Podcast appearances and mentions of andy bowman

Andy Bowman and Jennie Payne, PreventEd's newest peer specialists in the Lincoln County office, join us to discuss how they guide people in recovery through lived experience. They share wisdom on setting boundaries as a peer, how recovery is a conscious choice every day, and dive into launching the Lincoln County program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Andy Bowman and Jennie Payne, PreventEd's newest peer specialists in the Lincoln County office, join us to discuss how they guide people in recovery through lived experience. They share wisdom on setting boundaries as a peer, how recovery is a conscious choice every day, and dive into launching the Lincoln County program.

This is some real nerd shit. Andy returns to the podcast 72 episodes later (a fact we only acknowledge in the last 2 minutes of the show) to bring us a whole bunch of maths, which is a bummer, but we do have an interesting conversation about the box office. Along the way, we'll talk about how age demographics shape box office returns, different ways to gauge films' success, finally understand how fantasy draft teams work and (sigh) the fated Morbillion sweepstakes. If you liked the episode, please feel free to tell us about it! You can send your comments and suggestions to our podcast Twitter (@HyperfixationsP), or our Instagram (@Hyperfixationspod), and join our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/NQJFFHgpgf You can can find our guest Andy on Twitter @Andynoted And your hosts can be reached individually here: Ally - Twitter: @alleykat_, Instagram: @ally_k_keegan Nigel - Twitter: @spicynigel If you would like to come onto the show to discuss one of your Hyperfixations, please feel free to reach out at any of the aforementioned social media. Thank you so much for listening, you rock! Intro/Outro Song: Strollin Along by David Renda, find it here - https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/royalty-free-music/download/strollin-along/339

This week, we're talking about pop culture we were told we should watch when we're feeling down. But we didn't...because you're not the boss of us. Tessa finally starts watching Maniac, Sam picks back up on White Collar, and Andy reads High Fidelity. We're also saying goodbye to Andy, one of the founders and original hosts of MoMBl. We wish him well on his dreams of dissertation completion and being his daughter's favorite father. 2:37 - Maniac 16:30 - White Collar 33:40 - High Fidelity

2:00 - Tessa Talks Fire Island 30:00 - Sam explains the origin story of the mosquito in amber 45:00 - Andy discusses the Afterparty

It's time for Elyse Assigns! Elyse assigns us three of their favorite films from their childhood: Holiday, One, Two, Three, and Time After Time. 1:43 - Holiday 30:51 - One, Two, Three 56:16 - Time After Time

This week, Melissa from Wild Pretty Things joins us to talk about all the films directed by the Wachowskis that don't have "Matrix" in the title: Bound, Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, and Jupiter Ascending. Be sure to listen (and subscribe!) to Wild Pretty Things to hear more about the Wachowskis! 2:05 - Bound 30:40 - Speed Racer 45:00 - Cloud Atlas 1:01:50 - Jupiter Ascending

2:10 - Sam talks about Selfie (#justiceforSelfie) 26:00 - Searching! Tessa watches Andy's 2018 top film Searching 41:00 - Andy talks about Cowboy Bebop - the one season wonder that has a corgi.

That's right...Sam hosted this episode! We're talking rockumentaries and concert films. Because 'The Song Remains the Same' was so terrible. This week, we're talking about films centered on Amy Winehouse, the Beastie Boys, and Bob Dylan. 3:00 - Amy 23:50 - Awesome; I F*****' Shot That 41:00 - No Direction Home

In our second ever guest hosted episode, Jack assigns us three comfort films from his personal canon: Dick, Wet Hot American Summer, and Local Hero. 00:56: Dick 16:55: Wet Hot American Summer 30:34: Local Hero

This week, we're discussing three Netflix original films, Windfall, Night Teeth, and Gunpowder Milkshake. Why? Because Netflix has been in the news so much lately for epic fail reasons that we thought we'd give some of their actual content that each of us has been putting off for a while. 10:00 - Windfall 24:00 - Night Teeth 40:35 - Gunpowder Milkshake

Tessa and Sam are back! Sam talks about the Led Zeppelin rock doc The Song Remains the Same, while Tessa discusses both film adaptations of Lillian Hellman's play The Children's Hour and Andy can't get enough of the Wheel with Robert Jordan's prequel New Spring. 1:46 - The Song Remains the Same 25:39 - New Spring 40:50 - These Three/The Children's Hour 48:38 - Coming Soon to Monkey off My Backlog!

00:00 - Introduction Who is ProbablyJacob? 10:00 - Jacob discusses the spiritual side of things and the possibility of an afterlife with Greg Taylor's Stop Worrying! There Probably is an Afterlife 33:02 - Jacob and Andy talk about the state of gaming which leads into loop hero.

1:30 - We talk about the anime rom-com HoriMiya (Elyse and Loz) 12:22 - Cosplay rom-com My Dressup Darling (Loz and Tessa) 26:34 - Anime Battle rom-com Kaguya-Sama Love is War (Tessa and Elyse) 36:45 - Everyone watched Kobayashi's Dragon Maid! Thanks to Loz and Elyse for volunteering!

2:00 - Joe Talks about Connections with James Burk 19:00 - Zero Escape 9 Persons, 9 Hours, 9 Doors 31:07 - Joe surprises me with a talk about Monster Prom and it's sequel Monster Camp.

The Newcastle Blue Star Podcast returns for another season and to get us underway, Dan chats to Steve Cuggy and Andy Bowman - two thirds of the new management team.

1:40 - Toren watched Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance 26:16 - Andy talks about John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness 43:00 - Toren's amazingly catchy song Cabbage in The Garbage

It's our 100th episode! We look back on the past 99 episodes and talk about what's to come. Also, Andy gives us a spring anime rundown, Tessa watches Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Sam watches Inventing Anna and The Dropout. 5:00 - Andy's Top 5 Monkeys 8:34 - Andy's Spring Anime Rundown 25:25 - Tessa's Top 5 Monkeys 30:00 - Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance 41:15 - Inventing Anna and The Dropout 54:00 - Sam's Top 5 Monkeys 57:19 - Our future monkeys

In our first ever guest hosted episode, Nigel assigns each host pop culture content that is important to her: The Mountain Goats, Help! I'm a Fish, and Bridge of Clay by Markus Zuzak. 1:30 - The Mountain Goats: Zopilote Machine and Tallahassee 33:22 - Help! I'm a Fish 52:09 - Bridge of Clay 1:12:12 - why Nigel assigned these three things

May moves most quickly, and here we are again with another edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and program that seeks to capture as much as possible about the rapid movement that appears to be experienced by so many. The goal is to give a quick look or listen at what’s going on as often as possible. This is the 374th episode hosted by me, Sean Tubbs.Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.On today’s program:The Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors releases its latest analysis of the Charlottesville market Albemarle and Waynesboro are receiving more funds to electrify busesVirginia localities to get more funding for Chesapeake Bay pollution reduction The Albemarle Board of Supervisors adopts its budget for FY23But the six elected officials are in a stalemate over how to proceed with grass or artificial turf at new athletic fields First shout to JMRL’s How To FestivalIn today’s first subscriber-supported shout-out, the Jefferson Madison Regional Library will once again provide the place for you to learn about a whole manner of things! The How To Festival returns once more to the Central Library in downtown Charlottesville on Saturday, May 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. There is something for everyone in this fast-paced, interactive and free event! There will be 15-minute presentations and demonstrations on a diverse set of topics. Want to know how to do a home DNA test? Tune a guitar? What about using essential oils to repel mosquitoes? Visit the library website at jmrl.org to learn more. Schedule is coming soon! That’s the How To Festival, May 14, 2022. CAAR reports on activity in first three months of 2022A lower inventory of available homes continues to drive up the sales prices in some parts of the region. That’s according to the latest quarterly report from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors covering the first three months of this year. . “In the first quarter, the median sales price was $389,900, which was up 13 over a year ago, a gain of nearly $45,000,” reads the report. A total of 888 homes were sold during January, February and March. That’s 177 units fewer than in the same period in 2021. The report notes that inventory may be on the rise. A total of 1,327 building permits were issued in 2021 in the six localities covered by CAAR and that’s the highest number since 2006. Activity has increased this year as well. “In January and February, there were 286 new construction permits, which is up significantly from prior years,” the report continues. “In the first two months of 2022, more than 70 percent of new housing permits were for the construction of single-family homes.” However, the report also notes that interest rates are beginning to climb with the average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage at five percent for the first time in eleven years. As for sales prices, all six localities saw increases in the median sales price. Albemarle’s average is $476,750, an 11 percent increase since 2021’s first quarterCharlottesville’s average is $412,000, a four percent increase Fluvanna’s average is $335,263, a 24 percent increaseGreene’s average is $335,000, a seven percent increaseLouisa’s average is $282,651, a 22 percent increase Nelson’s average is $308,500, a 17 percent increaseTomorrow I will be posting an anecdotal summary of transactions in the city of Charlottesville and paid subscribers to this newsletter will get a first look. Take a look at the past 15 on the Information Charlottesville archive. Virginia DEQ to award $14 million for electric school busesMore state funding is on the way to help localities make the transition from diesel-powered school buses to electric ones. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality announced Wednesday that the Clean School Bus Program will award more than $14 million across Virginia, and that includes Albemarle County.The funding comes from Volkswagen, a company that lied to its customers about the fuel efficiency of some vehicles. Virginia received $93.6 million from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust.“DEQ has also committed funds for innovative clean transportation projects including electric transit buses, medium and heavy duty trucks, electric equipment at the Port of Virginia and development of a statewide charging network for electric vehicles,” reads a press release.Albemarle County will get $464,754 for two more electric buses, bringing the total fleet to four. Last year, the county received $530,000 from the same fund. (previous story)Waynesboro will receive $1.4 million for six buses. For more information about the Volkswagen settlement, visit this dedicated website.Virginia gets funding for Bay clean-up effortsLast November, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which included $238 million in funding for programs to reduce pollution that makes its way into the Chesapeake Bay. This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that $40 million will be made available through two separate programs. “I am pleased to announce the new funding that will help support ready-to-go projects throughout the 64,000-square-mile Chesapeake Bay watershed,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe in a news release. “This unprecedented funding can go straight into projects that will protect public health, improve water quality and help restore lands, rivers and streams that impact the Chesapeake Bay – from farm fields to suburban neighborhoods to city streets.”First, $15 million will come from the Most Effective Basins (MEB) program. Virginia will get over $3 million from this pool of funding. “The funding will largely support farm-based actions to improve local rivers and streams in locations most beneficial to the downstream Chesapeake Bay,” the release continues. The other $25 million will be administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through two grant programs. Specific awards will be made in September. One group that is often a forum for local efforts to meet pollution reduction controls is the Rivanna River Basin Commission. They meet next virtually tomorrow at 2 p.m. (meeting info) (RRBC agendas)Second shout-out: The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign It’s springtime, and one Patreon subscriber wants you to know the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign is a grassroots initiative of motivated citizens, volunteers, partner organizations, and local governments who want to promote the use of native plants. This spring the group is working with retailers across the region to encourage purchase of plants that belong here and are part of an ecosystem that depends on pollination. There are plenty of resources on the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page, so sign up to be notified of lectures, plant sales, and more!Albemarle Board adopts $586.3 million budgetThe Albemarle Board of Supervisors took eight actions yesterday to complete the process of development and adopting a budget for FY23. They began with the tax rates. (view the presentation)“We have the real estate, mobile homes and public service tax rate of 85.4 cents (per $100 of assessed value) that is the calendar year 2022 rate,” said Andy Bowman, chief of the Office of Management and Budget in Albemarle. “For personal property rate, which also applies to machinery and tool taxes, the current rate is currently $4.28 cents per $100 and it is proposed to be reduced to $3.22 per $100 of assessed value.” The reduction is due to the increase in value of used vehicles due to reduced production. Many localities in Virginia opted to decrease this amount, though Charlottesville City Council opted to keep their rate at the higher one. In the next three items, Supervisors had to vote on an increase in the food and beverage tax from four percent to six percent and an increase in the transient lodging tax from five percent to eight percent.“And finally the disposable plastic bag tax which would be five cents for each disposable bag and that would go into effect on January 1 of 2023,” Bowman said. Supervisors adopted those tax rates with no discussion. All of that took place at the seven work sessions held since the budget was introduced in late February. All of those tax rates add up to a budget that anticipated $586.282,008 in total revenues for FY 23.“That is a number than is greater than the Board last saw, due to some changes primarily in the school budget,” Bowman said. Those changes include additional funds for the school system related to reclassification of federal funds as well as $12 million in funding for the school that came down from the American Rescue Plan Act. Virginia has not yet adopted its budget as the divided General Assembly did not reach consensus on one. Bowman said that means there is about $5 million in funds in question currently set aside as a placeholder. “The current county budget includes $3.6 million in state funding that is currently in question with the impasse at the state budget,” Bowman said. “The Board of Supervisors previously asked the public schools what is the fallback plan if that state funding comes through? This plan is responsive to that direction so if the state keeps that $3.6 million intact, the school board would use that $3.6 million in one way. If that $3.6 million were to fall out of the state with an alternative approval for how that would be used. Stalemate continues on synthetic turf fields One issue that has come up during the budget process has been how to proceed with plans to update athletic fields managed by the Parks and Recreation Department. The original budget envisioned those being installed as grass fields at the future Biscuit Run Park, but at least three Supervisors sought to instead move forward with a previous plan to build synthetic turf fields at Darden Towe Park. Some such as Supervisor Ann Mallek continued to want to keep those fields natural. The topic was discussed extensively at the work session on April 27, and the county executive prepared a potential way to move forward. “If the Board were to show a majority or a consensus today that we would like to explore increasing the quality of the fields at Darden Towe, the first step would be to go out and get an expert in the turf management world to come in and do an assessment,” said County Executive Jeffrey Richardson.That process could take a year and might mean taking the fields off line for some time. Richardson said the first step would cost about $20,000 and he asked the Board if they supported that pathway forward. However, that proposal was not included in the budget before the Board. Supervisor Ned Gallaway asked what this study would give the county that it didn’t already know before. “What it gives us is a detailed plan of execution,” said Trevor Henry, the assistant county executive. “A nutrient plan, things like aeration, lime, fertilizer, a seeding schedule, weed and pest control, a mowing schedule, a watering schedule, and a rotation. Those would be some of the outcomes of that.” Supervisor Diantha McKeel made a motion to adopt the budget that did not include spending that $20,000 for the consultant. Supervisor Ann Mallek made a counter motion to amend the budget to include that funding. Supervisor McKeel wanted to move forward with synthetic turf as recommended by staff in 2019 to put lighting and artificial turf at Darden Towe. “In 2019, Albemarle County had nine organizations representing over 7,000 participants that were requesting rectangular field space,” McKeel said. “It was evident in ‘19 that Albemarle County not only lacked the available fields but lacked the ability to provide quality fields based on high usage.”McKeel said artificial turf was not her first choice for grass athletic fields, but she supported their use at Darden Towe, which is considered an urban park. “A mudhole is not an environmental success, nor is asking people to play in goose poop an environmental success,” McKeel said. Supervisor Mallek said natural grass fields are safer for those who play on them. The topic was discussed extensively at the April 27 work session. Gallaway said he did not support the motion because it would delay what he said was a need to provide fields. He supported synthetic.“We’ve had in front of us an option that would fix our system of fields that would increase capacity, that would increase quality everywhere, not just for the current fields but for the future fields that would come into the system,” Gallaway said. Supervisor Donna Price also did not support the motion.“I call foul on that proposal and think we’re just simply kicking the can down the road,” Price said. “It’s been years that we’ve known our fields are inadequate and that we needed to do something like this.” Mallek’s proposal failed 3-3, which is a stalemate. That means the adopted budget does not include a decision point on how to proceed with athletic fields. . Other actions taken to complete the budget include a resolution for appropriation of $18 million for FY23 in FY22, a borrowing resolution, and a resolution to adopt the Capital Improvement Plan for FY23 through FY27. Now that the budget is complete, the process will next begin on creating a new strategic plan. Help support Town Crier Productions with a paid subscription to this newsletter!For one year now, Town Crier Productions has a promo with Ting!Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

1:30 - Sam talks about Marvel's Avengers and why she decided to play it after reading only "meh" reviews. 40:00 - Tessa explains details about Edgar Wright's Last Night, which she watched in Soho for some reason.. 1:04:00 - Andy talks about how to pronounce the Witch and gets lectured by two english majors about what constitutes "Olde English"

5:00 - Tessa watches the great Taika Waititi play against handsome everyman Ryan Reynolds 45:00 - Sam watches The Flight Attendant 1:05:15 - Andy plays Blasphemous

This week, Sam goes back for more X-men by watching the 1992 animated series, Andy watches the "banime" Platinum End, and Tessa finally watches the Eddie Murphy classic Coming to America. Plus, pop culture coming out in 2022 that we are looking forward to putting on our lists. 1:17 X-men, the 1992 animated series 20:23 - The gang discusses what pop culture they are looking forward to 34:38 - Platinum End 51:16 - Coming to America

This week 1:00 - Andy talks Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima (and it's many problems) 16:50 - What are Tessa and Sam looking to play on their Nintendo Switch 30:00 - Sam goes to HADES in Hades! 42:15 - Tessa plays Don't Starve!

We talk with Ali Noorani about Crossing Borders: The Reconciliation of a Nation of Immigrants. Then, Andy Bowman tells us about how solar power is becoming the cheapest energy source. His book is The West Texas Power Plant That Saved The World. The post Ali Noorani, CROSSING BORDERS & Andy Bowman, THE WEST TEXAS POWER PLANT THAT SAVED THE WORLD appeared first on Writer's Voice.

https://www.alainguillot.com/andy-bowman/ Andy Bowman is the author of The West Texas Power Plant that Saved the World: Energy, Capitalism, and Climate Change. Get the book here: https://amzn.to/36bFybD

Welcome to the Ides of March. Should you beware? I’d recommend always being somewhat skeptical, but willing to trust if there can be confirmation that your friends, Romans and countrypeople will lend you their ears and not their knives. This is Charlottesville Community Engagement for March 15, 2022. I’m your host Sean Tubbs, grateful that you’re here to lend me your ears or your eyes, depending on what format of the program you’ve decided to experience.Sign up to make sure you find out what happens next! On today’s program: Albemarle Supervisors take the first review of a $368 million operating budgetA very small fraction of that budget comes from a proposed 5 cent tax on plastic bagsSite plans are filed for two projects in AlbemarleAlso, it’s the two-year anniversary of the first installment of the Charlottesville Quarantine Report, a show I produced to figure out what was happening. Go take a listen to that first episode, which was the basis of this newsletter!Today’s first shout-out goes to LEAPYou don’t need the “luck of the Irish” to be safe and comfortable in your own home. To see what you can do to get the most out of your home, contact LEAP, your local energy nonprofit, to schedule a home energy assessment this month - just $45 for City and County residents. LEAP also offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If someone in your household is age 60 or older, or you have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!Plastic bag tax included in Albemarle’s next budget The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has now held two work sessions on a proposed $565 million budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. The budget goes by the name Transform Albemarle and for the first time anticipates a very small portion of revenues from a tax on plastic bags.“It is proposed to be effective January 1, 2023,” said Andy Bowman, the chief of the Office of Management and Budget for Albemarle. Those revenues are projected to be $20,000, and Bowman said their use is limited. “And for this there are uses that are restricted by the state for environmental clean-up programs, pollution and litter mitigation programs, educational programs on environmental waste reduction, and also providing reusable bag to participants in the programs,” Bowman said.  Five localities have already taken advantage of a law that passed the General Assembly in 2021 allowing them to collect a five cent tax for each disposable bag, according to the Virginia Department of Taxation. Albemarle will monitor Roanoke, Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Fairfax County and Arlington County to see how much revenue they bring in. Albemarle Supervisors will also have to approve an ordinance to enable the plastic bag tax. The budget also anticipates a decrease in the personal property tax rate as well as an increase in the food and beverage tax as well as the transient lodging tax. Supervisor Donna Price said this would help the county become less reliant on its biggest source of revenue. “I really appreciate the county looking to take action to reduce the 68 percent of total revenues coming from the real estate tax and in particular the transient occupancy tax going up three percent,” Price said. “Those are tourists who come to our area. The meals tax going up two percent is not limited solely to transients who may come through and our tourists, but it’s a relatively small amount.” The budget will also need to be updated to reflect the Virginia budget, which has not yet been finalized.  The General Assembly adjourned on Saturday without doing so and a special session will be called to finish up. Albemarle Supervisors review $368.25 million operational budget When they were done talking about the revenues that make up the next budget, Bowman turned the Supervisor attention to the anticipated spending of $368.25 million. Forty-five percent is transferred to Albemarle County Public Schools. The next largest expenditure is for public safety at fourteen percent, followed by a 10 percent that goes to the capital fund mostly for debt service. Bowman went department by department to explain various aspects of the budget. One of the overarching themes is a need for workforce stabilization. Bowman said that seven percent of the county’s positions are currently unfilled. “We have included $2.8 million to fund a four percent salary increase that will be effective July 1 for our employees,” Bowman said. There’s another $500,000 for a study of how the county’s salaries compare to others, as well as another $1 million to implement that study. “The intent of this funding at this time is not to say specifically what will happen, but position the Board and the organization to move forward whenever that right time will be,” Bowman said. “The county does have need for a plan to evaluate its compensation.”Supervisor Ned Gallaway said he feels the county needs to attend to the issue, citing that seven percent figure again.“I mean 18 to 36 positions above usual turnover, and then we haven’t talked about retaining staff which the comp study is all about, frankly,” Gallaway said. Mia Coltrane became the new director of Human Resources for Albemarle in September, and she agreed the compensation study is intended to keep people working for the county “That’s one of the tasks of really getting a good pulse of every department  and where the energy needs to be focused,” Coltrane said. “We know public safety is one but as we’ve mentioned, it’s not just public safety. We’re seeing it across the board, even with [human resources].” The budget also anticipates the hiring of two temporary positions to help with community engagement on the Comprehensive Plan that is currently under review. Emily Kilroy is the Director of Communications and Public Engagement.‘The staff that are working on the Comprehensive Plan, which is estimated to be about a three-year endeavor, are the same team that currently supports the seven community advisory committees,” Kilroy said. “In order for them to focus on the work of the Comprehensive Plan there was an identified need to look at staffing those differently. So the thought was let’s bring in temporary positions sort of in alignment with the timeline for the Comprehensive Plan onboard to support the needs of those communities.” Another position will be based out of the Yancey Community Center in the southern portion of Albemarle.The recommended fiscal year 2023 budget continues a trend toward greater county spending on fire and rescue services. The FY21 actual budget saw $15.73 million spent in this category and that has increased to around $21.6 million in FY23. One reason for the increase this year is the addition of around the clock fire and rescue service operating out of the Pantops public safety station. “That is to further support and strengthen the fire rescue service there in the county’s development area,” Bowman said. “In the long term, this will also reduce our reliance on the city of Charlottesville for calls east of the city.” Albemarle is expected to pay Charlottesville around $240,000 for FY23, but Bowman said the contract between the two jurisdictions will soon be renegotiated. There’s another $100,000 in the budget to reimburse volunteer medics and firefighters for fuel used in the call of duty. “Volunteerism has been a special challenge of late and it’s not anticipated to get any better so something that will help show our volunteers the support we have for them is greatly appreciated,” said Supervisor Price. The budget also covers the cost to establish a Community Response Team to respond to public safety calls with people trained to deal with people in mental health crises. “This is an effort led by the Department of Social Services with a police officer, a firefighter/EMT, and a social worker working to respond to calls to individuals in crisis and depending on the details of the call, the team would adapt their response to best meet the critical needs of the person to ensure the safety of all parties involved,” Bowman said. A portion of the funding comes from the cigarette tax that has begun to be collected in Albemarle. Supervisor Diantha McKeel said the Community Response Team is a step in the right direction. “I am looking forward to an upcoming discussion among staff and the supervisors about how that team could be used to assist in our panhandling issues, many of who might fall into this category,” McKeel said. The recommended budget provides $275,000 in a reserve fund for a pilot project to run microtransit service on Pantops and U.S. 29 North.Review the video of the first budget work session on the Board of Supervisors’ website. The second is not yet available, but the third is scheduled for Thursday at 8 a.m. (meeting info)Today’s second shout-out goes to WTJUAlgorithms know how to put songs and artists together based on genre or beats per minute. But only people can make connections that engage your mind and warm your heart. The music on WTJU 91.1 FM is chosen by dozens and dozens of volunteer hosts -- music lovers like you who live right here in the Charlottesville area. Listener donations keep WTJU alive and thriving. In this era of algorithm-driven everything, go against the grain. Support freeform community radio on WTJU and get ready for the station’s 85th anniversary on April 1! Consider a donation at wtju.net/donate.New convenience center for Southern Albemarle likely to be delayedWork continues to design a new place for people in southern Albemarle to drop off household waste and recycling. Albemarle’s current budget included $1.1 million for a “convenience center” to be built in Keene. The idea had been to open the center this fall, but the county’s director of Facilities and Environmental Services said there will be a delay. “We are anticipating supply chain issues with some key elements including the trash compactors that will collect the tag-a-bag program as well as the containers themselves that collect the recyclables,” said Lance Stewart. “Everything’s made from steel.” The proposed FY23 budget proposed spending $180,500 for the first six months of operating at the new convenience center. The proposed capital improvement budget anticipates $1.62 million being spent in FY24 on a northern convenience center to serve U.S. 29 North. Site plans filed for 100 homes at River’s Edge and utility-scale solar projectStaff in the relevant Albemarle County departments have until April 21 to respond to two site plans for projects that have already been approved by the Board of Supervisors.One of them is for 100 units along the North Fork of the Rivanna River at the northern edge of the county’s development area. The Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning for River’s Edge in August 2020 that will allow for 32 three-story buildings and two two-story buildings at a density of three dwelling units per acre. The other is for a utility scale solar facility on a 145 acre property that will generate 12.5 megawatts of electricity. The project on Route 53 southeast of Charlottesville will disturb about 90 of those acres. Supervisors approved a change to the zoning ordinance in June 2017 that allowed for solar panels to be installed in the rural area with a special use permit. Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Sam finally finishes Spider-man 3, Tessa reads X-men: Age of X-man, and Andy finishes The Lightbringer series. Plus, what franchises are always on our lists and which ones have we quit? 1:12 - Spider-man 3 24:46 - The gang discusses what franchises are always on their lists and which ones they have quit 35:43 - X-men: Age of X-man 50:15 The Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks (not the Nintendo game)

1:45 - Tessa talks about the animated documentary Flee! 34:30 - Sam talks about Parallel Mothers 58:00 - Andy talks about Welsh film - The Feast!

This week, Sam listens to Dead Ringer by Meatloaf, special guest Jarret of the Wild Pretty Things podcast watches Limetown, Tessa watches AP Bio and Andy reads Solo Leveling. 1:07 - Dead Ringer, Meatloaf, and Jim Steinman 21:40 - Jarret talks about abandoning a list and making a new one 26:47 - Limetown 44:32 - AP Bio 1:01:05 - Solo Leveling

Speaker or Performer: Andy Bowman Date of Delivery: February 20, 2022

Speaker or Performer: Andy Bowman Date of Delivery: February 20, 2022

This week, we're talking about 90s movies that have awesome soundtracks: The Bodyguard, Pump Up the Volume, and Empire Records. 1:05 - The Bodyguard 21:25 - The 90s and Original Motion Picture Soundtracks 45:53 - Pump Up the Volume 59:34 - Empire Records

Jesse Ventura and Mollye Barrows discuss US troop deployment to Eastern Europe amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Big Pharma's big price hikes, and Donald Trump on pardoning Jan. 6 defendants. Clean energy entrepreneur Andy Bowman talks about his latest book, ‘The West Texas Power Plant That Saved the World'.

This week, Tessa watches Golden Girls, Sam watches The Cure: Trilogy, and Andy watches The Howling. Plus, we talk about why we get so emotional about celebrity deaths. 1:00 - Golden Girls 22:00 - Why celebrity deaths hit us so hard 30:47 - The Cure: Trilogy 50:24 - The Howling We have new technology! And we're only sort of compotent at making it do stuff!

1:15 - Andy talks about Nic Cage's Mandy 13:15 - What is Vaporwave (A Bad Take) 38:00 - Johnny Mnemonic - does Sam remember it? 45:15 - Tessa talks about everything she loved about the Neon Demon 45:16 - Tessa talks about The Neon Demon

Rob Garrison is a former award-winning Fortune 500 executive, who was Vice President of Supply Chain Design at UPS and led FedEx in international expansion to 27 countries. With 30 years of Supply Chain industry experience, Rob founded Mercado Labs to make importing easier and more efficient. https://mercadolabs.com/Andy Bowman, author of The West Texas Power Plant That Saved the World: Energy, Capitalism and Climate Change, has been a serial clean energy entrepreneur since the late 1990's, when he worked to develop some of the first utility-scale wind projects in the country. Over the last twenty-five years, he has participated in about 3,600 megawatts of wind and solar projects across the country, equivalent to about seven coal power plants. His newest company, Jupiter Power, LLC, is building grid-scale energy storage plants. https://www.jupiterpower.io/

This week, Tessa plays the remake of the PS4 exclusive Marvel's Spider-Man, Andy plays the PS3 exclusive Demon's Souls, and Sam didn't get the memo--she listened to 90s band Veruca Salt. 1:08 - Marvel's Spider-Man 15:25 - More Spider-Man 22:35 - Demon's Souls 37:45 - Veruca Salt

1:00 - Introductions! 7:00 Joe is in too deep with Subnautica 22:30 - Toren is not going to eat the candy from Grave of the Fireflies 33:22 - Andy does his part in Starship Troopers 44:00 - General media talk, Encanto, Search Party, and Arcane among others!

In anticipation of (he promises) Avatar 2 this year--and to make good on a joke--Andy, Tessa, and Sam discuss the entirety of James Cameron's oeuvre, focusing on films they've never seen: True Lies, The Abyss, and Piranha 2. 1:25 - Why is James Camerson? 11:47 - True Lies 28:14 - The Abyss 41:54 - Piranha 2

3:00 Tessa talks The Simpsons 25:00 Sam talks TayLORE swift 43:30 Andy talks about . . . everything he didnt' cover (kinda) 58:00 Tessa guides us through the big Pop Culture list we didn't talk about this year. 1:04:03 Proudest Moment of the EYar 1:14:24 Disapointment of the year

Sam assigns three movies directed by Paul Thomas Anderson: Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, and The Master. 4:36 - Magnolia 29:15 - Punch-Drunk Love 51:14 - The Master 1:03:42 - Rank that List! Note: Some of Andy's audio for this episode was tragically lost (by Andy).

This week, we're joined by new friend of the pod, Jaret, for an episode of #monkeyfails, which is what happens when you intend to take one thing off your backlog but end up taking off something else. Jarret talks David Lynch's The Straight Story, Sam goes old-school teen soap with One Tree Hill, Andy and his dog Bard watch The Haunting of Hill House, and Tessa plays The Outer Worlds. 1:47 - The Straight Story 18:41 - Jarret on pop culture and listmaking 21:00 - One Tree Hill 39:51 - The Haunting of Hill House 50:47 - The Outer Worlds

In episode 4 of Sam Watches Star Trek, Tessa asks Sam questions about the next two episodes of TOS: "Whom Gods Destroy" "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"

The final day of November is upon us, but will soon give way to December. Eleven named for nine becomes twelve named for ten. Path dependence shows up in mysterious ways. In any case, this is the edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement with a time stamp of November 30. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.On today’s show:Scottsville prepares to use its Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area license for A Holiday HappeningMore on the preparation of Albemarle County’s capital improvement program Charlottesville City Council will again look for an interim city managerThe first bills of the 2022 Virginia General Assembly have been filedIn today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out, Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit codeforcville.org to learn about those projects. Emergency meetingCharlottesville City Council no longer has an interim city manager on the way. Marc E. Woolley had been expected to begin work tomorrow. Council went into closed session at 12:30 p.m. today for an emergency meeting to discuss a personnel matter. Councilor Heather Hill read the motion.“Pursuant to § 2.2-3712 of the Virginia Code, I hereby move that City Council close this open meeting and convene within a closed meeting as authorized by Virginia Code… for the purpose of discussing of the withdrawal of the appointed city manager and the discussion, consideration, or interviews of perspective candidates for appointment or employment by City Council,” Hill said. Woolley had been expected to fill the vacancy left when former City Manager Chip Boyles resigned in late October. Boyles had been hired in January to replace former City Manager Tarron Richardson, who resigned at the end of September 2020 after about a year and a half. Earlier this month, Richardson sued the city for breach of contract related to a non-disparagement clause in his severance agreement. Richardson had replaced Maurice Jones, whose contract was not renewed in 2018 after nearly eight years in the job. Along the way, two other people have served as interim city manager.After publication of this newsletter, Daily Progress reporter Ginny Bixby reported that Woolley sent a letter to Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker last week.“I am writing to inform you and your fellow Council members that after careful consideration and in consultation with my family, I am withdrawing my application to become the Interim City Manager of the City of Charlottesville,” Woolley wrote. “This was not an easy decision for me and I want to thank the Charlottesville City Council for the opportunity and wish the residents of Charlottesville all the best.”Last week, the Planning Commission held a work session on the capital improvement program for fiscal year 2023. Charlottesville has a AAA bond rating that reflects a well-run and stable city. Commissioner Hosea Mitchell asked if that would continue based on the string of leadership vacancies and he’s answered by Krissy Hammill, a senior budget and management analyst. “Will the high turnover of city level management impact our bond rating?” Mitchell asked.“They do look at management as part of that analysis,” Hammill said. “To date that has not really been at the forefront of a lot of those conversations keeping in mind that the single-most goal of a bond rating is to assess out ability to pay our debt.”The city is currently being managed by Deputy City Managers Ashley Marshall and Sam Sanders. Council next meets on December 6. See also: January 14, 2021: Charlottesville hires Chip Boyles as City ManagerOctober 14, 2021: Boyles resigns as Charlottesville City Manager; Friendship Court agreement reauthorized by EDACouncil selects Marc Woolley as the latest interim City ManagerUnite the Right organizers owe millions in damages; Former City Manager Richardson sues the city over disparagement clauseFirst 2022 bills filedThe General Assembly doesn’t begin for another six weeks, but the first bills have been pre-filed. Two of three bills filed in the House of Delegates are charter requests for two towns to amend their charter to move municipal elections from May to November, and a third would remove the sunset date for a sales exemption on the sale of gold, silver, and platinum bullion. In the Senate, there are five bills so far. One would require the Virginia Employment Commission to establish a family and medical leave program, one would require school principals to report incidents to law enforcement, and another would require absentee ballots to be sorted by precinct. Another would limit the time a Governor’s executive orders could last under an Emergency Declaration, and another would require votes of the Parole Board to be individually recorded under the Freedom of Information act. The General Assembly convenes on January 12. (view pre-filed bills)Scottsville Holiday HappeningEarlier this year, the General Assembly adopted legislation allowing localities to create Designated Outdoor Refreshment Areas (DORA) where ABC licenses can be granted in the public realm. That means people can move from establishment to establishment while carrying alcoholic beverages in a designated cup. Several localities across Virginia have passed local ordinances allowing such events. This Saturday, the Town of Scottsville will offer this ability during A Holiday Happening. According to Town Administrator Matt Lawless, this is the third time the DORA has been used. “I was interested to kind of follow the progress of this setting up in state law,” Lawless said. “It originated with a neat mix of communities around the state from far Southwest to Richmond looking at how they could promote tourism and support their Main Street businesses.”Lawless said Scottsville has so far held an event to promote an art opening in September. “We had a Virginia of the Arts grant for installations in vacant storefronts,” Lawless said. “Folks can take out the food and drink and stroll around outside.” A second event held at Halloween for a puppy parade on Valley Street and Main Street. Lawless said these are not tailgate parties, and people can’t bring their own beer. The permit just allows people to consume beverages off premises. “So maybe what you’ve seen in the past on these events is like an outdoor event with a strict perimeter defined like with a snow fence,” Lawless said. “We don’t have to do that anymore. The drinks are labeled where they came from in a disposable container. So if we were checking on what is that and where did you get it, you could point to the licensed restaurant where you got it.”Lawless said sandwich boards suffice to mark the boundaries of the DORA. This Saturday’s event runs from 10 a.m to 8 p.m. with the ABC permit in effect from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m“If you’re ever visited a European Christmas Market, it might be kind of like that where we’ve got have the special farmer’s market with special arts and craft sales, musicians playing on sidelots, and then hot cider and mulled wine for sale at our restaurants that you can take up and down the street,” Lawless said. Lawless said a safety plan is created for each event and reviewed by ABC to make sure there are enough people on staff to help with public safety. In the summer, Charlottesville City Council was briefed on the idea but it was met with a lukewarm response with some Councilors concerned with unequal treatment. This story came about due to a story in the Cardinal by Megan Schnabel that takes a look at how Danville, Roanoke, and the town of Tazewell have used this ability for events. (read the story here)Let’s have a second Patreon-fueled shout-out. Colder temperatures are creeping in, and now is the perfect time to think about keeping your family warm through the holidays. Make sure you are getting the most out of your home with help from your local energy nonprofit, LEAP. LEAP wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round, and offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!Albemarle capital planningAlbemarle County’s budget process for Fiscal Year 2023 continues on Friday with another meeting of the Capital Improvement Program Advisory Committee. The group consists of two Supervisors, two School Board members, a Planning Commissioner, and a member of the public who happens to be a former Planning Commissioner.  (view the presentation)“I suspect that each of us have items on the not-included plan that we’d like to see moved up but it is a balance,” said Supervisor Donna Price of the Scottsville District. “We cannot do everything.” Perhaps when you think of capital projects, big items like schools and sidewalks come to mind. The next CIP in Albemarle will likely have an item called Core Systems Modernization which will seek to speed up how the county does business. Andy Bowman is the chief of budget in the Finance and Budget Office. “The technology systems that we use across the county government are disjointed, they’re antiquated, and they don’t allow the community to interact with our government in a way that we expect,’ Bowman said. “Over the next few years, we’re going to be embarking on new financial systems, new human resources systems, and new community development systems related to systems that are connected and enhance our customer and our employee experience.”The job of the CIP Advisory Committee is to help staff develop the five-year program. There’s a target of about $131 million in funding that may be available through FY2027. “For funding in Fiscal Year 2023 to 2027, there is a total of $457 million in projects that was requested,” Bowman said.The budget chief also gave a status report on projects under way. “There is $151 million in projects that are currently appropriated and underway from prior years that extend into Fiscal Year 2023 and beyond.”Those projects include sidewalk installation, the Southern Convenience Center in Keene, and upgrades of the county’s General District and Circuit court in downtown Charlottesville. Future projects that are waiting to be funded include further phases of Biscuit Run Park, future school capacity expansion, and a convenience center in the northern section of Albemarle. Supervisor Bea Lapisto-Kirtley suggested one item she wanted more information on.  “As far a project, I would like to make sure that at Darden-Towe our soccer fields are taken care of, upgraded, and when I say upgraded, regarding natural grass and putting in what needs to be done there to make sure that that’s a good playing field,” Lapisto-Kirtley said. Assistant County Executive Trevor Henry said a previous project had anticipated replacing the natural grass fields with artificial turf and adding lighting. Darden-Towe is jointly owned by Charlottesville and Albemarle.“Eventually that request was discussed in the calendar of 2018 and that was approved and bundled as part of the Parks’ quality of life projects,” Henry said. Henry said $2.5 million was approved for the project, with $2 million of that going for the installation of turf and the rest for the lighting. “That CIP request assumed use of cooperative contracts, meaning existing contracts in the state for both the turf project and the lighting project,” Henry said. “On a December 4 meeting of 2019,  a concern was raised by a Board member about the procurement methodology and several series of questions around the efficacy of turf, environmental concerns.”Henry said staff returned with more information later that winter, but the pandemic put a hold on further consideration of the effort. “The majority of capital projects were paused or deferred,” Henry said. When some of the projects were unpaused, the Darden-Towe project was not one of them. “And it’s back in the queue of all the other unfunded projects that have been requested or formally requested through this process,” Henry said. Since then, the Parks Department request has placed further funding of Biscuit Run as a higher priority. The Parks Department has asked for $8.5 million for the next four years to move into further phases of that future park’s development. After being told by Henry that the natural fields are well-maintained, LaPisto-Kirtley said she would support continuing that practice. School Board Chair Kate Acuff made the pitch for funding to modernize the existing high schools, something that she did not see within the draft CIP presented to the committee. The county in recent years has invested in two high school “centers” rather than a fourth stand-alone facility.“Because a new high school would be $150 million and we were able to craft this plan that including upgrading all of our schools  — Albemarle High School is 70 years old  — as well as the Centers for a fraction of that cost,” Acuff said. “It’s disappointed to me to see that has dropped out.” Acuff also said that over a hundred classrooms are in trailers. She said the county needs at least three more elementary schools.“We’re over capacity at Baker-Butler [Elementary] which is a northern feeder pattern [school] and construction of Brookhill [Elementary] would address that,” Acuff said. There are also overcrowding issues at Mountain View Elementary. A 27,000 square feet addition is underway at Crozet Elementary but Acuff said a third school in the western part of the county will be necessary soon. Of that $131 million, the schools will have access to $77.2 million according to Chief Financial Officer Nelsie Birch. The next meeting of the group will take place on Friday beginning at 1 p.m. Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

It's Tessa turn to tell Andy and Sam watch to watch and read this week: This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer [Emotion Picture], and Castlevania! 2:15 - This Is How You Lose the Time War 24:57 - Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer [Emotion Picture] 50:34 - Castlevania

It doesn’t seem at this moment like a holiday week, with so many items happening at public meetings before Thanksgiving. But, I’m grateful you are listening to this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, and I’m hopeful that you’ll share it with others. Most people read the newsletter, but the secret is that each one is produced for audio, as my professional career in journalism began in radio. More than a quarter-century later, I’m glad to be bringing you information as often as I can and this is what I have for November 22, 2021. Let’s begin today with a Patreon-fueled shout-out! WTJU is hosting Classical Listening Parties, a series of four free, casual events on Tuesdays in November. These four events are led by Chelsea Holt, pianist, teacher, and one of WTJU’s newest and youngest classical announcers. She’ll guide you through all the eras of classical music and tomorrow night at 7 p.m.: the Romantic period. For a list of the others, visit wtju.net to learn more and sign up! On today’s show:Albemarle’s Planning Commission gets an update on the county’s capital improvement budget for the next fiscal yearA hedge fund sets its sights on the Daily Progress and its parent company The EPA seeks to reestablish jurisdiction in the Waters of the United StatesAnd the University of Virginia seeks a tuition increase for undergraduatesPandemic updateAs the week begins, the seven-day average for new COVID cases is at 1,644 new cases a day and the percent positivity is at 5.9 percent. The Blue Ridge Health District reports another 29 new cases today and a percent positivity of 5.5 percent. Three more fatalities have been reported since Friday for a total of 311 since the pandemic began. Fatal fireA fire in an apartment in the 1200 block of Carlton Avenue in the Belmont neighborhood on Sunday has killed one person, according to a release from the Charlottesville Fire Department. Crews began fighting the fire soon after arriving and then looked for anyone trapped. One adult was rescued but died soon after being taken to an unidentified hospital. Fire marshals are investigating the cause. This is the third fatality from a fire this year. Newspaper consolidation continuesThe Charlottesville Daily Progress and most other daily newspapers in Virginia might soon have a new owner. Alden Global Capital has announced in a letter that it will pay $24 a share for Lee Enterprises, thirty percent over the Friday’s closing stock price. “We believe that as a private company and part of our successful nationwide platforms, Lee would be in a stronger position to maximize its resources and realize strategic value that enhances its operations and supports its employees in their important work serving local communities,” reads the letter. Alden Global Capital is a New York based hedge fund that owns the Tribune Publishing Company and Media NewsGroup. Among their newspapers are the Chicago Tribune, the Denver Post, the Mercury News, and the New York Daily News. The company already owns six percent of Lee Enterprises. “Scale is critical for newspapers to ensure necessary staffing and in order to thrive in this challenging environment where print advertising continues to decline and back office operations and legacy public company functions remain bloated, thus depriving newsrooms of resources that are best used serving readers with relevant, trustworthy, and engaging content,” the letter continues. Lee Enterprises completed the purchase of the Daily Progress from BHMedia in March 2020. BHMedia is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which purchased the Progress from Media General in May 2012. Media General purchased the paper from Thomas Worrell Jr. in 1995 as part of a $230 million deal. The Progress was first published on September 14, 1892. Other Virginia papers owned by Lee Enterprises include the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Lynchburg News Advance, and the Roanoke Times. Learn more about the potential takeover from Rick Edmonds on Poytner.org or at Virginia Business. The real question is - who gets the Daily Progress March? In April 2005, the Charlottesville Municipal Band unveiled a tune written by Nellysford composer Paul T. Richards. Check out my news story from that time!Crozet school redistrictingAn Albemarle committee appointed to study scenarios to alleviate overpopulation of elementary schools in the western part of the county has unveiled their recommendation. After meeting four times and holding two public comment sessions, the Crozet-Brownsville Redistricting Committee has suggested a total of 219 students be moved from Brownsville to Crozet Elementary at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. By then, Albemarle should have completed a $21.25 million addition to that school which includes 16 new classrooms. (committee website)Water quality rulesTwo federal agencies that regulate land use as it relates to water quality have announced plans to reinstate a more robust definition of what constitutes the “waters of the United States.” Both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers use that phrase as a basis for enforcement of the Clean Water Act of 1972 which among other things regulates industrial discharges into “navigable waters.” A rule change made in the previous presidential administration reduced the geographic scope of the definition, potentially limiting the jurisdiction  of the EPA and the Army Corp’s reach. The Southern Environmental Law Center and other conservation groups sued to overturn the rule. “The prior administration stripped protections under the Clean Water Act from countless streams, lakes and wetlands, leaving thousands of stream miles, many public recreational lakes, and millions of acres of wetlands without protections that have been in place for decades through every other administration and putting our communities and water supplies at risk,” reads a statement issued last week.The SELC argues that preserving wetlands can help preserve the ability of communities to reduce flooding and deal with extreme weather events. To learn more, visit the EPA’s Waters of the United States website. UVA tuitionThe Cavalier Daily reports that tuition at the University of Virginia could increase between 3.5 percent and 4.9 percent in the each of the next two academic years. That’s according to two representatives from the UVA Finance office who spoke to Student Council last week. Public comment will be taken at a forum on December 2 followed by a vote by the Board of Visitors at their meeting a week later. Tuition was frozen for the current academic year. For a sense of scale, the current tuition for most undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences is $14,188 for a Virginia resident and $48,036 for an out-of-state resident. Third-year students pay slightly higher. First-year engineering students from Virginia pay $22,566 for a year’s tuition, with non-Virginians paying $56,730. These figures don’t include fees. Take a look at the UVA website to learn more about how much students are charged for their education. To learn more about the proposed increase, read Eileen Powell’s article in the Cavalier Daily. You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement. Let’s have two more Patreon-fueled shout-outs. The first comes a long-time supporter who wants you to know:"Today is a great day to spread good cheer: reach out to an old friend, compliment a stranger, or pause for a moment of gratitude to savor a delight."The second comes from a more recent supporter who wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!Albemarle Planning Commission’s capital budget briefingTomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m., an advisory committee appointed to help Albemarle County shape its capital improvement program budget for the next fiscal year will hold its first meeting. Last week, the seven-member Planning Commission got an overview including a reminder that last year was very different. (watch the meeting)“Last year when we were putting together the FY22 budget, there was no [capital improvement program],” said Andy Bowman, the chief of budget in the Finance and Budget office. “The county was in the middle of the pandemic and there was a tremendous amount of uncertainty and really at that time it was decided instead of focusing on a long-range picture, to focus on the impacts of the pandemic and what might be able to be unpaused from a number of projects that were paused at the start of the pandemic.”Bowman said the economy has rebounded much better than initially anticipated with outlooks becoming more favorable with each passing month. As the FY23 budget approaches, Bowman said the county is not immune to inflationary pressure, with bids for some capital projects coming in higher than budgeted. The process starts with a review of what’s currently in the works.“We have a capital program currently underway, before we even start anything from 2023 to 2027, of around $147 million for about 65 projects,” Bowman said. “Of that $147 million, $91 million has been appropriated in the last eleven months now, from what was unpaused in January which included the expansion at Crozet Elementary.” Bowman noted that over the course of the next five years, the county will adopt a new Comprehensive Plan and the Board of Supervisors will update their strategic plan. Both documents as well as the School Board’s strategic plan will guide future decisions on capital spending. Bowman said the focus this cycle will be on the immediate year to give flexibility on future needs. The CIP advisory committee consists of Supervisors Bea LaPisto-Kirtley and Donna Price, School Board members Kate Acuff and Jonno Alcaro, and former Planning Commissioners Bruce Dotson.and Cal Morris. “They’re charged to do a few things,” Bowman said. “First they will review and evaluate a proposal that is recommended by staff as a starting point and then the CIP committee will sort of make a recommendation and modify that starting point.” Bowman said there will be additional revenue from the cigarette tax and potential revenue from a tax on plastic bags. The county also refinanced its debt earlier this year.“Given the current market we were able to issue a large amount of [borrowed proceeds] at low interest rates and that will create some capacity that didn’t exist in the prior plan prior to the pandemic,” Bowman said Bowman said staff is also reviewing through the details of the American Rescue Plan Act to see how that funds can be used to leverage local dollars capital spending. In August, Supervisors used $4.5 million in federal COVID-relief funds for broadband expansion. One of the biggest items in the capital improvement program is the need for school maintenance and expansion. Rosalyn Schmitt is the chief operating officer of Albemarle County Public Schools. She briefed the Planning Commission on the school’s strategic plan.“Getting the right resources to educators and students for their teaching and learning is key to our success,” Schmitt said The school system has a Long-Range Planning Advisory Committee and their most recent recommendations were published on September 9, 2021. The eleven projects have a cumulative cost estimate of $196 million, with most of the projects containing either word “renovations” or “capacity.”“Adequate capacity continues to be a need for the school division,” Schmitt said. “This is supported by the ten-year enrollment projections and reinforced by both the recently completed development and student yield analysis, and a thirty-year population forecast.”  One item is $40 million for another elementary school in the northern feeder pattern and another would be to purchase land for the western feeder pattern. “As these schools all reach a saturation point where expansion is no longer practical, we recommend a strategy for land acquisition and the construction of new facilities,” Schmitt said. “I think for the first time in a long time you’ll see several new schools on this list.” There’s also a recommendation to improve air quality within schools. There is a possibility that federal ARPA funding could be used for that purpose. “That is a comprehensive program around mechanical improvements that there is some opportunity to have some matching funds from ARPA funding that we are pursuing,” Schmitt said. Luis Carrazana is the associate architect of the University of Virginia and a non-voting member of the Albemarle Planning Commission. He noted that the recent adoption of the Crozet Master Plan update called for capital infrastructure, as did the relatively recent update of the Pantops Master Plan and adoption of the Rio Small Area Plan. “And so I’m wondering how we’re looking at those approved master plans with the CIP and putting the same rigor as we seem to be doing with the School Board,” Carrazana said. Planning Director Charles Rapp said implementation of many projects in the master plans are dependent on lining up ideas with funding opportunities.“A lot of those infrastructure related improvements, we identify them in these master plans or small area plans or corridor studies and that’s often the first phase of identifying a project,” Rapp said. The next day, Bowman gave a similar presentation to the Board of Supervisors. This one has more specifics about the developing budget. (watch the presentation)Supervisors were reminded that there is a significant “positive variance” from the FY21 budget of more than $13 million that can be used for one-time money.“We are proposing, not really for discussion today but this will come back on December 15, to invest some of the one-time fiscal year 21 funding into the economic development fund,” Bowman said. At their December 15 meeting, the Board will also be asked for direction on whether to explore tax relief programs. They’ll also be given a review of what additional revenue sources could be pursued in Richmond.The Board of Supervisors will have a work session on December 1 related to the way the FY23 budget will be developed. Another change this year is the December release of Albemarle’s property assessments for 2022. That will be presented to the Board of Supervisors on December 15, a month earlier than usual. See also: Albemarle may close FY21 with $13.2M in one-time money, November 9, 2021Unsolicited fact of the dayFinally today, sometimes there are pieces of information I come across during my reporting, or facts that people tell me that don’t quite make their way into a news story. These facts are not entirely random, but they may seem that way.First up, the commercial portions of the Stonefield development have paid a total of $841,955 in connection fees to the Albemarle County Service Authority for water and sewer between 2012 and 2020. That’s according to information provided to me by Gary O’Connell, the director of the ACSA. That figure does not include residential connections. Before anyone can connect to water and sewer in Albemarle, they have to pay a hefty connection fee. For instance, for one commercial unit on Bond Street to connect in 2021, they had to pay $14,280 for water and $13,505 for sewer. Both of these fees include a portion paid to the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority to cover the cost of capital projects to expand capacity. Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Sam talks about two quintessential episodes of The Twilight Zone; Tessa watches ER, the anchor of NBC's 90s Thursday Night "Must See TV" lineup; and Andy talks about...a bunch of shows. And, yes, Sam has something to say about Taylor Swift. 1:00 - The Twilight Zone 20:30 - Our favorite pop culture franchises 29:14 - Andy's Small Screen Smorgasbord Spectacular! 40:08 - ER

Let’s begin with a Patreon-fueled shout-out. Colder temperatures are creeping in, and now is the perfect time to think about keeping your family warm through the holidays. Make sure you are getting the most out of your home with help from your local energy nonprofit, LEAP. LEAP wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round, and offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!On today’s show:One of Charlottesville’s former police chiefs wants to sue the city for wrongful terminationAlbemarle Board of Supervisors formally begins Comprehensive Plan review Albemarle may also have a potential budget surplus of over $13 million ProPublica takes a look at the links between industrial air pollution and cancer The Virginia Festival of the Book will return to an in-person event next March Former Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney has filed a complaint with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging she was wrongfully terminated by former City Manager Chip Boyles. Boyles resigned on October 12 citing personal and professional abuse in the aftermath of the firing. Brackney and her lawyer Charles Tucker held a press conference this morning to announce the complaint as well as a demand for millions in damages. Tucker appeared to make the claim that Brackney is still the chief.“She’s not here today to talk about an abrupt termination,” Tucker said. “She’s here today to talk about a wrongful attempt at termination.” Tucker alleged collusion to remove Brackney by Council, top police officials, and former manager Boyles. Complaints to the EEOC are private and information is only available to be released the individual who files the complain as well as the subject of the complaint. A spokesman for the EEOC told me today he could neither confirm or deny the existence of the complaint. He noted that an EEOC complaint is the first step toward filing a lawsuit. Learn more about this process on the EEOC’s website. The agency’s authority comes from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. There’s also a FAQ worth reviewing.  Tucker is employed by the Cochran Firm, a national law firm founded by the late Johnnie Cochran.  Cochran was part of the legal team that successfully defended former football player O.J. Simpson on double murder charges in October 1995. Special thanks to Dori Zook of WINA for providing the audio. Take a look at coverage on NBC29 for more information. One of Charlottesville’s most popular events will return to some in-person events next spring. The Virginia Festival of the Book was canceled in 2020 and was held virtually in 2021, but will return with a hybrid event from March 16 through March 20. The Festival has also been holding online programs year-round as part of its Shelf Life series. Headlining speakers for the 28th festival will not be announced until January. Review previous programs on the VABook website at vabook.org. Industrial investigationAn investigation by ProPublica has identified the Radford area in the New River Valley as one of the places in Virginia where residents are more likely to contract cancer due to air pollution. That’s due to the presence of the U.S. Army Radford Ammunition Plant.“This facility alone is estimated to increase the excess cancer risk for people living within five miles by an average of 1 in 4,100,” reads their summary of the Radford area. ProPublica’s interactive map also shows pollution hotspots in Richmond and Petersburg. Their work is based on analysis of five-years of data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Learn more in a story on NBC29 that’s part of a collaboration between Gray Communications and ProPublica. You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement and it’s time for two more Patreon-fueled shout-outs. The first comes a long-time supporter who wants you to know:"Today is a great day to spread good cheer: reach out to an old friend, compliment a stranger, or pause for a moment of gratitude to savor a delight."The second comes from a more recent supporter who wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!Albemarle Comprehensive Plan processTwo stories from Albemarle today. First, Albemarle County has formally begun the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan. The Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution on November 3 that kicks off a multiphase process and public engagement plan for the first round. But let’s get a reminder on what this is from planner Tori Kanellopoulos. “The Comprehensive Plan is a guiding document for the county and is a twenty year plan which includes housing, transportation, land use, economic development, natural and historic resources,” Kannellopoulos said. The plan influences everything from the Capital Improvement program to decisions on land use such as rezoning. Supervisors last adopted a plan six years ago.“Since the current Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2015, there have been a variety of new policies and plans adopted by the Board including the Climate Action Plan, an updated housing policy, Project ENABLE and an updated Strategic Plan,” Kannellopoulos said. “Additionally the Office of Equity and Inclusion was created and the Board adopted the new organizational value of community.”Since 2015, Kanellopoulos said 4,000 new dwelling units have been built and the population is expected to continue growing. With that comes increased demand for urban services to be delivered by the local government.  The first phase will take a look at the county’s growth management policy, which has been embedded in the Comprehensive Plan for decades. That will include a capacity analysis for the county’s ability to provide new housing, as well as the needs of economic development. “Phase 2 will identify the main topics of the Comprehensive Plan, evaluate existing conditions for each, and provide updated frameworks using the lens of equity and climate action,” Kannellopoulos said. “Phase 3 will identify recommended action steps to implement the plan and metrics to track progress. And Phase 4 will finalize the document for adoption.” At the same time, Supervisors have asked for some changes to the zoning ordinance to happen concurrently with the Comprehensive Plan review.  The winter holidays are approaching so there will not be a public kickoff for this process until January. Between now and then, a working group of community members and other stakeholders will be assembled to oversee the process. Supervisor Ann Mallek said the process to update the Crozet Master Plan at times was more difficult due to the lack of institutional memory and history about how that area has been a designated growth area. “There was a real challenge to help people to get enough background to be able to understand what they were being asked,” Mallek said. “And I think getting that knowledge base will prevent a lot of frustration that happens when people are asked to respond to a survey about which they’re given no information. And they just get mad.” Mallek also wants more public meetings in places that aren’t government buildings. Supervisor Ned Gallaway said he wants to make sure that the public knows the review is underway.“It can be frustrating I would imagine for everybody involved where community members maybe come late to the game,” Gallaway said. “We do our best effort to put things out there that this is going to be worked on and the ways to participate are there. And then if they are missed, we get ‘Well, where is this coming from?’ at the 11th hour. Whatever we need to do [public relations] wide to engage the community, we’ll have to do.”The Albemarle Planning Commission will have a work session on the Comprehensive Plan review at its meeting on November 16. This is a reminder that I created Town Crier Productions specifically to cover this kind of topic. I have never and will never take any payment from Albemarle County for this service, nor will I take any direct payment for any other level of government. This program is supported by contributions from listeners and readers, and the goal there is to keep this reporting independent and to be transparent when you do hear shout-outs and the like. Closing out FY21 Our second story from the November 3, 2021 Albemarle Board of Supervisors meeting comes from a fiscal update that came from a briefing from County Executive Jeffrey Richardson on the closing of Fiscal Year 21, which ran from July 1, 2020 to this past June 30. Like all localities, Albemarle was affected by the pandemic.“The last 20 months have been unlike any in my professional working career and I probably speak for staff when I say our challenges and the kinds of issues and problems we face are unlike any that we have faced in our career,” Richardson said. The pandemic began officially in Virginia on March 12, 2020 with the declaration of a state of emergency. That happened just as Albemarle was finalizing the budget for fiscal year 2021. A decision was made to rewrite the budget to pause some spending while more was known about underlying economic conditions.  Richardson said staff initially assumed the worst case scenario. “We artificially lowered our budget base so we had to go in and we had to make drastic cuts for fiscal year 21,” Richardson said. Richardson said the economic outlook did not turn out to be as severe and he detailed the reasons why in his presentation. There has also been federal funding in the form of the CARES Act of 2020 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Here’s one example from Albemarle budget chief Andy Bowman. “The county was able to reimburse a significant portion of its public safety expenditures which created a one-time savings in the middle of fiscal year 2021 which the Board of Supervisors used to establish a local pandemic reserve,” Bowman said. Now the time has come to begin preparing for the budget for FY23, which will be adopted by the Board next May. That comes as the fiscal year 2021 budget is audited which will reveal whether there are additional funds leftover that be reprogrammed to achieve the county’s strategic goals. This is known as “one-time” funds. In FY21, revenues were up 5.3 percent over budget and county spending was down 4.9 percent. “Unaudited, we expect there to be $13.2 million in one-time funding that can be available to be reprogrammed as the county is heading into the season again of financial planning,” Bowman said. Richardson told the Board that the local economy is strong, and there are many ways this funding could be used to make further investments in economic development.“You met recently with your [Economic Development Authority] and I think that we need to consider more and I think now is the time to do more to set ourselves up for the future to help business expansion and to be a catalyst in this community to continue to strengthen our economic foundation,” Richardson said. Richardson also suggested the Board consider a mid-year salary increase for county personnel could also be an option. The Board will have a work session on “workforce stabilization” on December 1. Other suggestions from staff will continue to come to the Board in weeks to come. The next immediate step is a meeting of the Audit Committee on November 19. (meeting info)A major change this upcoming year is that real estate reassessments for calendar year 2022 will be sent out a month earlier than usual due to issues with the post office and potential for delays caused by mail. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Andy Assigns! This is the episode where Andy coerces his two WONDERFUL cohosts into obeying his whims like the puppets they are! 2:10 - Odd Taxi (known to some as ODDTAXI) the Japanese Hyperlink anime that should be required watching for everyone. 26:45 - The box office destroying heart warming story Your Name 1:04:00 - One Piece, the best selling manga of all time

Surprise! Bonus Spooktober episode! This week, Tessa watches Aliens, Sam watches Resident Evil, and Andy watches Jennifer's Body. 1:07 - Aliens 19:10 - Sam's latest pop culture complaint 32:44 - Resident Evil 44:17 - Jennifer's Body

This week, we're joined by new friend of the pod, Melissa, who checks The Shining off of her list. Tessa watches The Ring; Sam watches the episode of Black Mirror, "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too"; and Andy watches Goodnight Mommy. 4:44 - The Shining 19:10 - Melissa talks pop culture 21:48 - The Ring 40:28 - "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" 52:26 - Goodnight Mommy We also talk about James Wan's new film Malignant

2:50 - Sam talks about Corpse Bride 16:35 - "What type of Horror does it for you?" 26:27 - Andy talks about Pee Mak (and Sam shows him proper respect) 37:20 - Tessa talks with herself about The Good House!

It's the beginning of Spooktober! This week, we're doing vampires, things that go bump in the night, and invisibility! 03:35 - The Lost Boys 23:20 - What's on monkeyoffmybacklog.com 27:29 - Something Is Killing the Children 34:43 - The Invisible Man

1:55 Tessa talks about the old movie The Philadelphia Story (Not the Tom Hanks/ Neverending Story Crossover) 26: 30 Sam talks about deep breath Highschool Musical The Musical The Series 42:13 Andy discusses the difficult to describe beauty of Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky

Longtime friend of the pod but first-time guest Jack is with us as we dedicate an entire episode to the brilliant and unconventional Wong Kar Wai, a master of Hong Kong cinema. 01:31 - As Tears Go By 17:30 - How were you introduced to WKW? 20:06 - In the Mood for Love 30:42 - Favorite WKW tropes 36:33 - 2046 46:50 - WKW ranking

Things get real today as Sam talks about The Sparks Brothers, Tessa reflects on Whip It, and Andy tells us about Mother 3 and (EarthBound). Remember, this podcast is a judgment-free zone, Andy. 00:59 - Sam talks about The Sparks Brothers 11:08 - Pop culture that you wish you were more into 22:36 - Tessa reflects on Whip It 38:24 - Andy tells us about Mother 3 and (EarthBound)

It's Hoisted by Your Own Petard Week! Andy discusses Casablanca, Sam talks about Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye, and Tessa reveals what The Prisoner is. 01:41 - Andy discusses Casablanca 19:42 - Spooktober II: Bride of Spooktober 31:29 - Sam talks about Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye 52:09 - Tessa reveals what The Prisoner is

1:00 - Tessa watched 11 out of 19 episodes of teen dramedy My So-Called Life 17:30 - What's in a title? What appeals to us as far as titles go 26:15 - Sam read the classic children's novel Holes 32:00 - Andy watched the new video game based movie Werewovles Within (and loved it)

This week, Sam and Tessa discuss counterculture with Easy Rider and Dark Side of the Moon, and Andy talks about Final Fantasy III. 01:16 - Sam talks about Easy Rider 15:25 - Pop culture from "before your time" that people insist are essential 26:33 - Tessa listens to Dark Side of the Moon 41:28 - Andy plays Final Fantasy III

Since these are best-of segments and we all love just a little bit of mystery, the timestamps won't reveal what this is. 00:50 - Sam's pick 14:00 - Tessa's pick 26:00 - Andy's pick Can you dive into our minds and figure out why we chose what we chose?

00:53 - Sam delves into the many films of master of mood and cinema, Wong Kar-wai specificaly Chungking Express and Fallen Angels. 21:50 - WE NEED HELP! Give us your suggestions and claim a super special prize! 31:43 - Tessa delves into the history and nostalgia of Disney's animated film Wreck-It Ralph and what that means to her - someone who did not go to arcades growing up (or play any video games) 42:05 - Andy tries to make Tessa look bad and also delves into the amazingly funny zombie film One Cut of the Dead There's some bloopers at the end folks, so make sure you pay attention

This week, we're doing an MCU 2021 roundup! Spoiler alert: We do not feel the same way about WandaVision, The Falcon and Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and Loki. 04:49 - WandaVision 12:43 - The Falcon and Winter Soldier 22:36 - Black Widow 37:43 - Loki

This episode isn't about Bakugan or JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, we swear. Andy, host of the Monkey Off My Backlog podcast, joins Nigel and Ally to discuss Eiichiro Oda's hit manga series 'One Piece'; how does 'One Piece' solve the power-scaling problem in anime and manga, how fruit can give you special powers, and why puns are the most powerful weapon in a fight. [minor spoiler warning for 'One Piece'] If you liked the episode, please feel free to tell us about it! You can send your comments and suggestions to our podcast Twitter (@HyperfixationsP), or our Instagram (@Hyperfixationspod), and join our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/NQJFFHgpgf Our guest Andy can be found on Twitter @andynoted, and Monkey Off My Backlog can be found on Twitter: @monkeybacklog, and on Instagram: @monkeybacklog and can be heard here. And your hosts can be reached individually here: Ally - Twitter: @alleykat_, Instagram: @ally_k_keegan Nigel - Twitter: @spicynigel If you would like to come onto the show to discuss one of your Hyperfixations, please feel free to reach out at any of the aforementioned social media. Thank you so much for listening, you rock! Intro/Outro Song: Strollin Along by David Renda, find it here - https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/royalty-free-music/download/strollin-along/339 Background Music: Commercial Bliss by David Renda, find it here - https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/royalty-free-music/download/commercial-bliss/345

Andy's back...just in time to hear Tessa talk about the first season of LOST! Plus, Andy and Sam talk video games with Final Fantasy XV and Quantum Break. 01:50 - Tessa talks about LOST 24:29 - Andy recounts the experience of playing Final Fantasy XV 37:00 - Sam combines both with Quantum Break And, yes, for the record, Andy is correct that Brad Bird directed Tomorrowland. Bird, Damon Lindelof, and Jeff Jensen all have writing credits on the film.

This week, we're joined by Colby Waddell to talk Mass Effect, sports, and anime. Tessa is welcomed to the Space Jam, and Sam gets acquainted with Lucifer. 01:28 - Tessa is welcomed to the Space Jam 20:26 - Colby talks sports and anime 31:20 - Colby discusses his Mass Effect adventures (spoilers!) 44:25 - Sam gets acquainted with Lucifer

This week, Sam listens to How I'm Feeling Now by Charlie XCX and Chromatica by Lady Gaga, Andy reads the graphic novel 4 Kids Walk into a Bank, and Tessa watches the Nora Ephron classic You've Got Mail. We also play After Monkey, the game where we check in on some ongoing monkeys. 01:20 - Sam listens to How I'm Feeling Now by Charlie XCX and Chromatica by Lady Gaga 13:51 - After Monkey 17:57 - Andy reads the graphic novel 4 Kids Walk into a Bank 26:36 - Tessa watches the Nora Ephron classic You've Got Mail

This week, Sam watches the cult classic Josie and the Pussycats, Tessa gets her vampire on with Bit, and Andy confuses us all with Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. presage flower. 01:09 - Sam watches the cult classic Josie and the Pussycats 12:39 - Convoluted plots 18:22 - Tessa gets her vampire on with Bit 27:01 - Andy confuses us all with Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. presage flower

This week, Tessa watches Superman (the 1978 film directed by Richard Donner); Andy revisits early Green Day; and Sam goes under the sea with Atlantis: The Lost Empire. 01:02 - Tessa watches Superman 16:48 - We want you to call in! 27:24 - Andy listens to 1,039 Smoothed Out/Slappy Hours 45:26 - Sam goes under the sea with Atlantis: The Lost Empire

This week, Tessa watches Kevin Smith's first film, Clerks; Sam talks about Phineas and Ferb; and Andy plays murder jumanji with Beyond the Gates. 01:13 - Tessa watches Kevin Smith's first film, Clerks 13:19 - Our Oscar "reactions" 20:43 - Sam talks about Phineas and Ferb 29:04 - Andy plays murder jumanji with Beyond the Gates

This week, Sam finally watches season 1 of Star Trek: The Original Series. Tessa reads If I Was Your Girl, a young adult novel about a trans girl coming of age in the South, and Andy tells us all about Gankutsuou, an anime adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo. 00:56 - Sam finally watches season 1 of Star Trek: The Original Series 15:36 - Learning the wrong lessons from pop culture 30:48 - Tessa reads If I Was Your Girl, 45:31 - Andy tells us all about Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo

This week, Tessa plays Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Andy continues his anime binge with The Quintessential Quintuplets, and Sam watches two U2 shows he's never seen as part of the band's The Virtual Road series. We also share our thoughts about recent pop culture with Invincible, Captain Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Godzilla vs. Kong. 02:42 - Tessa plays Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel 15:38 - Invincible 17:42 - Captain Falcon and the Winter Soldier 21:42 - Godzilla vs. Kong 24:12 - Andy continues his anime binge with The Quintessential Quintuplets 34:49 - Sam watches two U2 shows he's never seen as part of the band's The Virtual Road series.

This week, we hold an intervention for the DCEU and talk the Snyder Cut. Sam continues musical globetrotting with Blackpink, Tessa watches The Good Wife, and Andy agonizes his way through source and adaptation of The Promised Neverland. We also have thoughts about Oscar snubs. 00:59 - Sam talk music with Blackpink 18:10 - Intervention for the DCEU 27:15 - Thoughts on the Snyder Cut (spoilers!) 30:37 - Tessa watches The Good Wife 41:00 - Andy tortures himself with The Promised Neverland

This week, Sam talks music with the film adaptation of the ABBA musical Mamma Mia!, Tessa goes silent with Fritz Lang's Metropolis, and Andy agonizes his way through Attack on Titan. We also have thoughts about Oscar snubs. 01:02 - Sam talk music with Mamma Mia! 12:34 - Oscar snubs 19:10 - Tessa watches Metropolis 30:20 - Andy tortures himself with Attack on Titan

Kaiju Fight! Tessa and Andy are joined by Ariel Rada to talk kaiju movies they've crossed of their backlog as well as some of their favorite kaiju movies in anticipation of Godzilla vs. Kong. 02:00 - Shin Godzilla 09:45 - Ariel's kaiju origin story 13:50 - Colossal 22:15 - Kong: Skull Island (spoilers!); What is a kaiju movie, anyway? 31:56 - Andy's kaiju origin story 33:57 - Godzilla: King of the Monsters (spoilers!) 41:14 - Tessa's kaiju origin story (and Pacific Rim) 47:43 - Gamera, the Giant Monster 53:49 - Predictions for Godzilla vs Kong

This week, Sam plays the classic puzzle platformer Portal, Tessa watches Mystic Pizza, and Andy watches Little Evil. We're also talking Academy Award Best Picture nominees. 01:16 - Sam plays Portal 12:24 - Academy Award Best Picture nominees 32:24 - Tessa watches Mystic Pizza 40:09 - Andy defines the horror comedy genre while discussing Little Evil

In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out...your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $75,100, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!On today’s show:The Blue Ridge Health District will move its vaccination clinic to Fashion Square Mall Albemarle and Charlottesville both get updates on budgetsCharlottesville Fire Department seeks to reduce risks through neighborhood assessmentsInitial site plan filed for parking lot for future Biscuit Run parkExit 124’s conversion to a “diverging-diamond” is underwayAn update on displacement at the Red Carpet InnThe pandemic has a knack for breathing new life into commercial spaces that have gone dormant if only for a temporary basis. Beginning next week, the Blue Ridge Health District will provide shots at the former J.C. Penney space in Fashion Square Mall. They have been doing so in the parking lot of the former K-Mart. The UVA Health System is providing shots at the former Big Lots.The Health District continues to go through health care workers eligible under Phase1A. Dr. Denise Bonds is the director. “There’s a few individuals we still haven’t reached yet, and then of course there are new individuals that have just taken jobs within that area and we will continue to prioritize those individuals,” Bonds said. “We are still working through our 1B essential workers and as I said we’re moving into manufacturing and farm and agriculture. We are vaccinating individuals who are 65 and older and those who are 16 to 64 with high-risk medical conditions.”Bonds said the district and UVA have administered nearly 100,000 doses. Next week they are expecting 11,650 doses, with 5,800 of those first shots and 2,000 the one-shot Johnson and Johnson version. The move to the J.C. Penney will allow the district to have up to 30 people administering vaccines at a time. Ryan McKay is the policy director for the Blue Ridge Health District, which has outgrown the tent. “While that tent has been serving a tremendous purpose and service to the community, it does present some challenges for us we operate,” McKay said. “When we have larger volumes of people, it puts people outside as opposed to inside. It sort of limits the amount of vaccinators we can have and the number of chairs we can provide for observation areas.” The J.C. Penney space offers 100,000 square feet of room and will begin operations on March 23 starting four days a week. “Provided that the vaccine allocation increased, we could administer up to 2,000 doses per day out of that location,” McKay said. Source: Blue Ridge Health DistrictEveryone who wants a vaccine is now being asked to go ahead and register with the Commonwealth at vaccinate.virginia.gov. Kathryn Goodman is the communications manager for the Blue Ridge Health District.  ‘We want everybody to pre-register right now,” Goodman said. “It doesn’t matter what phase you are in or when you will qualify. We want everyone registered in the state system.”Today, Governor Ralph Northam announced that schools and universities will be able to hold in-person graduation events later this spring. Events held outdoors will be capped at 30 percent of capacity or 5,000 people, whichever is less. Events held indoors may have up to 500 people or 30 percent capacity, whichever is less. According to a press release sent out today, Virginia school systems will receive $1.9 billion in direct funds from the American Rescue Plan adopted by Congress earlier this month. Source: Blue Ridge Health DistrictCharlottesville City Council met for more than six hours Monday and covered a lot of ground that I won’t fully get to in this newsletter. Council first got an update on the city’s financial forecast. Staff continue to monitor a potential $9 million shortfall in the current fiscal year with decreased meals and lodging taxes. Ryan Davidson is one of Charlottesville’s two senior budget analysts. He said one solution may be to use funding from the American Rescue Plan, but staff have not yet gone through all of the fine print. “We’re still going through what that means for us and restrictions and where it can be used but we do anticipate using some of this but we still need to figure out how we’re going to get, but we do anticipate using some of this to manage the shortfall,” Davidson said.  Next month’s report will include an updated forecast based on having three quarters of fiscal year 2021 in the books.  Download the full presentation on the city’s websiteThe Albemarle County also held a budget work session on Monday. At the beginning, Chief Financial Officer Nelsie Birch suggested dedicating a future work session to how Albemarle’s portion of the ARP funding would be used. That will give her and her staff to get more information. “I still at this point don’t actually know the amount of money we’re going to be receiving,” Birch said. “It’s somewhere around $21 million.”More from Albemarle in a moment. Council also got a report from the fire department on their new approach toward Community Risk Reduction, which is intended to lower service calls through various preventative measures. Joe Powers was hired from Henrico County to be the first deputy chief for community risk reduction. “We’re one of the few fire departments across the United States that has invested in community risk reduction at an executive level,” Powers said. “From a traditional standpoint, we’ve always heard of fire prevention as a part of the fire department. We’re changing that mindset and taking it from a section of the fire department and making it an organizational process.”Part of the work involves reviewing neighborhoods, looking for specific threats, and then tailoring targeted messages. “The entire city doesn’t need a program on cooking fires or pedestrians crossing the street,” Powers said. “Maybe it’s certain intersections or certain neighborhoods.”A lot of the work has to do with gathering data that can help the department move away from one-size-fits-all approach to community education efforts. Another name for it is neighborhood risk assessment. “We also need to understand where our structure fires, but more so we need to know where asthma is occurring, allergic reactions, hazardous material calls, and cardiac arrests because all of those risks in areas of the city can be mitigated with our partners and in the fire department,” Powers said. I’ll have more from the City Council meeting in a future installment. The department has conducted risk assessments of individual neighborhoods such as this one for 10th and Page (full presentation)Albemarle Supervisors went through the county school system’s request as well as capital projects at their work session Monday.  Graham Paige is the chair of the Albemarle School Board.“We are projecting the current revenues of $205.8 million which is an increase of $12 million over the current fiscal year,” Paige said. “The majority of that increase, that $6.9 million, is a general fund transfer from local government which as you know is increasing in response to higher real estate assessments and other local tax revenues that so far have been impacted by COVID-19 less than anticipated.” Paige said the school board’s request is balanced, but if revenues come in higher than expected, the hope is that income can go to pay for a salary increase. The request includes an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. One factor in the size of the school budget is the number of pupils. Katrina Callsen is the vice chair of the Albemarle School Board.“Next school year we are projecting an increase of more than 800 students over current enrollment,” Callsen said. “So moving from the 13,208 to 14,046.” Albemarle school staff will continue to adjust its budget as more information about state revenues comes in. They’ll adopt their budget in May, after Supervisors have adopted the county’s overall budget.Supervisor Bea LaPisto Kirtley took the opportunity to ask about summer school. There is a plan to hold a morning session and afternoon session for learning recovery. Superintendent Matt Haas also said the school system is reaching out to community partners to help provide some of the lessons and assistance with logistics.“We are putting out a request for proposals from our community partners that work with our students and often they have been great partners with the school system for field trips,” Haas said. That request for proposals carries the title “Summer Programming for Students and closes on April 2. Source: Albemarle CountySupervisors were also briefed on the $56.9 million capital budget for FY22. Several projects were paused in the current budget due to projected decline in revenues related to the pandemic as well as concerns about the uncertainty of the bond market. Albemarle’s chief of budget, Andy Bowman, said the bond market has stabilized, even if the rest of the economy has not yet done so. Interest rates are also lower than they were when the pandemic began, which will save the county money on debt service.“Working with our financial adviser, we were able to reduce our projected interest rates and that results in a savings of about $400,000,” Bowman said.Four new requests are proposed to be funded in the FY22 capital budget.“They are additional funding for economic development public/private partnerships,” Bowman said. “We also have $3 million in additional funding for the transportation leveraging program, another $6.3 million for Mountain View Elementary School expansion and site improvements, and the final project was a trailhead for the Moores Creek trail that will then make a connection to a greater trail network in the future.” Supervisor Ned Gallaway of the Rio District noted that opposition to development projects often draws upon concerns of overcrowded schools. “There is going to be a coming concern for elementary school seats up 29 north that has to be on discussion at some point,” Gallaway said. Today, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors appropriated one-time money from reserve funds for two projects. One is for a $1.1 million solid waste “convenience center” to serve southern Albemarle and the other was to have been $3 million to expand broadband projects.  However, the Board reduced that to $350,000 for now to see if funding from the ARP can be used for this purpose. (this paragraph was updated after publication)There’s another $3 million being set aside in a reserve known as the Business Process Optimization intended to build new systems for the Community Development Department. Kristy Shifflet is the county’s project management director.“In FY21 we’ve begun building a roadmap, really how might we replace a new community development system as well as an enterprise resource planning, or ERP, effort in order to update our business systems for the modern workplace,” Shifflet said. “We understand this is a large undertaking but our technology in these areas are aging and limited.”The new system could help speed up review of land use applications. (review Albemarle’s recommended FY22 budget) Albemarle will hold another budget work session on March 18 and will set the tax rate for the current calendar. The current property tax rate is $0.854 per $100 of assessed value, and staff has not recommended an increase. You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement. In this subscriber-supported public service announcement, the days of live music at clubs are in our future, but if you feel safe and want to check out people playing together in a safe environment, the Charlottesville Jazz Society has a running list of events coming up on their website. The Charlottesville Jazz Society is dedicated to the promotion, preservation and perpetuation of all jazz. Check them out in the link in the newsletter.  The eventual opening of a county park at the state-owned Biscuit Run property is one step closer to reality. The initial site plan for the first phase of Biscuit Run park has been filed with the Albemarle Community Development Department. The improvements are for a parking area with 75 spaces as well as an entrance from Route 20. The project has a capital budget of $2 million and is the first of many phases to add amenities to the 1,200 acre park, according to the Winter 2021 report from the Department of Facilities and Environmental Services.  Future phases have not yet been programmed in the capital budget. Source: Albemarle CountyAnother planned infrastructure project is moving forward into a more intensive construction phase. The conversion of Interstate 64’s Exit 124 to a “diverging diamond” increases the amount of vehicles that can travel through the signalized interchange. “The diverging diamond interchange briefly shifts vehicles to the opposite side of the road, eliminating traditional left turns that must cross over oncoming traffic,” reads a press release. “The new interchange will improve safety by reducing the number of spots where vehicles could collide and can handle more than 600 left-turn movements per hour, twice the capacity of a conventional interchange.”The speed-limit on U.S. 250 in the area has been reduced to 25 miles per hour. The project is expected to be completed by the fall of 2022 and is one of six projects being constructed by Curtis Contracting. Funding came from the second round of the Smart Scale process from the Virginia Department of Transportation. Curtis Contracting has already completed work at I-64’s Fontaine Avenue interchange and a connector road between Berkmar Drive and Rio Mills Road is nearly finished.Curtis Contracting will also build roundabouts at both the intersection of U.S. 250 and Route 151 and Profitt Road and Route 20.Source: Virginia Department of TransportationAnd finally today, Albemarle’s communications and public engagement director appeared at today’s Supervisors’ meeting to address concerns related to a recent rezoning applied for by the Piedmont Housing Alliance, Virginia Supportive Housing and the Thomas Jefferson Coalition for the Homeless. On February 17, Supervisors approved a change for the land where the Red Carpet Inn operates on U.S. 29 for a project that will eventually see between 80 to 140 housing units for people with low incomes. However, news reports have recently surfaced that existing residents of the Red Carpet Inn will be displaced. Emily Kilroy explained that there was a communication error. “The Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless has shared that as media reports came out about the family that had been living at the Red Carpet Inn on more of  a long-term basis, that when they became aware of the communication issue, they reached out to get a list of all the long-term tenants that have been living there,” Kilroy said. “There were ten households that were impacted with the closure of the Red Carpet Inn and they have made contact with all ten of those households. Seven of them have reached back out for support and they are working on an individual basis to find the best solution for their needs to get those individuals rehoused elsewhere in the community.” This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s Substack-fueled shout-out, Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit the Code for Charlottesville website to learn more, including details on three projects that are underway. On today’s show:Albemarle Supervisors hold their first work session on the proposed $466 million budget for FY22Virginia Festival of the Book kicks off tomorrowAlbemarle expands in-person instruction on Monday, and schools are still looking for input on name of Murray Elementary SchoolCharlottesville City School returned to in-person learning for kindergarten through 6th grade this week, and next week Albemarle County will move forward to its next phase of in-person learning. Graham Paige is the chair of the Albemarle School Board. “We will open in stage 4 on March 15,” Paige said. “This move was approved by the Board on February 11 and in this stage, pre-K through third graders will be able to receive four days of school instruction and grades four to 12 will have two days of in-school instruction. We expect approximately 7,600 students will receive in-person instruction with nearly 6,000 other students opting to receive virtual.” Paige said a survey showed that only 60 percent of respondents said they had suitable Internet access to participate fully in virtual learning. A soft opening took place this week to help new students get to know their learn their new school. Paige said the future name of Virginia L. Murray Elementary School will soon be decided this week, and it could perhaps remain the same. The school system is reviewing names. Respondents to a recent survey suggested keeping the name. “While the large majority of survey participants supported retaining the school’s current name, the most popular suggestion for a new name was Ivy Elementary School in reference to the school’s location in the western part of the county,” Paige said. An online survey continues to be open through March 18. To find out more, visit the school system’s page on renaming. In other school news, Charlottesville Superintendent Rosa Atkins has announced she will retire effective May 31. We’ll have more from that announcement on a future program. *The Virginia Festival of the Book gets underway tomorrow one year after canceling the last one in the early days of the pandemic. Jane Kulow is the director of the event, which will be held entirely online this year. “This will be our 27th outing,” Kulow said. “This year’s festival runs two full weeks. Saturday, March 13 to Friday March 26, 2021. It is all virtual, it is all free, and it includes books in all genres and for all ages.” Unlike in previous years, events will be held one at a time which means someone could theoretically watch every single hour live. “We believe we’ve found a way to offer some of our best features, and make the festival more accessible than ever,” Kulow said. “We invite you and everyone to explore the schedule and find events to attend.” Kulow spoke to the Albemarle Board of Supervisors on March 3.   View the schedule hereThe Albemarle County Board of Supervisors have begun their detailed review of the recommended $466 million budget for fiscal year 2022. The season has been slightly extended this year with adoption scheduled for May 5 after a series of work sessions. On Wednesday, the Board began with a look at the operating budget and began recommending potential things to add or to cut. Andy Bowman is the chief of budget. “Fiscal year 22 is really going to be a transitional budget,” Bowman said. “Our economy is stabilizing but it has not stabilized. Our community is adapting as our circumstances change and people are impacted by the pandemic in very different ways.” Budget schedule for FY22On Monday, they’ll talk about the school budget and next Thursday they’ll talk about public safety. At the Thursday meeting, they will also set a maximum tax rate for advertisement if they decide to increase from the current $0.854 per $100 of assessed value. County Executive Jeff Richardson’s recommended budget proposes no increase. But on Wednesday, Bowman told the supervisors that the transitional budget is intended to prepare for a post-pandemic world. “So even this is a transitionary budget, we had to reflect in making recommendations on what are those things we can do to build a bridge now to make sure that we are an even more resilient  organization and community when we reach the other side of our future?” This year’s budget is 17 percent higher than the current fiscal year, and Bowman said a lot of that is due to a larger capital improvement plan. “The board may recall at the state of the Fiscal Year 21 budget, many capital projects have been put on hold and some of those have been restarted and that certainly plays into that as well,” Bowman said.  Since Richardson unveiled his budget in late February, the General Assembly adopted a state budget. Bowman said staff are continuing to review how that might affect Albemarle’s budget, so there may still be adjustments based on new revenues. They’re also reviewing the American Rescue Plan to find out that affect the budget. “In my mind, I think of this as almost another round of the CARES coronavirus relief funds that were received in the last calendar year,” Bowman said. The recommended budget does not include any of those federal funds, and budget staff are checking to see what the rules for their usage will be. Virginia is expected to receive $6.8 billion for state and local aid from the ARP, according to the Associated Press.The county is putting $3 million in one-time funds toward expanding broadband in Albemarle and by creating an Office of Broadband Access. Supervisors directed staff to go in that direction in a joint meeting with the Albemarle Broadband Authority on February 17. Trevor Henry is the assistant county executive.“We all experienced the tsunami of internet need that occurred over the past year and really we have all been in that mode since a year ago,” Henry said. Henry said that even households that thought they had good access to broadband taxed their connections when almost every group event went online. “And so the work that has come since a year ago has only intensified the critical needs and we have a lot of opportunities in front of us now to do some meaningful work,” Henry said. “We have programs at the federal, state and local level.” Some of the work will be to pay for the “last mile” where clusters of structures are near a fiber line but their owners may not be able to afford to make the connection. Details of the program will come back to the board later this spring. But to make it work, staff will also need to be hired. “The addition of an operations person, an administrator, will help us set up purchase orders, taking care of all of the billing, taking citizen requests, responding, tracking that data,” Henry said. “Those kinds of metrics, making sure that the action items on all of the various meetings related to broadband get tracked and captured and we’re working to executive them.”Albemarle will also work on an effort to help people pay for the service once. Supervisors were all supportive of the recommendations to move forward. Both Louisa and Nelson have announced plans to move toward universal broadband through public-private partnerships with electric cooperatives. Earlier this month, the Louisa Board of Supervisors announced a $15 million investment. There’s a meeting today facilitated by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission to see how the model being used in Louisa and Nelson can be expanded to cover what’s known as the “middle mile.” Legislation to allow Dominion and Appalachian Power to expand their broadband efforts passed the General Assembly this year and awaits action by Governor Ralph Northam. (HB1923)The work session also covered public safety. Supervisor Diantha McKeel observed that new legislation requires localities to change the way service calls related to mental health crises are handled. “I know there’s some discussion about creating a team between so the police don’t have to respond by themselves to many of our mental health calls,” McKeel said. “There’s nothing in the budget Andy right now around that initiative.”Bowman confirmed that and suggested Police Chief Ron Lantz will be giving an update on that in the near future. Another new expense in the budget is the hiring of five people to staff the North Garden Volunteer Fire Company during the day with fire and rescue service by the fall of 2022. “Currently there are no county staff down there, they are entirely volunteer,” Bowman said. “We received a letter from them in the fall requesting supplemental staffing during the weekday daytime.The budget also includes purchase of an ambulance for the North Garden department. Bowman said that over the past four budgets, the county has added 32 full-time equivalents to fire and rescue. Some of those positions have been supported by grants from the federal government and to increase coverage to meet the needs of a growing population. A more in-depth discussion of public safety budgetary issues will be held at the March 18 work session. On March 22, they will talk in detail about transit. Charlottesville Area Transit had requested $1.47 million but the draft budget only recommends a million. Albemarle would contribute $6,137 a year for the new Afton Express and $2.18 million for Jaunt. CAT provided an update on proposed route changes at the February 24 Regional Transit Partnership. “In fiscal year 21, there are two studies that are taking through the Regional Transit Partnership,” Bowman said. “One of those is a longer-term regional transit vision plan and the other one is funded in 21 looking at some Albemarle specific transit services and we’ll be looking to what comes from that report for FY23 and beyond.”  Supervisors wanted more information on several things, including current response times for North Garden, the status of daytime staffing of the Earlysville Volunteer Fire Company, the and cost of operating the future Biscuit Run county park. This patron-supported public service announcement is from an anonymous supporter. Do you want to support your public library by picking up a mystery bag of books? The Friends of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library are resuming their Pop-up Book Sale this Sunday at the Gordon Avenue library. For $5, you can pick up a sealed, pre-selected bag, choosing from mystery, popular fiction, literary fiction, classic literature, biographies, sci-fi / fantasy. The JMRL Pop-Up sale begins this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Gordon Avenue Library. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

On today’s show:Albemarle local government and school employees may get a $1,000 bonusThe MPO Policy Board is briefed on several transportation projectsCharlottesville’s public housing board held an emergency meeting todayAnd Albemarle County begins taking public comment on a new housing policyToday's Patreon-fueled shout-out is for the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign, an initiative that wants you to grow native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water.  Start at the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page and tell them Lonnie Murray sent you!     The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and the Albemarle School Board met last Thursday to begin the public side of the budget cycle. In Virginia, school boards do not have the power to raise their own money, so legislative bodies have to factor in school needs when setting a tax rate.  “We’re here to kind of kick off and get started with the things that roll right into our budget season which is right upon us,” said Albemarle Supervisor Ned Gallaway. “We are pleased to be with the supervisors as we start out with this budget season,” said Graham Paige, the chair of the Albemarle School Board. Recently, Albemarle unpaused several capital projects that were delayed due to the uncertainty involving the pandemic’s effect on the local economy. These include an addition at Crozet Elementary School. But, the main topic for Thursday’s meeting is a major factor that Albemarle’s budget staff need to consider as they tally up projected expenditures. Matt Haas is the Superintendent of Albemarle Public Schools. “I’m really grateful for this opportunity to be here with the Albemarle County School Board, the Board of Supervisors and our staff to have a conversation with what I think we all might consider is a high priority, compensation for our employees,” Haas said. Albemarle Superintendent Matt HaasHaas said this previous year has been very difficult for schools around the world as normal was turned upside down. There’s a lot of work that goes into providing the services associated with public schools. “Since then our employees, our teachers, our nurses, teaching assistants, building services staff, principals, bus drivers, aides, our child nutrition staff, and our leadership team have come together [and] treated every day as an opportunity to learn and improve, both virus mitigation and safety, providing for student and family needs in terms of meals and essentials and amazingly, high-quality teaching and learning, whether it is provided online or out at the school,” Haas said. This year, school employees did not get a raise due to the county’s decision to play it safe fiscally. A projected increase to a minimum wage of $15 an hour was also shelved. Still, Haas sounded optimistic.“As you know, it’s a new year, “ Haas said. “Although some of the events we have witnessed since January 1 might make it seem like we’re still experiencing 2020, we’re now actually in 2021 and due to the smart moves of our local government and school finance staff, we are in better position than I thought we might have been right now.” But, are conditions favorable enough to increase compensation? On January 20, the Board of Supervisors were told that overall tax assessments in Albemarle were up 1.4 percent, which could bring in additional revenue depending on the property tax rate. Andy Bowman in the county’s budget office sounded a realistic tone. “T his will be the slowest growth in our reassessments since the Great Recession and that will be especially impactful in the revenue picture next year,” Bowman said. “As the Boards may know, a little more than half of the county’s operating revenue comes from real estate taxes.”Bowman said the budget office sees the economy as uncertain and unstable at this time. “We are seeing that the county revenues are stabilizing but we have not stabilized,” Bowman said. “And as the pandemic continues, we are not through that, either.” However, Bowman said budget staff have identified a source of revenue to provide for a one-time funding for several ways to shore up the county, including employee compensation using the term “stablizing the county’s workforce”. The budgets are still being prepared and will be presented in mid to late February. A third of the school’s budget comes from the state, and the rest comes from local taxes. That means the school’s budget depends on what is proposed in Virginia’s budget. Maya Kumazawa is the budget and planning director for Albemarle Schools. She said the system will receive more money than expected in the current fiscal year. “There are a few things listed in FY21 that add up to approximately $5 million that we are anticipated to receive in the current year above what we have adopted, so this would fall under one-time funding as Mr. Bowman described,” Kumazawa said. “In addition for next year, the Governor’s proposed budget includes a two-percent one-time bonus for SOQ funded positions which is likely to turn into a raise pending more information about revenue forecasts.” The elected officials were told that other major employers have already made the jump to $15 an hour. Dana Robb is with Albemarle’s human resources department.  “We are still seeing trends of some local employers moving towards [$15 an hour] or have, such as the city of Charlottesville, University of Virginia, and Sentara Martha Jefferson,” Robb said. The Commonwealth of Virginia is also increasing its minimum wage to $15 gradually through 2026. So, what’s the one-time proposal? Lorna Gerome is   Albemarle’s human resources director and she said the county was proposing…“To provide a lump-sum payment of $1,000 for all regular full-time employees and some portion of that for part-time,” Gerome said. “This would come out of existing year-end fund balance and we would be able to do it this spring.” For local government, that would use a maximum of $850,000 of the county’s surplus. For the school government, that would be a maximum of a $2.7 million drawdown of their fund balance of $8.6 million. The idea of the one-time payment had general support from both elected bodies. Here’s Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley of the Rivanna District. “I think this $1,000 lump sum payment is a way of saying ‘we see you, we recognize you, this is what we can do for now and we appreciate all you have done for us in making sure that local government runs for all of the people of Albemarle,” LaPisto-Kirtley said. Others, however, were concerned that the county has not been able to increase salaries. Dave Oberg represents the White Hall District. “From my perspective, I appreciate the thought of hey, look, we’re going to give a bonus,” Oberg said. “I get that. But the problem is that I think there’s a danger that assuages our guilt. We didn’t give you the raise that we thought we would give you, but we’re giving you a bonus. And I just think that’s a problem.” Supervisor Bea LaPisto-KirtleyLast week, the regional body that takes votes on transportation projects met for the first time in 2021.One item on the agenda was a public hearing on a cost increase for the Belmont Bridge replacement. That project has been in the planning stages for over ten years and set to get under construction this year. The cost estimate for the project is $31.1 million, or about six million higher than the most recent estimate included within the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s transportation improvement program. Charlottesville’s capital budget for the current fiscal year includes $5 million toward the project, and the draft capital improvement program includes $2.5 million. No one spoke at the public hearing. State and federal funding for the Belmont Bridge predate the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale process. Results of the fourth round were recently released. VDOT engineer Chuck Proctor told the MPO Policy Board that the area was successful in getting many projects recommended.“In the MPO area there were 15 total projects, 13 of them were funded,” Proctor said. “The only ones that weren’t funded were the Hillsdale Drive South extension and the Fray’s Mill intersection on 29.”That last project is in the scope of an MPO study that will soon get underway to look at U.S. 29 between Airport  Road in Albemarle County and the intersection with U.S. 33 in Greene County. “The purpose of this corridor study is to develop broad transportation recommendations that complement the existing land use designations in the study area,” said transportation planner Jessica Hersh-Ballering. “This will not just be personal motor vehicles. This will be transit, bicycle, and pedestrian transportation. Source: Thomas Jefferson Planning District CommissionOn January 20, the Greene Planning Commission recommended approval of a zoning amendment that will allow construction to begin on 1,180 new homes off Preddy Creek Road. (Read Terry Beigie’s story in the Greene County Record to learn more)There’s also the possibility that Greene County could be added to the jurisdictional boundaries of the MPO. Sandy Shackelford is the director of planning and transportation at the MPO. “We’re also going to be recommending that we use a consultant to do an MPO strategic plan, specifically as we start looking at the possibility of changing the MPO boundaries,” Shackleford said. “We think this is a really good opportunity to review and define who it is that we’re serving. Who is our client? Is that the elected officials? Is it members of the public at large? Is that our local government bodies and staff? We really want to spend some time thinking about who it is that we are doing this work for.” MPO members were interested in a recommendation from staff to find ways to raise additional revenue for transportation projects through public-private partnerships. City Councilor and MPO Chair Michael Payne said he would welcome work from staff on how transportation programs can be altered to help address climate change. “Connecting our climate action plan project to our capital projects and transportation projects, [and] think about how they interact with induced demand and emissions from transportation,” Payne said. Toward the end of the meeting, the MPO was briefed on a pair of grants intended to expand transit in the region. One is a $350,000 grant to create a regional vision for transit, and the other is a $106,215 feasibility study for expanded transit in Albemarle. “The $350,000 for the vision plan is intended to go beyond any work that the Regional Transit Partnership has already done,” said Hersh-Ballering. “Like what Richmond did, we’re trying to come up with a really clear plan for what kind of investment all of our transit agencies are going to make in the future. It will not get down to the details of route planning or determine how many vehicles to buy.”  Finally, this was the last MPO meeting run by Chip Boyles, who will become City Manager on February 15. Christina Jacobs will serve as interim director of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission while a search is conducted by Boyles’ replacement. Albemarle County has released a draft housing policy that seeks to increase the number of units by thousands. “By fostering a variety of housing types that are affordable to individuals and families with diverse incomes, Albemarle County seeks to ensure a thriving, sustainable community for all, today and well into the future,” reads a description of the plan on the online questionnaire for Housing Albemarle. The plan is based on forecasts that show Albemarle growing to a population of over 138,000 people by 2040. The Housing Albemarle draft suggests 11,750 more units are needed by then, and the document is intended to suggest ways to get there. That could include increased density in development areas, creation of permanently affordable housing on county-owned land, and designation of Housing Rehabilitation Zones. (Weldon Cooper projections) The questionnaire will be open through February 15. The Board of Supervisors will have a public hearing on Housing Albemarle on March 17. Finally today, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority held an emergency meeting to discuss the employment contract of executive director John Sales. Sales joined the agency last August after a brief stint as the city’s coordinator. At the end of a closed session, CRHA Commissioner Lisa Green read a motion.“I move that the Board direct the Chair with the assistance of counsel to communicate directly with the executive director regarding proposed changes to his employment agreement,” Green said. Personnel matters are one reason government bodies can close meetings to the public. There was no other information about what the contract change might include, but Brandon Collins of the Public Housing Association of Residents had this to say.“PHAR on the whole thinks that Mr. Sales is doing a fabulous job,” Collins said. “We’re really glad he’s here and we hope that’s reflected in whatever it is you all are talking about today.” This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: check out our latest episode on MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, the third-person stealth action game based on the smash-hit 1996 movie! This week we're joined by Andy Bowman from the Monkey Off My Backlog podcast, who has been attempting to set the speed run world record on this game! We'll hear all about Andy's speed running methods, plus a history of the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise and the troubled production history behind this potentially-cool game!  Hosted by Steve Guntli and Woody Ciskowski  Logo by Steve Guntli / Updated logo by Barry Shaw  Theme song: "Truck" by The Octopus Project (theoctopusproject.com)  ultra64podcast.com  Twitter: @ultra64podcast  Email: ultra64podcast@gmail.com  Instagram: @ultra64podcast  Patreon: patreon.com/ultra64pod Next week's episode: San Francisco Rush / Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA / San Francisco Rush 2049

Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by the release of this week's episode! Andy Bowman from the Geek 101 and Monkey Off My Backlog podcasts joins me to discuss Richard Loncraine's explosive 1995 adaptation of Shakespeare's RICHARD III, featuring a breakout performance from Ian McKellan as the Bard's nastiest villain. This sets the story in an alternate history version of WWII era London, and doesn't skimp on modern-era sex, violence, and style. Hosted by Steve Guntli Logo by Corinne Kempen Twitter: @rogerslistpod Email: rogerslistpod@gmail.com Instagram: @rogerslistpodLetterboxd: https://boxd.it/7ESRsNext week's episode: Dark City 

Andy Bowman is back in the studio for this episode, and he brought a chaperone.  His father, Danny Bowman, joins us to shed some light on how Andy came to be. We welcome The Nurses Guild of Florida as our new sponsor! As always, check out some Potter's Field for great heavy metal and some other great tunes from St. Mary, St. Michael, The Paint Splats, and Mr. STONEking. We thank them for the musical contributions to the show. Check out The Devil's Apple, a great new book from William R. Morris. Get out to see some shows at Wiley's Comedy Club. For online piano lessons, check out PianoAJ. Tune in next week for more instructions. To reach The Life, email thelife1069@gmail.com and like/follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We are part of the SJ Network, be sure to check it out!

We've got another special bonus episode for you all, courtesy of our Superstar-tier Patreon supporter Andy Bowman! Andy, co-host of the Geek 101 podcast, joins us to chat about his pick: VISCERA CLEANUP DETAIL. This oddball indie casts you as a janitor, tasked with cleaning up after the most brutal horror movie set pieces, and it's... oddly relaxing? Thanks so much to Andy for supporting the show, and if you want to join us to talk about a game of your choice, sign up at the Superstar tier on Patreon.com/ultra64pod!  Hosted by Steve Guntli and Woody Ciskowski  Logo by Steve Guntli / Updated logo by Barry Shaw  ultra64podcast.com  Twitter: @ultra64podcast  Email: ultra64podcast@gmail.com  Instagram: @ultra64podcast  Patreon: patreon.com/ultra64pod   

Never heard of UNDERHERO? Neither had we! Luckily, we were given the chance to talk about it, thanks to our Patreon supporter Andy Bowman, who, as a Superstar-tier Patron, gets to join us on the show to talk about any non-Nintendo 64 game! Andy joins us to talk about this under-the-radar indie title, a charming, funny RPG that draws heavily from PAPER MARIO! It's a fun conversation and a cool game, so thanks to Andy for bringing it to our attention!  If you want to join us to talk about a game of your choice, check out the Superstar tier over at Patreon.com/ultra64pod! Hosted by Steve Guntli and Woody Ciskowski  Logo by Steve Guntli / Updated Logo by Barry Shaw  ultra64podcast.com  Twitter: @ultra64podcast  Email: ultra64podcast@gmail.com Instagram: @ultra64podcast  Patreon: patreon.com/ultra64pod   

#OaklandXC coach Paul Rice and Andy Bowman discuss the Horizon League Championships with "the Voice of the Golden Grizzlies" Neal Ruhl!

This week Jason is joined by comedian Andy Bowman. They talk about the last episode of The Life where Kenny Bolin relentlessly bashed Andy. Jason unrealistically compares them to Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman. Andy tells stories about falling asleep at a drive thru and a store parking lot, they revisit his craziest police stories, a drunken fight with a fellow comedians neighbor and more. This week's segment is a song by Mike O'Connell titled "I've Had Some Drinks".   Wanna contact the show? Send an email to jason@wedonthavecookies.com or call 929-266-9342 and leave a voicemail.  Visit the website by clicking here, and be sure to check out our Amazon affiliate link!

This week on The Life, Don and Jason are joined once again by former pro wrestling manager Kenny Bolin. The show starts off slowly since Kenny is recovering from being very sick. They talk about his latest show with Jim Cornette, stalling for time for a pooping wrestler, and a few news stories. Jason brings up that Kenny isn't the holder of the most downloaded episode of the podcast at 28:48 and Kenny gets upset.So upset that Kenny thinks the show is in Louisiana instead of Dayton, Ohio. After a few minutes they try to move on but around the 43 minute mark Kenny unleashes for the rest of the show on the current holder of the most downloaded episode, Andy Bowman, in what is the funniest thing that's ever happened on the podcast. Names were bleeped to protect the innocent. You can't miss this one! If you haven't yet, make sure you subscribe because Andy will be on the next episode and I'm sure he'll have plenty to say about this.   Wanna contact the show? Send an email to jason@wedonthavecookies.com or call 929-266-9342 and leave a voicemail. Check out the website by clicking here. Visit Don's website by clicking here.

This week Jason is joined by the host of The Life, Don Smith. They talk about The Life being 106.9 WWSU's show of the week, Andy Bowman is alright and video games. Then the show goes off of the rails when the subject of jenkem comes up. A new segment by Mike Canestaro debuts this week! Wanna contact the show? Send an email to jason@wedonthavecookies.com or call 929-266-9342 and leave a voicemail. Don't forget to visit the podcast's website by clicking here.  Check out Mike Canestaro's stuff on Amazon and buy it by clicking here! Visit Don Smith's website by clicking here.  

This week Jason is joined by comedian Andy Bowman. They talk about Andy getting arrested in Columbus, OH within the first week of doing comedy, and update on the status of his ice cream bicycle (if you haven't heard the story listen to that show by clicking here), joining the Mormon church, another arrest story and much more! This week's segments are Severe Weather Warning From Last Week and Angry Dalai Lama Tweet.   Wanna contact the show? Send an email to jason@wedonthavecookies.com or call 929-266-WDHC (9342) and leave a voicemail. Check out Andy Bowman's Sweet Mission Escape by clicking here and don't forget to check out part 2! Check out Andy Bowman's mugshot on the Busted in Darke County Facebook group by clicking here. Follow Jason on Twitter by clicking here.  Click here to shop on Amazon and help support the show. Check out the website wedonthavecookies.com to listen to recent shows, view the photo gallery, watch Mark Ofuji's impressions and more. Visit wedonthavecookies.libsyn.com to listen to the entire archive of the show.

This week on The Life, Don and Jason were joined by Andy Bowman and Skyler McNeely. Jason briefly discussed why the show was abruptly on hiatus and the future of the show. Andy talked about getting into comedy, a Facebook pic, buying a ice cream bicycle and more. Skyler McNeely talks about his recent return to stand up and strange news stories.