Worst aspect of social distancing
Missing family and friends
Outdoor meetups while 6 feet apart, social media and Zoom videoconferences helped us navigate the social-distancing era, but as Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell sang, ain’t nothing like the real thing, and as the pandemic continues, many are missing in-person contact with the people they love — including hugs.
2. Not being able to visit restaurants and breweries
3. No hugs
Illustration by Em Roberts
Best aspect of social distancing
More time for reading, home projects, etc.
Local bookshops such as Fountain Bookstore and Book People have offered curbside pickup — and delivery, in the case of Chop Suey Books — to keep us reading. Meanwhile stores like Pleasants Hardware remained open as essential businesses, supporting the completion of long-delayed home repairs and improvements.
2. More time with family
3. Staying safe and healthy
St. Christopher’s School graduate William Loving receives well wishes from his family. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Worst local cancellation due to COVID-19
Schools, including graduations and proms
COVID-19 school closures produced educational challenges and required some creativity in acknowledging high school graduates, including Henrico’s graduation victory laps at Richmond Raceway. At Richmond’s John Marshall High School, a virtual ceremony was held on June 23, and graduates received their diplomas the next day, albeit outdoors, masked and socially distanced. “They’re so relieved that they actually get to walk across the stage,” Principal Monica Murray says.
2. Monument Avenue 10K (postponed to September)
3. Dominion Riverrock
Local business with the best response to the mandatory shutdown
Idle Hands Bread Company
407 Strawberry St., 804-409-5540
Though Jay Metzler, owner of Idle Hands, closed his bakery for a time due to COVID-19, he never stopped baking. “I started baking [free] loaves for people who were all of a sudden out of a job,” he says. “In the first three to four weeks, I was giving away a lot of bread.” As people began collecting unemployment, demand from individuals slowed and he started donating bread to Mutual Aid RVA and Redeemer Lutheran Church. He estimates he has given away more than 1,000 loaves. “It was the only way I knew to help,” he says.
2. Tazza Kitchen
3. Alewife
Best new local business development to come out of the COVID-19 shutdown
Curbside pickup and expanded delivery from restaurants
The introduction of these options was appreciated by quarantining Richmonders, but it wasn’t always easy. “As a restaurant with food that isn’t that suited to takeout, we had to rethink everything,” says chef/restaurateur Brittanny Anderson of Brenner Pass and Metzger Bar & Butchery. “We wrote new menus, we researched takeout boxes and bags, we had to figure out how this new service worked.”
2. Takeout and delivery of alcohol
3. Online classes and workouts
Worst nickname for Richmond
Capital of the Confederacy/South
When some big-time city papers wrote about our burg, in the lead paragraph invariably came the sentence, “In the former capitol of the Confederacy … .”
This provided galling shorthand to identify Richmond to readers who didn’t know anything south of Manhattan or below the Potomac. And they dared to smirk and dismiss us as provincial. To them we say: Seen the news lately? How d’ya like us now?
2. RVA
3. The River City
Worst local statue/monument
Photo by Justin Vaughan
Robert E. Lee
During the spring protests the monument’s pedestal and skirting became adorned by vivid street art as protest. People congregated, spoke and sang as they transformed the grassy medallion into a public forum. At dusk, projections of still and moving images illuminated the pedestal. The monument represented complicated emotions ranging from frustration and anger to celebratory joy. For a time, it exemplified the worst and best of us.
2. Jefferson Davis
3. Any/all Confederate statues
Photo by Jay Paul
Most effective local politician
Mayor Levar Stoney
A crazy, multicandidate 2016 race. A favored hopeful, City Councilman Jon Baliles bows out, and ninth-inning registration staves off a Mayor Joe Morrissey ―― who instead slides into the legislature. Stoney forms the Monument Avenue Commission to work out the intractable issue of Confederate memorials. Then history’s tide sweeps across them in technicolor graffiti clouded by pepper spray. Stoney, caught by churning cross currents, demonstrates that rare leadership ability is, indeed, rare.
2. Gov. Ralph Northam
3. Rep. Abigail Spanberger
Most engaging local television personality
Andrew Freiden, NBC 12
The popular television meteorologist gives this advice to anyone seeking to be the next Andrew Freiden. “Go outside! Spend as much time as possible outdoors learning about the world around you. Watch the clouds, precipitation and weather patterns … Also ― get A’s in your math classes and try out for the school play.”
2. Curt Autry, NBC 12
3. Nikki-Dee Ray, formerly CBS 6
Best local news reporter
Curt Autry, NBC 12
Autry in middle school regarded ABC’s then foreign correspondent Peter Jennings “as the most suave, coolest guy on the planet.” For the small Oklahoma station where Autry started broadcasting, Jennings recorded a special promo urging the audience to “stay tuned for Curt Autry and all of your local news at 6.” Autry recalls, “Even though I was earning just a little more than minimum wage … I thought I’d really made it.”
2. Tie: Sarah Bloom, NBC 12; Andrew Freiden NBC 12
3. Tie: Juan Conde, ABC 8; Greg McQuade, CBS 6
Photo by Antony Platt courtesy Showtime
Best movie/TV show filmed in Richmond
‘Homeland’
Showtime’s “Homeland” arrived in Richmond in 2018 for its seventh season, and Claire Danes cut promotional bits extolling the virtues of filming here. “Bringing ‘Homeland’ to Virginia was a huge win for our industry,” says the Virginia Film Office’s Andy Edmunds. The production pumped more than $40 million into the local economy and improved the state’s production infrastructure.
2. “Lincoln”
3. “Harriet”
MULTICATEGORY WINNER
Melissa & Jack, 103.7 Play
Melissa Chase and Jack Lauterback celebrate nine years in October as an on-air duo. Chase confides, “We get asked from time to time if we’re married ―― which is so weird to me. Jack would probably make a grossed-out face at that, but I’ve had too much Botox to make that same face. I’m kidding ... I think it’s a great sign, though, that we have that much chemistry.” Lauterback is more surprised than anyone about the durability of his gig co-hosting with Chase. “Few duo morning shows can claim that honor, so I consider myself very lucky,” he says.
Most engaging local radio personality or duo
1. Melissa & Jack, 103.7 Play
2. John Reid, WRVA
3. Jeff Katz, WRVA
Best local drive-time radio show
1. Melissa & Jack, 103.7 Play
2. VPM
3. Jeff Katz, WRVA
Worst local TV or radio ad
Image via YouTube
The Joel Bieber Firm
So what if they grate ― y’all remember them, right? And what you get in Joel Bieber’s spots is pure Joel Bieber. No simulations. No actors. He doesn’t want you to sign anything. He wants you to call him first. He wants you to … “leave it to Bieber.”
2. James River Air
3. A Step in Time Chimney Sweeps
Image courtesy Capital City Partners
NAVY HILL
Worst local controversy of the past year
Navy Hill project
Remember when arguing the pros and cons of the $1.5 billion Navy Hill development was our most pressing public debate? Even after all the Confederates have departed Monument Avenue, the debates about Richmond’s most famous thoroughfare will likely continue, as Richmonders consider what, if anything, will replace them. Meanwhile, COVID-19 appears to have its own staying power, unfortunately.
2. Anything to do with COVID-19, including protests against stay-at-home orders
3. Monument Avenue statues (for and against)
Best aspect of termination of the Navy Hill Project
Saving money better spent elsewhere, such as on schools
Richmond City Council’s Navy Hill Advisory Commission echoed project opponents concerning potential impacts on school funding, while also noting risks for the city’s general fund. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney insisted that city finances would be unharmed and pledged half of any surplus Navy Hill revenue to Richmond Public Schools. But a majority of the council agreed with project opponents, voting against it.
2. A chance to do it the right way
3. No new taxpayer burden
Worst aspect of termination of the Navy Hill Project
Loss of opportunities, revenue, jobs
Opportunities, revenue and jobs are three things local and state governments would love to have more of right now, with tax revenues in free fall — dropping 20% for Virginia in May compared to May 2019 — but who’s to say that these benefits would have materialized amid COVID-19? We’ll never know.
2. Downtown remains stagnant
3. Coliseum sits empty, no new entertainment venue
Best local podcast
Hosts and longtime friends Steve Glissman and Scott McGinnis delve into the origins of words and phrases in their podcast. The production has fostered a home studio and branched into other subjects, ranging from music to the animal world. The show returns in September for a fourth season. “This new season will include more special guests and also appearances at different events throughout the country,” Glissman says.
2. “Eat It, Virginia!”
3. “Young House Love Has a Podcast”
Melissa Vaughn and Francesca Leigh Davis of @RVADirt (Photo by Jay Paul)
Best local Twitter account
Melissa Vaughn and Francesca Leigh Davis are partners in political grime. Through their Twitter account and their “Municipal Mania” podcast, they “discuss the issues that affect our lives and the decisions made on our behalf by our representatives,” Vaughn says. Davis adds, “Reporting on equity and social justice issues is a vital part of community health awareness. If citizens engaging in local government don’t have that lens, we’re in trouble.”
Best local Instagram account
Samantha and Sean Kanipe’s Richmond Experience displays the city through fresh and excited eyes. “Richmond is an ever-growing city, where things change so quickly it can be hard to keep up,” says their media director, Alicia Valenski. “We are honored to use our Instagram page, Weekly Insider newsletter and library of city guides to keep the RVA community informed and engaged as they experience all Richmond has to offer.”
