coming home in the same way it is assumed we are wired for leaving. Any adventure that lures me out is no match for the ties that draw me home again. I come home in the way you’d fall asleep after a day spent in the heat of the sun—before you know it’s happened, before you know you want to. Half the pang of growing up for me was realizing that I’d somehow have to create a sense of home wherever I went, that for all the effort I spent trying to leave, all I would ever want to do is figure out homecomings, ways of returning to the place where I feel the most like me.If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.Picture of the DayI keep finding these amazing nature spots within walking distance from my house.

Charlottesville's Blue Ribbon Commission have requested the city council to immediately cover the monuments in preparation for their removal; A task force working on creating a civilian review board in Richmond for police misconduct is looking for public input; Richmond Public Schools will be holding in-person graduations this Spring, thanks to a drop in COVID-19 cases and an increase in vaccination rates; and other local news stories.

Rodney has over 20 years experience as an educator with Richmond Public Schools. He graduated from King William High School in rural Virginia in 1996. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Virginia State University in 2000 and a master’s in educational administration and Supervision from VCU in 2011.  He started teaching at Virgie […]

Good morning, RVA! It’s 47 °F, and today you can expect temperatures in the 70s with a good chance for rain this evening. Maybe even a severe thunderstorm? Either way, I hope we get enough of a downpour to wash my neighborhood clean of pollen! It’s getting ridiculous out there.Water coolerAs of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 2,048 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealthand 20 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 259 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 116, Henrico: 104, and Richmond: 39). Since this pandemic began, 1,249 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state is now 1,615.Yesterday’s big vaccine news was the FDA and CDC’s decision to recommend that everyone pause administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to six cases of an extremely rare blood clotting situation paired with low levels of blood platelets. The Virginia Department of Health followed suit as did the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts.First, it’s really important to note that this is six total cases out of 6.8 million folks who have gotten the J&J vaccine (of which I am one!). Six divided by 6.8 million is a tiny, tiny number, and you do far more risky things each and every day without even thinking about it. I know it’s not quite the same thing, but it’s helpful to actually see the “risk levels” of some of your day-to-day activities to put six-in-6.8 million into context. So, via the National Safety Council, here are your odds of dying from various things: lightning, 1 in 138,849; cataclysmic storm, 1 in 58,669; riding your bike, 1 in 3,825; walking around town, 1 in 543; and driving a car, 1 in 107. In fact, using bad, unscientific math that’s not adjusted for anything, about 1 in 833 Virginians have died from COVID-19 over the last year of this pandemic. So while the risk of taking the J&J vaccine is not zero (although it is pretty dang close), there is definitely risk in not taking it or one of the other COVID-19 vaccines.Second, I think the main reason for this announcement and pause is not for the folks getting vaccinated but for the healthcare providers who may need to treat this extremely rare adverse reaction. From the FDA+CDC announcement: “Treatment of this specific type of blood clot is different from the treatment that might typically be administered. Usually, an anticoagulant drug called heparin is used to treat blood clots. In this setting, administration of heparin may be dangerous, and alternative treatments need to be given.”Third, this announcement was scary! I was scared when I read it, and I’m sure lots of other folks who got the J&J shot were also scared. Walking through the above numbers helped, listening to some of my coworkers explain how this pause is a good indication that the vaccine monitoring process is actually working helped, and knowing the symptoms of this rare blood clotting situ helped, too (severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination). Also, watching this soothing video of Dr. Fauci explaining everything was going to be OK also helped. So, if you’re scared, I definitely get it, but, like Fauci says, “The people who have already gotten the vaccine should not be worried because…this is a very rare event.”Kenya Hunter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports on Richmond Public Schools' plans for the fall, which don’t surprise me. The District plans on opening up buildings for full, five-day-a-week, in-person instruction. This part was new to me, though: “RPS will not be directly providing virtual instruction for sixth- through 12th-graders who opt out of in-person learning. Instead, those students will enroll in Virtual Virginia, which is run by the Virginia Department of Education, and RPS will pay $350 per course for those students.” As you’d probably guess, students will be expected to wear masks, keep their distance, do daily symptom checks—the whole shebang. This is what life will look like for a while, I think. Still, though, six hundred times better than another year of entirely virtual school, right?Does a story about a deer pandemic make you feel better or worse? Worse, I think, right? The Virginia Mercury’s Sarah Vogelsong introduces me to Chronic Wasting Disease, which “has been slowly penetrating white-tailed deer populations in the state’s northwestern counties, worrying wildlife officials who know the disease has no cure but hope to contain it as much as possible.” The word “zombie” appears in this article at least once.Lucy Dacus, who is, like, an actual famous musician from Richmond, has a new video out shot in places you will definitely recognize. Great tune, too.This morning’s longreadDeSantis wants voters’ signatures to match. Would his pass the test?I love this kind of reporting! Republicans: Just say you want fewer people to vote and stop with these stupid shenanigans.Some election officials say limiting signature samples could make it harder to authenticate the identities of voters who choose to cast their ballot by mail. Signatures change over time, they say, and are often affected by the choice of pen, the writing surface, fatigue or a person’s health. A new requirement for a one-to-one match could lead to more rejected ballots. DeSantis’ own John Hancock has undergone a transformation during his time in government, as demonstrated by 16 of his signatures compiled by the Tampa Bay Times from publicly available sources between 2008 and now.If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.Picture of the Day