Tax Relief for Small Businesses, Cement on the Interstate, and a Massive Detention Facility
Cheers RVA!
Today will be mostly sunny and hot, with a high of 96 and a low of 75 in the evening. The excessive heat is expected to last one more day with temperatures likely to cool down this weekend.
the juice:
VCU Health has ended all gender-affirming care, via an updated statement on the Children’s Hospital website:
After much consideration and based upon current understanding of federal and state directives, a decision was made on July 29, 2025 to cease providing Gender-Affirming Care at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU for youth under age 19. As has been the case with other children’s hospitals and academic medical centers across the country, this decision comes after a thoughtful and thorough assessment that revealed no other viable options at this time.
VCU Health had previously only suspended gender-affirming surgery and medication back on Jan 30 after an executive order was issued.
the pulp:
City Council voted on Monday to amend an ordinance that increases the threshold for business, professional and occupational licenses from $250k to $500k, meaning businesses with gross receipts from $5k - $500k will only a pay a $30 annual license tax. A press release notes nearly 70% of businesses in Richmond are under the new threshold, whereas previously businesses were paying as much as $2900 in annual licensing fees.
A company registered in Henrico, Acquisition Logistics LLC, has won a $1.2 billion bid to build the largest immigration detention camp in the country at an army base near El Paso, Texas, via the RTD.
A truck containing cement crashed on I-64 West in Goochland near Short Pump on Tuesday, closing westbound lanes near the 288 split, via WTVR. Operations to repave the road are expected to continue through the morning.
the dive:
Sean Jones from the RTD dives into the heat islands suburban sprawl has created over the past few decades, including the Short Pump mall which recently measured surface temperatures of 120 degrees.
Jones writes:
Although the region’s largest “heat islands” are in the city — like large swaths of South Side and the East End — some of the area’s hottest places are in the suburbs.
Some of the hottest suburban areas follow major transportation corridors like Mechanicsville Turnpike, Midlothian Turnpike and Williamsburg Road, and their surrounding neighborhoods.
Those temperatures are 10 to 15 degrees warmer than places like Lakeside in Henrico, or the Rockwood area of Chesterfield.
Read the full article here.
the vibe:
Have a restful day RVA!
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