Shootings, a Short Story, and Sunflowers
Cheers RVA!
Today will be mostly sunny but cooler with a high of 80, before we hit the 90’s this weekend. Enjoy it!
the juice:
Military families rip “ugly side of Virginia’s government” at task force meeting from Graham Moomaw at the Virginia Mercury.
The VMSDEP program provides tuition waivers for spouses or children of those killed or seriously disabled as a result of their service. The program has increased 350% in the past 5 years, from 1400 to 6400 students.
The program qualifications were altered to reduce some of the costs, and included in the budget the General Assembly passed and the Governor signed.
The trimming of the program has upset military families potentially losing eligibility, and the GA is planning to reconvene later this month to revisit the issue.
the pulp:
Henrico county police identified the cyclist killed last Friday night on Staples Mill, and released a statement saying “Investigators believe dark-colored attire, alcohol and failure to obey a red light by Mr. Miller contributed to this crash.” Henrico Police also reminds the community free reflective vests are available at multiple locations in the county.
Four teens are among five people shot after two shootings in Downtown Richmond that happened less than three hours apart on Sunday night, from 12 on your side. Both shootings took place on North 2nd Street, the first near Broad and the second on the 1100 block. The first shooting’s audio was captured on dashcam, you can view the eerie video here.
The empty lot downtown that Dominion owns will soon re-open sidewalks and adjacent traffic lanes, from Bizsense. (of note: Bizsense articles will now be behind the paywall after 24 hours rather than the previous 30 days.)
the dive:
Cameron Ritter over at RVA Mag published a short story entitled:
“Booze, Bombs, and Backyard Politics: The Strange Theater of American Suburbia”
It’s a short read, less than 5 minutes, was thought-provoking and made me chuckle a bit. Here’s an excerpt:
The war had little to do with America, but that didn’t stop DC from getting a piece of the action. The news was beaming: stocks were up, earnings were up, 401ks and pensions were up. Boardrooms were happy. So my guess was the men in suits would take their time negotiating. I’d bet on the over.
the vibe:
Scott from Oregon Hill News posted some sunflowers along cemetery fence:
Have a sunny day RVA!
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