Tax Rebates, Pepper Spray, and Francine is Missing
Cheers RVA!
Today will be cloudy with occasional rain showers, with a high of 75 and a low of 65. The rest of the week is looking mild, with partly cloudy skies and highs in the low 70’s.
the juice:
Francine, the beloved cat who resides at the Lowe’s on West Broad Street, has been missing since last week after apparently wandering onto a truck bound for North Carolina.
An Instagram account with more than 5k followers has been created to help locate Francine.
She is microchipped and was last sighted at the Garysburg, NC, distribution center.
the pulp:
Five vape shops in the Richmond area were raided last week as part of a national crackdown on the industry, according to the Richmonder.
A fan was pepper sprayed by a sheriff’s deputy after attempting to climb on stage towards the end of a Turnstile concert on Brown’s Island, from styleweekly. An investigation into the incident has been opened.
Virginia tax rebates are on the way, with individual filers set to receive $200, with joint-filers eligible to receive up to $400. You must file by November 3 to receive the rebate. Check your eligibility here.
the dive:
RVA’s Got Issues dives into the proliferation of vape shops with RVAMag creator R. Anthony Harris.
The conversation covers a number of issues regarding vape shops, including a new law set to take effect at the end of the year that will restrict the sale of vape products to only those listed by a directory established by the Attorney General.
Regarding regulation and the future of the market, Harris says:
…Anybody that wants to create a better vape product than the ones that are already FDA approved will have to have so much money to get those things approved that in the foreseeable future, you won’t see a lot of those. Right? So that allows the ones that have that control to maybe raise prices, you know, they’re gonna control the market, right. So it’s a really, it’s kind of a complicated thing, you know, and it’s a personal thing. I, I want people to be safe. I don’t want vape shops across from schools. You don’t want to get 13 year-olds hooked on nicotine because that’s a lifelong problem. But you also want fairness in the market. Whatever you think of these vape shop owners, they still put their money up and a lot of them, [the] majority of them, I will say, want to have a good business. I would say the bad players are not the majority.
View the transcript and listen to the podcast here.
the vibe:
Have an intrepid day RVA!
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