Cheers RVA!

Today will be mostly sunny and chilly, with a high of 48 and a low of 36.

the juice:

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine joined a bipartisan coalition on Sunday in voting to reopen the government, via the Mercury.

Kaine cited the following reasons in his decision:

The legislation would rehire federal employees who were terminated during the shutdown, provide back pay for all federal employees regardless of status, and include a pledge to prevent future reductions in force for the federal workforce.

Fellow Virginia Senator Mark Warner voted against the compromise.

The stop-gap funding measure cleared the Senate 60-40 and must be passed by the House and signed by the President before the shutdown ends.

the pulp:

• Richmond international airport saw about 8% of flights cancelled on Monday, via WRIC. While no specific reason is given for the cancellations, many of the flights are between RIC and airports with mandatory flight reductions due to the Federal Government shutdown.

• Interim fire chief Jeffrey Segal has been appointed as the permanent Chief of Fire and Emergency Services, via WTVR. Segal served for the Baltimore Fire Department for more than 30 years before joining the Richmond department in 2020.

• Styleweekly has compiled a list of local restaurants, farmers markets, and nonprofits who have volunteered to help with food security as SNAP benefits continue to be at risk. In addition to help from community members, this week the City of Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield Counties have donated $300k to Feed More, Central Virginia’s food bank, which has a network of more than 300 food pantries across the region.

the dive:

The Richmond School Board will decide tonight whether to approve a new collective collective bargaining policy, to reject the proposal, or defer the vote for another month, according to Victoria Ifatusin at the Richmonder.

The school division is seeking to save costs and make certain procedures more efficient, while the unions differ on how the negotiations have gone.

Ifatusin writes:

While some concessions were made and are now reflected in a document recently made available to the public, leaders with the Richmond Education Association, which represents the district’s teachers, were frustrated with how the meetings were structured, according to emails obtained by The Richmonder. 

“The membership, including myself, have not been happy with how this policymaking process has gone,” REA President Andrea Bryant wrote in an email to the superintendent and School Board. “This has led the REA members to vote ‘NO’ to any changes to the resolution without a public process that allows for all stakeholders to have input.”

The School Board is expecting a large turnout, so individual speakers will have two minutes to speak and organizations will have three minutes. Request to speak here (must be completed by noon).

Read the full article here.

the vibe:

Have an irrepressible day RVA!

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