Good morning, RVA: Welcome back!, a collective bargaining compromise, and building over a view

Welcome back to myself!

Good morning, RVA! It's 74 °F, and highs today will settle in the sweaty mid-90s. Looks like we could catch an afternoon storm, so if you’ve gotta commute home, keep an eye on the sky. The rest of the week looks hot, with temperatures slowly, steadily increasing as we approach the weekend.

Water cooler

Hello, and welcome back to myself! I took the last two weeks to rest, relax, ride a bike almost every morning, and play rummy with my family every evening. It was delightful, and I strongly recommended it if you can make it happen. While voluntarily trapped on Hilton Head Island for a fortnight, I did follow Richmond’s news from afar—so I’m not totally out of the loop. Here are just a handful of things that may now be old news, but I wanted to make sure I put down in the GMRVA historical record:

On Friday, July 1st, the Richmond Police Department was required to post this tweet thread retracting their—now admittedly false—rationalization for tear gassing peaceful protestors during the summer of 2020. Here’s the important bit: “There were no RPD officers cut off by violent protestors at Lee Monument. There was no need for gas at Lee Monument to get RPD officers to safety.” Then, on July 4th, seven people were murdered in Highland Park, Illinois at a mass shooting during an Independence Day parade. On July 6th, RPD released this statement about a “planned mass shooting for July 4th” at, apparently, Dogwood Dell. Since that statement’s release—just a handful of days after admitting to lying to the public about tear gassing peaceful protestors—all sorts of inconsistencies in the RPD’s story have started to pop up. Jon Baliles has a full rundown in his newsletter, but, most worryingly to me: The police didn’t update the Mayor until July 5th. I don’t know where this story goes next, but it certainly feels like trust in Richmond’s police department is at an all-time low.
Jonathan Spiers at Richmond BizSense reported that NewMarket Corp will build a 7,500-seat amphitheater on their big, green hillside right behind Tredegar. Two things to note: First, this development is by-right, so no opportunities for folks to queue up at Planning Commission or City Council and yell about noise or parking or whatever other thing; Second, Coran Capshaw is involved (manager of Dave Matthews Band, Phish, and others), which, for me, lends immediate legitimacy to the project.
The UVA Weldon Cooper Center released their updated statewide population projections for 2030, 2040, and 2050. In the time-honored tradition practiced by all Virginians, scroll down to the bottom of the table to find the list of the Commonwealth’s independent cities. At some point between 2030 and 2040, Richmond will hit 250,000 residents!

OK, now on to new news! Today, Richmond’s City Council will hold a special meeting to introduce a new collective bargaining paper. Councilmember Jordan, in her newsletter, says that both Council and the Mayor have agreed to this new paper, so after months of continuing the two competing papers, I imagine this one will quickly pass. The City hasn’t yet posted the actual language of the new compromise on their website yet, so we’ll have to wait until this afternoon to find out which group of City employees end up with collective bargaining rights.

Mike Platania at Richmond BizSense reports that developers want to build a couple tall-for-Richmond towers in Manchester...right in front of Legend Brewing and their view of the city skyline. I imagine folks are going to be pretty unhappy about this, but, honestly, it was only a matter of time. That land is just too valuable to sit empty or under-used. The new towers would add 525 new homes to the area, too much parking, and, what’s sure to be, a spectacular view of the city from the roof.

The new, national 988 mental health emergency hotline launched in Virginia this past Saturday. The Virginia Mercury’s Kate Masters reports on the general gist and what folks can expect out of the hotline in Virginia. Sounds like our current 988 system is a great start but definitely something the Commonwealth (and localities!) will want to refine, expand, and further support moving forward.

I’ve written about a couple of these green infrastructure projects at local libraries as they wind their way through various legislative bodies, but Ian M. Stewart at VPM has a nice, regional overview. Libraries lead the way on so many things, so it’s not surprising that they’re out in front on green infrastructure, storm water mitigation, and climate-resilient design.

The folks at RICtoday caught this piece in the New York Time about Gregory L. Robinson, director of the James Webb Space Telescope Program. Robinson grew up in Danville, and earned a math degree at Virginia Union University!

This morning's longread
Why Other Countries Have Better Sunscreen

This is mostly just a reminder to myself that I need to Always Be Wearing Sunscreen.

“In the medical community, there is a significant frustration about the lack of availability of some of the sunscreen active ingredients,” Henry Lim, a dermatologist at Henry Ford Health, in Michigan, told me. The more filters are available to formulators, the more they can be mixed and matched in new ways, which stands to improve not just the efficacy of the final product, but how it feels and looks on your skin, and how easy it is to apply. On a very real level, making sunscreen less onerous to use can make it more effective. “The best sunscreen is going to be the one you’re going to use often and according to the directions,” Dobos said. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States, and by one estimate, one in five Americans will develop it in their lifetime.

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