Good morning, RVA: 1,506 • 19; booster shots; and a new public space

Good morning, RVA! It’s 39 °F, and a bit cooler. Expect highs in the mid 60s today and for most of the weekend. I think we’ll avoid any rain, so spend some time outside if you can. It’ll be hard, but NBC12’s Andrew Freiden says to wait a couple more weeks before putting in your vegetable garden.

Water cooler

The Richmond Police Department reports a murder on the 500 block of N. 30th Street. At 1:10 PM this past Sunday, officers were called to the scene and found Albert Harvey Jr., a man in his 30s, shot to death.

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 1,415 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealthand 19 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 160 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 67, Henrico: 52, and Richmond: 41). Since this pandemic began, 1,251 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 1,506. Here is this week’s stacked graph of new reported cases, hospitalizations, and deaths—with one major change. I set the y-axis on the new reported cases graph back to this summer’s value (a max of 2,000), and, whoa, eye-opening. I think our brains see a year’s worth of coronacases, flattened by this winter’s massive peak and think we’ve made a lot of progress. Looking at the data this way, though, at least for me, really put things in perspective. Here’s the graph of combined new reported cases in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield scaled the same way. If you’ve been putting off getting your vaccine, look at these graphs and then go pre-register on vaccinate.virginia.gov today. OK?

Sounds like it’s more and more likely that we’ll all need at least a booster shot of our coronavirus vaccine, and possibly a yearly vaccination to pair with the flu shot. It’s unclear, at least this week, what that means for J&Jers as the FDA decide whether or not to unpause use of the one-shot vaccine. Yesterday, Dr. Fauci said “[the pause was] an indication that the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration take safety very seriously. I hope they make the conclusion of this quickly, and get back on track…and I believe they will.” Locally, Sabrina Moreno at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a nice recap of what’s going on in Richmond and Henrico—vaccinewise—that’s worth reading as we head into the weekend.

Huge news! The City, Capital Region Land Conservancy, the Conservation Fund, and the James River Association announced that CRLC will acquire 3011 and 3021 Dock Street and, ultimately, transfer that property to the City. You might know 3011 and 3021Dock Street as the properties adjacent to Great Shiplock Park—aka the section of the Capital Trail currently plopped down on the street and protected by jersey barriers. Once all the legal stuff gets worked out later this summer, we’ll end up with a fully public, fully connected riverfront and Capital Trail. I’m not a Richmond Riverfront Master Plan expert, but I don’t think the Downriver portion of the plan even considered this space since it was privately owned—it’s marked as a combination of “development” and “new open space” in the PDF. I’m stoked about this, and excited to see what happens out that way. Mike Platania at Richmond BizSense has more details.

If you’re taking the bus this morning, be prepare for delays. GRTC’s Twitter account reports “many routes are currently not on the road this morning,” and that routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 18, 20, 29, 82, 86, 88, and 95 are impacted in one way or another. Yikes, that’s a lot of routes!

Remember back in 2011 when VCU’s men’s basketball team made it all the way to the Final Four? Shocking, amazing stuff. Here’s a fun oral history of that handful of weekends ten years ago. Definitely set aside some time this weekend to flip through the stories and photos from a once-in-a-lifetime moment.

This morning’s patron longread

The Fast and the Family

Submitted by Patron Sean. Maybe the Fast and the Furious franchise is less about fast cars and more about feelings and family??

You might even forget about the hijacking plot because what actually matters to the story is whether Dom will accept Brian into his circle of trust. Cars are the literal vehicle through which they negotiate their relationship. Because it’s a series about cars, right? Fast cars. Furious even! Even the cars have feelings, or are feelings. Before Brian utters his first line, he revs his engine. The action genre negotiates male friendship through objects (read: usually women), but The Fast and the Furious tweaks this dynamic. Racing isn’t where characters displace their affection, it’s where they prove it.

If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.

Picture of the Day

Show-off azaleas.