Podcasts about Eastern Avenue

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2024 29:17

Good morning and welcome to another edition of the audio version of Charlottesville Community Engagement this time for August 17, 2024. This particular edition of the podcast originally aired on WTJU this morning at 6 a.m. This is the 230th day of the year meaning we are 62.8 percent of the way to 2025. A lot will happen between now and then, but here is some of what has happened in the last two weeks or so. I'm Sean Tubbs of Town Crier Productions, and written versions of these stories appear at infocville.com: In this sonic edition:* Council wants District Avenue roundabout to offer full access to Meadows neighborhood (learn more)* City Council approves three acquisitions for parkland and trails (learn more)* A brief land use update from the University of Virginia (learn more)* Herrick named as Albemarle's interim county attorney (learn more)* Area convention and visitors bureau has moved to a new location (learn more)* Albemarle Supervisors briefed on procurement mechanism for Eastern Avenue (learn more) 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

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LOCAL NEWS - "Murder trial wrapping up"

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 19, 2024 8:21

The jury could begin deliberating in murder trial of Bryan Roy Welcome as early as tomorrow. Just after 4 this morning, officers responded to a report of a robbery at a restaurant on Eastern Avenue, south of the intersection with Godfrey Nixon Way. The National Conservation Council (NCC) is concerned about possible changes to the National Conservation Act (NCA). #rcnews #radiocayman #caymannews #localnews --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rcnews/message

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Martin Yan Opens, Jolene Mannina Picnics & Paymon Serves It Up!

Food and Loathing

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2023 65:09

It's an action-packed episode featuring some serious chefs! The man who brought Asian cuisine to public TV, Martin Yan, has opened his new place at Horseshoe. St. Patrick's Day is going to be an all-weekend affair at Ri-Ra and many other Irish joints. "Picnic in the Alley" is returning to Downtown Las Vegas, thanks to our friend and badass superwoman in culinary, Jolene Mannina. Also: Al hits Marche Bacchus, Chinglish, the new Echo & Rig, Monzu, Nobu and Naxos Taverna. Gemini cooked steak from one our favorites, Featherblade. She also judged a student culinary competition, and had time to have breakfast, sushi and libations at Golden Tiki. And all this happened during a venture to Henderson and Paymon's French Kitchen and Lounge on Eastern Avenue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Burning Man Changed My Real Estate Business

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2023 36:54

Priced To Sell Merchandise is FINALLY HERE, and what better lead gen then representing PTS!!! We have baseball and dad hats, hoodie and T-Shirts LIVE on the site NOW! Go get some while you can!https://www.pricedtosellpodcast.com/On todays episode, Matt chats to Josh Benoliel - partner at condos.ca and property.ca about his alternatives for mindfulness, how the top agents have an ‘eat and kill' mindset, why selling a house is also about showing the neighbourhood and how Burning Man changed his life plus much MUCH MORE!Welcome to Season 2 of the Priced To Sell Podcast, Toronto's #1 Real Estate Podcast!#RealEstate #Toronto #InvestingListen On:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ABqywDQ01dpreOpnvRAOa?si=Io-hiIqDRiaFnoFVpMxTsgiTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/priced-to-sell-podcast/id1571152353SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDbk5JEEqtkaBBr9KB2MDIgFOLLOW MATT ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mattcampoli/?hl=enPTS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pricedtosellpodcast/?hl=enFOLLOW GUEST: https://www.instagram.com/jbenols/?hl=enKing Street's western terminus is at an intersection with The Queensway to the west, Roncesvalles Avenue to the north, and Queen Street West to the east. King runs to the south-east briefly before curving to the east until just west of Parliament Street. There, it curves north-east until terminates at a merge with Queen Street East just west of the Don River and north of the Corktown Common. Prior to a realignment, Eastern Avenue was the East end of King Street and crossed the Don at the King Street Bridge (which has since been abandoned). Yonge Street, the north–south divider of many Toronto east–west streets, divides King Street into King Street East and King Street West.Heady with Gen Z and millennial energy, Liberty Village has a youthful, campus-meets-condo vibe. Bars, pubs, restaurants and cafes buzz with energy, especially on game nights when one of the local teams (Toronto Wolfpack and Toronto FC) take to the pitch. Liberty Village also functions as one of the city's creative corridors with production facilities, agencies and tech firms operating out of lofts and studio spaces in converted former warehouses.

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How A Mother Of 2 Balances International Real Estate

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 27, 2022 36:04

Priced To Sell Merchandise is FINALLY HERE, and what better lead gen then representing PTS!!! We have baseball and dad hats, hoodie and T-Shirts LIVE on the site NOW! Go get some while you can!https://www.pricedtosellpodcast.com/On todays episode, Matt chats to Azra Gregor of The Agency about her journey to Canada as an immigrant and how she balances motherhood with international real estate. Azra explains why its important to be versed in many cultures with such high immigration rates to Canada.Welcome to Season 2 of the Priced To Sell Podcast, Toronto's #1 Real Estate Podcast!#RealEstate #Toronto #InvestingListen On:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ABqywDQ01dpreOpnvRAOa?si=Io-hiIqDRiaFnoFVpMxTsgiTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/priced-to-sell-podcast/id1571152353SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDbk5JEEqtkaBBr9KB2MDIgFOLLOW MATT ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mattcampoli/?hl=enPTS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pricedtosellpodcast/?hl=enFOLLOW GUEST: https://www.instagram.com/azragregor/?hl=enKing Street's western terminus is at an intersection with The Queensway to the west, Roncesvalles Avenue to the north, and Queen Street West to the east. King runs to the south-east briefly before curving to the east until just west of Parliament Street. There, it curves north-east until terminates at a merge with Queen Street East just west of the Don River and north of the Corktown Common. Prior to a realignment, Eastern Avenue was the East end of King Street and crossed the Don at the King Street Bridge (which has since been abandoned). Yonge Street, the north–south divider of many Toronto east–west streets, divides King Street into King Street East and King Street West.Heady with Gen Z and millennial energy, Liberty Village has a youthful, campus-meets-condo vibe. Bars, pubs, restaurants and cafes buzz with energy, especially on game nights when one of the local teams (Toronto Wolfpack and Toronto FC) take to the pitch. Liberty Village also functions as one of the city's creative corridors with production facilities, agencies and tech firms operating out of lofts and studio spaces in converted former warehouses.

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2023 Market Predictions and What Higher Interest Rates Mean For You

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2022 47:02

Priced To Sell Merchandise is FINALLY HERE, and what better lead gen then representing PTS!!! We have baseball and dad hats, hoodie and T-Shirts LIVE on the site NOW! Go get some while you can!https://www.pricedtosellpodcast.com/On todays episode, Matt chats to CEO of Spark Financial Nick Regina about why he left nightlife despite having multiple clubs on King Street West and over 100 employees. When Nick decided to start Spark Financial there were a lot of lessons he was able to take from nightlife and apply to his business which he has continued to build. Nick advises what your first hire should be, what the price correction and interest rate really mean, plus much MUCH MORE!Welcome to Season 2 of the Priced To Sell Podcast, Toronto's #1 Real Estate Podcast!#RealEstate #Toronto #InvestingListen On:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ABqywDQ01dpreOpnvRAOa?si=Io-hiIqDRiaFnoFVpMxTsgiTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/priced-to-sell-podcast/id1571152353SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDbk5JEEqtkaBBr9KB2MDIgFOLLOW MATT ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mattcampoli/?hl=enPTS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pricedtosellpodcast/?hl=enFOLLOW GUEST: https://www.instagram.com/nickregina/?hl=enKing Street's western terminus is at an intersection with The Queensway to the west, Roncesvalles Avenue to the north, and Queen Street West to the east. King runs to the south-east briefly before curving to the east until just west of Parliament Street. There, it curves north-east until terminates at a merge with Queen Street East just west of the Don River and north of the Corktown Common. Prior to a realignment, Eastern Avenue was the East end of King Street and crossed the Don at the King Street Bridge (which has since been abandoned). Yonge Street, the north–south divider of many Toronto east–west streets, divides King Street into King Street East and King Street West.Heady with Gen Z and millennial energy, Liberty Village has a youthful, campus-meets-condo vibe. Bars, pubs, restaurants and cafes buzz with energy, especially on game nights when one of the local teams (Toronto Wolfpack and Toronto FC) take to the pitch. Liberty Village also functions as one of the city's creative corridors with production facilities, agencies and tech firms operating out of lofts and studio spaces in converted former warehouses.

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HOW This Miami Property Makes $75,000 PER MONTH!

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2022 39:12

Priced To Sell Merchandise is FINALLY HERE, and what better lead gen then representing PTS!!! We have baseball and dad hats, hoodie and T-Shirts LIVE on the site NOW! Go get some while you can!https://www.pricedtosellpodcast.com/On todays episode, Matt chats to Killian Grondin. It was Killian who cold DM'd Matt and introduced the idea of an AirBnB property and helped Matt with the purchase of his first. Killian explains how he first got into AirBnb and what it was like buying his first, the best areas in South Florida to own a AirBnB property and breaks down the finances of a property that generates $75,000 PER MONTH plus much MUCH MORE!Welcome to Season 2 of the Priced To Sell Podcast, Toronto's #1 Real Estate Podcast!#RealEstate #Toronto #InvestingListen On:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ABqywDQ01dpreOpnvRAOa?si=Io-hiIqDRiaFnoFVpMxTsgiTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/priced-to-sell-podcast/id1571152353SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDbk5JEEqtkaBBr9KB2MDIgFOLLOW MATT ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mattcampoli/?hl=enPTS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pricedtosellpodcast/?hl=enFOLLOW GUEST: https://www.instagram.com/killiansellsmiamii/?hl=enKing Street's western terminus is at an intersection with The Queensway to the west, Roncesvalles Avenue to the north, and Queen Street West to the east. King runs to the south-east briefly before curving to the east until just west of Parliament Street. There, it curves north-east until terminates at a merge with Queen Street East just west of the Don River and north of the Corktown Common. Prior to a realignment, Eastern Avenue was the East end of King Street and crossed the Don at the King Street Bridge (which has since been abandoned). Yonge Street, the north–south divider of many Toronto east–west streets, divides King Street into King Street East and King Street West.Heady with Gen Z and millennial energy, Liberty Village has a youthful, campus-meets-condo vibe. Bars, pubs, restaurants and cafes buzz with energy, especially on game nights when one of the local teams (Toronto Wolfpack and Toronto FC) take to the pitch. Liberty Village also functions as one of the city's creative corridors with production facilities, agencies and tech firms operating out of lofts and studio spaces in converted former warehouses.

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Episode 69 – Unstoppable Corporate Communicator with Bradley Akubuiro

Unstoppable Mindset

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2022 76:23

Bradley Akubuiro's parents raised him to have a deep and strong work ethic. His father came to the United States from Nigeria at the age of 17 and worked to put himself through school. As Bradley describes, both about his father as well as about many people in extremely impoverished parts of the world, such individuals develop a strong resilience and wonderful spirit. Bradley has led media relations and/or public affairs for Fortune 50 companies including Boeing as it returned the grounded 737 MAX to service and United Technologies through a series of mergers that resulted in the creation of Raytheon Technologies. He also served as an advisor to Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and to the Republic of Liberia post-civil war. Today Bradley is a partner at Bully Pulpit Interactive, an advisory firm founded by leaders of the Obama-Biden campaign. As you will see, Bradley is a wonderful and engaging storyteller. He weaves into his stories for us lessons about leadership and good corporate communications. His spirit is refreshing in our world today where we see so much controversy and unnecessary bickering. I look forward to your comments on this episode. About the Guest: Bradley is a partner at Bully Pulpit Interactive, an advisory firm founded by leaders of the Obama-Biden campaign. He focuses on corporate reputation, executive communications, and high visibility crisis management and media relations efforts, as well as equity, diversity, and inclusion matters for clients. Bradley has led media relations and/or public affairs for Fortune 50 companies including Boeing as it returned the grounded 737 MAX to service and United Technologies through a series of mergers that resulted in the creation of Raytheon Technologies and has also served as an advisor to Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. and to the Republic of Liberia post-civil war. A nationally recognized expert in his field, Bradley has been quoted by outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and The Washington Post, and his columns have been featured in Business Insider, Forbes, and Inc. Magazine, where he is a regular contributor. Bradley is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where he currently sits on the Board of Advisers and serves as an adjunct member of the faculty. About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Michael Hingson 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson 01:21 Well, hi, everybody. Thank you for joining us on unstoppable mindset today, we have Bradley Akubuiro with us. Bradley is a partner in bully pulpit International. He'll tell us about that. But he's been involved in a variety of things dealing with corporate communications, and has had a lot of adventures. He deals with diversity, equity and inclusion. But most of all, before we started this, he had one question for me. And that is, how much fun are we going to have on this podcast? Well, that really is up to Bradley. So Bradley has some fun. Bradley Akubuiro 01:56 Michael, thank you so much for having me is is going to be a ton of fun. I'm really excited. Thanks for having me Michael Hingson 02:01 on. Well, you're you're absolutely welcome. And we're glad that you're here had a chance to learn about you. And we've had a chance to chat some. So why don't we start as often and Lewis Carroll would say at the beginning, and maybe tell me about you growing up and those kinds of things. Bradley Akubuiro 02:18 Yeah, I'd be happy to do that. And, you know, I think it would be remiss if I didn't start off talking about my parents a little bit before I talked about myself. My dad grew up in the Biafran war in Nigeria, Civil War, Nigeria. And you know, while he was going through school, they were bombing schools, and it wasn't safe for adults to be out. And so, you know, he was the guy in his family at six years old, who was taking crops from their plantation. They grew up maybe about six hours outside of Lagos, Nigeria, and was moving, you know, some of these crops two miles away, to sell in the marketplace. And you know, at a very early age was learning responsibility, not just for himself, but for the family. Michael Hingson 03:02 Wow. Which is something that more people should do. So what what all did he do? Or how did all that work out? Bradley Akubuiro 03:09 Yeah. Well, you know, this was a really interesting time in Nigeria's History, where you had a lot of folks who were in this circumstance, and my dad was a really hard worker, his parents were hard workers before him, his father was a pastor. And so he had a certain level of discipline and support in his household. But, you know, he knew that he had this kind of onus on him. So grew up at a time then where not only do you have this responsibility, but a big family, brothers and sisters to take care of. He was the guy who was chosen later, you know, flash forward a few years, to come to the United States, to be able to find an opportunity here in this country, and to be able to always hopefully, give back to his family. Michael Hingson 03:59 So he came, and How old was he? When he came here? Bradley Akubuiro 04:03 When he got to the States, he was about 17. So came to New York City, not a lot going on there. And, you know, he had to put himself through Michael Hingson 04:15 school. Did he know anyone? Or Was anyone sponsoring him? Or how did all that work? He had a little Bradley Akubuiro 04:20 bit of family here, but he had to find his own way, get a full time job at a gas station, and work to figure out what this country was all about, but also how to be successful here. Michael Hingson 04:32 Where did he stay when he got here then Bradley Akubuiro 04:36 got a little apartment up on the kind of Washington Heights Harlem area of New York, little hole in the wall and, you know, continue to work to pay that off while he was trying to pay off school. So not easy, but at the same time, you know, a really, really great opportunity for him to kind of start fresh and create some opportunity for himself and family. Michael Hingson 04:58 So did he tell him at least With a little bit of money, how did all that work? It's funny, he Bradley Akubuiro 05:04 asked that question. He did come with some, but it wasn't a lot. Let's start off there. But you know, what's interesting about that is, you know, he put himself through undergrad, put himself through a master's program, you know, and was doing a PhD program over at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. And at Penn, he blew through his entire life savings and one semester. And so, you know, was on a great path. You studying engineering, and, you know, a semester and he's like, Oh, what am I going to do ended up going across the street to Drexel, where they were able to bring him in and give him a scholarship, as long as he was one a TA, which he really enjoyed doing. And he was able to put himself through the PhD. Michael Hingson 05:50 Wow. So he started there as a freshman then Bradley Akubuiro 05:55 started, so he went to several different schools started in New York. Yep, sorry, started in New York at Hunter College, did a master's program at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, and then came up to do his PhD at Penn. And then went to Drexel, and went to Drexel. Michael Hingson 06:12 He moved around how, how come? What, what took him to Atlanta, for example? Do you know? Bradley Akubuiro 06:18 Yeah, well, it was the opportunity. You know, one of the things that he had learned and had been instilled in him growing up, which he's passed on to me is, you follow the opportunity where it's and as long as you're not afraid to take that risk and take a chance on yourself and your future that will ultimately more often than not pay off in the end. And so he followed scholarship dollars, he followed the programs that would have an opportunity for him. And he went exactly where it took, Michael Hingson 06:45 and what were his degrees in. Bradley Akubuiro 06:47 So his master's degree was in chemistry, his PhD was chemical engineering. Wow. Yeah. What did he What did he do with that? So well, you know, the world was his oyster, I suppose, in some ways, but you know, he ended up you know, going into a couple of different companies started with Calgon, carbon and Pittsburgh, and spent a number of years there and on later on to Lucent Technologies, and fiber optics. And so, you know, he's moved on to a number of different companies, engineering roles, eventually got his MBA and has been, you know, employed a number of different places and continued over his career to work in a number of different geographies as well, whether it's like going to Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Atlanta, Massachusetts. They're now living in Rochester, New York, which I've never lived in. But it's a very charming place. It's, yeah. Michael Hingson 07:44 It is. It is a nice place. I've been there many times. Yeah. And for customers and so on, it's a fun place to go. Well, he obviously learned in a lot of ways, some might say the hard way, but he learned to value what was going on with him, because it was the only way he was going to be successful. So nothing was handed to him at all, was Bradley Akubuiro 08:10 it? That's right. He had a very strong family foundation. And he definitely learned a lot from his parents and from his family, and they were very close. So I think that he would say that's what was handed to him, but he certainly didn't give any get any leg up. Michael Hingson 08:26 Right. Well, that's a good thing to have handed to you, I guess. Well, how did he meet somebody from Gary, Indiana, which is a whole different culture. Bradley Akubuiro 08:36 Well, this becomes a love story pretty quickly. That's an article. Michael Hingson 08:42 You can embellish how you want. Bradley Akubuiro 08:46 Oh, my parents actually met somewhat serendipitously. They were at two different schools. My mom was going to school in Alabama, Alabama a&m. My dad was going to school at the time and Clark, Atlanta and Atlanta. So about four hours apart, Huntsville, Atlanta. My mom's roommate was dating my dad's roommate. And so my mom agreed to come with her roommate to go and visit her boyfriend at the time. She happened to meet this strapping young Nigerian man in Atlanta, and they ended up hitting it off and as fate would have it, the other two their respective movements didn't make the distance but they had a budding romance that ended up lasting now at this point several decades. Michael Hingson 09:37 Wow. So they're, they're still with us. Bradley Akubuiro 09:41 They're both still with us Michael Hingson 09:42 both going strong. That is, that is really cool. So what do you think you learn from them? Bradley Akubuiro 09:48 I learned a number of things. You know, I learned first of all, and you heard my father's story, resilience. He has learned to take whatever is thrown at been thrown at him. Be able to not only take it in stride, which I think is good, but more importantly, to turn it around and channel it and to use it to his advantage, no matter what that might be. And he's instilled that in me and my two sisters, two sisters, ones, older ones younger. And that's, that's really been important. You know, when it comes to my two parents, the things that they value a ton are education, family. And when you think about the world around you, how are you leaving it in a better place than you found it. And if you can really focus on those handful of things, then you are going to have a very fulfilling and successful life. And that's how he measured success. I've taken that away from them. Michael Hingson 10:41 He doesn't get better than that. And if you can, if you can say that I want to make a difference. And that I hope I've made at least a little difference. It doesn't get better than that does it? Bradley Akubuiro 10:53 That's exactly right. So then Michael Hingson 10:55 you came along. And we won't we won't put any value judgment on that. Bradley Akubuiro 11:02 Thank you for that we Michael Hingson 11:03 could have for Yeah, exactly. But actually, before I go to that, have they been back to visit Nigeria at all? Bradley Akubuiro 11:11 Yeah, absolutely. And unfortunately, the most recent time that my parents took a trip back was the passing of my grandmother, a handful of years ago. And so that brought them back. But, you know, one of the things that I'm hoping to do, and I haven't done it yet, is just spend some real time out there. I've got plenty of family that's still there. So go in and spend a little time in Nigeria that's longer than a quick in and out trip. I spent some time and we've talked about this before Michael, but in West Africa, generally in Liberia. And that was a great experience. But there's not quite like going back to where it all began with your family. Michael Hingson 11:49 No, it's still not home. Right. Well, so you you came along. And so what was it like growing up in that household and going to high school and all that? Bradley Akubuiro 12:03 Well, there's a couple ways to answer that. Go ahead. Well, let's put it this way, I we have a very close family bond. And so you know, when you think about the folks who have finished your senses, who laugh at your jokes, because they think it's funny, and if you hadn't told that joke, first, they probably would have told that joke, the kind of family we have. It's a great, great dynamic. And so I was very fortunate to have grown up in that household with parents who truly, truly embraced that that side. You know, it was also a tough household. You know, my parents were very strict, my father, especially coming from this immigrant mindset, and this Nigerian culture, I mentioned the value of education. What I didn't mention quite, but might have been a little bit implied, and I'll say it more explicitly is anything less than an A was entirely unacceptable. There were a number of times where I found myself on the wrong side of that. And, you know, we grew up in different times, as my parents were trying to provide the best life they could for us, and a number of different urban settings. And, you know, one, one period of life for me was particularly studying in high school, where, you know, the school district of Springfield, Massachusetts at a time graduated about 54% of the students that went through that system. And so you're thinking about one in two kids who don't make it out of high school, much less make it the college, much less have a successful and fulfilling career in life. And my father, especially, but of course, both my parents want us to do absolutely everything in their power to ensure that those would not be our statistics that we would be my sisters, and I would be able to have every tool at our disposal to be successful. And they work hard at that, despite the circumstances. Michael Hingson 14:08 So how were they when I'm sure it happened? It was discovered that maybe you had some gifts, but there were some things that you weren't necessarily as strong as other things. How did that work out for you? Bradley Akubuiro 14:21 I want to be very clear, the list of things that I wasn't quite as good at, especially in those days, was long enough to stun you. So you know, it we we work through it together, right? I think one of the things that I admire most about my parents now that I maybe didn't appreciate enough growing up was just the amount that they leaned in, and we're willing to be hands on and helping with our education. And so my father would give us times tables when we were in elementary school and make sure that we worked through them. And if we didn't get them quite right, we would do them again, and we do them again, and we do them again. And And I remember a time when I was in the fifth grade where my father had me up until 1am, doing math problems. And, you know, I was thinking to myself, I cannot imagine doing this with my kids, when I was at that age, and then I swore at that time that I never would, I'll tell you what my blood now I swear that I definitely will maybe not till 1am, I think there's probably a more reasonable time. But to be able to invest that level of effort into making sure that your kid has everything they need to be successful. I just have I admire the heck out of it. Michael Hingson 15:36 I remember a couple of times, I think one when I was oh seven or eight, when we were living in California, and going back to visit relatives in Chicago, or driving somewhere. And my dad said to me, and my brother who was two years older, you guys have to learn the times tables. And we spent time driving, just going through the times tables. And it took me a little while. And a couple of times, I tried a shortcut that messed me up. But eventually I got it all figured out. And he said, when you say the times tables correctly, we'll give you 50 cents. And they did when I got the time two times tables, right? They did. And also, I was learning algebra from him. My dad was an electronics engineer. And so he really worked because I didn't have books in braille early on until I was in the fourth grade, I had to study with them to a large degree. So he taught me a lot more than the schools were teaching little kids as it were. So I learned algebra early, and I learned to do it in my head, and still do. And in high school, it got me in trouble in my freshman year, because my math teacher said, Now whenever you're doing things, you have to show your work. Well, you know, I kept trying to tell her that, for me, showing my work in Braille isn't going to do you any good. I can tell you what I do and how I do it. And she wouldn't accept that and she was going to fail me literally fail me in math. Until one day I wrote out, I think one of the problems and I think just in case she took it and went somewhere where she could find somebody to read Braille. I wrote it out correctly. But I got to see an algebra one because of that one thing. By the way, after that, I never got below an A in math. She was insistent that you had to show your work, and wasn't flexible enough to recognize that there are a lot of ways to show your work. Oh, Bradley Akubuiro 17:35 yeah. Well, that's part of the challenge, and not to make this an entire commentary on our education system. But there are so many different ways to your point to get to the right answer. And I don't think there's nearly enough flexibility in our system in many cases, except for those who really, truly tried to find it and create that environment for their students. But at a at a you know, broader look, there isn't nearly enough flexibility to appreciate that we're going to have many different ways to get these answers. Michael Hingson 18:04 I think that really good teachers, and there are a lot of good teachers. But I think the really good teachers make that leap and allow for flexibility in what they do. Because they recognize everyone learns differently. But the big issue is, can you learn and can you demonstrate that you learned? Bradley Akubuiro 18:24 Yeah, well, that's what we're all striving for. Michael Hingson 18:27 It is I was pretty blessed going through school, especially in high school, a lot of the times, I would stay after school and extra period to study in the library because again, not everything was available so that we actually had people who would read material to me or give me information that was written on boards that I didn't get any other way. And usually, the teachers would come in, we would set up days and they would come in and give me tests. And what was fun about that was we would go through the tests fairly quickly and spend most of the hour chatting and I got to know a number of my teachers that way and that was so valuable for me. One of them especially Dick herbal Shimer, I still know and you know, he's going to be what 85 I think it is this year, and he will be at five I think August 28. We still keep in touch, he came to our wedding. And he tells me that I'm getting to be closer in age to him and I point out that I'll never be as old as he is. And he tries to convince me that mathematically I'm getting closer and I say 13 years is still 13 years. Bradley Akubuiro 19:35 Hmm, yeah, don't let them don't let them try to get you. That's Michael Hingson 19:39 right. It's not gonna work. Bradley Akubuiro 19:42 was gonna ask you if you had a favorite teacher because I feel like teachers, if you put together this for many years have such an incredible impact on you and how you see yourself. Michael Hingson 19:52 I remember a lot of things from a number of my teachers and I can tell you the names of most all of my teachers. I remember in my freshman year English, our teacher was a Mr. Wilson has actually Woodrow Wilson was his name was an older gentleman. And one day we were sitting in class and he was just talking about philosophy. And he's talking about people's ethics. And he said, and I remember it that, you know, a good example is, if you need to borrow a quarter from somebody, be sure you pay that quarterback, where does that come in English? But nevertheless, those are the kinds of things that he said, and other teachers said various things, and they stick with you. Bradley Akubuiro 20:36 Yeah, no, it's so true. I mean, for me, my favorite teacher was Darlene Kaffee. She was my fourth grade teacher, taught all kinds of, I mean, touch everything you learned in fourth grade. But the most important thing for me was, she gave me confidence in my writing ability. You know, I had always enjoyed writing, but I never really thought of myself as someone who could potentially be a writer. And she was the first person who sat me down and said, Hey, look, you submitted this assignment. And it's really good. You could be a writer one day, and you know, she had me write poems, you had me write a number of different things that weren't class assignments. But there were things that she was like, Hey, if you want to do this, then you got to practice it. And I learned so much from her. But the most important thing I took away was that confidence in my ability to do these things. Michael Hingson 21:27 Yeah, yeah. And that's one of the most important things that good teachers can bring to us and not tear you down, because you don't necessarily do something exactly the way they do or want. But if you can demonstrate you learn that is so cool. Bradley Akubuiro 21:42 Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. So, Michael Hingson 21:47 as I said, I keep in touch with declarable Shimer won his 80th birthday, I flew to Nebraska where they live and surprise him for his birthday, which was nice. That's awesome. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. And hopefully, we'll get back there one of these days soon. Meanwhile, I'll just give him a hard time on the phone. Bradley Akubuiro 22:08 Cathy's out here listening when I'm not going to surprise you don't listen to Michael. But if I show up, then I'll have a cake or something. Michael Hingson 22:17 Yeah, exactly. Well, so. So what was high school like for you? I think you said there were some things that happened in high school. Bradley Akubuiro 22:26 Yeah, high school was a I mean, when you think about formative man, this was a formative experience for me. So it was between my sophomore and junior year of high school, when one of my very best friends a guy who I consider to be like an older brother to me, was shot and killed in the drive by shooting. It was devastating. You know, I had a period over a few months, where not only was he killed, and I found out about it, 45 minutes after I'd left town to take my older sister, with my family to college and 22 hours away. So this wasn't something he did every night. And I likely had been with him had we not been on that trip. But you know, he unfortunately passed that night with a 45 caliber bullet hole in his heart. You know, my experience with school with with life that I mean, it really took a turn at that point. Because not only had I lost somebody who was very close to me, but the police didn't catch the guy who did it. In fact, they caught a guy who was a friend of ours that had absolutely nothing to do with it, and put him through absolute hell, only to find out that he wasn't responsible for this, any of us could have told you that right up front. You know, that was a terrible time. You know, a couple of months later, Michael, we had another one of our close friends who was shot and killed. And the girl who was with her at the time was shot in the leg trying to get away. And you know, and another month and a half after that another one of our good friends was you know, shot in his own driveway trying to get into his car and head to the grocery store. And it wasn't safe for us. And it was a really, really challenging time, just to exist, much less to try to focus on school and to focus on other things that are going on. How could you do that? When you didn't know if when you left in the morning, you were going to be able to make it home at night? Michael Hingson 24:32 Why was there so much crime? Well, that's Bradley Akubuiro 24:36 a million dollar question. You know, there's so many factors that go into it. And since then, I've spent a lot of time thinking more about the kind of, you know, macro factors, but it's a very specific on the ground situation at that time was there was a gang war between two rival gangs, street gangs in the city. And my engineer who I just referred to lived right in the heart of Eastern Avenue, which is the home of the app and Springfield became there. And across State Street was Sycamore and a number of different folks and rivalries had kind of established then. And so, you know, this was not that there's ever, you know, really sensical reasons that, you know, these things happen. But this was as nonsensical as it could be, you know, people who are killing each other and dying for reasons that if you were to ask those who survived now, why they would ever pull a trigger and situation like this, they probably couldn't really tell you or maybe even remember. Michael Hingson 25:38 So it wasn't race or anything like that. It was just the whole gang environment, mostly. Bradley Akubuiro 25:45 Yeah, that's right. And at the time, you know, you think about the economic factors that go into this. And I talked about this in the context of Chicago all the time, because that's where I live now. And the situation is just as salient here. But if you were to be on the west side of Chicago, Northwestern most neighborhood within the city limits of Austin, you would be in one of the poorest and one of the most dangerous zip codes in the industrialized world. If you were to go two miles over to Oak Park, one of the suburbs just outside of the city. It's one of the wealthiest in the region, and it is an amazing neighborhood, and the infrastructure across the board when it comes to the education system, and the amount of money per pupil. If you were to look at the crime statistics, if you were to look at the policing, if you were to look at any measure of quality of life, it is night and day different, but it's separated by a couple of streets. And that to me is unfathomable. Michael Hingson 26:52 It is crazy. Chris, you also have some really serious gangs back in Chicago. You know, the notorious was the cubs in the Sox, for example. Bradley Akubuiro 27:03 That's right. And you know what the competition? beaters? You don't get in the middle of those two sets of fans? Michael Hingson 27:09 Ah, no way. and never the twain shall meet, period. That's right. That's very many people who will say they're fans of both. Bradley Akubuiro 27:20 I don't think that's legal, actually. Ah, Michael Hingson 27:23 that would explain it. I'll tell you sports fans are really tough. I remember when I lived in Winthrop, mass right outside of Boston. And every year, I would on opening day, I'd be somewhere in Boston. And if the Red Sox lost immediately, basically everybody on the news and everyone else just said wait till next year. Yeah, they were done. It was no faith at all. It was amazing. And and I remember living back there when Steve Grogan was booed off out of the Patriots game one year and just I'll tell you, they're, they're amazing. Bradley Akubuiro 28:04 Well look at the dynasties they've gotten now. Unbelievable. Although, you know, I live with a die hard. Tom Brady fan. My fiance has been a Patriots fan since the beginning. And it's been a complete complete nightmare trying to figure out are we watching the Patriots? Are we are we watching the Buccaneers? And are we Tom Brady fans are Patriots fans? You know, it's a little bit of everything in that house. But I can't ever say that I'm not happy. I am a fully dedicated supporter of all things. Somebody in SNAP, otherwise, I'm in a Michael Hingson 28:39 lot of trouble. It is safer that way. Well, I have gained a lot of respect for Tom Brady, especially after he left the Patriots. And not because I disliked the Patriots, but because of all the scandals and the deflated footballs and all that sort of stuff. But he came back and he proved Hey, you know, it's not what you think at all. I really am good. And he continues to be good. Bradley Akubuiro 29:03 Yeah, it's 100%. Right. Well, and that to make this, you know, given a broader topic about Tom Brady, he gets plenty of press. But you know, the fact that he was able to say, All right, you have decided that I'm done in this sport. You've decided I'm too old to play this sport, but I have not run to the end of my capability. And in fact, I've got a lot more to offer this game. And he went and he took it with someone who would respect that and the Buccaneers and he won another championship. I mean, you can't you can't make this up. Michael Hingson 29:38 No, absolutely. You can't. And so we'll see what the Rams do this year. I liked the Rams. I grew up with the Rams, Chris, I'm really prejudiced when it comes to sports and probably a number of things because we've been blessed out here in California with great sports announcers. I mean, of course, Vin Scully, the best of all time in baseball, and I will argue that with anyone But then Dick Enberg did a lot of football and he did the rams and he did the angels. And of course we had Chick Hearn who did the Lakers, their descriptions and the way they did it, especially Vinnie just drew you in. And I've listened and listened to announcers all over the country and never got the kinds of pictures and announced me announcing and announcements that I got by listening to people in California, so I'm a little prejudiced that way. Bradley Akubuiro 30:31 Well, and you shouldn't be you absolutely should be. And I will say this, the power of storytelling that these folks that you just described are able to wield is phenomenal. And it's a skill that I actually wish more folks had and more different industries. Because if you can tell a strong compelling story, you can make it visual, you can bring people and like that the power it has to bring people together, and to motivate them to act is just unbelievable. Michael Hingson 31:01 Johnny most was a was a good announcer a pretty great announcer in basketball, but not really so much into the storytelling, but he had a personality that drew you in as well. Well, that counts for a lot. It does. I remember living back there when the Celts were playing the rockets for the championship. And the Celtics lost the first two games. And Johnny most was having a field day picking on the rockets and so on. But Moses Malone, Malone was criticizing the Celtics and said, You know, I can go get for high school people. And we could beat these guys. Wrong thing to say, because then the Celts came back and won the next for Johnny most really had a field day with that. That's what happens. Yeah, you don't open your mouth. Alright, so you went to Northwestern, that's a whole different environment. Bradley Akubuiro 31:59 Totally different environment. And, you know, I gotta tell you, I owe a ton to Northwestern. The exposure, it gave me two more global mindsets, people come to that university from all over the world, all kinds of different socioeconomic backgrounds, and looking to do so many different things, the academic rigor of the institution, and the resources that were at our disposal, were so incredible that it completely changed my experience. And frankly, the outlook I had for my own self and career. How so? Well, I'll put his way I went to school, for example, at the same time, as you know, students who had some similar backgrounds to the one I did, to being in school at the same time, as you know, Howard Buffett is the grandson of Warren Buffett, and you know, Bill polti, you know, whose grandson of, you know, the polti, you know, the namesake of Pulte Homes, and you know, literally billionaire families. And so you start to realize, if you can sit in a classroom with folks like this, and with all of the opportunities that they've had, the education, they've had private schools, things along those lines, and these are good friends, by the way, you know, when you can do that, and then realize, hey, you know what, I can keep up, I can do this. And then you know, you are receiving, you know, grades professors who support you opportunities, in terms of internships, all of these things, and realms that you never even considered possible even just a year or two earlier. It truly broadens your horizons in ways that I don't even think I could have appreciated before I was into it. Michael Hingson 33:44 Wow. And that makes a lot of sense, though. We're all we're all people. And we all have our own gifts. And the fact that you could compete is probably not necessarily the best word because it implies that there are things that we don't need to have, but you are all able to work together and that you can all succeed. That's as good as it gets. Bradley Akubuiro 34:05 That's exactly right. And I do find compared to a lot of places, Northwestern have a very collaborative culture. I found that, you know, from faculty, the staff to students, everybody was very interested in seeing everybody succeed. And you know, we believed truthfully, that all of us could there's enough room on the boat for all of us. Michael Hingson 34:29 What was your major journalism? No surprise being Northwestern? Bradley Akubuiro 34:36 Yeah, I was I was a big, big, big proponent of the journalism school and actually still remain affiliated. I'm on the faculty over there and sit on the board of the journalism school and have loved every second of my time, wearing the purple t shirt. Michael Hingson 34:52 There you go. Is my recollection. Correct? Wasn't Charlton Heston, a graduate of Northwestern? Bradley Akubuiro 34:57 You know, I don't know the answer to that but I will wouldn't be surprised if it really seems, Michael Hingson 35:02 it seems to me, I heard that he was doing something where he was he was doing something for Northwestern, as I recall. But that just strikes my memory. Bradley Akubuiro 35:12 Yeah, there's some very remarkable graduates from that organization. Michael Hingson 35:16 So you were involved, as I recall, in our conversations about and about such things in dealing with minority enrollment, and so on, and you met some pretty interesting people during your time there. Tell me about that, if you would? Bradley Akubuiro 35:32 Yeah, no, absolutely. So my freshman year, we will actually, this was my sophomore year, we actually only brought in 81 black freshmen. And that was the lowest number in terms of black enrollment in a given year at Northwestern since the 1960s. And so, you know, the university was looking around and trying to figure out what what is it that we're doing? And where are we missing the mark? And how do we not only attract black applicants, because we were able to get folks to apply? The challenge was to actually get them to choose to matriculate. And where are we losing folks in the process. And so, you know, I had been really, really interested in participating in some of the work around minority recruitment enrollment, from the time that Northwestern had recruited me, because I recognized my background wasn't necessarily what you would consider to be orthodox for the folks that got into schools like this. But they took a real hard look at me and said, We think this guy can be successful here. And I wanted to encourage others who might not necessarily think of Northwestern as an option that was attainable to them, and I don't even know about it, to really start to understand the opportunities that could be available to them. And so I was, you know, flying to different schools, not only in the Chicago area, but back in places that looked a lot like where I grew up, and telling, you know, folks, Northwestern wants you, and you should really give it a shot. And so that was a fascinating time for me, and my own development, that space. Michael Hingson 37:11 So what did you do for the school and dealing with the whole issue of minorities in that time? Bradley Akubuiro 37:19 Yeah, there were a handful of things. You know, there's there's one was how do you create programs that channel some of the frustration that a lot of students who look like me had, and so a number of folks, actually, this is the spirit of college students, gotten together, you know, put up signs and decided to kind of protest. And so instead of going through, and just kind of registering our anger, what I did was work with the admissions office. And I did actually formally work as a work study student and worked on some of the stuff, it wasn't just volunteer, but take this energy that the students had, and create programs like a pen pal program, like a fly in programs, some volunteer initiatives that we can have, that would allow students who are upset about the outcomes, to help change those outcomes by direct engagement with those who might come to Northwestern, and really improve our metrics for the following year. And we were able to do that, both in the African American and Latino communities. What did Michael Hingson 38:23 you discover? Or what did the university discover about why people might apply, but then didn't matriculate. And then how did you turn that around? Bradley Akubuiro 38:32 Yeah, there were a couple of things. So one was, for students who are getting into places like Northwestern, very commonly, we saw that they were getting into places like University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, Harvard, a number of other universities at the same time, particularly if you were to think about the minority students who are applying and getting in, and what those schools had, that Northwestern didn't quite have, was full need blind admissions processes, which Northwestern did adopt. But the short version of this is, if you got into one of those schools, you are probably going to be able to get if this if your circumstances required a full ride. And so, you know, the economic opportunity was really significant. And you were at a disadvantage. If you were a student who was interested in going to Northwestern, or any of these other schools that was really good, but couldn't you couldn't afford to go and you're gonna go to the place that you could afford to go and maybe that's your local school, or maybe that's one of these other schools, but we had to really do something to create the funding to ensure that these folks could go to the school and do it at a at a rate that wasn't going to break the bag. Michael Hingson 39:49 And you found ways to do that. Well, I Bradley Akubuiro 39:52 certainly didn't do it alone, but the university 39:55 there see University found ways to do that. Yes, that's right. 40:00 We started up a commission. So a number of students, myself included, foreign petition at the time, Marty Shapiro, who was the President of University took this issue very seriously as a economic scholar, and genuinely his background is in the economics of higher education. And he started at the school as president, while I was in again, my sophomore year, as a lot of these things were kind of taking shape and taking hold. And as one of the most successful leaders that I've met, invited us in students, the leaders in the university who are focused on this, and we had asked for a taskforce to focus on this. And he set one up, and he chaired it. And it was focused on how do we create opportunities for access, particularly for this community that had need, but wanted to be here. And, you know, one of the things that he did pretty early on in his tenure, was to establish a fund that was going to be dedicated to programs to financial need to a number of different things that would directly address this community. And we built on it from there. 41:14 Wow, that's, it's great that you had a strong champion who was willing to be farsighted enough to help with that, isn't it? Bradley Akubuiro 41:22 Absolutely. It would not have been possible without that. Michael Hingson 41:25 So you met as I recall you saying Jesse Jackson, somewhere along the way? in that arena, especially since you're in the Chicago area? That makes a lot of sense. Bradley Akubuiro 41:35 Yeah, you know what I'm starting to put together thanks to you hear that this was a pretty big year for me. Michael Hingson 41:41 To see, I'm getting impressed. So I did about yourself. Bradley Akubuiro 41:50 You know, it's funny. But yeah, there was a convergence of things. And so in this particular year, I did meet Reverend Jesse Jackson. And this started a relationship that's been incredible and life changing that remains to this day. But the way that it happened, Michael, is that there was a woman Roxana Saberi, who had been taken political prisoner by Iran, and she worked for the BBC. She had been a former Northwestern middle student. So a number of us who are part of the journalism program, Adele had decided that we were going to get together and as college students are wanting to do, we decided to protest and hopes that we would, on our campus in Evanston, get the State Department to pay more attention to this particular issue. And hopefully, it takes negotiating for her really seriously. And while I have no idea whether, at the time Secretary Clinton saw anything we were doing, my guess, is probably not Reverend Jackson, who to your point was just on the other side of Chicago did. And the connection there is Roxanne's buried, did her first interview with the BBC as a professional reporter with Reverend Jesse Jackson. And he was committed to advocating for her release. And so he actually reached out to us, via the university asked a few of us to come down and join a press conference with him, where he intended to go and negotiate for her release on humanitarian grounds. And I participated in that with another student. And it was absolutely phenomenal and led to so many doors being opened for me. Michael Hingson 43:35 Wow, what your were you in school at the time? Bradley Akubuiro 43:38 So this was my sophomore year. Great, great. Again, still part of the great sophomore year. Yeah, and I continue to work with Reverend Jackson, throughout the remainder of my time in college and for some period after college. But there were a number of things, but it all tied back together, because the issue that Reverend Jackson was advocating for at the time that spoke most deeply to me, was this issue of college affordability and access, and you have this program called reduce the rate, which was all about reducing the interest rate on student education loans, because we had bailed out banks. And you know, the autos and so many others, rates of zero to 1% and said, Hey, you're in trouble pass back when you're ready. We'll make it cheap and affordable for you to do that. But we never granted that level of grace to students who are supposed to be our future. And instead, we were breaking their backs was, you know, interest rates of six to in some cases, as high as 18%. Without any, you know, kind of recourse you get stuck with these things for life. Michael Hingson 44:47 And people wonder why we keep talking about eliminating the loans today or lowering the interest rate and the reality is, as you said, students are our future and we should be doing all we can to say point that that's absolutely Bradley Akubuiro 45:01 right. I still firmly believe that and, you know, our loan system, and frankly, the cost of education is just crippling. It's, it's, it's crazy. And this is for multiple generations. And I'm sad for what the future will look like if we can't figure this situation out. Michael Hingson 45:23 Yeah, we've got to do something different than we're doing. And it's just kind of crazy the way it is. It's extremely unfortunate. Well, so you got a bachelor's? Did you go get any advanced degree or? Bradley Akubuiro 45:36 Well, I did actually attend Northwestern. For a good portion, I masters that integrated the integrated marketing communications program over there. And that dovetails really well into where my career ultimately went and where it currently resides. But you know, Northwestern was the educator of choice for me. Michael Hingson 45:57 So, career wise, so what did you then go off and do? Since you opened the door? Yeah. Bradley Akubuiro 46:03 So you know, it's been a number of different things. And this will sound disparate, but it all comes together. I went, after working with Reverend Jackson to Liberia, and I spent time in Liberia working for the president of Liberia on postwar kind of reestablishment of a democracy, which was a big thing. And frankly, way above my paygrade, I got an opportunity to work on it, because I had spent time working with Reverend Jesse Jackson, and that will come back in a second. But there was a student who was doing his PhD program at Northwestern, who had been who is I should say, the grandson of a former president of Liberia, who had been killed in a coup in October. And I had been friends with him, I knew that I wanted to get to West Africa to do some work, particularly around education and social programs. And he connected me with his mother who had been deputy minister of education. And I had been fortunate enough to create an arrangement that I was really excited about to go to Monrovia, and Liberia, the capital city, and to spend some time working on programs out there. And when she found out that I worked with Reverend Jesse Jackson, she called the president and said, This could be a great opportunity. And they cooked up a program where I would actually champion and work on establishing a program and policy around leadership development, and capacity building for the country post Civil War, which was, again, an absolutely amazing and life changing experience, really hard. Michael Hingson 47:45 What was the world like over there? And what was it like for you being from a completely different culture as it were than over in Liberia? Bradley Akubuiro 47:53 Well, the first thing I'll say is, if you live in the United States, and you believe, you know, poverty, you ain't seen nothing yet. Because, you know, one of the things that you will find in countries like Liberia, and some of the places and post war, Eastern Europe and the 90s, and different kinds of places is, there is a level of resilience and a level of spirit that is built into society that comes almost entirely from experience with incredible hardship, just absolutely incredible hardship. And Liberia at the time that I was over there was amongst the, you know, five poorest countries in the world, after what had been 14 years of concrete civil war and 30 years of civil unrest. But the people that I met could not have been better spirited, and just nicer, more optimistic and incredible people. Michael Hingson 48:52 So how long were you over there? 48:54 I was over there for less than a year and spent some time doing consulting, even after I came back to DC, but was on the ground for less than a year. 49:03 And when you came back from Liberia, what did you go off and do? 49:07 When I came back from Liberia and I want to, you know, couch this and my rationale, I had worked for Reverend Jesse Jackson on these big kind of global programs that that presidents and heads of state and you know, business leaders and all these different folks went over to Liberia and got this chance to work on, you know, kind of reinstituting a democracy and meaningful ways with the president who later on became a Nobel Prize, Peace Prize Laureate. And you know, what I came to realize, Michael, was that my opportunities were quickly outpacing my experience. And so what I said is, let's now try to find a place where I can get some of the fundamentals some of the framework for a lot of the work that I had the opportunity to do. And the place that I chose to go is Booz Allen Hamilton is a management consulting firm and you One of the largest public sector practices in the world. And so I went in with the intention of really being able to shore up my skills. And what happened? Well, hopefully they'll tell you that I was successful. Michael Hingson 50:11 Okay, good. Bradley Akubuiro 50:16 It was a really fascinating time to be there. You know, Booz Allen, had a lot of significant contracts. This was the time of the Affordable Care Act's passage. And so, you know, at the time that I went over, I got to work almost exclusively on ACA, and a lot is talked about in terms of the legislative kind of process to get that accomplished. But what is talked a lot less about is the actual opera operationalization of it, and what that looks like to stand up state health exchanges, and different states to actually entice somebody coming from, you know, a psychiatry program at top medical school, that choose to put on a uniform and go to a base at, you know, an Air Force base or an army base, and provide clinical care for those who are returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. And all of these were provisions of the bill. But actually implementing those things, was a very tall order. And so I got an opportunity to really kind of roll up my sleeves and work on a lot of that work. And that was incredibly formative work. Michael Hingson 51:22 So it was a real challenge, of course, to get the Affordable Care Act passed. I remember in 2009, I was speaking at a an event for a companies whose hospital boards and leaders of the staffs of the hospitals in the network, were getting together and I went to, to speak, and talk about some of my experiences and talk about disabilities and so on. The person right before me, was a medical expert. He was, it was a person who talked about the whole concept of how we needed to change our whole idea and environment of medical care, and what we really needed to do as a country and so on. And he had been involved in every president's investigation of how to change the medical synth system. Ever since I think he went this was 2009, I think he went back to Nixon, Oh, wow. He, he said it all came down to the same thing. And he said The best example is, he was doing this as part of the team for Bill Clinton. And they talked about what needed to be done, how to change the medical system, and everybody bought into it, and so on, until it got down to specifics of saying what it was going to cost. And that they needed to deal with some of the provisions that eventually went into the Affordable Care Act. And he said, As soon as the politicians got a hold of it, and said, This is a horrible thing, you're gonna cause too much controversy, the President's would all run. And that's why no one ever got anything accomplished. And he also said that Obama was probably going to get something passed. And he actually predicted almost to a tee, if you will, what was going to pass. And that's exactly what passed and what didn't pass. And he said, later, we'll actually start to worry about the cost of, of medical coverage in this country, but they're not really willing to face that issue yet. And he predicted we would be able to do something by 2015. Well, that hasn't really happened yet, either. And now we're maybe making a little bit of a dent. But it was very fascinating to listen to him predict, based on so many years of expertise, what was going to happen. Bradley Akubuiro 53:46 Yeah, I mean, that's incredible. And I will say, a lot of times the policy takes a backseat to the politics on these things. And it takes so much, you know, Will and kind of moral fortitude to get in there and drive these things, particularly when there's interests on the other side of it. But you know, I'm with you. We're not quite where I think you predicted we'd be in 2015. But driving towards it now. And hopefully we'll make more progress. Michael Hingson 54:16 Yeah, we're slowly getting there. So what did you do after Booz Allen Hamilton? Bradley Akubuiro 54:21 Yeah, so the things that I really love the most about that work during that time that the the change in a lot of that kind of management strategy was the change communications aspects of it. And so I knew that I wanted to get more fully into communications. And so the next few jobs for me, were discretely corporate communications, if you will. And so I got an opportunity to follow a mentor to a company called Pratt and Whitney jet engine company, you know, builds jet engines from from fighter jets to, you know, the big commercial airplanes that we fly in, and love that experience. It's moved to kind of the corporate side of that company to United Technologies in time and worked on a number of different mergers and acquisitions, including the spin offs of Otis, the big Elevator Company to carry air conditioning both of these which spun off into fortune 200 publicly traded companies their own, to ultimately what became you know, the merger with Raytheon. Raytheon? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It most recently produced Raytheon technologies. And so a really, really fascinating set of experiences for me there. And then Michael Hingson 55:35 you along the way, also, I guess, we're part of the formation of bully pulpit international with the Obama Biden administration. Bradley Akubuiro 55:44 You know, I wasn't part of the founding, this all kind of happened in parallel with folks who I have a ton of respect for who I now work with bully pulpit, interact was formed in 2009, with a number of folks who came out of that Obama campaign, and then White House. And it started in the kind of digital marketing, digital persuasion space, and all of the kind of, you know, really amazing tactics and strategies that they learned on that campaign, particularly, as social media was starting to become more popularized and more mass adopted, they said, how do we start to apply some of that stuff, as you think about not only other campaigns, but to foundations and advocacy groups into corporations? And you know, you flash forward 1213 years now, and this is a fully operational 250 person agency, where we're focused on, you know, how do you help organizations of all types, you know, really express their values and find their voices on these really key important issues. But also, how do leaders make really tough decisions on things like, you know, Roe v. Wade, and what that means for their employee base, and what they're going to do policy wise, and how they're going to communicate around that afterwards? On through gun reform, and what folks do if you know, you are operating, and buffalo or in Texas, when you know, some of the massacres that happened earlier this year happen. And this has been, you know, really fascinating. And I came over here after being chief spokesperson for Boeing. And it's been really fun to reunite with some old friends and folks who have been doing this kind of work for a really long time now. Michael Hingson 57:37 So Boeing, so when did you leave Boeing Bradley Akubuiro 57:41 left Boeing, a year, just shy of a year and a half go Michael Hingson 57:45 around during the whole 737 Max thing? Bradley Akubuiro 57:49 Well, you know, interestingly, you bring this up, I was brought over to Boeing, in response to the 737. Max, you know, I was asked to come over and to really think about what does a world class Media Relations organization look like? That is going to be transparent, accountable, and 24/7? Around the globe? And more than anything, after you've had, you know, two accidents on the scale that they had, you know, how do we really become more human and how we interact with all of our stakeholders, internal and external on a lot of this stuff? And that was a really, really, really challenging, but rewarding process to be part of and to help lead? Michael Hingson 58:33 How do you advise people? Or what do you advise people in those kinds of situations, you had a major crisis? And clearly, there's an issue? What do you what do you tell corporate executives to do? And how hard was it to get them to do it? Bradley Akubuiro 58:49 Yeah. So on the first part of that question, it really comes down to being human, you got to put yourself in the shoes of the people that you're trying to communicate with, and to, if you are a person who lost a loved one, on a plane that went down outside of, you know, Addis Ababa, and Ethiopia, if you if you were, you know, one of the people who lost your, your spouse or your kid, you know, the last thing you want to hear from a company is, you know, we did things right, from an engineering standpoint, what you want to hear from that company, is, we are so sorry that this happened. And we're going to do absolutely everything in our power to ensure it can never happen again. And here are the steps we're taking and here's what we're going to do to try to make things right and you can never completely make things right. In that circumstance. You can at least be understanding. Michael Hingson 59:48 I remember 1982 When we had the Tylenol cyanide incident, you know about that. Yeah. And if For us, and what was the most impressive thing about that was within two days, the president of company was out in front of it. And as you said, being human, that's a corporate lesson that more people really should learn. Bradley Akubuiro 1:00:18 Yeah, it's a difficult thing to do. Because I think, and this isn't just lawyers, but it's easy to blame it on lawyers, the natural reaction is to immediately think, well, what's my liability going to be? What are people going to think if they think that I actually did make this mistake? And how do I cover it up? And how do I try to diffuse responsibility? And that is exactly the opposite of what you should do. And this isn't just good communications. This is good leadership. Michael Hingson 1:00:44 Good leadership. Yeah, Bradley Akubuiro 1:00:45 that's right. And we need more people to really understand that to your point. Michael Hingson 1:00:50 Well, and with with Boeing, it sounds like if I recall, all of the stuff that least that we saw on the news, which may or may not have been totally accurate, there were some issues. And it took a while to deal with some of that to get people to, to face what occurred that necessarily things weren't going exactly the way they really should have in terms of what people were communicating and what people knew and didn't know. Bradley Akubuiro 1:01:15 Yeah, well, then you ask the question, how difficult was it to get the senior executives to get on board with the new approach. And what I would say is, and this goes back to some of we were talking about earlier, the top down kind of approach to this, and what's happening and the most senior role matters the most. And the CEO who came in this was after the former CEO was was like, you know, the chief legal officer, the head of that business, and a number of different executives, you keep going on, had exited the company, the new CEO, who came in they've Calhoun, currently is still the CEO, they're brought in this new wave, this refreshing new approach and culture, and was all about how do we ensure that we are being accountable, and that we're being transparent, because that is what matters in this circumstance. And so with that license to operate, it was a lot easier to come in and convince folks Well, this is how we should approach this from a media perspective, from a communications staff perspective, and across the board, with our customers with regulators, cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Because everybody was on board that this is what we needed to do. And frankly, it's the only way to not only repair our reputation, because this is 100 year old company has been at the first of so many different things historically, from an aviation standpoint, and helped truly invent modern flight. So how do you create a reputation that people expect coming out of that, but also to respect again, those who trusted the company, because when you step on a fly, you know, you know, as Michael, when you stop on a flight, you don't want to think about whether it's gonna make it to the other side or not. You want to trust that it's gonna make it to the other side and focus on what you got to do when you get there and everything else in your life. And people had for a brief period of time lost that faith. And that is what we were really trying to restore. Michael Hingson 1:03:15 Do you think you were pretty successful at getting faith and confidence restored, Bradley Akubuiro 1:03:20 I think we've made a good start at bone still remains a client. And I would say that the work that is ongoing is going to take time, because it takes five seconds to lose your reputation. It takes a long time to rebuild it and to regain trust. And I think the company is committed to what it needs to do to do that. But it is a journey. Michael Hingson 1:03:44 What do you advise people today you do a lot of consulting, and you're in

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Rousuck's Review: 'Edgar Allan Poe's 'Blood, Sweat and Fears''

Midday

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2022 9:31

Next on Midday, a visit with our peripatetic theater critic, J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage. Today she's back, just in time for Halloween, to tell us about Edgar Allan Poe's 'Blood Sweat and Fears,' the first live stage production by the National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre. The non-profit company produces Poe's works for educational and mass media presentations, including a series of podcasts for WYPR called Poe Theater on the Air. The new show, directed by Jay Brock, features dramatizations of three of the master of macabre's well-known short stories: “Berenice,” “A Predicament,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” It's being presented on stage through FPX Events at the Flagship Cinema multiplex in Dundalk, which is located at 7938 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224. Click the theater or FPX links for more details. Parental advisory: The show contains some adult themes, including murder. Not recommended for children under 13. J. Wynn Rousuck joins us on Zoom.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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EVENING NEWS - AUGUST 10, 2022

Conversations with Calvin; WE the Species

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2022 9:08

Police have released the identity of the woman killed in an early morning crash Monday (Aug 8) on Eastern Avenue, near Shedden Road in George Town The Annual Healthcare Conference is set to focus on Non-Communicable Diseases Deputy Premier the Hon. Chris Saunders discusses the establishment of a committee looking into the rules around who can become permanent residents and ultimately, Caymanian Several turtle hatchlings die after being confused by artificial light along the coast. The Nomination period is open for the 2022 Older Persons Month Ambassadors --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rcnews/message

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DAWN MICHELLE WILLLIAMS; Author, ‘Technology for Seniors,' Business-salon owner; Bullying Consultant; Homeschooling mom-advocate

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2022 46:37

#cosmetology #bullying #technolgyeducation DAWN MICHELLE WILLLIAMS; Author, ‘Technology for Seniors,' Business/salon owner; Bullying Consultant; Homeschooling mom/advocate CONTACT INFO: https://iamdawnwilliams.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamdawnmwilliams/ BOOK: https://tinyurl.com/Dawnwilliamsbooks BIO: Dawn Michelle Williams (formerly Dawn Michelle Mazyck) is a Maryland native. After graduating from Frederick Douglass High School of Upper Marlboro Maryland, she attended Dudley Beauty School in Baltimore Maryland. She received her license in Cosmetology in August of 2000 through the State Board of Cosmetology in Maryland. She went on to receive an Associates degree from Prince Georges Community College in 2004. She received her experience working in several salons in Prince George's County Maryland. Her 1st brick and mortar location was on Eastern Avenue in Fairmount heights Maryland in 2016. After an eventful course of events which is detailed in the first chapter of her book (Building Your Trojan Creative Horse), she moved to a more lucrative location in Hyattsville, Maryland inside of Phenix Salon Suites. Dawn has multiple business ventures within her & her husband's LLC (Da Crankin Shop, LLC). ProHairClasses, The Research Departments and Dawn Michelle's Salon. She has been featured in publications such as FOX, NBC and CBS news articles. She hosts technology education classes for Seniors, holds classes for digital design and has a blog that features news articles as well as advice pertaining to the cosmetology business industry.

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'Stumbling Toward Grace' through short stories

On The Record on WYPR

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2022 24:32

In her new collection of short stories, Baltimore writer Rosalia Scalia connects us to people we might never get to know by ourselves. Maybe they're a lot older or younger than we -- or from a different ethnic group, and without Scalia at our side we wouldn't realize that their families struggle like ours. Or maybe they're just nasty, like the crotchety guy in the title story, 'Stumbling Toward Grace.' We learn right away that he's a bigot who's cut off his daughter and never met his grandkids. Somehow Scalia helps us see not just his mistakes, but why he's made them, “There are many people around us who have things about them that are unlikeable but they themselves are not bad people, they're just flawed.” Scalia has two events coming up in the Baltimore area. She'll be speaking at Pandola Learning Center at 914 Stiles St. in Little Italy-at noon this coming Saturday, April 23. And next month, on Sunday, May 29th, she'll be in conversation with author Raphael Alvarez and poet Dean Smith at Ikaros Restaurant, 4901 Eastern Avenue, in Baltimore's Greektown neighborhood. That event begins at 5 pm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Local News for 29 Mar 22

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2022 9:16

Former politician, member of government and businessman Mr. Benson Ebanks passed away at his home at the age of 87. Police are investigating two overnight robberies on Eastern Avenue. Caribbean Utilities gives customers a heads up - to start conserving energy because the price of utilities is likely to go up due to the situation in Ukraine and supply chain issues. #rcnews #radiocayman #caymannews --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rcnews/message

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March 22, 2022: Albemarle EDA briefed on Broadway Blueprint, Lewis and Clark Center loan, $5M in economic development funding, and exploring a DORA

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2022 17:03

There is much more light in the northern hemisphere today than there was yesterday. This will be the case for 90 more days until the pendulum shifts back the other way, but perhaps now isn’t the time to bring that up. It is time to tell you that this is another edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement and I’m the same version of Sean Tubbs. Spring into new information with a paid or free subscription to the newsletter and podcast!On today’s show:Several stories out of last week’s Albemarle Economic Development Authority meeting, including the pursuit of a designated outdoor recreation area for somewhere in urban AlbemarleThe Crozet Community Advisory Committee learns about transportation CouncilMembers of the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center talked loan forgiveness with the Albemarle EDA in closed sessionAnd an update on the Broadway Blueprint in Albemarle County First shout-out goes to the Rivanna Conservation AllianceIn today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance wants wildlife and nature photographers to enter their first-ever photography contest! They want high-resolution photos related to the Rivanna watershed and the winning entries will be displayed at the 2022 Riverfest Celebration on May 1. The two categories are 16 and under, and those over the age of 17. You can send in two entries, and the work may be used to supplement Rivanna Conservation Alliance publications. For more information, visit rivannariver.org.Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center officials met in closed session with EDA to talk loan forgivenessThe Albemarle Economic Development Authority met with leaders of the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center in closed session last week to share information about the nonprofit’s ability to pay back a loan that dates back to 2013. “The pandemic of course dealt us a hefty blow as I think it did most nonprofits,” said Malou Stark, the president of the center’s Board of Directors. “We were not able to open during most of the pandemic. We began very small last fall with very private small group tours of two or three people at a time.”That’s important as the Center owes just over $125,000 to the EDA for the loan, which was taken out to cover higher-than-expected construction costs to build the Center in Darden Towe Park. The Charlottesville Economic Development Authority also contributed $130,000 for that purpose, and has said it will forgive the loan if the Albemarle EDA follows suit. However, they have consistently indicated they expect repayment. Stark and fellow board member Sarah Gran met with economic development staff before the meeting to speak privately about the issue. “We took away the thoughts and ideas that were addressed a week ago and really wanted to hear what the EDA was saying about repayment about this loan and that we take it seriously,” Gran said. The EDA told the center board members that they want a plan for repayment. Stark said the Center sees an ability to bring in more revenue now that it can open. “We’ve continued renting out our building and we have been very successful during the pandemic in getting grants that we have gone after,” Stark said Stark said the Center will resume holding its summer camp this year and that will be one source of revenue. However, schools are not yet booking the property for field trips. The EDA met with Stark and Gran to discuss the matter in closed session. At the closed session, they also discussed an economic development project with the codename Khaki. There was no action on the matter after the closed session. There will be more from the Albemarle Economic Development Authority later on in this newsletter. Watch the whole thing on the county’s YouTube page. Crozet CAC briefed on transportation infrastructure projectsThis month all of Albemarle’s seven advisory committees have been briefed on transportation projects from the county’s planning staff. In recent years, Albemarle has been successful at securing money for projects, such as the conversion of the Route 151 and U.S. 250 intersection to a roundabout. On March 8, 2022, the Crozet Community Advisory Committee had their turn. Planning Manager Kevin McDermott explained how the process works in Albemarle. “We regularly update a list of transportation priorities and this list basically is every project that’s been identified,” McDermott said. (read the list)Those projects are identified in master plans, small area plans, corridor plans, and so on.“And then we evaluate all of those projects based on a set of metrics which we think kind of capture, really, the needs of a transportation system,” McDermott said. “Those include measuring for safety, congestion, economic development, accessibility, land use, and environmental impact.” That ranking system is similar to the one used by the Virginia Department of Transportation in their Smart Scale process. That’s one of many sources of revenue for transportation projects and McDermott said the priority list is used to help position projects for applications. For the past few years, Albemarle has used a capital fund called “transportation leveraging” that is used to come up with local matches for major projects. Other sources include a revenue sharing program with VDOT and a Transportation Alternatives program for projects for non-motorized users of the public realm. “These projects are things that would cost definitely under a million and it requires a twenty percent local match,” McDermott said. Major projects in the Crozet area include the southern extension of Eastern Avenue (#8). That’s been a plan on paper for many years, but when it came time to apply for funding the cost estimates were out of date. “And so we decided to move forward with an engineering study using local funding and so that engineering study also looked at the potential locations of Eastern Avenue,” McDermott said. The county will find out in April if VDOT will award funds to the Eastern Avenue project, which could have a cost around $25 million. Other projects in the area include conversion of U.S. 250 and Virginia Route 240 to a roundabout and a Smart Scale application for a roundabout at Old Trail Drive and U.S. 250 at Western Albemarle High School. The priorities will be reexamined as part of Albemarle’s ongoing review of the Comprehensive Plan, including new projects suggested in the recent update of the Crozet Master Plan. For more from the meeting, take a look on YouTube:Albemarle EDA releases Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville from Southwood deed The Albemarle Economic Development Authority has adopted a resolution releasing Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville of its obligations related to a ground lease for the Southwood Mobile Home Park. According to Albemarle’s property records, Habitat purchased the land and trailers at Southwood on March 1, 2007. Senior Assistant County Attorney Richard DeLoria said the Albemarle EDA took on the note for some of the debt in 2010. “Long story short is that the EDA assumed a $6 million obligation that was secured by a deed that was presented to the EDA,” DeLoria said. DeLoria said Habitat paid back the funding in the form of rent to the EDA but now Habitat is seeking to refinance. That means they needed to clear up the obligation to the EDA. “Habitat would like a deed of release from the EDA and also a termination agreement for the lease,” DeLoria said. The vote to adopt the resolution was unanimous. As of the March 15, 2022 EDA meeting, Habitat had not completed the refinancing packet. Today’s second 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!Albemarle making major investment in economic development funding with surplus fundsThe proposed budget for Albemarle County for fiscal year 2023 contains a recommendation from County Executive Jeffrey Richardson that will give the Albemarle Economic Development Authority a large pot of money to use to help close deals. “Our Board has heard the recommendation from Mr. Richardson to put $5 million back into the economic development investment pool,” said Roger Johnson, the county’s economic development director. “That would sort of reestablish our investment pool that we have spending over the last four years or so. It is getting lowered as every project comes along.” The source of the $5 million is funding left over from FY21. These funds are often used to cover the county’s match for grants such as the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP) and the Agricultural and Forestry Industries Development fund (AFID). The latter was used to help Potters Craft Cider renovate Neve Hall to become its tasting room and production facility and the EDA contributed $50,000. This week, Governor Glenn Youngkin awarded the first AFID grant of his administration to Hidden Pines Meat Processing in Madison County. “The company, which has been operating for more than twenty years, is expanding to year-round operations and adding USDA inspection services to meet surging consumer demand for locally produced meats,” reads the press release. Johnson said having a dedicated pool allows his team to work without getting an appropriation for each development project. Albemarle County seeking to explore DORA Albemarle County is considering taking advantage of new state laws that allow the use of Designated Outdoor Refreshment Areas to help boost tourism and economic development. “It’s a geographic area licensed by the ABC annually that allows the consumption of alcoholic beverages—wine, beer, mixed beverages—within public spaces or inside a business without an ABC license as long as the business owner agrees,” Johnson said.The Town of Scottsville has used its DORA license on two occasions so far. The city of Charlottesville has discussed the idea but has not pursued it since a majority of the last Council did not appear to support it. Under the DORA, a nonprofit group would hold the ABC license. A business improvement district could also hold the license, but there are none in Albemarle County. “What’s allowed is up to 16 events per year,” Johnson said. “Each event can be no longer than three days. You need a letter of support from the locality, and in this case that’s Albemarle County. You have to submit an ABC application and there is a fee associated with that.”Beverages must be in designated containers. Johnson said he’s met with the Police Department to get their feedback on the events. EDA Director Stuart Munson praised the DORA set up for Scottsville for two events so far. “We saw a significant increase in traffic both on the street and in businesses and we had no problems whatsoever,” Munson said. Other potential uses for a DORA in Albemarle are in Crozet and at Stonefield. EDA briefed on Broadway Blueprint studyThe Albemarle Economic Development Office has officially completed a planning study for a portion of the county around the Woolen Mills Factory on the western banks of the Rivanna River. (read the report)“The general idea was to take the 46 and a half acres on the Broadway Corridor and turn that into a place that people, businesses, and activities all occur at the same time and everyone would like to be there,” Johnson said. Recommendations in the plan include creation of an arts and cultural district, creation of a business association for the corridor, increased bike and pedestrian facilities, design of a multimodal streetscape, and enhanced public transit. The report was delayed by COVID and during that time, Albemarle has adopted a new value of “community” which means equity and inclusion. That’s meant a new round of recommendations after the study was looked at through an equity lens. “The new recommendations include connectivity to all outside communities including the city,” Johnson said. “We were talking about this being a county-only type project but there are some surrounding neighborhoods that we believe it makes sense to connect to as well. It also includes targeting programming and the use of public space to serve the broader neighborhoods.” The item was on the consent agenda for the March 16, 2022 meeting of the Board of Supervisors. On Thursday, the MPO Policy Board will select an alignment for a pedestrian and bike bridge to connect the Woolen Mills with Pantops. One would connect to Charlottesville at Chesapeake Street at a cost of $11.3 million. The other would connect at East Market Street and would have a cost of $15.4 million. (alternatives report) (comparison matrix)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

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LOCAL NEWS

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 9, 2022 9:54

Police reopen Bluff Road in South Side West Cayman Brac after accident re-constructionists and fire investigators visited the scene of Tuesday's fatal crash. Official confirmation on the identity of a body found on Eastern Avenue on March 4th. The Civil Service has started work to increase family leave entitlements for civil servants and a special event at the Harquail shares personal recollections of Her Majesty the Queen's 1983 and 1994 visits to the islands. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rcnews/message

police official local news her majesty civil service eastern avenue

November 20, 2021: Crozet CAC debriefs after Master Plan update adoption; Sage Smith has been missing for nine years

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2021 19:24

Let’s begin today with a Patreon-fueled shout-out. Charlottesville 350 is the local chapter of a national organization that seeks to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Charlottesville 350 uses online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions to oppose new coal, oil and gas projects, and build 100% clean energy solutions that work for all. To learn more about their most active campaigns, including a petition drive to the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/cville350 On today’s program:The CDC has approved booster shots for all adult AmericansThe city fills one position while another became vacant The Virginia Supreme Court appoints two Special Masters to complete the redistricting process Members of the Crozet Community Advisory Committee debrief after Supervisors adopt a master planCOVID updateAs the week ended, the percent positivity creeped up slightly to 5.8 percent as reported by the Virginia Department of Health and the seven day average rose to 1,518. Nearly a million Virginians have received a third dose or a booster shot. The seven day average for doses administered a day was 40,389 on Friday. Also on Friday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of the Moderna and Pfizer booster shots for all adults, and the Centers for Disease Control followed suit later in the day. Dr. Costi Sifri is director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System, and he said this means anyone who completed their two-dose cycle of Pfizer and Moderna can now get a booster dose. “We’re at a point right now where that is going to start including a fair number of people,” Dr. Sifri said. “It’s clear that boosters are really beneficial in boosting up the number of antibodies.”Dr. Sifri said there are an increasing number of “breakthrough-cases” in people who were vaccinated over six months ago. Some of these cases have resulted in hospitalizations and Dr. Sifri recommended those at higher risk should schedule their booster. “I really strongly encourage those people to get a booster especially as we head into the holiday season and as we are starting to see increasing rates of COVID in the nation as well as our community,” Dr. Sifri said. Dr. Sifri said others should consider getting the third dose, especially if they want to avoid contracting COVID. “There hasn’t been much of a rush,” Dr. Sifri said. “Right now we understand that about 16 percent of people in our health district who are eligible for a booster vaccine has received one.”Dr. Reid Adams is the Chief Medical Officer at UVA Health. His recommendation is a little more sharp.“I think the time is now,” Dr. Adams said. “We have gotten to a lower rate in Virginia but it’s certainly not low enough. If you look around the country, particularly in the midwest and the upper plains, we’re really seeing a surge so ideally folks would get their booster now before that happens here.” People who want to schedule a booster dose or get vaccinated for the first time can do so at vaccinate.virginia.gov. There are plenty of appointments and shots.“We have not seen long waits for booster doses here at the medical center,” Dr. Sifri said. “Those are available. In addition there is the availability of getting booster vaccines through local pharmacies and the Blue Ridge Health District.”Since November 6, over 4,674 children between the ages of 5 and 11 have been vaccinated, or around 25 percent of the eligible population. Sage Smith disappearanceToday marks nine years since Sage Smith disappeared, having last been seen in the 500 block of West Main Street. The Charlottesville Police Department put out a release this morning stating they are still seeking the whereabouts of Erik McFadden, calling him a critical person of interest in the case. The two had been expected to meet the night of November 20, 2012, but Smith has not been heard from since. McFadden is believed to have left town rather than speak to the police. “Smith was a beloved family member and friend to many in the Charlottesville and LGBTQ+ communities,” the release reads. “Although [nne] years have passed, CPD is hopeful with the help of the media and continued public interest, we can finally solve this case and bring closure to a family and community that continues to experience anguish.” A missing persons report was filed for McFadden in June 2019 but multiple leads have not turned up any further developments. For more information, take a look at the release. Charlottesville personnel updateThe city has hired a Minority Business Development Coordinator. Ajoni Wynn-Floyd will take the position within the city’s Economic Development Department. The Minority Business Program was created in 2018 to assist qualified businesses with one-on-one business consulting, start-up assistance, and help registering to be vendors for state and local government. “The program is focused on increasing the number of minority- and woman-owned businesses that are registered vendors with the City and to encourage more City spending with such businesses,” reads the intake form on the city’s website.Wynn-Floyd has worked with the Latino Student Alliance and the Diversity Awareness Program board. Earlier this month, the city’s Tree Commission learned of the resignation of Mike Ronayne, the city’s urban forester. He served in the position for five years. The position has not yet been advertised on the Charlottesville jobs board as of Friday afternoon. At that November 2 meeting, Tree Commission chair Brian Menard said the city must demonstrate support for urban forestry.“We need to have more resources, not just financially, but we need more resources in terms of hands that can do this work and support this work,” Menard said. “We recognize that this has not been an ordinary 18 months but even before then it was clear that there’s just a lot that’s put on one person,” Menard said. Map-drawers selectedThe Virginia Supreme Court has appointed two special masters to complete the process of redistricting maps for the General Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives. Sean P. Trende and Bernard F. Grofman are the selected candidates. “Though each was nominated by legislative leaders of a particular political party, the Nominees… shall serve as officers of the Court in a quasi-judicial capacity,” reads the appointment order made Friday.The pair will work on a single map and have 30 days to complete their work. According to the order, Trende and Grofman must resolve differences in good-faith and are not permitted to consult with anyone except for designated staff at the Supreme Court and the Virginia Division of Legislative Services. They are directed to take into account the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Voting Rights Act. “In short, the Court expects to receive from its Special Masters redistricting maps that have been drafted using factors that are fully compliant with constitutional and statutory law applied in an apolitical and nonpartisan manner,” reads the order. Trende was nominated by Republicans and is a senior elections analyst with Real Clear Politics. Grofman is a political science professor at the University of California at Irvine. Read more at the Virginia Mercury.In today’s second 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. Crozet updateA month has passed since the Albemarle Board of Supervisors adopted an update of the Crozet Master Plan, with some land use aspects included over the wishes of some members of the Crozet Community Advisory Committee. For a good summary of what happened on October 20, read Allison Wrabel’s story in the October 21 Daily Progress. Or Lisa Martin’s story in the November 5 Crozet Gazette.On November 10, the Crozet CAC had the opportunity to talk about the plan. Chair Allie Pesch didn’t have anything prepared, and neither had Planning Manager Rachel Falkenstein. The Albemarle Planning Commission had recommended removing the Middle Density Residential designation from a portion of downtown Crozet, but there were four votes on the Board of Supervisors to move forward. White Hall District Supervisor Ann Mallek ended up voting with that majority on the eventual 5 to 1 vote in support of the plan’s update.“I should have done it differently,” Mallek said. “I should have made the motion I was going to make that adopted the Planning Commission’s route and if that had been voted down we would have been much more clear to the membership in the community what was going on.” Meetings in Albemarle are still virtual due to the pandemic and Mallek said the logistics of getting that motion moved forward were difficult to accomplish over Zoom. She acknowledged that many landowners in Crozet are concerned about the increased density. Many CAC members thought their concerns were too easily dismissed.“I found a fair amount of pretty serious community input ignored at points and I feel that ever since the state abolished the ability to negotiate proffers, developers kind of trump most of the decisions,” said Brian Day.Day referred to legislation in 2016 that rendered invalid an Albemarle policy that required a cash payment from developers for every new unit authorized by a rezoning. Proffers are still legal if they are deemed reasonable and contribute to the direct impact of a development. However, the 2016 legislation ushered a cooling off point where localities were hesitant to even discuss the issue. This past week, for instance, representatives of Greystar Development said they would pay a proportional amount toward upgrades on Old Ivy Road. Michael Monaco, a new member of the CAC, said he felt public input had to be broadened in range. He said Crozet needs more housing and more entry-level jobs so young people can stay.“I think any process that is guided mostly by homeowners is going to be guided mostly by the financial interests of homeowners, consciously or not,” Monaco said. “Any attempt to counter that would be wise.” Kostas Alibertis is on his second term on the CAC. “I think the struggle and the challenge that we had here was the vision of the county versus the vision of the community and I think we’ll always have that unless there is some delineation of where those lines are, and I think that’s what led to all of this frustration,” Alibertis said. Shawn Bird said the process was hurt by a lack of in-person community engagement meetings due to the pandemic.“If you remember those meetings we had at the high school, I thought there was really strong turn out, I thought there were people energized by the process, we had a certain momentum behind it,” Bird said. “I saw new people coming out to those things and then COVID hit and we all had to jump on our computers and it just changed the whole dynamic.”During the process, the CAC took votes indicating a majority were not in favor of the middle density residential category. Those votes are not binding and are only symbolic, but Bird defended the practice as well a 2017 survey (as published in the Crozet Gazette),“I think the powers that be need to know was this issue 13 to 2, or 8 to 7, by the CCAC?” Bird said. “I think you need to quantify to some degree where the citizens fall on particular issues. In my mind, that’s what makes a survey much more powerful to some degree than anecdotal one-offs by people who have the time to jump on these cools and may have the loudest voices.”Allie Pesch said the master plan update was revision and not a rewrite. She said an analysis of the update should look at whether existing goals are being met.“We’ve wanted to increase affordable housing for a while and the solution seemed to be just to increase density and not really look at how that has or hasn’t worked in the existing plan,” Pesch said. Marc McKenney is in his first term on the CAC and he said many are concerned that Albemarle has not made the investments to support that density. “There’s been massive growth in Crozet in the past two decades,” McKenney said. “Population went from 2,200 in 2000, to 5,500 in 2010, to 9,500 or 9,200 a decade later. (TRIM) If we cannot show citizens what’s actually been delivered from an infrastructure perspective, I guarantee you there will be a complete loss in faith by citizens to the county that they have their best interest in providing sidewalks, and road repairs, and bridges.”Some of the current projects in the planning process are:$1.5 million in improvement to the Square anticipated to be completed in May 2023 (page 26 here), $21.25 million expansion of Crozet Elementary School expected to be completed in August 2022 (page 28 here)Sidewalk improvements on U.S. 250 West from Cory Farms to Cloverlawn (page 44)A revenue-sharing application was submitted to the Virginia Department of Transportation on October 1 to complete Eastern Avenue across Lickinghole Creek to Cory Farms Road (Albemarle transportation priority #8)Improvements at Crozet Avenue and U.S. 250 West are being considered for Smart Scale recommendations in 2022 (Albemarle transportation priority #21) The adoption of the Crozet Master Plan happened just before the first phase of the county’s Comprehensive Plan review got underway. A public kickoff meeting will take place in January. Supervisor Mallek urged members of the CAC to become engaged in that process to ensure that Crozet’s voice can be heard.“While people may feel discouraged about particular outcomes in our process, we all need to be keeping our eyes on this other prize going forward because from natural resource planning to historic preservation to climate change to all slews of things, that is the core book that the Board and the staff refer to and this is our chance to make sure that our local words are maintained,” Mallek said. One of the items to be discussed during the Comp Plan review will be the county’s growth management policy. Thanks to Ting for their support in helping this program be produced each day. Today the newsletter ends with a limerick from friend of the show Bekah Saxon honoring Ting for their commitment to match your initial payment to a paid Substack subscription!There once was a reporter named SeanWho needed a check to go onWith money from TingHe could make his words singAnd keep Charlottesville moving alongSpecial 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 Mall This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

covid-19 university california health house west zoom food board lgbtq missing code court supreme court republicans adoption adams cdc founded square meetings human rights pfizer substack transportation centers moderna population map monaco charlottesville disease control debrief irvine improvements chief medical officers master plan nominees ting general assembly drug administration sidewalks supervisors cac mcfadden cpd voting rights act virginians menard fourteenth amendment realclearpolitics planning commission virginia department albemarle sean p comprehensive plan equal protection clause mckenney daily progress ccac pesch crozet west main street brian day economic development department virginia supreme court virginia health system uva health virginia division freea updatethe legal aid justice center legislative services sifri eastern avenue lickinghole creek blue ridge health district

6PM News for 25 October 2021

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2021 9:44

A Little Cayman resident tests positive for Covid 19 while in Grand Cayman. 27 cases a day of Covid over the weekend. Police investigate an indecent assault report early this morning on Eastern Avenue. #rcnews #radiocayman #caymanislands --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rcnews/message

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7@7 AM October 1, 2021

7@7

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2021 466:10

Rep. Dina Titus proposes a bump stock ban as Nevada marks the anniversary of the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting, officials say a man died after jumping from the Strat, drivers can expect delays on Eastern Avenue and more on 7@7 from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

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9/11 - 20th Anniversary Memorial Tribute to Flight 175

Healing Quest

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2021 10:07

September 11, 2021 at 9:02.59 am PDT, Captain Saracini and Flight 175 crew and passengers will be recognized with a 20 year memorial tribute. Location: Arden Little League Baseball Field - 1100 Eastern Avenue, Sacramento 95864 Time: Arrive early for a tribute that will begin at 9:02 am PDT

september 11th tribute flight memorial 20th anniversary pdt eastern avenue

George & Gus, Then & Now

Out of the Blocks

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2021 22:05

We first met Gus Zissimos & George Anagnostou on the 4700 block of Eastern Avenue back in 2015. This episode, we reunite with George & Gus, we listen back together to their original recordings, and we ask them, “How's life changed in the past six years?”

eastern avenue

June 21, 2021: Updates on Crozet Master Plan, future Crozet plaza; C3 hands out Better Business Challenge awards

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 21, 2021 22:34

In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out: Help support black-owned business in the Charlottesville area. Check out the Charlottesville Black Business Directory at cvilleblackbiz.com and choose between a variety of goods and services, ranging from beauty supplies, professional services, and e-commerce. Visit cvilleblackbiz.com as soon as you can to get started. On today’s show:The Crozet Community Advisory Committee weighs in on the master plan update The Downtown Crozet Initiative unveils its vision for a public plazaThe Community Climate Collaborative unveils the winners of its Better Business ChallengeToday’s show focuses on Crozet in western Albemarle County. Crozet is not a town, but it is a designated growth area under the county’s growth management policy. But it is a place with traditions. Here’s an announcement made at the June 9, 2021 meeting of the Crozet Community Advisory Committee about an event coming up on Saturday, July 3. “I’m Tim Tolson, president of the Crozet Community Association, and along with other civic groups in Crozet we’re hosting the annual Crozet Independence Day celebration parade at 5:00 p.m. as part of the Crozet Volunteer Fire Department that ends at the Crozet Park where the celebration will take part, take place. We’ll have fireworks around 9:30 or quarter to 10 when it gets dark.” The Crozet Community Association is seeking donations to cover the cost of the fireworks. Visit their website to learn more. The Albemarle Planning Commission will take up the Crozet Master Plan at a work session on Tuesday, June 22. At the June 9 CAC meeting, committee members and participating residents got a presentation on the implementation of projects intended to bolster Crozet’s urban character. They also had the chance to comment on the plan update to date. But first, the implementation projects. The master plan is a large overview of the entire area, and further studies are suggested. The draft implementation chapter shows a list of ten potential topics ranging from a Downtown Neighborhood Architectural and Cultural Study to a stream health study for Parrot Branch, a local waterway. Initial feedback has already been submitted and planner Tori Kanellopoulos gave the rundown for how planning projects scored.“The top ranked projects were the Crozet Avenue Shared-Use Path feasibility study, the Three Notch’d Trail feasibility study, and the Route 250 West design guidelines,” Kanellopoulos said. “And then the policy projects were also ranked and the top priority was updating residential zoning designations to allow for more preservation of natural resources.”Potential capital projects were also ranked. Kanellopoulos said the highest ranking projects are the completion of Eastern Avenue, downtown Crozet intersection improvements, and sidewalk connections. Let’s hear more about that Three Notch’d Trail.“Lately there’s been a lot more focus and attention on the potential Three Notch’d Trail which would ideally connect from the Blue Ridge Tunnel along Crozet and over to Charlottesville,” Kanellopoulos said. “A feasibility study would look at this alignment and there are opportunities to partner with [the Virginia Department of Transportation] and the Planning District Commission and trails groups to look at the feasibility study for the alignment.” Supervisor Ann Mallek said later in the meeting that VDOT planning may not have staff to conduct that feasibility study this year, but community work can be done now to prepare for that work possibly in 2022. “And the other blessing that goes along with that is 2022 is when [Virginia] is going to take over the rail access right of way from CSX and therefore that increases greatly the possibility that we will be able to have a trail beside the rail,” Mallek said. Another “catalyst” project now in the implementation chapter is Western Park, which has long been called for in the plan and for which the county received 36 acres in 2010 as part of the Old Trail rezoning. A master plan for that project was created in 2018 that identified three phases. The first is recommended for funding, a decision which would be made by the entire Board of Supervisors during the budget process.“This phase one would include the access road with parking, a playground, and additional support of infrastructure and utilities,” Kanellopoulos said.Committee member Sandy Hausman noted the rankings were based on responses from fewer than a hundred people. “I wonder if anybody feels like this there needs to be a bit more outreach, like a mass mailing to everyone who lives in Crozet,” Hausman said. “It just feels to me that this is a relatively small group of people who tend to be paying attention to this stuff and everybody else will be unpleasantly surprised in a year or two when things start happening.”Committee member Joe Fore said he wanted to see all three phases of Western Park listed as catalyst projects, meaning they would be prioritized first.“I think just given the fact that it’s been in the works for so long, that the phases of at least getting started, the land is already there,” Fore said. “I understand it's expensive but it’s not an Eastern Avenue or Lickinghole Creek bridge expensive.” Fore also said he would support the creation of a special taxation district to help pay for new infrastructure. The Albemarle Board of Supervisors has previously been briefed on how service districts or a “business improvement district” could be levied in certain areas to fund amenities. “I looked through currently, and this may be a comment for the full draft, there’s only one mention of service districts in the entire draft and that’s in reference to funding ongoing activities and services at the plaza and downtown,” Fore said. “But I would like to see maybe a little bit more and maybe a full suggestion saying maybe this is something we should explore in Crozet to fund some of these capital projects so we’re not constantly having these be projects are ten years out.” The Board of Supervisors last had a formal presentation on service districts at their meeting on December 7, 2016. (presentation) (story)Fore has looked up the section of Virginia code that allows for the creation of such districts.“It’s a pretty broad statute as I read it,” Fore said. “Things like sidewalks, roads, programming, cultural events, economic development, beautification and landscaping. It’s a very broad statute. It seems to me you could raise money for most of the kinds of projects that we’re looking at. When we look at the list of priorities and say, yikes! Where are we going to get all the money for this? Well, rather than say let’s raise taxes on everybody in the county, you might be able to say let’s raise funds specifically from Crozet that would stay in Crozet for some of these projects we want to see in Crozet.”CAC member David Mitchell is skeptical of the idea and said it would lead to Crozet receiving fewer direct funds from the county.“Over time we will start to be looked at by the other Supervisors as ‘they have their own money, they can do their own thing’ and you’re going to slowly over time lose your share of the general fund,” Mitchell said. Supervisor Mallek agreed.“I would really discourage our citizenry from burdening themselves because I think David is right,” Mallek said. “We need to go to toe to toe, to say, this is a need that’s been on the books.”Mallek singled out the Eastern Avenue connector road that will provide north-south travel. A major obstacle is the cost of a bridge required to cross Lickinghole Creek. “We have made all of these zoning changes prior to 2007 that were counting on that bridge and we absolutely have a moral obligation to build it,” Mallek said. Eastern Avenue is ranked #8 on the county’s transportation priority list and there was an update in May. There’s not yet a full cost estimate on what it will cost, but engineering work is underway. “This project is currently being evaluated through an alignment study and conceptual design which is funded through the Transportation Leveraging Fund in the [Capital Improvement Program],” reads the update. “The alignment report was presented to the Board in January and the preferred alignment was selected. This project is being considered for a Revenue Sharing Grant application.”Allie Pesch, the chair of the CAC, said she wanted Eastern Avenue to be the top implementation priority.“I like seeing Eastern Avenue at the top of that list,” Pesch said. “That is a priority for everyone in our area and just so overdue.”After this discussion of implementation, county planner Rachel Falkenstein turned the conversation to the working draft of the master plan. The draft that will be reviewed by the Planning Commission at their work session on Tuesday incorporates feedback from the June 9 CAC meeting. (download the draft) “We still have a couple of steps to go before we get to our public hearings and we’ll continue to accept feedback and make revisions to the chapters and to the content,” Falkenstein said. A work session with the Board of Supervisors will take place in August. (Watch the CAC meeting on YouTube)You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement. On June 22 at 7 p.m., the Jefferson Madison Regional Library and the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society gives a glimpse into the cemeteries at Pen Park in Charlottesville. Tucked behind the Meadowcreek clubhouse are three, enclosed, family cemeteries, with the oldest dating back to the Colonial era. Outside the enclosures of the family plots, the city has confirmed the presence of 40 or more unmarked graves, all likely those of people enslaved at Pen Park. Join us as a panel of three professionals discuss what led to the examination of this site, the process of the investigation, and the efforts to identify and commemorate those buried there. Register on the JMRL website. A few days after the CAC meeting, the Downtown Crozet Initiative held a public meeting to talk about a 30,000 square foot plaza intended to be located at the former Barnes Lumberyard. The plaza would anchor a mixed-use building and a hotel through a public-private partnership. The idea involves construction of a connector road using revenue-sharing funds from VDOT. That process requires a local match. Frank Stoner is a principal at Milestone Partners which seeks to redevelop the space. They’re putting up $2 million to serve as that match. “This project started in 2014,” Stoner said. “We developed this road plan in 2016, 2017. Most of the design elements of the road have been resolved. We felt strongly and I think the community felt strongly and the county felt strongly that the streets had to be appropriate for the small town that is Crozet and not be a highway through the middle of downtown which is kind of where VDOT wanted to go with it.” Albemarle County has contributed $1.6 million in cash to the project, and will provide another $1.6 million in rebates through a process known as tax increment financing. (read the June 2019 performance agreement)Stoner said the idea is to build an urban plaza, not a park. “And most importantly we wanted this plaza to be the heart not just of the neighborhood but the Crozet community,” Stoner said. Credit: Downtown Crozet InitiativeVDOT is contributing $2.5 million and the Downtown Crozet Initiative is seeking to raise over a million in private funds. “Which will be used to fund essentially the furniture, fixtures and equipment, sculpture, artwork, seating, all of that kind of stuff that goes in the plaza,” Stoner said. The designs aren’t close to final yet, but Stoner wanted to get feedback from the community. There are also no identified tenants for any of the spaces yet. “We haven’t really been in the position to take commitments because there have been so many unknowns because of the VDOT plans and then we had some stormwater issues we had to work through and so it has just been one obstacle after another,” Stoner said. Stoner said if all goes according to plan, construction could get underway next year. To Stoner, success means making sure it’s a place to expand what already makes Crozet Crozet.“If we can’t create a place that’s affordable for local businesses, then we’re not going to succeed,” Stoner said. In April 2020, the firm Downtown Strategies unveiled their report on a Downtown Strategic Vision for Crozet. Stoner suggested interested parties might take a look. (take a look)Nearby there is a separate VDOT project to rebuild the existing Square to add sidewalks and address ongoing stormwater issues. (watch the June 14 presentation)Finally today, last week the Community Climate Collaborative handed out the latest awards in its Better Business Challenge. Around 75 local businesses took part in an effort to reduce energy and water use. Two groups were Momentum Medalists for their work to investigate energy-use and to make changes to lighting. The Legal Aid Justice Center came up with a plan to replace their heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at their headquarters and a plan to replace internal lighting. Loaves and Fishes, a food pantry on Lambs Road, looked at increasing energy efficiency and began plans to install solar in the future. Jane Colony Mills accepted the award. “We also kind of did this last year because we were adding two additional walk-in refrigerators, and we knew that they were going to add to our energy burn, so we wanted to reduce what we were burning in the warehouse,” Colony Mills said. The Iron Pillar award was granted “for perseverance through uncertain times” and went to the upscale resale boutique Twice as Nice. Sara Guerre is the assistant manager. “The pandemic caused a lot of disruption but we took that opportunity to use the time to focus on as doing as many actions as we could no matter how small,” Guerre said. “And all of those little actions add up.” The Changemaker Award went to an entity for “the strategic pursuit of an action with long-term impact.” Steve Haske teaches Studio Art at the Renaissance School, and also handles Facilities and Information Technology. The student Earth Club wanted changes. “We put all new windows in this very old building here in downtown Charlottesville,” Haske said. “At the pushing of a lot of the students about being cleaner and more efficient, especially in winter time, getting the windows updated so they could open and close and actually seal.”The Schools Champion award went to the Blue Ridge School, a boarding school in Greene County. Cory Woods is the Director of Natural Resources and assistant director of outdoor education. “The Challenge provided us the opportunity to showcase some projects that were already underway like new LED lights and energy efficient windows in our dormitories and motivated us to explore some new opportunities,” Woods said. One of those ideas was a composting program to reduce material that ends up in a landfill. Six entities wound up as the Better Business Champions for scoring the most points in efforts to increase efficiency. In one of two Small Business awards, the Center at Belvedere was one of the winners. Scott Hilles is the director of finance and operations at the Center. “The Center at Belvedere has created a brand new building and it has allowed us to provide a beautiful setting that promotes healthy living in its programs,” Hilles said. For the new building, the Center entered into a purchase agreement with Sun Tribe Solar and have over 400 panels at the new location. “That agreement has allowed us to provide 50 percent of our energy needs through the panels,” Hilles said. “It also allows us to mitigate risk by planning our costs pertaining to energy.”For the other Small Business champion, Scivera transitioned entirely to a home-office based workplace during the pandemic, a move that will continue in 2021. “We normally set up our office in Vault Virginia on the Downtown Mall but because of the pandemic we all had to like so many people scatter to our own home offices and get things going and it ended up working really well,” said Joseph Rinkevich. Rinkevich said only a third of the company’s employees are based in Charlottesville, and going forward there could be less travel for regular internal meetings. One of the medium-sized business awards went to ReadyKids for their work to install low-flow toilets and to begin the process of planning for a solar installation. Ashley Branch is an administrative specialist.“We are very proud and have seen a tremendous saving from our action of doing work on the toilets and now we’re not wasting water, and it has shown profoundly in our water bill each month after we have made those changes,” Branch said. SunTribe Solar was the other medium-sized business champion created an internal sustainability team and had its employees participate with C3’s Home Energy Challenge. Here’s their marketing manager, Summer Rain Ursomarso. “First, we’re trying to help our team be empowered to be more sustainable so that means putting tools in place and providing enough resources to be more sustainable in their day to day actions,” Ursomarso said. “But it also means educating them to take that sustainability and those initiatives home so they can help their friends and family and community be more sustainable.”On to the large entity champion. One of these awards goes to the City of Charlottesville. Kirk Vizzier is the energy management coordinator in the Public Works Department. “Sustainability is something that the city has been very interested in coordinating what we do,” Vizzier said. “We have obviously a lot of municipal operations and services that we want and there are a lot of opportunities to improve those and embed sustainability in the way we do business.” The city created an engagement program for employees called WE to reduce water and energy use. They’re also working on setting up an energy saving performance contract to help speed up the implementation of energy-efficiency measures in city buildings. Finally, Sigora Solar received the other large business award for their plan to convert their fleet of vehicles to either electric or hybrid. Sarah Nerette is the company’s Director of Energy Efficiency and Sustainability. “We’re actually going to be transitioning some of the sedans in our fleet to hybrid and electric vehicles,” Nerette said. “This is going to help make our fleet overall more efficient and more green in general.”For more on the initiative, look up all the award winners at C3’s website.At the DCI meeting, no members of the CAC were on the call because it was not an official meeting. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

director west board hands awards sustainability register small business trail led square route committee transportation initial facilities branch charlottesville plaza colonial information technology master plan guerre natural resources stoner fore supervisors cac fishes better business loaves energy efficiency nearby cultural studies tucked belvedere david mitchell planning commission studio art virginia department dci greene county hausman csx business challenge falkenstein public works department vdot pesch crozet albemarle county renaissance school legal aid justice center blue ridge school eastern avenue downtown mall lickinghole creek jefferson madison regional library frank stoner charlottesville community engagement

May 29, 2021: Council reaffirms pause in planning for 300-space garage; Albemarle transportation updates

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2021 24:21

In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out: Help support black-owned business in the Charlottesville area. Check out the Charlottesville Black Business Directory at cvilleblackbiz.com and choose between a variety of goods and services, ranging from beauty supplies, professional services, and e-commerce. Visit cvilleblackbiz.com as soon as you can to get started. On today’s show:Charlottesville officials press City Council for $7 million now for 7th Street Parking garage, but Council directs staff to take a pause on planningAlbemarle supervisors get an update on transportation projectsAn update from the University of Virginia Health System on the ongoing pandemic. As of midnight Friday, all COVID-19 restrictions in Virginia are lifted, more than two weeks before Governor Northam had originally announced that community health metrics were low enough to drop all of the rules that have been with us for months to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. But the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System said no one should consider the pandemic over.“COVID has not gone away completely,’” said Dr. Costi Sifri. “It is reduced. It is at some of the best levels we’ve seen in more than a year. But it’s still the case that we have patients being admitted at our hospital with COVID, that there is COVID being transmitted in the community. And we really cannot predict what will happen in a week or a month or three months.”Today the Virginia Department of Health reports a seven-day average for new cases of 339. As of this morning, 44 percent of Virginians are fully vaccinated. Dr. Sifri said the restrictions can be lifted in part because of the trends. “Vaccines are highly, highly effective,” Dr. Sifri said. “If you’re not vaccinated, nothing really changes. You should still be practicing the same precautions that you’ve been practicing.”Many in the community may not feel comfortable with making the change back to a non-restricted world where masks are not required. “In those situations I think it is understandable that people still want to wear a mask and we need to make sure that we with grace say that they can wear masks and feel comfortable doing that without judgement,” Dr. Sifri said. Dr. Sifri stressed that the pandemic is not over. “Please don’t go out and buy the book that talks about the history of the pandemic because its a story that is still being written,” Dr. Sifri said. “Only about four or five percent of the world’s population is vaccinated at this point so I think there’s a lot that will occur in the future. The virus isn’t done with us yet.” Source: Virginia Department of HealthMemorial Day Weekend is the traditional opening of outdoor pools and swimming areas. That’s that’s certainly the case in Charlottesville, where Washington Park is scheduled to open today as well as the spray grounds at Belmont Park, Greenleaf Park, and Tonsler Park. The Forest Hills spray park will open in June due to mechanical errors. However, today’s rain puts a damper on all of that. Onesty Pool will remain closed due to staffing issues. However, swimming lakes run by Albemarle County will open later than usual. The season at Chris Greene Lake, Mint Springs, and Walnut Creek will begin on June 17. Albemarle County swimming lakes will open on June 17 (Credit: Albemarle County)At the height of the Great Recession earlier this century, Albemarle County froze many positions and slowed contributions to its capital improvement program. One job that was not filled for many years was transportation planning, but for the past few years, Albemarle has put together an organized list of potential projects to address road capacity issues as well as bike and pedestrian connections. In July 2019, they adopted a priority list ranging from Hydraulic/29 Improvements at #1 to U.S. 250 West / Gillums Ridge Road Intersection Improvements at #89. “That list provided all capital transportation projects that are recommended through the various county planning processes,” said Kevin McDermott , a chief of planning in Albemarle, in a May 19 to the Board of Supervisors. (review the update)The list is intended to help planners identify funding sources for projects, such as the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale program as well as the county’s own capital improvement program. “We have gotten 12 projects from that 2019 project list funded,” McDermott said. Hydraulic 29 / Improvements, including a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 29 and a roundabout at Hillsdale and Hydraulic, are slated to be funded at $24 million by Commonwealth Transportation Board in June (#1)U.S. Route 250 improvements to add median between Route 20 and Rolkin Road to receive $6 million in Smart Scale funding using $2 million in local funds (#2)Route 20 / U.S. 250 intersection will be rebuilt using funding from 2018 Smart Scale round sometime in 2024 (#3)Berkmar Drive will be extended further north to Lewis and Clark Drive, providing a continuous roadway to UVA North Fork Research Park. Funding came from VDOT’s revenue sharing program.Further changes to Fontaine Avenue / U.S. 29 intersection including a shared-use path (#6)A roundabout will be built at Old Lynchburg Road and 5th Street Extended with $5 million in VDOT funds and $2 million in Albemarle funds (#7)A roundabout at Rio Road and the John Warner Parkway is recommended for $8 million funding in the current Smart Scale process and $2 million in Albemarle funds will be used (#15)Bike and pedestrian improvements will be made on Old Lynchburg Road using Albemarle funds (#26)A section of the Northtown Trail shared-use path will be built between Seminole Lane North and Carrsbrook Drive at a cost of $4 million (#35)A greenway trail on Moores Creek and a trail hub at 5th Street Station will receive Smart Scale funds and has a total cost of $10 million (#40)A park and ride lot will be constructed near Exit 107 and Crozet Park to serve Jaunt and the future Afton Express at a cost of $3 million (#82)This map depicts location of projects that have received funding since 2019 (Credit: Albemarle County)McDermott’s purpose for appearing before the supervisors was to get their preliminary support for the next round of transportation projects. At the top of a short list for this year’s cycle of VDOT revenue-sharing funds is the completion Eastern Avenue, a north-south roadway designed to increase connectivity and traffic circulation throughout Crozet. “That project is currently being evaluated through an alignment study and conceptual design which the county has funded through our transportation leveraging project,” McDermott said. “We have just recently received the updated cost estimates from that consultant we have hired and their preliminary cost estimates are now at $19,983,000.” That would require at least a $10 million match from county funds. However, if approved the state funding would not be available until 2027. Another project on the list for potential revenue-sharing projects is one to build bike and pedestrian improvements on Mill Creek Drive to Peregory Lane, a top priority in a recent corridor study. That has a cost estimate of $2 million. Applications for revenue-sharing projects are due this year. Next year Smart Scale projects will be due. Potential applications to be made next year include a roundabout at District Avenue and Hydraulic Road, a realignment of Hillsdale Drive, and a roundabout at the intersection of Belvedere Boulevard and Rio Road. There’s plenty of time to get involved with these applications. Keep reading and stay tuned.You’re reading to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In this subscriber supported public service announcement, over the course of the pandemic, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society has provided hours and hours of interviews, presentations, and discussions about interpretations and recollections of the past. All of this is available for you to watch, for free, on the Historical Society’s YouTube Channel. There’s even an appearance by me, talking about my work on cvillepedia! On Tuesday, May 25, City Council held a work session on two items related to transportation, though there was little in the materials presented to suggest the two are linked. The second item was on route changes for Charlottesville Area Transit, and we’ll come back to that in the next installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Would Council give staff permission to continue planning work on a proposed 300-space parking garage at the corner of East Market and 9th Street for which 90 spaces would be reserved for Albemarle County for their courts system. That’s codified in a December 2018 agreement between the two jurisdictions. (download the agreement) (staff report)Here’s City Manager Chip Boyles.“A previous Council had approved for the city to pursue building a parking structure as part of the MOA on the site of 7th Street and Market,” Boyles said. “We’ve been working on that and we’re here to discuss with you both that option as well as other options that perhaps meet more current needs and demands of the city and Council’s vision.”Staff has been working off of a resolution adopted by Council in December 2019 to proceed with the plan, including the allocation of $1.28 million from a capital contingency account to cover the county’s share of the surface lot the two jurisdictions purchased in 2005 to support an eventual court expansion. (minutes from December 6, 2019 City Council meeting)Charlottesville is now the sole owner of this surface lot which city staff have been planning to use to build a 300-unit parking structure with ground floor retail. (Source: City of Charlottesville)Alternatives in the MOA include selling that lot back to Albemarle, or providing 100 spaces in the Market Street Parking Garage. The deadline to provide any of these is November 30, 2023. The city currently has a shortlist of three firms who would both design and build the structure. “Those three are slightly on pause right now while we get through this meeting,” said Scott Hendrix, senior project manager for Charlottesville. Each of the firms has submitted a request for qualifications at their own expense, and Hendrix said clarity from Council was needed. During development of the fiscal year 2022 budget, Council reduced the amount requested by staff from $8 million to $1 million, delaying the balance to FY2023. That would delay the project meaning it would not be complete in time for the November 2023 deadline. Chris Engel, the city’s Economic Development Director, presented Council with a couple of alternatives to Council, both of which involve selling a share back to the surface lot back to Albemarle and only using the land paid $2.85 million for in January 2017. There are two commercial buildings on that lot whose tenants pay rent to Charlottesville. Option 1B would be to build a smaller structure on the land with between 150 and 200 spaces, and Option 1C would be to just use the land for surface parking. A matrix of options presented by city staff to Council at the May 25, 2021 work session. Engel said one of the city’s goals has been to continue to provide enough parking for visitors traveling downtown for either business or entertainment. For instance, he said 50 spaces under the Belmont Bridge will be lost after it is replaced. Engel said Council will have to consider the future of the Market Street Parking garage, which he said is 46 years old. “It’s about to have a structural reassessment as it does every five or seven years,” Engel said. “It’s probably in the city’s best interest to start thinking about what a plan for replacement looks like. Obviously having another facility nearby would help alleviate that when and if the day comes.”The Market Street Parking Garage (Source: City of Charlottesville GIS)The city owns the Market Street structure outright, whereas the Charlottesville Parking Center owns the Water Street Parking Garage. The city manages that structure, but leases the space to CPC. The two were involved in a series of lawsuits within the last decade. Albemarle County currently participates in the validation system for the two garages.The most recently available official study of parking in Charlottesville is from 2015 when the firm Nelson Nygaard was hired to conduct a study of downtown parking. One recommendation was to create something called a Transportation Demand Management Plan. More specifically the idea was to create a “Transportation Management Association.” (read the study)“A TMA can help to disseminate information about alternative commuting options, run events and campaigns to encourage workers to try alternate commutes, and develop tailored programs for both employers and employees that meet their needs,” reads page 68 of the study. An inventory of parking included within the 2015 Nelson Nygaard studyCouncilor Michael Payne asked if a TDM program had been examined while plans for the proposed garage were penciled up.“As a way to handle supposed parking demand issue throughout downtown throughout that strategy as opposed to purely meeting it through building new parking spaces or maximizing the amount of new parking spaces being built,” Payne said. The Nelson Nygaard also suggested creating a parking department in city government. Rick Siebert was hired in 2017 to implement the Parking Action Plan and as well as a six-month pilot for on-street parking meters. He said TDM is not a magic solution.“It is generally a very long-term solution and it requires a lot of comprehensive cooperation,” Siebert said. “If a lot of the people who work and visit downtown come from in the county or neighboring counties, then we need to work with those counties in working out mass transit options that are more attractive than driving your car or we have to work out park and ride lots that somehow are more attractive than driving to the Water Street or Market Street garages.” A possible venue for that discussion would be the Regional Transit Partnership or the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization. As we’ll hear more tomorrow, Charlottesville Area Transit is looking to build park and ride lots. Several members of the Parking Advisory Panel spoke. That group is divided. Joan Fenton wants more parking spaces downtown. “If you look at the number of parking spots that have been lost downtown and will continue to be lost downtown, this is a neutral amount of parking spaces that are going to be added,” Fenton said. However, Jamelle Bouie took an opposing view. “When thinking about the necessity for additional parking, we really should be focused on whether or not there has been any demonstrated need for it,” Bouie said. “In the data the city collects and the 2015 parking study, both strongly suggest that with better parking management, there’s all the parking we need downtown. There’s no need for an additional structure.”During their discussion, Mayor Nikuyah Walker said she did not think the full garage was necessary to meet the terms of the agreement. She suggested collecting new data post COVID to demonstrate how many people will no longer travel downtown to work. “What is staff considering in terms of work from home and is there a possibility that to decrease the demand on parking, that that becomes part of our plan,” Walker said.Walker pointed out that the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission already has a RideShare program in place for commuters. She also added that programs are in motion to reduce the number of people who go through the criminal justice system. “If the city and county makes a commitment to keep their citizens out of the courtroom when it is possible, then that should also limit the impact on parking,” Walker said. “But I still think to cancel the project and not honor our parking needs with the county should not be an option.”City Councilor Michael Payne said he felt the city could honor the agreement without building the garage, especially at a time when there are additional pressures on the Capital Improvement Program. He also wanted more data collected. “You know we hear a lot about perceptions but I haven’t seen a lot of data to back up that there is a severe parking shortage,” Payne said. Payne’s option would be to go with Option C combined with some form of transportation demand management. Councilor Lloyd Snook spends a lot of time downtown as an attorney. Before COVID, he supported a new garage downtown to address long-term parking inventory. This spring, though, he supported delaying the $7 million in the budget to get new information on parking capacity with buildings like CODE, Apex Clean Energy, and the 3-Twenty-3 Building on 4th Street SE. “You could reasonably expect to have something like a thousand more people coming to work in those buildings and apparently only about 500 parking spaces were being provided,” Snook said. “We can see that pre-COVID we were heading for a real problem with those places coming online. I decided a couple of months however that the changes from COVID were likely number one were significant right now, number two were likely to continue for at least a year or two or perhaps longer.” Snook said the pause also comes at a time when the capital budget is under a crunch. He also said the 300-space garage may not be in the city’s long-term interests. He said he thought the city should take time to develop the garage with other uses on the same site. “That particular spot, that particular lot, and that particular design don’t do very much for the way that I think that we want to be developing the city,” Snook said. “I’ve said before if we built that structure, we would probably look back ten years later and say ‘what we were thinking when we built only that parking garage?”Councilor Heather Hill said she understood the concerns of her colleagues, but thought a garage would be needed sooner rather than later. “The loss of the parking spaces is going to be real, especially for city employees and we have to figure out within the organization how we are going to accommodate our own employees and I think that’s going to have to be some creative thinking around how do we get our own employees into the downtown area without providing them with parking immediately adjacent to City Hall,” Hill said.Perhaps a transportation demand management plan would be in order? The Lucky 7 on Market Street would be demolished under all of the options suggested by city staff. (Source: Charlottesville GIS)At the end of this event, Boyles said he heard direction to negotiate with Albemarle County on what new options they might be interested in to meet the needs of the agreement. “The second thing if I’m hearing correctly is that we should cease the movement toward the 200 to 300 spot garage and pursue the option 1C with the surface parking so that is going along the same time frame as we’re discussing and presenting options to Albemarle County,” Boyles said. Boyles said he will need a resolution to confirm that direction. That will happen at the June 7 meeting. The surface lot would require demolition of the Lucky 7 and the Guadalajara. The city purchased the lot for $2.85 million in January 2017. With 38 spaces proposed, that’s $75,000 a space, before the costs of demolition are factored in. In the next installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, we’ll hear about upcoming changes in coming up for Charlottesville Area Transit. Thank you for reading. Please consider a contribution through Patreon to support general research or pay for a subscription through Substack. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

6 PM News for 27 July 2020

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2020 15:37

The Premier and Opposition Leader agree on one thing - the Domestic Partnership Bill is a "contentious issue." The debate gets underway in the Legislative Assembly. Today's Covid 19 test results are all negative. Police are investigating a fight involving a large group of people just before 2 am at Dolphin Plaza on Eastern Avenue, George Town. #radiocaymannews #caymanislandsnews #radiocaymanchoice --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rcnews/message

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123-All About Columbia-Tusculum

The Cincy Shirts Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2020 38:44

MaryBeth Wilker owns Wilker Design right on Riverside Drive a.k.a Eastern Avenue in Columbia-Tusculum. She's also a member of the 3 East Business Association and talks to us about the communities that make up that group: Columbia-Tusculum, Linwood, and the East End. MaryBeth gives us a little history of the area, talks about some of the exciting places therein, and previews this fall's Home-O-Rama. Be sure to listen for the special promo code for 20% off near the end of the episode. Support the show my donating via PayPal or Venmo: podcast@cincyshirts.com Find great Cincinnati vintage T-shirts, including defunct teams, stores, and more. We also have apparel for Fiona the Hippo, FC Cincinnati, and baseball. Also, check out all our fundraising T-shirts. We're helping our zoo, local hospitals, local restaurants and more during the COVID-19 crisis. Get social with us: Facebook: Cincy Shirts Official Facebook Page Twitter: Cincy Shirts Official Twitter Page Instagram: @CincyShirts Snapchat: @CincyShirts The Cincy Shirts Podcast theme is “Cincinnati” by Big Nothing who are actually from Philadelphia.

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George Moore - Free Lunch COVID - 19 April 18

Connect FM Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 17, 2020 5:32

The First Baptist Church, Sysco, and the Gateway Café in DuBois are proud to team up and serve more than 400 free bagged lunches this Saturday! These lunches are for anyone who wants one and include a delicious slow-roasted turkey and cheddar cheese sandwich on a brioche bun, a bag of potato chip, chocolate chip cookies, and a bottle of water. To get a lunch, please come to the parking lot of the First Baptist Church on Eastern Avenue (off of Maple Avenue, behind the Gateway Cafe) starting at 11:30 a.m. this Saturday and continuing while supplies last. Volunteers will be directing cars to the pickup area, and social distancing precautions will be practiced. Recipients will not have to leave their vehicles. They hope it puts a smile on your face! Listen to the full interview with the Gateway Cafe owner, George Moore.

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Haussner's (02-07-20)

Impact Real Estate Investing

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2020 2:30

On the afternoon of December 18, 1999, watched anxiously in auctioneering house in Timonium, as the auctioneer rattled off the artifacts for sale from the once and famous and now defunct Haussner's restaurant - weeks earlier a reigning queen at Eastern Avenue and Conkling streets. In the end the memories of thousands of lunches and dinners and of millions of dollars of artwork and 73 years of Baltimore times winds up in a ball of twine - on display in an antique shop on Fells Point.

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Greenfields Are Boring

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2019 31:44

BE SURE TO SEE THE SHOWNOTES AND LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE HERE. Eve Picker: Hey, everyone, this is Eve Picker. If you listen to this podcast series, you're going to learn how to make some change. Eve Picker: Hi there. Thanks so much for joining me today for the latest episode of Impact Real Estate Investing. My guest today is Adrian Washington. Adrian is the founder and CEO of Neighborhood Development Company, a Washington, D.C. real estate company focused on rebuilding vibrant communities through their work. Adrian fell in love with this type of development work and decided to make a career out of it, much to the good fortune of the neighborhood he works in. For Adrian, greenfields are boring. Nothing gives him greater pleasure than digging into a forgotten and neglected site and turning it into a neighborhood asset. I've had the good fortune of working with Adrian at Small Change, helping to raise funds for some of these projects. Eve Picker: Be sure to go to EvePicker.com to find out more about Adrian on the Shownotes page for this episode and be sure to sign up for my newsletter, so you can access information about impact real estate investing and get the latest news about the exciting projects on my crowdfunding platform, Small Change. Eve Picker: Good morning, Adrian. Thank you very much for joining me. Adrian Washington: Thank you, Eve. It's a pleasure to be here. Eve Picker: So you have a real estate company called Neighborhood Development Company, and we've been lucky enough at Small Change to help you raise funds for one of your projects. Your company is in Washington, D.C. I'm just wondering if you'd like to tell us how long you've had Neighborhood Development Company, or NDC, and have you lived in D.C. all of your life? Adrian Washington: I'm a native Washingtonian. I've lived here most of my life. I went away and went to school down in California; lived out there for a while; lived in Boston, but, essentially, I've been in D.C. all of my professional ... I grew up here, and I've lived here all my professional life. I've been involved in real estate, altogether now, going on over 30 years and formed Neighborhood Development Company a little over 20 years ago, back in 1999. Eve Picker: That's quite a stretch. NDC's mission, in your words, is to develop exciting residential and commercial properties that cultivate vibrant communities. What does it mean to you to cultivate vibrant communities? How does a developer do that? Adrian Washington: We've always operated in urban areas of primarily Washington, D.C. and really always neighborhoods that were emerging; that were maybe down and out at one time or were starting to turn around. What we found in these neighborhoods is that we don't look at them just from a brick-and-mortar perspective. We see the people that are living there now. They want their neighborhoods improved, but they don't want to be displaced. They want shops and things that serve them, but don't serve just outsiders. They welcome newcomers, but they want to feel those newcomers respect the place that [inaudible]. We see our role as balancing those things of making a neighborhood better for people who are living there, attracting new residents who want to be part of those communities, attracting businesses that want to be part of those communities, but not to displace people and not to alter the fundamental character. As developers, I think it takes like a real balancing act that we work with on a day-to-day basis. Eve Picker: I do think it is a real balancing act. How do you fend off displacement? Adrian Washington: We do it in, I guess, a number of ways that I think are unique in some developers in that we do both very high-end market-rate developments, but we also do affordable housing. We do affordable housing in a number of ways. We do it in traditional ways that more traditional developers do it, using government subsidy and the many programs involved. We also do it in more creative ways. For instance, we've worked in the past with failing cooperatives, where a group of tenants own their building collectively, and it's just not working out, either because of bad management, or whatever. We team with them to provide our services with them but do it in a way that allows them to stay in their homes. That's one way we do it. Adrian Washington: Another way we do it is we really, in our commercial work, really like to work with entrepreneurs. Your typical developer may want that credit tenant. They want that CVS, or that Walgreens, or someone national. We really- we don't go that way. We go in the opposite direction. For instance, in one of our developments, we have a salsa teacher, and she was doing lessons- it was a nice young couple. They were doing lessons out of their basement in the neighborhood. Adrian Washington: They were so successful, they wanted to have their first studio. They came to us, and we had a space in one of our buildings, so we worked with them on the design; we worked with them on getting government grants to help them build out. We helped them with the construction. We gave them a favorable lease that started out low, and it allowed them to develop the business. Adrian Washington: It was just a great neighborhood success story, where they stayed in the neighborhood. They had a service that appealed to both the newcomers and people who were in the neighborhood. They successfully grew their business. They're now opening a second location. I think it's really about creativity; using the skills we have as developers and businesspeople and connecting with people who have hopes and dreams - maybe not the same skills - and working out win-win solutions. Eve Picker: That's a really lovely story. Other developers might say that's taking a risk with a little startup business that you don't necessarily need to take. You could go get a credit tenant. So, why do you take that risk? Adrian Washington: Well, I think a couple of reasons. It is kind of, on paper, riskier. Although we see with all the changes in the retail economy, yeah, you could have some business like a Blockbuster - going back in time, when everyone thought it was really successful, and now it's out of business [cross talk] Eve Picker: Yeah, that's true. Adrian Washington: Or even something like a McDonald's, where everyone thought McDonald's used to be the gold standard. Even now, you see some of those stores shutting. There's not 'no risk' in a credit tenant, but I agree that there's more hand-holding; there's more involvement. You've got to pick your entrepreneurs carefully. You've got to help nurture them. Typically, they're people who are great enthusiasts about what they know - if it's salsa dancing or handmade pottery - but they don't know about marketing; they don't know about financing. You've got to work with them more. Adrian Washington: We just find that more rewarding. It's just fun. It's creative. We feel like we're helping people. We feel that we're seeing eye to eye, because even though we've been in business 20 years, we're still thinking of ourselves as an entrepreneur. The neighborhoods love it, so I think it makes us more popular in the neighborhoods. We've found that the success rate that we've had with these businesses is really pretty high and that the occasional failure that comes along, we just kind of build that into our pro forma. We've found that we were able to replace people who don't like it with other people. All in all, we just find it's more socially rewarding, it's financially fine, and it's just a lot more fun. Eve Picker: It adds to the economy of the neighborhood you're in, which is really lovely. Developers do lots of different sorts of things, and I'm wondering how you ended up here. How did you ...? There must have been a path that took you towards this type of development. Adrian Washington: Eve, I think it's like a lot of things in life. I don't know, maybe there are people who have these- design these great plans at age 12 and follow them through. I really didn't. I went to undergrad; I went and got an MBA. I worked for a national consulting firm, and I thought that was my path, but I really hated it. At the meantime, I had bought a house in an emerging neighborhood and fell in love with that culture. I think I was really ahead of my time. I saw the appeal of walkable, livable neighborhoods. I saw the appeal of eclectic neighborhoods that had different types of architecture, that had different types of people, different races, different income groups, that was close to urban centers. I just thought that was great. I loved being in that neighborhood. I loved the change that I saw was going on. I loved the physical aspect. Adrian Washington: Back when I was younger, I did everything. I did carpentry; I did plumbing [inaudible]. I just loved that whole environment. I think I was always an entrepreneur at heart ... I was going to a day job that I hated, and I had this hobby that I loved, so I said, "Well, why don't I see if I can turn this hobby into a business?" That was 30 years ago. It hasn't been a straight line. There were struggles; there were failures; there were just dumb-ass things that I did that didn't work out, but I always came back the next day and tried to do it better, and I'm really glad I did. Eve Picker: Be sure to go to EvePicker.com and sign up for my free educational newsletter about impact real estate investing. You'll be among the first to hear about new projects you can invest in. That's EvePicker.com. Thanks so much. Eve Picker: That's a great reason why. It's pretty wonderful to be able to be doing something that you really love and that adds to communities everywhere. So, I'm going to move on now to a project that I know you're working on, called 1100 Eastern Avenue, which is one of your latest projects. We're fortunate enough, at Small Change, that we're going to be helping you to raise a little money for this project. I wanted to talk a little bit about it. Can you just tell us a little about what the project is, how big it is, the uses, where it is? Adrian Washington: Well, sure, Eve. I'm really excited, and our whole team's excited about 1100 Eastern. It's really a project that embodies our beliefs, and uses all of our skill sets, and is just very exciting. It's a mixed-use projects. Ground floor is a retail component; not that large, about 4,000 square feet. I think one of the great things about it is that there were ... The site is sort of a rundown former- like a strip shopping center. A couple of the tenants there were folks that, frankly, the neighborhood was happy to see leave. It was a liquor store and an old carry-out. Not to knock those people, but they weren't really what the community wanted. Adrian Washington: There were a couple of tenants the community really did like. It was a barbershop that had been there for really a couple of generations. The current owner's father had founded it back 35 years ago. She was still running it, and it was really a neighborhood institution. Then there was a daycare center. One of the things that we're doing is allowing those people to come back to the new development in brand-new facilities. We're even able to offer them, starting out, kind of with our philosophy, at the same rents they were paying, which were far below market. It'll allow them to build up the market over a number of years, so we're very excited about that. Adrian Washington: Now, on the floors above it, there are five stories above it. These will contain 65 units of mixed-income housing. There's housing for very low-income people, who were formerly homeless, who will be able to get wraparound services to allow them to transition to a more normal life. Then there are other units that will be for people of moderate incomes; people anywhere from - these are technical terms - but from 40 percent to 65 percent of the area median income. These range from what we would call pretty subsidized housing to more workforce housing, so we'll have a range of people there. Adrian Washington: We're also very proud of what we're doing is that we're giving a really big mix of unit types. Typically, in any kind of new construction development, you're seeing just people were just building one- and two-bedrooms, or studios. What we're able to do in this building is to provide one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms, three-bedrooms, even a few four-bedroom apartments. It really will serve a number of different types of people in the neighborhood - seniors, people with families, people with kids. It's just a great project that will really help everyone in the neighborhood, so we're very proud and excited about it. Eve Picker: That sounds really, really wonderful. The four-bedroom units are so unusual nowadays, and extended families are important, so that's pretty great. I understand it's also an Opportunity Zone, which is, as we all know, a very hot topic right now. How will that impact the development? Adrian Washington: Opportunity Zones are exactly what you said, Eve; it's a very hot topic. People are still figuring it out. I think that, unfortunately, early on, a lot of the Opportunity Zone benefits are going to people who are creating projects that would have been created anyway. We're very proud that we feel this project will fit in what the Opportunity Zone true mission is, which is to bring capital to underserved neighborhoods - as I said, our commercial businesses, our neighborhood-serving businesses that were going to be displaced and that people in the community wanted to stay. Adrian Washington: What we're doing is we're using Opportunity Zone benefits to attract capital to help keep these businesses in. So, I think that's important. But, also, I think one of the key things I feel that Opportunity Zones is that the projects have to make sense, even if they weren't in Opportunity Zones. We are a business that prides itself on not just being do-gooders, but being solid businesspeople, so we've underwritten the project carefully. We understand the costs, and the risks, and all of the factors. We think this is a project that works, even if it wasn't in an Opportunity Zone. But we're very happy to allow people who are investors who want to get a good return on their money, but also to have a meaningful social impact, to have all that, plus the tax benefits of the Opportunity Zone. Eve Picker: For listeners who don't really understand Opportunity Zone funds, because they are very complicated ... Took me a long time to understand. The fund, in this case, is actually the project. It's just the entity that the project is using as a legal entity, the LLC, that will become a fund, right? If people invest- Adrian Washington: Yes, that's right. Eve Picker: It's a 100-percent Opportunity Zone fund because it's just a single-use fund, just one project. So, if people invest in it, they're investing actually into the project itself, not into a fund that then serves a whole series of projects. They can take a really close look at the underwriting and see if they like it. I would agree with you, at the moment, the Opportunity Zone fund benefits are kind of gravy. I have yet to see a project that is moving forward simply because of those benefits. They don't seem to be enough to make a project happen, right? Adrian Washington: Exactly. We've used that approach, not just in Opportunity Zones, but with our other investor- projects. What we found over the years is that people- they want to know what they're investing in, both from a business standpoint ... They want to kick the tires, see if they believe in the construction costs, and the neighborhood statistics, and the tenants that are being there. They want to understand that. They also want to understand the story behind it. What's going into the neighborhood? How will my investment benefit [inaudible] neighborhood? They really want to touch, and feel, and see that. We've had a lot of success over the years in doing that. This project really works in the same manner, where people can really learn about it, learn about us, learn about the neighborhood, learn about the businesses, and say, "Yeah, I want to put my money here. I believe in it as a financial investment. I also believe in it, in terms of its social [mesh]. Eve Picker: I think what I'm most excited about for Small Change is the fact that we're helping you raise money for this Opportunity Zone fund. We may very well be the first Opportunity Zone fund offering investments- very small investments to everyone over the age of 18, not just accredited investors. I think many of the funds that we see around the country have really big minimum investment amounts of $100,000 or $200,000, or $500,000. This is going to be much smaller for everyday people, which personally I find very exciting. It's yet another way to make it accessible to your investors in your neighborhood, right, Adrian? Adrian Washington: Right, and we're excited, too. Eve, as you know, and the audience may not know, is that you guys raised money for us on another project, our Benning Market project - a neighborhood called River Terrace. It was a nice way to raise money, but I think more importantly, it helped build support and build involvement in the project. I have people in that neighborhood who told me, "Yeah, I saw ... I'm an investor in your project, and ..." [cross talk] Eve Picker: That's great. That's really great, yeah. Adrian Washington: -"... and I saw it because I lived down the street and I wanted to be a part of it. I just thought it was cool that you allowed us to participate in that." I think it really does build more of a sense of community; it builds more of a sense of involvement; it invokes transparency, because, frankly, I think that, in these days, developers are viewed with a lot of distrust. I think that by allowing community members to invest at investment levels that they can afford really helps to break down those walls, and do that, and helps to increase visibility. We were really happy with the results we had with you on our first investment, which is literally breaking ground in a couple weeks, and we are very excited to work with you again on the Eastern Avenue Project. Eve Picker: That's great. You're going to have to send me updates on the first one, because we'll post them for our other investors. People like to see [cross talk]. Adrian Washington: We'll send you groundbreaking pictures. How about that? Eve Picker: That'd be fantastic, yeah. Talking about this little piece of community engagement - crowdfunding - community engagement has to play a big role in your projects. I'm wondering how you handle that. That can be tricky sometimes. Adrian Washington: It can be tricky. Like I said, there's just a lot of distrust around development, and in our political climate, I think there's just [riding] distrust in everything, so I don't take it personally. I think the key is you've got to be out there early and often. We're working a different project, in a different part of the city, and we're a couple years away from groundbreaking; really a year away from an actual serious design and engagement, but we're already out there in the community, asking people what they want, telling them about ourselves, letting them see some of our other projects. Adrian Washington: You're never going to please 100 percent of the people in any community. What I've found over years is that what you can do is the best you can do, which is to be accessible, be transparent, to listen, to be honest. Sometimes, people want something, you're like, "Yeah, we can do that." Other times, people want something, and I've seen a lot of developers be vague and sort of say, "Oh, well, maybe we'll look at that." I try to be honest; I try to say that, "Sir, ma'am, we just can't do that, and here's the reason why. I know you won't be happy about that," but I think it's more important to be honest than it is to try to gloss over a problem. Adrian Washington: It really takes a lot of work. It's changed over the years. 20 years ago, we didn't have to do nearly this level of community involvement. I think, particularly in underserved neighborhoods, that people were happy that you were just there and building something; pretty much, you didn't have to do more than that. Nowadays, it's different. People realize that their neighborhoods are an asset, and that people want to develop there, and they are demanding to be heard and respected. If you're not there, you don't hear them, you don't respect them, you're gonna suffer for it. Eve Picker: Yeah, I think that's right. Moving on to more global themes, here, I'm just wondering what you think we all need to do to make our cities and neighborhoods better places for everyone, so that no one gets left out. Adrian Washington: That's a big question- Eve Picker: It is a big question. Adrian Washington: -I don't know if we can solve that all in one podcast. I'll focus on our roles as developers. Clearly, there is a need for more housing in our cities. There's a need for housing that serves all different income levels and all different family types. It's not the '50s anymore. It's not just mom and dad, and 2.3 kids, and a picket fence. There are all types of households. Adrian Washington: The development process has gotten tougher. Besides the community involvement piece, the environmental and sustainability requirements are much higher, the zoning is trickier. It's hard work. I think our job is to use the skills that we've developed over the years to work in partnership with communities, to let them see how they can help us, and, in turn, using our skills to help them work on win-win solutions; involve government, because, obviously, they're important, and have patience, but have perseverance. Development is tough. Adrian Washington: I think that to be successful, you've got to have a long-term view. You can't feel like you've got to make a killing on every project. You've got to look at your entire body of work, so at the end of the day, at the end of your career that you've made a fair return on your investment, your time, and your risk, but you've also contributed to society. I think it's possible, if you have those things in mind. Honestly, it's more rewarding and it's more successful, if you do it that way. Eve Picker: Clearly, you think socially responsible real estate is necessary in today's development world, and that's the way you manage your business, but I'm wondering, are there enough developers out there thinking about impact and thinking in the way that you're thinking? If not, how might we improve that? I still see a lot of greenfield developments that, quite frankly, shock me in this day and age; that that sort of work continues. I still see banks wanting to finance those models over and over again, because it's easy to think about them. I'm wondering how we shift to a [kinder] development world. Adrian Washington: I think it certainly is growing. I agree with you completely. I drive around, particularly when I'm not in D.C., and I see so many greenfield developments. Just to me, personally, it's just kind of boring. I didn't get into this just to make a ton of money. Like I said, I want to be fairly compensated for what I do, but it's more about that. Adrian Washington: To answer your question, I think I see more and more of it. I think, particularly the younger generation ... I'm older. I'm not a millennial. I guess I'm a young baby boomer. But, particularly in the generation behind me, I see people who want to do that, and not just in real estate development, but in other fields in life. They want to do more than just do a job and make money. They want to make a meaningful impact on the world. They want to have that reward, which helps them feel better. Adrian Washington: Also, what I've found in my business, is it helps to attract and retain young employees. They don't want to just build some cookie-cutter, 200-unit apartment building in a greenfield, just like everybody else. They want to do projects that are creative, that involve different financing sources, that touch people's lives, that take challenges [cross talk] and from a business standpoint. I think it's a movement that is slow in coming, but I clearly see it's building, and I think it'll be more and more. Eve Picker: Yeah, I think you're probably right that it's gradually building. Do you see any current trends in real estate that you're fascinated by or you think are going to make a difference moving forward? Adrian Washington: Yeah, I see ... Clearly, the trend for co-living and coworking is the big trend. WeWork is obviously the big kind of corporate behemoth example of that, but there are a lot of other smaller, more entrepreneurial types of interests. I've see coworking spaces designed around women, or women with kids that have daycare centers, or people with social causes, like a nonprofit type of thing. I see that as a big trend. Adrian Washington: I see co-living. I think that where people, either because of monetary reasons, or because of social reasons, don't want that house by themselves, but want an opportunity where they can either live with roommates or live in a more communal environment, where things like kitchens and things are shared, and where there's a social network in place that typically people who are new to an area- it's a way for them to connect. I see a real sort of striving for more connectedness, as our world, in a way, becomes less connected. I think there are great opportunities to expand on that model. I've seen some very successful ones here in Washington, D.C., so it's something I'm keeping my eye on. Eve Picker: Yeah, I think a lot of people are. I'm going to ask you three signoff questions that I ask everyone. The first one is what is the key factor that makes a real estate project impactful to you? Adrian Washington: I'd say the key factor is that it meets the needs of the community that it's in. The only way you get that is to get out, and talk to the people there, and understand what they want. Some communities, they want more affordable housing. Some people, they want less. Some people want retail that's a particular type; other people might want a retail that's missing, like, say, a Fresh Grocer, which is like an example of another project that we did. We put in a Fresh Grocer where it'd been a food desert. It really involves talking to the community, understanding what they want, and then using your skills to develop- to deliver it. Eve Picker: When it comes to crowdfunding, do you think there are other things that can help you as a developer, not just involving investors, but how might crowdfunding benefit your project, as a whole? Adrian Washington: I think crowdfunding benefits us in a number of ways. The couple that most come to mind - and I [inaudible] an example earlier for one of our projects - is many people in the neighborhood become investors in the projects. They're invested not just financially, but they're invested emotionally. They tell their friends; they frequent there more often. I think the crowdfunding helps allow, particularly, local residents to be involved. Adrian Washington: I think the second way that that's really helped us and helped the project is that it's a real brand builder. Eve, when we did the project with you guys, we got so many press kits about the project. We were [cross talk]. Eve Picker: That's fabulous. That's really fabulous. Adrian Washington: I was interviewed a couple of times at the local news station, I was interviewed by national publications. People that I would- said "Hey, I heard about your project. What's crowdfunding like, and how do you like it? It just really enhanced our company's visibility, our project's visibility; it was a real brand enhancer, and it's something that I did not expect and something I was very pleased with. Eve Picker: I'm grateful to hear that. That's wonderful. Then, this is a really big one - if there were one thing that you could change about real estate development in the U.S. to make it better, what would that be? Adrian Washington: I think that the thing that I would really change is not so much government policies. I understand the need for regulation around safety, and sustainability, and community impact, but I would change more the attitude of the people in government who do those. I think there is too much of a - particularly in inspections - 'gotcha' mentality, where, instead of working with us, and understanding that we're doing the best we can ... Yes, maybe this one particular light switch was two inches too high or too low- Eve Picker: Oh ... Adrian Washington: Not just a 'gotcha' mentality, not just, "Okay, you messed up on that. Fix it, and we'll come back when we're ready and tell you whether you missed anything else," more a partnership for governments to understand that we're good guys. We're doing the best we can; that we want a safe project, a sustainable project, and to work more cooperatively with us, and help us succeed as partners, and not to be adversaries. Eve Picker: That's a great way to end this interview. So, Adrian, thank you very much for your time. I really enjoyed talking with you, and I'm sure we're going to be talking again. Adrian Washington: Great, Eve. Thanks for having me. Eve Picker: That was Adrian Washington. Adrian is not afraid of a challenge. His company focuses on challenging sites in challenging neighborhoods, always making sure that neighborhood folks are involved and that their neighborhood is improved by the final project. I love that Adrian finds greenfields boring. I love that he sees the people in a neighborhood first, and I love that he nurtures local businesses, bringing even more value to the projects he develops. Eve Picker: You can find out more about impact real estate investing and access the Shownotes for today's episode at my website, EvePicker.com. While you're there, sign up for my newsletter to find out more about how to make money in real estate while building better cities. Thanks so much for spending your time with me today, and thank you, Adrian, for sharing your thoughts with me. We'll talk again soon, but for now, this is Eve Picker signing off to go make some change.

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Eastern Ave, East to Highland, part 1: Pebble in a Pond

Out of the Blocks

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2019 28:15

Stories from a Dominican barbershop, a tattoo parlor, a lawyer’s office, a coffee counter, and a collaborative arts hub, all neighbors in the melting pot that is Eastern Avenue in Baltimore’s Highlandtown neighborhood.

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Phoenix Calida Breaks Down The Attack On Trans Women In Sex Worker

Phoenix Calida

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2019 17:14

Phoenix Calida Breaks Down The Attack On Trans Women In Sex Worker Tamika Spellman talks with D.C. police officers who were responding to a call about a fight between two sex workers late one night in August. Spellman often makes rounds to check up on such women. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)By Samantha Schmidt andMarissa J. LangSeptember 16 With a bag of condoms and a stack of business cards, Tamika Spellman began a route she knew by heart, peering out the window of her Lincoln sedan at dark sidewalks where she once stood. West Virginia Avenue. K Street. Eastern Avenue. Street corners and alleyways where women wait for a steady trickle of clients, for quick cash to pay the rent. Spellman knows these streets, and these women, better than most: She used to be one of them. Now she was on a mission to help them, to help prevent the next black transgender woman from being killed at the fringes of the nation’s capital. “Hey love, you need condoms?” Spellman called out the window. On the passenger side next to her sat Emmelia Talarico, a fellow advocate for sex-worker and transgender rights. It was just past 11 p.m., at West Virginia Avenue in Northeast Washington. A tall, thin woman stood on the sidewalk, wearing a short red skirt and a white tank top. Like most of the women they see on these drives, Spellman and Talarico recognized her. Spellman passed her a card and told her to call if she needed anything. “Try to work with somebody else,” said Spellman, who by day works for the D.C. sex-worker advocacy group HIPS. “I don’t want y’all walking by yourselves. It seems like they’re escalating.” For transgender sex workers in the District, everything seems to be escalating. Threats to safety, police intimidation, rising rents that have pushed so many to take to the streets to survive. Spellman has been going on these drives every weekend since Zoe Spears, a black transgender woman, was shot and killed in June near the Eastern Avenue strip just outside the District, less than three months after another black transgender woman, Ashanti Carmon, was fatally shot blocks away. The deaths became a local paragon of the dangers faced by transgender women of color across the country. At least 18 transgender people nationwide have been fatally shot or killed in 2019, according to the Human Rights Campaign; the American Medical Association has called violence against the transgender community an “epidemic.” [She had turned to sex work to survive. Then she was killed.] But Spears and Carmon had something else in common: Both women had at some point in their lives turned to sex work, a dangerous profession that has over the past year become even riskier — especially for those who are black or brown or trans.

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Haussner's (05-24-19)

Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2019 2:31

On the afternoon of December 18, 1999, watched anxiously in auctioneering house in Timonium, as the auctioneer rattled off the artifacts for sale from the once and famous and now defunct Haussner's restaurant - weeks earlier a reigning queen at Eastern Avenue and Conkling streets. In the end, the memories of thousands of lunches and dinners and of millions of dollars of artwork and 73 years of Baltimore times winds up in a ball of twine - on display in an antique shop on Fells Point.

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Season One Trailer

I Love Humans

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2018 3:51

Thanks for checking out the trailer for I Love Humans. (Subscribe on iTunes) This is a hyper local podcast focused on people-care in Southeast Baltimore. It is my objective is to discover how different organizations are serving the most vulnerable of our community and to listen to the opinions of those receiving care. If everything goes as planned we will have 12 episodes that are released weekly on Thursday mornings.This project was born out of a personal quest that I, Josh Turansky, undertook to understand people care in Southeast Baltimore. I am a pastor of a church in Fells Point, resident of Butcher's Hill, and manage the Compassion Center off Eastern Avenue (1706 Eastern Ave). Most of my week is spent caring for people in crisis. I am relatively new to the area and unfamiliar with how people are helped in the city. This podcast is areligious and apolitical. I'm not saying that you will agree with all the comments made by me or our guests. But my premise is that caring for fellow humans does not require a specific religious affiliation or political affiliation.In each episode I will attempt to uncover practical and concrete ways Southeast Baltimore residents can participate in people care. I'm also open to feedback and suggestions on what that care might look like.I'm not a sound engineer by trade. I'm trying to learn the basics as fast as possible, but please bear with me as I learn to capture great audio and edit it.I want to thank my church for hosting the podcast and underwriting the cost of production. Haven City Church is the sole sponsor for this first season.You can leave comments below or contact me through the contact form on the church web site.

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Haussner's (Encore)

BOXTOROW One-on-One Interviews

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2018 2:30

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All about the Baltimore New Media Web Fest

Inside Acting!

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2017 60:00

Your host, William Powell, welcomes actors Neva Krauss and Johnny Alonso to talk about the Baltimore New Media Web Fest, a Web Festival featuring Web Series, VR Projects, Music videos and New Media content from around the world! Dial 347.884.8997 to ask a question. Time: November 4 @ 1 pm to November 5 @ 7 pm Location: The Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD A 2 day festival: Celebrating and promoting the very best of international web series and new media content! Nov 4.at Ideal Arts Space in Hamden Nov 5 at Creative Alliance After parties each night and a VR lounge on Sunday Nov 5th. Please come out and support these 60 wonderful Web oriented projects!!

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John Wall, as good off the court as he is on it

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2017 12:34

by Donal Ware boxtorow.com It was June 24, 2010 and the Washington Wizards had just drafted John Wall from Kentucky with the number one overall pick. I was ecstatic. Even though I live in North Carolina, I am originally from Silver Spring, Md. – cross over Eastern Avenue off Georgia Avenue and your in DCContinue Reading →

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Haussner's