A Hot Weekend, A Dock Street Park Survey, and Community Fridges
Cheers RVA!
Today will be hot. Tomorrow will be hot. Sunday will be hot.
Sunny with highs in the mid-90’s.
Stay hydrated, and hopefully we will get some rain on Monday.
the juice:
The James River Park System is asking for feedback on the new Dock Street Park. You can fill out the form here.
The survey uses the rankings format, but it’s a little tricky as not all the columns were viewable without scrolling. It takes 1-2 minutes.
Also, Monday’s newsletter included a survey to submit ideas for the participatory budget.
Oddly enough when I revisited that survey I noticed I could view all the responses including emails and phone numbers and even change some of the settings.
I notified the organization and noticed later the survey responses were no longer visible. Weird stuff, and not the ideal look for a city organization asking for community feedback.
If you still have ideas for how Richmond spends $3 million on community-decided projects, that survey is here.
the pulp:
John Marshall High School needs $2.5 million in repairs, Richmond report finds, from channel 6
New Virginia laws taking effect July 1 from channel 8:
Two regarding guns (no auto-sears, and making it a felony for gun owners who allow a child who poses a potential risk to have access to a firearm)
Making Virginia College legacy admissions illegal
Allowing localities to set speed limits as low as 15 mph in residential and business districts
Cat declawing will now be illegal (with some exceptions)
Roadkill will now be able to be claimed by someone other than the owner of the vehicle that struck the animal
Independent Prison Oversight
The legislation, proposed in identical bills from Democrats, sets up a prison ombudsman office with the authority to subpoena the Virginia Department of Corrections for records that will share information with incarcerated people and others about their rights, inspect state facilities and more.
Petersburg will hold a referendum on a Casino but Richmond will not after twice rejecting the idea. Thank you General Assembly for legally allowing our city to not vote again on a casino?
Regarding the casino this feels like pure NIMBYism, and the way the Petersburg City Council shadily selected the developer also raises eyebrows.
We’ll see how the referendum goes but based on how close the original Richmond referendum was (<2% difference), my guess is it’s likely to pass in Petersburg.
the dive:
I just recently learned about RVA Community Fridges while reading about the impending heat wave and the effects on those who may not be able to find relief from the heat.
Community Fridges is a “mutual aid group aimed at combating food insecurity throughout and around Richmond, VA.”
They have 14 fridges around town they are typically located by a small business.
What a cool idea! Learn more about RVA Community Fridges here.
the vibe:
New word: ombudsman.
As long as we are using new words, have an unsweltering weekend RVA!
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