It's Thursday — and somehow October!

🌤️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high of 88 and a low of 65.

🎧 Sounds like: "All Fired Up" by Pat Benatar.

🎂 Happy birthday to our members Kathryn Fields, Valerie O'Brien and Pam Myers!

🏡 Situational awareness: We're back!

Today’s newsletter is 1,065 words — a 4-minute read.

Leaf peepers, mark your calendars: Virginia's fall color show should get underway in earnest by mid-October, according to a map on Explore Fall.

Why it matters: We're just a few weeks away from gorgeous fall colors, or as we call it, Richmond at her prettiest.

State of play: Peak foliage is expected to sweep south over the next several weeks.

• By mid-October, color will start to pick up in Western Virginia with peak colors starting in the mountains around Blacksburg around Oct. 25, per ExploreFall.com.
• By early November, those beautiful hues will peak around Charlottesville and land in Richmond around mid-November.

If you're impatient, a separate forecast from SmokyMountains.com has the color show starting a few weeks earlier, with peak arriving in the western part of the state by Oct. 20.

Context: Things can change quickly — and weather could scramble the timetable.

• A strong El Niño could raise temperatures and delay some peak colors, according to the National Weather Service.
• Drought conditions — which persist in parts of Maine and the Upper Midwest, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor — could also mute colors.

Yes, but: The colors will come. They always do.

Zoom in: If you want to plan a trip to see them, some of Virginia's best fall color can be found in Shenandoah National Park, Whitetop Mountain and Potomac Heritage Trail, but we also love:

• Pocahontas State Park — 20 miles south of Richmond
• James River State Park — 95 miles west
• Natural Bridge State Park — 150 miles west

The bottom line: You've got a few weeks to perfect the fall uniform: sweater, boots and an irrational attachment to pretty trees.

Tell a leaf peeper

Richmond has some of the priciest coworking day passes in the country, according to a new report.

Why it matters: If you mostly work from home and are looking for an office for the day, it's going to cost you.

By the numbers: The median coworking day pass in Richmond costs $50, per CoworkingCafe.

• That's higher than the $31 national median, per its calculations.
• It also puts Richmond — along with Louisville and Lubbock, Texas — in a tie for the third-highest day pass prices among U.S. metros.

Comparatively, workers in Daytona Beach and Syracuse, the cheapest metros in the analysis, pay around $20 for a day pass.

Yes, but: CoworkingCafe's figures are based on its own listing data — and an Axios spot check of local coworking websites found plenty of cheaper options.

• Day passes we found ranged from $25 at Ours and Venture X to $40 at Gather's Arts District location.
• In other words, you don't necessarily have to shell out $50 for a desk for the day.

The bottom line: Richmond has plenty of coworking options — but if you're dropping in for the day, it pays to shop around.

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☀️ Richmond's inspector general is investigating the procurement process behind the city's proposed deal to bring solar panels to dozens of city building. (Times-Dispatch)

⏱️ Virginians now wait an average of just 8.3 minutes at the DMV, down from 37 minutes in 2019. (Virginia Mercury)

• The agency credits the nearly 80% drop to its recent changes including redesigned lobbies, separate appointment and walk-in lines, and expanded appointment availability.

🎓 VCU president Michael Rao's annual base salary is rising to $1 million, up from about $896,000 — months after the university raised tuition 3.9% for the 2026-27 school year. (Commonwealth Times)

📺 Guy Fieri revealed during his Mechanicsville stop this week that six Richmond restaurants will appear on an upcoming episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" — but he's keeping the spots and air date under wraps. (Times-Dispatch)

Spirit Halloween is haunting the shells of former big-box stores again this fall as it opens 1,500 locations nationwide.

Why it matters: The self-styled largest Halloween retailer in North America appears and vanishes each fall, so finding this year's store often involves local shorthand, like "Where the old Party City used to be."

By the numbers: Of the locations analyzed by Axios, 153 — just over 1 in 10 — were labeled "Former Joann" stores in Spirit's locator.

• Joann closed all of its fabric and craft stores in 2025.
• Former Big Lots stores ranked second with 103 locations, followed by Party City with 100.

Zoom in: Richmond has plenty of retail ghosts of its own.

• At least six Spirit Halloween stores are haunting Richmond-area shopping centers this fall, including a former Joann at Westchester Commons, the old Sears at Chesterfield Towne Center and a former CVS on Staples Mill Road.
• There are also two popping up in former Painted Tree locations — a vendor marketplace chain that abruptly shuttered nationwide in April — one in Midlothian and another in the West End.

Zoom out: Spirit relies on temporary leases to transform vacant storefronts into seasonal shops.

• The arrangements bring property owners exposure and a few months of rent while they search for long-term tenants.

The bottom line: A familiar storefront in a new orange costume is a telltale sign that spooky season has arrived.

Tell someone who misses Joann

Team Richmond spent the past three days in the Atlanta suburbs for the annual Axios Local retreat.

Why it matters: 👋 We're back!

The scene: Lots of brainstorming, strategizing and catching up with our fellow local reporters from 40-plus cities around the country.

• We're learned, we laughed, we bonded and yes, we managed to have a little fun, too.

📸 Proof: Karri and Sabrina, clearly taking the retreat very seriously.

Plus, we were reminded yet again that Richmond readers are considered some of the best in the Axios Local universe.

• (Y'all write in, sign up, show up and are just all-around awesome — and there are analytics and spreadsheets that say so!)

Now: Back to Richmond — and back to the news. After a lot of hydrating.

😌 Karri had a great time catching up with colleagues, but is very happy to be home in her beloved RVA.

❤️ Sabrina is feeling especially grateful for Richmond having an airport that's nothing like Atlanta's.

Thanks to Alexa Mencia Orozco for editing today's edition.