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Oct. 6 Newsletter: The future of the James

Weather: A lovely fall continues. High of 78.

On this date in 1964, thousands greet "Lady Bird" Johnson, the President's wife, at a whistle-stop campaign appearance as she traversed Virginia by rail.

'It's a place that people want to be': Panelists discuss how the James River parks will evolve

On Sunday afternoon the Richmonder brought together representatives of three major stakeholders — the city, Venture Richmond and Friends of the James River Park — to discuss what the upcoming years will bring, and how to preserve the city's signature attraction. Among the takeways:

  • How Mayo Island's renovation will improve access to the river for groups that have historically been left out
  • Proposed changes to Belle Isle that better tell the story of its history
  • An update on the Pipeline Trail

Read about those topics, and more, here.

Data: Five things to know about this year's SOL test scores

Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin digs into the results of standardized testing across the state.

  • Scores are up across the region, but still below pre-pandemic levels.
  • English-language learners in Richmond City do better than their counterparts in the counties.
  • But, overall scores are still lower in the city than the counties.

Read more here, including a change to scoring next year.

Also today: See how each Richmond public school did on this year's SOL testing

‘We believe in the process’: Richmond School Board must decide whether to change unions’ collective bargaining process with RPS

The Richmond School Board is set to vote Tuesday on major changes to the collective bargaining agreement process Richmond Public Schools has with the four unions representing school employees. 

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Among the contentious points are new policies that prohibit union representatives from meeting with employees to discuss union business during work hours, and do not allow union officials to “interfere in the day to day operations of RPS.”

Tonight the Board will convene for public discussion on the topic, and will have to decide whether to accept or reject the administration's proposed reforms. Read more here.

Francine update: Lowe's cat has been spotted at N.C. distribution center, but remains elusive

After going two weeks without being seen, a Lowe's representative told members of the team searching for Francine the cat that she was spotted on Saturday inside a distribution center in Garysburg, North Carolina.

After the sighting, a team from Richmond visited the distribution center on Sunday in an attempt to coax Francine out of hiding. They were unsuccessful, but left several traps in the area where she was last seen. Read more here.

Increasing Richmond’s density wouldn’t stretch utility infrastructure too far, officials say

Richmond’s utilities system has the capacity to handle the greater housing density envisioned by the city’s overhaul of its zoning code, according to Department of Public Utilities Director Scott Morris. 

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Because development standards have become more stringent over the years, the average Richmonder’s daily water use has actually declined over the past few decades, Morris said. 

While Morris acknowledged that “there could be stress points” within the broader system, both he and Planning Director Kevin Vonck said any potential shortfalls would be identified during the permitting process for a given project, and the developer of that project would have to foot the bill. Read more here.

In other news

The editor's desk

A group of children jumped into the James during yesterday's event on Sharp's Island, and reported that it was "very cold." I opted to take their word for it.

Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org

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