Good morning, RVA: Baby vax event horizon, river islands, and breakfast for dinner

The James River is our very best thing, and folks shouldn't be able to buy
and hoard that for themselves.

Good morning, RVA! It's 68 °F, and we've got another hot day ahead of us. Unlike yesterday, it looks like we'll avoid sudden downpours, but you should again expect highs in the 90s and lots of sweaty backs—including your own, probably! Stay hydrated, y'all.

Water cooler

Yesterday, an FDA advisory committee recommended that the agency authorize a Moderna vaccine for children aged 6–17. That decision, which probably doesn't change much for many folks, sets the stage for today's meeting, when the same group will consider both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for the littlest of children—all the way down to 6-months-old. Should the FDA authorize these baby vaccines, the next step in the ancient and honored process will be for ACIP, a CDC advisory committee, to take a look. ACIP has meetings scheduled this coming Friday and Saturday, which means, if everything goes according to plan, come next week everyone—regardless of age, health, or vocation—will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Kind of a surreal moment for me! It sure has taken a long, long time to get here.

I know I said I hate writing about municipal branding campaigns unless they're especially bold, but Pulitzer Prize Winner Michael Paul Williams wrote up his take on the newly launched Richmond Real campaign, and you should read it. To quote a bit, "The people enduring these circumstances don’t need branding; they need a break. They need affordable housing, better schools, safe neighborhoods, healthy food access and more hope than a slogan can provide. And that’s what’s real." As for the cost of the campaign, I don't know that the $450,000 spent on this new branding could have even made a dent in our housing crisis or the issues facing our schools; I don't think it's an either-or type of situation. However, I do wonder which department's budget it came out of, though, and what else that department has on their priority list.

Karri Peifer at Axios Richmond has a frustrating overview of who owns which James River islands. I've written about this before, but I strongly believe the City (or County) should own the River's islands and that those natural places should either stay wild or become thoughtful public space. The James River is our very best thing that we can all share and experience! Folks shouldn't be able to buy and hoard that for themselves.

The City updated their legislative website after Monday's meeting, and, as foretold, City Council continued all of the legislation I've got my eye on except the gun buyback program (ORD. 2022-169) and an ordinance related to the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground I mentioned yesterday (ORD. 2022-157)—both of which were adopted. We're about to hit the deep-summer legislative lull, and Council has already kicked some of the more interesting items on their agenda to September. I guess I'll just have to find some other website to obsessively check each morning!

The pink cursive "You Belong Here" on the side of the ICA on Broad Street will flicker a final time this coming Sunday. I don't think I realized that this work was temporary, and I'm interested in what fills that space next. I'm gotten so used to it as a striking part of the streetscape!

Via /r/rva, and important thread: Where are the best spots in town to get breakfast for dinner? I think I've got first-hand experience with all of the spots currently listed, but it's a nice refresher, because, as we all know, breakfast for dinner is one of life's very best things.

This morning's longread
A New Way to Curb the Rise of Oversized Pickups and SUVs

I love this idea of adding hefty, weight-based registration fees to vehicles with the hopes of discouraging folks from buying heavy, tall, enormous, and deadly trucks. I don't think we'd ever get something like this passed at the state level under Virginia's current administration, but I wonder if localities have the authority to do something like this on their own. Cities cannot create new taxes without the State's permission, but they've got a teeny bit more freedom around requiring new fees. Some intrepid City Council liaison should start doing some research!

D.C.’s approach revolves around vehicle registration fees, the modest amounts that residents pay to state departments of motor vehicles in order to legally operate their car or truck. Some states set a flat fee (Maine, for instance, charges $35 per year) while others adjust theirs based on the age of the car (Idaho charges $45 to $69 per year). A handful of states lightly scale registration costs to vehicle weight, including Florida, which collects $22.50 annually for cars under 3,500 pounds and $10 extra for those weighing more. A unique city/state hybrid, Washington, D.C., has historically imposed some of the highest vehicle registration fees in the United States. At present, registering a vehicle under 3,500 pounds costs $72 per year, rising to $115 for those between 3,500 and 5,000 pounds, and maxing out at $155 for heavier models. But Councilmember Cheh believes that that carmakers’ addiction to adding weight and height demands a regulatory rethink.

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