Summer School Speed Cameras, an Audit, and Stonewall on Stonewall
Cheers RVA!
Today will be hot and humid with a high of 90 and a low of 74, with a continued chance of an afternoon thunderstorm. The weekend is expected to be similar, with highs in the low 90’s.
the juice:
The Office of the City Auditor has released a thorough audit of the city’s purchasing card program.
Between July 2022 and May of 2024, the program (which included 348 active cards across 38 departments) processed over 43k p-card transactions totaling $20.7 million.
The report found a lack of effective internal control and having only one employee making final approval further weakened the approval process.
Of the 20.7 million in transactions processed, the review “revealed at least $5 million in questionable transactions across multiple City departments and vendors, which were referred to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for further review.”
A number of corrective actions have already been taken, including reducing the number of active p-cards to 67 and limiting purchases to “mission-critical functions.”
the pulp:
Automated speed cameras will be active in Chesterfield for Summer School with runs Monday-Thursdays until July 17, via WTVR.
The 18th-annual RVA Latino Festival will take place today from 7:00 - 11:00 pm and on Saturday from noon to 11:00 pm at the Parroquia del Sagrado Corazon (Sacred Heart Parish) at 1400 Perry Street, via WRIC.
Stonewall on Stonewall, a LGBTQ+ celebration in Woodland Heights, will take place on Saturday from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. The event marks the 56th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village in 1969.
the dive:
A wet spring is keeping crops in Virginia growing despite recent excessive heat, according to Shannon Heckt at the Mercury.
Heckt writes:
Virginia’s largest commodities include corn, soybeans, cotton, peanuts and wheat. In the summer, crops are pollinating but high heat reduces the pollen survival rate, which could impact yields down the road.
“When it comes to corn there’s research that’s been done that says for every day you’re above 90 degrees consecutively you can have a 3-5% reduction in yield during bloom period,” said Matthew Chappell, director of Virginia Tech’s Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
Read the full article here.
the vibe:
Have a fruitful day RVA!
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