Good morning, RVA: COVID-19, monkeypox, and the Moonlight ride

I don't know if this newsletter can handle tracking data for two public
health emergencies.

Good morning, RVA! It's 74 °F, and it. is. Friday! Today you can expect highs in the low 90s, lots of humidity, and more of the same over the next several days. If you've got outside plans, I hope they're in the morning or the evening. Remember: hydrate or diedrate!

Water cooler

Once again, Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield remain in the high COVID-19 Community Level, with 7-day average case rates per 100,000 people at 258, 287, and 266 respectively. New COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 in the region hit 14.3. Yes it is hot out, yes your face is already sweaty enough, and yes you should still wear a mask in indoors public spaces according to current CDC guidance (which may change soon?). There's just a lot of COVID-19 floating around out there, y'all. Fall boosters can't come soon enough.

Also disease-related, yesterday the White House declared monkeypox a public health emergency, opening up more access to federal funding and support for state and local monkeypox response efforts. So far, in Virginia, we’ve seen 122 confirmed monkeypox cases, with 7 in the Central Region (a big group of localities that includes Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield). The majority of those cases continue to show up in men who have sex with men, but, it's important to remember that anyone can get monkeypox with the right kind of exposure. The Richmond and Henrico Health District have put together a vaccine interest form if you think you might be at high risk for monkeypox, and the Virginia Department of Health has a nice information page if you’d like to learn more.

The finals of the RVA Sweep 16 tournament—you know, to name an adorable bike lane street sweeper—close out today! You have just a few more hours to cast your vote in the epic contest between...The Grim Sweeper and MF BROOM. While the latter is, admittedly, a very clever choice, the former really lends itself to just the most metal logo, doesn't it?

Look at this interesting email from the City I found in my inbox this morning: "The City of Richmond, at the request of our longstanding community partner, Urban One, is preparing to file a petition to remove the casino referendum from the November 2022 ballot. Understanding Urban One’s reasoning, the City stands ready to move the proposed One Casino + Resort forward in 2023. This temporary delay will not deter Urban One or the City of Richmond from working together to ensure a bright future for our residents. We are committed to continuing to build community and creating jobs and opportunities for all Richmonders." To me, this sounds like The Lawyers finally decided that the General Assembly actually did prevent Richmond from holding a second casino referendum this year and that it needs to wait another election cycle. Pushing the Casino 2.0 vote out until 2023 at the earliest—when we elect all the state Senators and House of Delegates members—means a much bigger turnout than 2022’s relatively off-year election and likely, depending on where we end up on abortion in Virginia, an even bigger turnout than normal. My uninformed take is that turnout is bad for the Casino 2.0 effort, so we'll have to wait and see if we actually end up with a second referendum in 2023 or not. You never know what you'll find in your inbox when you wake up in the morning!

Tonight, starting around 8:00 PM, Sportsbackers will host the Moonlight Ride! This means, come nightfall, Hermitage and Lakeside will completely close to vehicle traffic (including a GRTC bus or two) and fill with people on bikes of all ages. It's one of my favorite events—riding at night, in the summer, without having to worry about getting killed by a driver! So good. You can still register if this sounds awesome (it is definitely awesome).

This morning's longread
For My Next Death-Defying Stunt, I Will Ride My Bike in This Bike Lane

Too real, McSweeney's, too real.

Get ready, folks. Prepare yourselves for terror. For thrills. For a hair-raising ride through the clutches of death, where the only thing separating me from a barrage of speeding midday traffic is a thin, fading line of paint. Prepare yourselves for my next death-defying stunt, where I will be riding my bike in—THE BIKE LANE. Will the people screaming in the audience please calm down? Your fright will not dissuade me!

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