Bond Sales, Blood Pressure Testing, and the Shockoe Institute
Cheers RVA!
Today will be a bit cloudy with a high of 83. The weekend looks to be mostly sunny, with highs in the upper 80’s.
the juice:
Richmond has sold $130 million in bonds for the Diamond District stadium.
While the city said in a news release the 3.99% interest rate was lower than the expected 4.25% rate, saving the city $11 million, the city had said earlier in the spring the rate would be roughly 4%, according to the RTD.
Richmond’s recent upgrade by Fitch Ratings to a AAA bond rating allows the city to pay lower interest rates.
Site work is expected to begin in August with construction beginning in the fall, and an expected completion date by the 2026 season.
While the Squirrels are sitting in second to last in their division, they did have the largest attendance numbers of any of the 30 teams in Double-A baseball in 2023.
the pulp:
Channel 6 reports on how local libraries provide not only access to knowledge of health care, but blood pressure testing services as well. The American Heart Association has partnered with local libraries to provide 35 upper-arm automated validated devices among it’s nine branches. The devices can even be checked out.
State lawmakers are looking to make filing taxes in Virginia easier and free, from 12 on your side. Currently 12 states allow taxpayers to file with the IRS for free.
the dive:
The Shockoe Institute provided a preview on Thursday of the educational exhibit set to open in 2025 in Main St. Station, via channel 6.
The exhibit will explore Richmond’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, where hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans were bought and sold in Shockoe Bottom.
The president of the Institute, Marland Buckner, notes the challenge of telling the stories while honoring the emotions evoked in the modern day:
That balance has proven to be very, very interesting, as we grapple with incredibly, incredibly difficult content. The sheer brutality of what happened here is overwhelming.
If we can get people to understand the totality of our history, and speak about it candidly — say the things that happened, describe them truthfully, but do so in a way that doesn't weaponize the history but also doesn't gloss it over — we'll be in a much, much better position to have truly informed conversations about what our future should look like.
Read the full article here.
the vibe:
Have a splendid weekend RVA!
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