Jan. 17 Newsletter: Beyond water
Weather: A slightly warmer weekend before temperatures plunge again on Sunday.
On this date in 1921, The Virginia Polytechnic Institute decides to admit women to all courses beginning with the next semester. The school’s president writes: “The war period opened to women many new lines of work in which they have shown conclusively their ability to perform efficient service.”
Interview: As water crisis settles, Danny Avula prepares for the 'long haul' as mayor
Richmond Mayor Danny Avula sat down for a Q&A on Thursday with reporter Graham Moomaw as part of The Richmonder's "The (Real) State of the City" event.
Among the topics:
- Avula said a silver lining of the water plant failure was the ability to evaluate his personnel in a crisis situation.
- On the city's initial communication about the crisis, Avula said "my way of being in the world is pretty sunny, pretty optimistic," but he will "fine tune" how he delivers news in future crisis situations.
- Avula wants to establish a new infrastructure council that would examine each of the city's basic services, from IT to water to gas, and determine what needs to be done to "avoid a situation like we just went through."
Though he's just in his third week, Moomaw asked whether he envisioned running for re-election in four years, or whether he perhaps harbors other ambitions.
"I think that it would be naive to think that you can do what the city needs done in a four-year term," Avula said. "I really would love to be here for the long haul and give as much and do as much and help move our city forward as much as I can."
Read more, and watch the full interview, here.
Richmond police chief reveals he got speeding ticket from one of his own officers
While heading to a meeting in his police vehicle on Wednesday, Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said one of his own officers pulled him over for going too fast.
“And after learning how fast I was going, I spoke to his supervisor and asked him to come to headquarters," Edwards said. "He came here. He informed me that I was going 61 miles an hour in a 35. So I asked him to issue me a summons.”
The summons shows Edwards was charged with reckless driving because, according to his own account, he was going more than 20 miles per hour over the limit. Read more on Edwards' violation here.
Murder and violent crime fell in Richmond during 2024, police chief says
Richmond saw 53 murders in 2024, according to yearly crime data presented by police officials, the lowest number since 2018 and below the city’s 10-year average of 60 murders per year.
The chief went on to say “no murder is acceptable to us,” but reiterated that many numbers are going in the right direction given Richmond’s history.
Read more on the newest crime stats here.
More from the water crisis:
Sarah Vogelsong
In other news
- Chesterfield County names John Murray school superintendent (VPM)
- Beloved Richmond entertainer Wayne Breedlove dies at 56 (Richmond Free Press)
- Days before Trump takes office, Richmond's top federal prosecutor announces resignation (Times-Dispatch)
The editor's desk
It was great to host a sold-out crowd at our "The (Real) State of the City" event yesterday. Hopefully everybody who attended came away feeling smarter — I know I did.
One observation I made: When Mayor Danny Avula came on stage for his Q&A with Graham Moomaw, the event staff started moving chairs into place for that portion. Avula was on stage, and jumped in to help the crew, moving his own chair. That's a hands-on mayor.
Finally, a reminder that you won't receive a newsletter from us on Monday as we observe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org
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