POTD: Repurposing the Old

From 2016 10 09 Alexandria

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Alexandria, Virginia. Just a block or so from where George Washington enjoyed a pint or two at Gadsby's Tavern is the King Street Blues, purveyor of comfort food with a Southern accent. Old buildings don't have to be torn down to be saved.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

IMDB

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017): Star Wars with more wisecracks and explosions. Same "I am your dad." More Cat Stevens, please. C+

Richardson City Council Election Analysis

On Saturday, May 6, Mabel Simpson (Place 4) and Marta Gómez Frey (Place 5) were elected to the Richardson City Council and Paul Voelker was elected as Mayor. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all candidates who volunteered to serve our community.

As opposed to the RISD school board election held the same day, the story here is much simpler to tell. Or so I thought going into election day. Looking back, things were going on under the surface that I was too blind to see.

RISD Election Analysis

On Saturday, May 6, Karen Clardy, Justin Bono, and Kristin Kuhne were elected to the Richardson ISD board of trustees (Bono and Kuhne to three-year terms, Clardy to the two years remaining on the term vacated by Kris Oliver). Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all candidates who volunteered to serve our community.

In the most contested race (Place 7: Kuhne vs Davenport) there were 11,209 votes cast, compared to 10,460 in the other contested race (Place 6: Clardy, Eager, Armstrong, Prado). Contrast both of those totals with the 9,507 votes in 2016 for a bond election. This year's interest was higher than normal, but note that 18,667 voters turned out for the 2011 RISD bond election, so this year's interest was not all that high. Countywide, turnout was only 7.81%. Attribute it to complacency, apathy, hopelessness, or whatever, turnout is low and unhealthy for democracy.

Let's look at the individual races.

The White Helmets (2016)

IMDB

The White Helmets (2016): Documentary short about most admirable men in world - volunteer first responders in Syrian war. Renews hope. A-