TGIF!

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 92 and a low of 63.

🎧 Sounds like: "Free Fallin'" by John Mayer.

🎂 Happy birthday to our members Carol Merrill, Rebecca Bowers-Lanier and Brittany Magalski!

• And happy early birthday to Richard Bream, George Ladner, Beth Cosby and Brian Tenclinger!

Today’s newsletter is 1,078 words — a 4-minute read.

Professional ticket resellers add an estimated $4.5 billion a year in unnecessary costs for fans going to live events, according to a new Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator report.

Why it matters: Concertgoers pay steep markups on top of the original ticket price, while local venues are often left dealing with angry fans over sales they never made.

Case in point: A Richmond woman paid more than $100 for tickets to last weekend's Madonna dance party at The Broadberry. Her two friends paid $140 each.

• The catch: Tickets were just $17 and still widely available directly from The Broadberry, says Lucas Fritz, founder and talent buyer for Broadberry Entertainment Group, which manages and books shows for multiple Richmond venues.

What they're saying: "It happens to so many people. Like literally. So many people," Fritz tells Axios.

• He says concertgoers who unknowingly buy marked-up resale tickets routinely turn to the venues for help, even though the venues weren't involved in the transactions.

The Madonna party customer told Fritz she'd followed an online ad to buy her ticket... for $83 more than she needed to.

The big picture: Problems in the resale market generally fall into three buckets, Stephen Parker of the National Independent Venue Association tells Axios:

• Speculative ticketing — listings for tickets the seller doesn't actually possess yet — sometimes before the venue has even opened sales.
• Price gouging — what Parker describes as resellers buying tickets and flipping them at steep markups.
• Resale deception — ads, search results or websites that can leave buyers thinking they're purchasing from the venue or primary seller when they're actually on a resale site.

The other side: Resale platforms and their supporters argue that secondary markets give fans more flexibility to buy and sell tickets.

Pro tip: To avoid paying a reseller markup, Fritz says, start at the artist's or venue's official website and follow its ticket link.

Full story

Forget leaf-peeping from the passenger seat. Richmonders should see the colors while scaling a mountain, barreling through rapids or jumping out of a plane.

Why it matters: It's all within a three-hour drive from the city — ideal for a fall road trip.

🚣 Start here: The James has the country's only Class IV whitewater rapids running through a city.

• RVA Paddlesports offers guided trips with a rope swing, cliff jump and downtown views (starting at $75).

🧗‍♀️ Head to West Virginia: Nelson Rocks is home to one of three via ferratas on the East Coast.

• Climbers clip into a steel cable and use fixed rungs and footholds to scale cliffs.
• NROCK's 3.5-hour guided trip ($170) runs through November before starting back up in March.
• Visitors can stay at NROCKS for about $89. But if it's sold out, I loved this farm stay about 20 minutes away featuring a pig named Kiwi.

🪂 Go even higher: Head 45 minutes from Richmond to West Point to tandem skydive with No Limits Skydiving with views of the Chesapeake Bay.

• Prices start at $235, weather permitting (mine got canceled).

Tell an adrenaline junkie

A social media post targeting Huguenot High football players sparked outrage after someone replaced the face of Nolan Wells, a Black teen who mysteriously drowned during a July boating trip, with a player's. (WTVR)

• An investigation found it was made off campus by a student who isn't on the team.

👀 A teen pepper-sprayed by a Richmond sheriff's deputy while trying to climb onstage at a 2025 Turnstile concert is suing the sheriff's office and concert promoters for at least $100,000. (The Richmonder)

⚾️ The city wants a judge to toss a lawsuit filed by the Flying Squirrels' parent company over alleged Diamond District development delays and changes. (BizSense)

• The city called the claims meritless and says the owners skipped required dispute-resolution steps before suing.

🚧 Henrico is planning $4.5 million in pedestrian and bike safety upgrades along Staples Mill Road, including sidewalks, crosswalks and lighting at nine intersections. Construction starts next year. (WTVR)

Don't let the temperatures this late week fool you, Richmond is in full fall mode this weekend with street festivals, pumpkin patches, haunted attractions and more.

😱 Terror on the Farm is back at Ashland Berry Farm with a haunted hayride and four haunted attractions, including Booger Woods and Voodoo: Blood & Bones. 7-10pm, through Halloween. $35-$40.

🔥 First Fridays gets extra weird at Gallery5 with the Carnival of 5 Fires, featuring fire performers, circus acts, DJs, vendors and more. 5-10pm. Free.

🎡 It's the last weekend for the State Fair. Gates open at 10am. Adult tickets start at $15, $32 with a ride wristband.

🚒 Your kids can climb all over big trucks at Touch-A-Truck Saturday at the Richmond Raceway. 9am-2pm. $12.

🎷 The 2nd Street Festival returns to Jackson Ward with live music, food, local artists and a Kidz Zone. Saturday, 11:30am-7pm; Sunday, noon-6pm. Free.

🎃 ICYMI (we did, our bad!) Hanover Vegetable Farm and Chesterfield Berry Farm opened last weekend. Prices vary.

Full list

Sunday Bagel, a popular, long-running Richmond pop-up, has found a permanent home in Jackson Ward.

Why it matters: Fans once had a few hours to snag a bagel at weekend pop-ups that often sold out.

• Now they have seven hours a day and five days a week to get their fix.

Driving the news: The tip-free brick-and-mortar from owners Jesse and Julie Roberts opened last week.

• The vibe: Retro crimson counters, wood paneling and a very Instagrammable bathroom, all designed by Julie, the designer behind Lillian, the Brooklyn, Antonelli's and Pizzeria Delores.

On the menu: Plain, sesame, everything and oregano everything bagels and housemade cream cheeses like pickled pepper, salmon and dill and dill pickle.

• Plus: Grab-and-go bagel sandwiches ($5-$15) after 11am.
• A bagel and cream cheese is $6, or $4.50 each if you get two.

Keep reading for the iced coffee on draft

😩 Karri is still recovering from the retreat, where she did not act her age for three days. And is paying for it.

🤠 Sabrina can't wait to go whitewater rafting again, but after a storm, so she can experience bigger swells — and bigger drops.

Thanks to Alexa Mencia Orozco for editing today's edition