Good morning, RVA: 1,126↗️ • 11↗️; bikes & trains; and a long weekend

Good morning, RVA! It’s 75 °F, and today, while hot, will not melt the soles off your PF Flyers like yesterday. Expect even cooler and more pleasant temperatures throughout the long weekend. Get out there and enjoy it!

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 1,126↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 11↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 202↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 39, Henrico: 86, and Richmond: 77). Since this pandemic began, 326 people have died in the Richmond region. I think this is just the second time the three localities have reported a combined number of new cases over 200. Also, I’ve finally put together some graphs for VCU’s data. Keep in mind the numbers are small and there aren’t many of them, so these are just baby graphs compared to the ones I make from six months worth of statewide data. That said, here’s active student and employee cases over last two weeks—remember that this number can fluctuate, and even drop, while new cases are identified. And here’s total (meaning both student and employee) new cases reported each day plus the beginnings of a seven-day average.

All of that work to raise the meals tax back in 2018 paid off yesterday when the Mayor handed over the keys to Cardinal Elementary, Henry Marsh Elementary, and River City Middle to the schools' principals. The new schools have a combined capacity of 3,250 students for families living in the East End and on the Southside. This picture best captures the vibe. Look at what taxes do! We increased a tax and did a thing! It’s wild how that works. I’m just spitballing here, but I wonder if we could do otherthings if we thought about reforming our regressive, anemic, and austere real estate tax? 🤔

James Faris at Richmond BizSense has a really interesting look at how the various reopening plans of schools—both public and private—have impacted enrollment. I think it’s way too early to make any definitive calls about, well, almost anything, but I’m glad someone has started keeping track of this sort of data. You don’t often get to run the “what if kids just didn’t go to school” experiment.

The Department of Rail and Public Transportation announced that the project to replace the incredibly literal Long Bridge has finished the environmental planning process. This is a big deal because, as I understand it, the Long Bridge currently bottlenecks all rail traffic in and out of D.C., and it needs replacing before Richmond gets true high-speed rail to points north. Don’t get your hopes up for catching a fast train to NYC any time soon, though. Completion of the environmental planning process just “opens the door for the final engineering design, financing, and construction of Long Bridge.” So, like, it’ll happen, but we may have flying trains by that point.

Bike Walk RVA needs your help counting bikes and pedestrians during the month of September. It’s an oddly-specific volunteer opportunity that they host twice a year and helps demonstrate to decision-makers the impact actual bike and pedestrian infrastructure has on the way people move around the city. Build new protected spaces for people to walk, roll, or bike and, turns out, more folks end up walking, rolling, or biking. This should not shock anyone, but sometimes elected officials want to see that hard data before supporting the next great infrastructure project in their district. Here’s the report Bike Walk RVA put together from last year’s data, and here’s where you can sign up to help collect data this year.

For those of you itching to watch the next meeting of the Mayor’s Task Force to Reimagine Public Safety, you can tune in today at 3:00 PM over on the City’s Facebook page. These meetings typically pop up on the City’s YouTube a day or two later if you’re not looking to spend a couple hours of your Friday afternoon watching a public meeting—gotta save those for the weekend!

You know I can’t resists posts like this on /r/rva: Who makes the best cinnamon bun in Richmond? I kind of agree with the top poster: Cinnamon buns are pretty easy to make at home. If you’re a garbage person like me, you underbake them on purpose so that they’re extra gooey. Paul Hollywood would definitely not approve.

Logistical note! Monday is a federal holiday, so I’ll be sleeping in—or at least spending my early morning just reading the news rather than writing about it. I hope you get a chance to enjoy this coming weekend’s weather, and we’ll reconvene in this space on Tuesday!

This morning’s patron longread

The Convenient Truth of Rotisserie Chicken

Submitted by Patron Matthew. So delicious, so cheap, so easy, but is there a dark secret hiding under its wonderfully salty skin? Kind of!

At Costco, the wholesale supermarket chain founded in 1983 with 785 locations in the United States, rotisserie chickens have been widely reported to be a “loss leader” at $4.99 each; they’re sold for less than they cost, but they are there to lure you into the store, so you can buy other goods (at a profit to the company) while you’re shopping. (Representatives at Costco declined to comment for this article.) At many other supermarkets selling cut-rate rotisserie birds, the same strategy has been in place for decades. A spokesperson for Kroger, a supermarket chain with nearly 3,000 stateside locations, says that their rotisserie chicken program began in the 1980s: “Hot rotisserie chickens are a prepared food mainstay for many households,” she added.

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