Podcasts about fifth district

Joseph Mengedoth provides an overview of the economic contributions of agriculture in the rural parts of the Fifth District. Mengedoth is a regional economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2025/speaking_2025_05_21_farming

Renee Haltom and Sonya Waddell share what recent surveys and conversations with Fifth District contacts reveal about the expectations of businesses for their own prospects and the economy as a whole, as well as firms' concerns about inflation, labor markets, and other potential issues in 2025. Haltom is a regional executive and vice president and Waddell is a vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond., Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2025/speaking_2025_02_19_economic_outlook

Bethany Greene and Jason Kosakow review the damage wrought on communities in western North Carolina and other parts of the Fifth District from Hurricane Helene last September. They also share what their business contacts have told them about Helene's economic impacts, both within and outside of the hurricane's path. Greene is a regional economist at the Charlotte branch of the Richmond Fed and Kosakow is the Bank's survey director. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_12_18_hurricane_helene

Anne Davlin discusses the current state of lending to the commercial real estate sector in the Fifth District, including the challenges faced by office building and multiunit housing developers and the ensuing risks posed to their lenders. Davlin is a senior quantitative analyst in the Richmond Fed's Supervision, Regulation and Credit department. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_10_09_commercial_real_estate

Pierre-Daniel Sarte and Sonya Waddell share survey results on businesses' use of AI tools and other forms of automation, and research on the potential effects of automation on the nation's overall productivity growth. Sarte is a senior advisor and Waddell is a vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2024/speaking_2024_09_18_automation

Join America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio co-hosts Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy with Chairman Doug Lamborn, Strategic Forces Subcommittee, U.S. House Committee on Armed Services discussing the policy issues impacting America's national defense and the nation's security partnership with trusted allies. Today, we are experiencing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East with rising tensions in Southeast Asia. The time-tested policy of "peace through strength" has been weakened by lack of American leadership on the world stage. The conversation also addresses the concern of America's isolationism and the principled message articulated by one of America's greatest presidents: "We in America have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars: It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent." — President Ronald Reagan The conversation with Congressman Lamborn also focuses on the promise of a new era in the Middle East with the proposed US-Saudi Arabia Economic and Security Alliance which could transform the region and benefit both nations on the economic and trade fronts. Saudi Arabia could become a major hub for trade and tourism and a gateway to over 400 million consumers in Arab countries. Bio | Congressman Doug Lamborn In Colorado, Doug was called to public office and served in the Colorado General Assembly from 1995 to 2006, in both the State House and State Senate. During his time in the Colorado Legislature, Doug was elected Senate President Pro-Tem, served as Chairman of the Senate State Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, and House Majority Whip. Doug was then elected to the US House of Representatives in 2006 to represent Colorado's Fifth District. Colorado's Fifth District, based in Colorado Springs, is one of our nation's most military-intensive congressional districts and the home to more than 100,000 veterans who have served our country with distinction and honor. Because of the district's military and veteran concentration, Doug serves as a high-ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee and a former member for ten years of the Veterans Affairs Committee. In these roles, he has protected important national defense funding, programs, and missions and has fought hard for the right of veterans to receive the healthcare they have earned. Additionally, the Congressman has worked since his first day in office to bring about a dignified and fitting National Veterans Cemetery to the Pikes Peak Region, which is now completed. Additionally, Doug currently serves as the Chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. The Strategic Forces Subcommittee has jurisdiction over Department of Defense and Department of Energy policy related to strategic deterrence, strategic stability, nuclear weapons, strategic and nuclear arms control, nonproliferation, nuclear safety, missile defense, and space; Department of Defense programs and accounts related to nuclear weapons, strategic missiles, nuclear command and control systems, Department of Defense intelligence space, space systems and services of the military departments, and intermediate and long-range missile defense systems; and Department of Energy national security programs and accounts. Doug also serves on the House Natural Resources Committee and its subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, and the Energy and Mineral Resources subcommittee. The Subcommittee on Federal Lands is responsible for all matters related to the National Park System, U.S. Forests, public lands, and national monuments. The Energy and Mineral Resources subcommittee oversees public resources on public lands, including offshore energy development. Throughout his time in public service, Doug has been a leader on pro-family and small business issues, a strong advocate for our veterans and our military, and a supporter of lower taxes, immigration reform, less government spending, and protection of the Second Amendment. Doug is married to Jeanie, his wife of 47 years and an accomplished artist and former teacher at the Bemis School of Art in Colorado Springs. The Lamborn's have also raised five extremely successful children. Their four sons were Eagle Scouts and, among them, have served as a doctor, in the military, as an attorney, and as a member of the film industry in Los Angeles. americasrt.com (https://americasrt.com/) https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/ America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472 Twitter: @RepDLamborn @ileaderssummit @AmericasRT @NatashaSrdoc @JoelAnandUSA @supertalk America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit. America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America's economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world. Tune into America's Roundtable Radio program from Washington, DC via live streaming on Saturday mornings via 65 radio stations at 7:30 A.M. (ET) on Lanser Broadcasting Corporation covering the Michigan and the Midwest market, and at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk Mississippi — SuperTalk.FM reaching listeners in every county within the State of Mississippi, and neighboring states in the South including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. Listen to America's Roundtable on digital platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, Google and other key online platforms. Listen live, Saturdays at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk | https://www.supertalk.fm

In the 165th episode of the Brian Hornback Experience I talk with Republican ⁠Lauren Morgan, the Republican nominee for ⁠Knox County School ⁠Board, Fifth District. Early Voting July 12-27, Election Day Thursday August 1, 2024. All the Brian Hornback links, ⁠here.⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brian-hornback/support

Some time has passed since there was an audio edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a period of time that could be quantified in many ways. Yet, to those who listen at a point way past the one in which these words are written, mere seconds may have passed. This assumes that anyone is listening at all, and we all know what happens then. In this edition:* Charlottesville's Board of Architectural Review takes a first look at UVA's affordable housing project at 10th and Wertland (learn more)* Ridership continues to increase on Virginia's Amtrak routes (learn more)* Four of the five candidates in Fifth District primaries appear at Spring Creek forum (learn more)* A few highlights from the University of Virginia's Board of Visitors as they began their June meeting on Thursday (learn more)* And the UVA Foundation spends $10.5 million for three properties on Arlington Boulevard (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

ICYMI: Hour One of ‘Later, with Mo'Kelly' Presents – A look at the latest efforts to bring the ongoing college campus protests to an end AND a new LAUSD rally to protect workers from expected school cuts…PLUS – An in-depth discussion with Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Los Angeles County Supervisor representing the Fifth District, regarding the many issues plaguing L.A. Metro and what it will take to get the 2nd busiest transit system in the country back on track - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app 

ICYMI: ‘Later, with Mo'Kelly' Presents – An in-depth discussion with Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Los Angeles County Supervisor representing the Fifth District, regarding the many issues plaguing L.A. Metro and what it will take to get the 2nd busiest transit system in the country back on track - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app

* Dallas attorney Sidney Powell, known for her vigorous legal efforts to challenge the fraudulent 2020 election on behalf of President Donald Trump, has been fully vindicated by an appellate court decision - Jim Hoft, TheGatewayPundit.com * The Fifth District of Texas Court of Appeals in Dallas, led by a three-judge panel, all Democrats, concluded that the State Bar of Texas' arguments were without merit! * Upon evaluation, the appellate court found no merit in the Commission's argument that Powell knowingly filed frivolous lawsuits or made false statements related to the election litigation. It pointed out the absence of evidence proving that Powell had actual knowledge of the falsity of any statements made in her filings. While Wednesday's ruling represents a vindication for Powell in this matter, the battle is not over. * Biden Claims 'Cannibals' Ate His Uncle, Military Records Tell a Very Different Story - Warner Todd Huston, WesternJournal.com * Reports Say US Has Pledged not to Execute Assange - Angeline Tan, TheNewAmerican.com

In the 158th episode of the Brian Hornback Experience I talk with Conservative Republican Marty Fugate, candidate for Loudon County Commission Fifth District. Early Voting going on through February 27 with the Republican Primary concluding on Super Tuesday March 5, 2024 all the Brian Hornback links you need are here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brian-hornback/support

WISH-TV government reporter, Garrett Bergquist sat down with a candidate for Congress who told him his experience with addiction ultimately led him to seek public office.Businessman L.D. Powell is one of nearly a dozen candidates running in the Republican primary for Indiana's Fifth Congressional District. That seat is currently held by Congresswoman Victoria Spartz, who announced she is running for another term less than a week before the filing deadline.Powell said he became addicted to opioid painkillers following an operation about 20 years ago. In an interview with News 8 for All INdiana Politics, he said his time in rehab and his subsequent work helping those in recovery showed him the extent of America's addiction problem. He said the country won't be able to turn the corner on the addiction crisis until it stops the flow of fentanyl and other drugs over the southern border.Beyond the drug issue, Powell said he advocates raising tariffs in retaliation for other countries increasing import duties on American goods, as Donald Trump did during his time in office. He said American manufacturers deserve a level playing field.On his website, Powell said he will support pro-life legislation. When asked if that would mean a national abortion ban, he said that question is best left up to the states. He said the federal government should focus on providing more resources to women who opt against abortion, including more support for adoption services.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the 151st episode of the Brian Hornback Experience I talk to Republican Toni Scott, candidate for Knox County Commission Fifth District (Farragut and Southwest Knox County) Her campaign website can be found here and her campaign Facebook page, here. All the Brian Hornback links are here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brian-hornback/support

#Israel: What is the morale?  Congressman Josh Gottheimer – D (NJ). Josh Gottheimer is a member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey's Fifth District. Malcolm Hoenlein @Conf_of_pres @mhoenlein1 https://gottheimer.house.gov/posts/release-gottheimer-leads-official-intelligence-trip-to-israel   1475 Baldwin of Jerusalem

In the 147th episode of the Brian Hornback Experience I talk with Republican Lauren Morgan, candidate for Knox County School Board Fifth District. She is a first time candidate for public office. She is a wife and Mother of three Knox County School students, one in Middle School and two in Elementary School.  Here campaign website is here laurenforschools.com All the Brian Hornback links are ⁠here⁠, follow me, share the content and like it all. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brian-hornback/support

In this 144th episode of the Brian Hornback Experience. I talk with Brian Walker, Republican candidate for Knox County Commission Fifth District in the March 5, 2024 Republican Primary, Early Voting February 14-27. Walker's campaign website is here. Walker's campaign Facebook is here. All the Brian Hornback links are here. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brian-hornback/support

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, United States House Representative for North Carolina's Fifth District, discusses Israel/Hamas, government spending, and entitlement programs.

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, United States House Representative for North Carolina's Fifth District, discusses Israel/Hamas, government spending, and entitlement programs.

Jarrod Elwell and Jason Smith share what the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond has learned about the financing needs of rural parts of the Fifth District and how the Bank's Rural Investment Collaborative and other programs help community leaders address those needs. Elwell is a community development manager and Smith is a senior community development advisor at the Richmond Fed. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2023/speaking_2023_11_08_rural_development_finance Have a question for Kartik Athreya, the Richmond Fed's research director, about inflation, monetary policy or the multi-faceted role of the Fed in the economy? Submit your question online to have it potentially answered on the Dec. 20 episode: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MWMVRG6.

Join America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio co-hosts Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy with U.S. Congressman Doug Lamborn, chairman, Strategic Forces Subcommittee, member, House Armed Services Committee and co-chair, The Congressional Israel Allies Caucus. The conversation focuses on the terrorist attacks carried out by Iranian-backed Hamas killing over 1,400 Israelis including 31 Americans. Over 4,500 Israelis have been wounded, and more than 200 Israeli hostages including Americans have been taken from Israel by Hamas into Gaza. Congressman Lamborn provides an update on the realities on the ground, the difficult road ahead, and the significance of the US-Israel partnership in confronting terrorism and instability in the Middle East. The discussion also focuses on Iran, the state sponsor of terrorism, and how the rogue nation's ambition in acquiring nuclear weapons may adversely impact the region and the world. This past week, Reuters reported, “Russia said it need no longer obey U.N. Security Council restrictions on giving missile technology to its ally Iran once they expire…without saying whether it now planned to support Tehran's missile development.” The Abraham Accords are brought to the forefront as the potential Saudi Arabia - Israel normalization of relations could usher in a historic transformation in the Middle East. America's leadership is vital in advancing peace through strength. On America's Roundtable, Congressman Doug Lamborn also addresses serious concerns about the national security crisis at the US southern border. Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO) In Colorado, Doug Lamborn was called to public office and served in the Colorado General Assembly from 1995 to 2006, in both the State House and State Senate. During his time in the Colorado Legislature, Doug was elected Senate President Pro-Tem, served as Chairman of the Senate State Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, and House Majority Whip. Doug Lamborn was the lead sponsor of the largest tax cut in Colorado history. Doug Lamborn was then elected to the US House of Representatives in 2006 to represent Colorado's Fifth District which is based in Colorado Springs. It is one of our nation's most military-intensive congressional districts and the home to more than 100,000 veterans who have served our country with distinction and honor. Because of the district's military and veteran concentration, Doug serves as a high-ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, Chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee and a former member for ten years of the Veterans Affairs Committee. americasrt.com (https://americasrt.com/) https://ileaderssummit.org/ | https://jerusalemleaderssummit.com/ America's Roundtable on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-roundtable/id1518878472 Twitter: @RepDLamborn @ileaderssummit @AmericasRT @NatashaSrdoc @JoelAnandUSA @supertalk America's Roundtable is co-hosted by Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy, co-founders of International Leaders Summit and the Jerusalem Leaders Summit. America's Roundtable (https://americasrt.com/) radio program - a strategic initiative of International Leaders Summit, focuses on America's economy, healthcare reform, rule of law, security and trade, and its strategic partnership with rule of law nations around the world. The radio program features high-ranking US administration officials, cabinet members, members of Congress, state government officials, distinguished diplomats, business and media leaders and influential thinkers from around the world. Tune into America's Roundtable Radio program from Washington, DC via live streaming on Saturday mornings via 65 radio stations at 7:30 A.M. (ET) on Lanser Broadcasting Corporation covering the Michigan and the Midwest market, and at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk Mississippi — SuperTalk.FM reaching listeners in every county within the State of Mississippi, and neighboring states in the South including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. Listen to America's Roundtable on digital platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, Google and other key online platforms. Listen live, Saturdays at 7:30 A.M. (CT) on SuperTalk | https://www.supertalk.fm

Today could be construed as the Ides of September, but that construction could turn out to be faulty. A little research might help with this foundational first line of this edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, but that work is usually reserved for the body and not this header which likely did not make a goal. I'm Sean Tubbs, and it turns out September 13 was the Ides of September. On today's program:* The Charlottesville Planning Commission specifies why they feel roads to be built as part of 0 East High Street doesn't comply with Comprehensive Plan* The Charlottesville Police Department is using license plate readers to assist with investigations but insists the use is limited and data is not retained* Charlottesville is one of several Fifth District localities using federal funds to modernize infrastructure* Albemarle and Charlottesville are launching an effort to plan for climate adaptation together* The Virginia Department of Education has released the lasted school quality profiles* The Charlottesville Planning Commission takes action on a special use permit at 1709 JPA  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

Congresswoman Stephanie Bice shares her personal home buying experiences and delves into her proposed "Stop China's Continuous Purchase of Land Act." Also joining us is Federal Political Coordinator Brad Reeser from the Edmond Board of REALTORS®. 2:40 - Introduction to Congresswoman Stephanie Bice 7:00 - Home buying experiences 12:13 - Stop China's Continuous Purchase of Land Act 17:44 - The future of Oklahoma's Fifth District

Delivery of Policy Starts the Running of the Statute of Limitations Wooten purchased seven Northwestern Mutual insurance policies. Three are disability income policies. Four are various whole-life policies. Wooten purchased and reviewed the last of the policies in December 2005. He sued claiming he was deceived about what he bought ten years before the suit. In Wrenn Wooten v. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Jimzara, And Patrick Matthews, No. 05-20-00798-CV, Court of Appeals of Texas, Fifth District, Dallas (July 31, 2023) the Court of Appeals resolved Wooten's complaint that the trial court's grant of summary judgments in favor of appelees, was wrong. BACKGROUND On April 17, 2018 Wooten sued. He alleged he was sold policies based on misrepresentations on coverage and benefits, wrongfully advised him, and concealed misrepresentations. Wooten bought the disability policies to provide income if he became He alleged a waiver-of-premium term would have allowed him to receive disability income without paying premiums. Wooten has not filed a disability claim under the policies. The suit alleged claims for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, and violations of the Texas Insurance Code and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act (DTPA). Wooten alleged he did not discover the injury "and/or" misconduct that forms the basis of this lawsuit until within two years of his filing the lawsuit. The trial court granted Northwestern Mutual's traditional motion for summary judgment. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS Wooten alleged causes of action with two- and four-year periods of limitation. The statute of limitations for Wooten's claims for negligent misrepresentation and for violation of the Texas Insurance Code and the DTPA is two years. The court concluded that the appellees carried their summary judgment burden of conclusively proving Wooten's claims for violations of the Insurance Code and DTPA, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud accrued at the time Wooten purchased each policy. Much to the surprise of Mr. Wooten and most insureds,  an insured has a duty to read the policy, and failing to do so, is charged with knowledge of the policy's terms and conditions. Appellees conclusively demonstrated Wooten purchased his last Northwestern Mutual policy in December 2005. The longest applicable statute of limitations for his claims on that policy-and all his policies-is four years. The Discovery Rule Even in a breach of fiduciary duty case where a fiduciary's misconduct is inherently undiscoverable, a breach of fiduciary duty claim accrues when the claimant knows or in the exercise of ordinary diligence should know of the wrongful act and resulting injury. The Court of Appeals concluded that by 2005, at the latest, Wooten knew, or exercising reasonable diligence, should have known of the facts giving rise to the cause of action. An insurance agent has no duty to explain policy terms to an insured. Instead, an insured has a duty to read the policy, and failing to do so, is charged with knowledge of the policy terms and conditions. Therefore, appellees carried their summary judgment burden to conclusively prove Wooten's last claim accrued in December 2005 and to negate applicability of the common-law discovery rule to his common-law claims of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of fiduciary duty. ZALMA OPINION An insured has a duty to read a policy to confirm that it received the coverage the sales person represented. Although Wooten was neither dead or disabled, he sought damages against the insurer and sales persons when, ten years late, he found the policies did not cover the events he was promised. He sat on his rights well past the running of every applicable statute of limitations. (c) 2023 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/barry-zalma/support

Andy Bauer, Renee Haltom and Matt Martin share what their business contacts have told them about regional economic conditions in the Fifth District. Bauer, Haltom and Martin are regional executives at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/2023/speaking_06_28_23_regional_update

Andy Biggs was first elected to serve the people of Arizona's Fifth District in 2016. He currently serves on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, where he is the Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance. From 2019 through 2021, he served as Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. He is currently co-chair of the Border Security Caucus, Vice Chair of the Congressional Western Caucus, and a co-founder of the bipartisan War Powers Caucus.

For Coming Clean’s first in-person interview, Benji literally sits down (at an actual table!) with Congresswomen Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington’s Fifth District. Representative Rodgers is proud to be cutting the red tape that holds back America’s energy innovators from creating the reliable, affordable energy sources that will keep the country prosperous and clean. She […]

Santiago Pinto discusses his research on commuting patterns in the Fifth District and how these patterns may help us better understand the economic connections between rural and urban communities. Pinto is a senior economist and policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_2023_03_15_commuting

Our guest today is AZ US Congressman Andy Biggs. Representative Andy Biggs was first elected to serve the people of Arizona's Fifth District in 2016. He has consistently been a champion of our Individual Liberties, our Second Amendment Rights and has previously served as Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. 1) We have titled this episode “Surviving The Swamp” because it looks like something is always clogging the efforts to “drain the swamp”. But your recent stand, along with 19 other Freedom-minded elected officials in voting in a new Speaker of the House was encouraging that We The People do not just have to accept the status-quo. 2) You will be one of the speakers at the 10th Annual Celebrate & Protect the 2A Rally Event on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at the AZ State Capitol. Tell us why that is such an important event to lend your voice to. 3) People who believe that the Bill of Rights and the 2A are inherent and unalienable rights – as part of natural law, endowed by our Creator, not to be infringed – too often we think all of that means that is the end of the conversation and our Rights will ultimately triumph over rhetoric. What are your thoughts on that? 4) Federal vs State – where is the most good we as citizens can do in our efforts to protect, defend and reclaim our Individual Liberties?

Newly-elected Fifth District Congressman Tim Walberg says he plans to make himself available to Berrien County residents now that he’ll be representing us in Washington. He grew up in the Chicago area and used to play at Warren Dunes as a child. He’s a former pastor who served in the Michigan House and was elected to Congress in 2006. Walberg says he’s a conservative who plans to push the Republican priorities of the economy, security, freedom, and government accountability. He says Berrien County has much in common with the rest of his district, which now stretches from Monroe County all the way to Lake Michigan. “I had agriculture, significant agriculture, in my present district, the Seventh District of Michigan,” Walberg said. “But I’ve found the same, although there may be a few different varieties of crops. For instance, in the new district, with more fruit and vegetables and vineyards, etc in the western part of this new district.” Walberg says he’s not concerned about having trouble representing the district. He describes retiring Congressman Fred Upton as a friend. “I count is a privilege to have served with him, but people have asked, ‘Do you take the same stands and votes as Fred?’ and my answer is no, not all the time, very clearly.” Walberg says he wants to promote parental rights and seek an alternative to the Affordable Care Act. He plans to hold town hall meetings throughout the district and says he will hold one in Berrien County. He invites anyone who wants to reach him to contact his office in Jackson, although he is planning a west Michigan office as well. Photo taken from https://walberg.house.gov. Listen below to our full conversation with Congressman Walberg.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the eleventh day of the eleventh month, marking the time 104 years ago when Armistice ended the First World War One. Today we mark it as Veterans' Day and local government is closed. This is the first edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement after a brief break to get ready for all that is yet to come. Today, though, is a good day to look back and all of those who have done so much to get us to this point. On today's show:* A round-up of election results from the area * Albemarle County recognized veterans Day* Charlottesville City Council gets a report from Interim City Manager and discusses recent violence downtown and possible solutions Sign up to get all of the free newsletters and podcasts and considering paying to help support the work!First shout-out: Free jazz concerts coming up week of November 15In the first subscriber-supported shout-out, the Charlottesville Jazz Society wants you to know about an upcoming series of free concerts by Professor Bill Cole and the Untempered Ensemble. The Untempered Ensemble are artists in residence at the University of Virginia Department of Art and will give three free concerts the week of November 15th. The group includes members of Indigenous American (Wabanaki and Nipissing), Asian-American, and African-American descent. The musicians play a wide variety of wind, string and percussion instruments from six different continents offering audiences the opportunity to form a world view of sound.The shows:* Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 5:00 pm | Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, UVA Grounds | FREE* Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 pm | The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center | FREE* Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 pm | The Dome Room of the Rotunda, UVA Grounds | FREEFor more information about Professor Bill Cole and the Untempered Ensemble, visit arts.virginia.edu. Election results across the planning districtThe results are now more or less in for Election 2022 in Virginia but let's go through some of the details. Republican Bob Good defeated Democrat Joshua Throneburg to win a second term representing Virginia's Fifth Congressional District. With 354 precincts of 378 reporting, the Virginia Department of Elections lists Good with 57.86 percent of the vote. He carried 21 of  the 24 localities in the Fifth District. Throneburg only won in Albemarle County, Charlottesville, and Danville. Nearly 87 percent of voters in Charlottesville cast a ballot for Throneburg, compared with 66.1 percent in Albemarle, and 53.2 percent in Danville. Just under a dozen Albemarle residents voted in the 7th District due to the small sliver. Fourteen people voted for Republican Yesli Vega and seven people voted for Democrat Abigail Spanberger. Overall, Spanberg was re-elected to a third term with around 52 percent of the vote. The only other election on the ballot in both Albemarle and Fluvanna was for Scottsville Town Council. Two candidates were on the ballot, and several people made a write-in bid. Final votes won't be counted on Monday but incumbents Meredith Hynes, Dan Gritsko, and Bill Hyson were all re-elected. Turning to Greene County, Vega won the county with 60.8 percent of the vote. Kimberly Breeden Tate won an uncontested race to be Commissioner of Revenue. Rebecca Roach won an uncontested race to be on the School Board representing the Stanardsville District. Michael A. Payne won an uncontested race to be Mayor of Stanardsville. Three people were on the ballot for four seats on the Stanardsville Town Council and all three made it as did a write-in. There was a contested School Board race in Louisa County, where Lloyd Runnett defeated David Harold Rogers in the Mineral District with 67.8 percent of the vote. R. Garland Nuckols remains the Mayor of the Town of Louisa in an uncontested race. In the Town of Mineral , Ed Jarvis leads Pamela Harlowe with 98 votes to 70 votes with slightly more votes to be counted. For information on Town Council races in Louisa County, visit the Virginia Department of Elections webpage. Albemarle Supervisors mark Veterans' DayToday is Veterans Day and nine days ago, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors passed a resolution honoring the occasion. Donna Price, Chair of the Board of Supervisors, read from a proclamation. “WHEREAS, the United States of America, founded on the principles of liberty and justice for all, has called on her men and women in uniform to protect our national security,” Price said.* The preservation of our national interests, our rights and our freedom, has been ensured by the service of these individuals* On Veterans Day we remember and pay tribute to the millions of patriots whose courage and sacrifice have secured our freedom and defended our values both at home and abroad* Over one hundred veterans continue to serve their country in public schools and government as teachers and other professionals providing services to the students and citizens of Albemarle County* These veterans employed by Albemarle County Public Schools and Local Government deserve recognition for their continued service.“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors hereby recognizes all veterans and the men and women that are currently serving in our armed forces around the world; an BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors hereby appreciates and honors the continued contributions and sacrifices of the Armed Forces veterans employed by local government and public schools,” Price read. Price herself is a retired U.S. Navy Captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. Albemarle Police Lieutenant Elizabeth Gomez accepted the proclamation. She enlisted in the Army National Guard in September 1991 and served as a combat medic and ambulance driver, becoming a police officer in 2000. “We do what we do now based on our choices earlier on in life to serve and protect our community,” Gomez said.While local and state government may be closed today, information about resources is available on the internet. A good place to start is the Virginia Department of Veterans Services and the Central Region. Second shout-out: UVA Helps Ensure Climate Resilient Buildings, Landscapes, & CommunitiesIn today's second subscriber supported shout-out, UVA Lifetime Learning, Office of Engagement, has an event this Saturday morning for readers following climate action and resilience planning. At the UVA School of Architecture, faculty, staff, and students are leading innovative research on climate resilient buildings, landscapes, and communities — from the coastal landscapes of Virginia's Eastern Shore and the Chesapeake Bay region to community development in the Arctic; from renewable biomaterials for building construction to new planning methods for restorative urbanism. Join Dean Malo André Hutson this Saturday morning at 10 a.m. for an opportunity to learn more about this exciting work, the diverse methods of community-centered design research it employs, and the actionable ways it addresses the future health of our built environment. This takes place at Alumni Hall as part of the More than the Score program or watch online! Register on Eventbrite for Designing for Climate ResilienceCharlottesville Council discusses gun violence; many governance details in written report The Charlottesville City Council had a full meeting on Monday, and one I'm finally able to get to after taking a couple of days off from a deadline. We start the coverage with the consent agenda, which included an extension of the contract for the Robert Bobb Group for the services of Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers. According to a staff report, that will give enough time for a new police chief to be hired as well as for Council to adopt a strategic plan. Then there's also the matter of the budget. No one spoke during the opportunity to comment about the contract extension. Next, there was a review of the written city manager report followed by comments about recent shootings in the area. Let's go through the report first: (read the report) * Rogers said a new executive director for the Police Civilian Oversight Board will be hired as soon as possible. The Board's operating procedures will be reviewed by Council at their meeting on December 5. * New procurement rules adopted by Council in October will make it possible to use private dollars to help pay for energy savings projects in large capital projects. (story on InfoCville)* New employee Ben Chambers is now the transportation planner for the Department of Neighborhood Development Services. The position is intended to help address a backlog of stalled projects. Council was briefed on a “reboot” for transportation planning this past May. (story on InfoCville)* More people are seeking out the services of the Office of Human Rights with 2022 volumes higher than all of 2021. We'll hear more about a proposal to hire two more staff for the office in a future installment of the program. * The average review time for a building permit is now below is now down below 40 days according to a chart provided in the report. That's because the city sought help from the University of Virginia with a backlog and hiring two people to serve as both a new building code official and a support services manager. The new goal is to bring reviews down to 14 days, which the report states will take hiring more personnel. In City Manager Rogers addressed the recent shootings on the Downtown Mall. “A week or so ago there was a violent incident on the mall at one of our establishments that resulted in the death of someone and two bystanders being hit by stray bullets,” Rogers said. Rogers convened a meeting with Friends of Downtown Cville to discuss the incident and steps to improve security.  “When there is violence in the community in a concentrated period, naturally people are going to be upset and people are going to fear being in the location where those things are occurring,” Rogers said. “By and large when you consider the statistics in our community, it's still safe.”  Interim Police Chief Latroy Durrette offered some statistics about responses to calls for services related to gunfire. (view the data)There were 185 such calls in 2017 and 181 calls in 2018. “A slight decrease in 2019 with 172,” Durrette said. “In 2020, we started to see an increase of 298 and a greater increase in 2021 with 322.As of October 23, there have been 211 calls for service for shots fired. Durrette said shots fired incidents are not common on the mall and he showed maps showing where they are focused. For this year, that's the Tenth and Page neighborhood as well as the Orangedale-Prospect area according to one of the images. He said he has increased patrols on the Downtown Mall. City Councilor Brian Pinkston said he was more concerned about reducing gun use in the parts where it is concentrated. “Whenever I talk to folks, people remind me that this is complicated, the causes and how we try to effect change is complicated too because there are unintended consequences,” Pinkston said. Vice Mayor Juandiego Wade was at that Friends of the Downtown Cville event which was attended by a wide variety of stakeholders.“People came together from all sides of the community to talk about a very serious issue and I think we had some really good discussions,” Wade said. “Some of those discussions included de-escalation. I think that there was some understanding that when police arrive at these scenes, a lot is going and they want to preserve the scene. Part of it is that we wanted to talk about de-escalation,”Rogers said the city has been speaking with law enforcement at the University of Virginia about sharing information and resources. “We'll be following up on that and I think that there's opportunity for the city, the county, and the University law enforcement to join forces and approach this as a truly regional issue,” Rogers said. During matters from the public, several people addressed the issue including Emily Morrison of the Front Porch, a music training entity with space on 3rd Street SE.“My staff would  benefit from de-escalation trainings in the event of a conflict near our building so that we can know what to do in the event of an emergency,” Morrison said. More from this City Council meeting in future installments of the show. Articles you may have missed from other outlets:* Charlottesville and Albemarle County get bluer, Alice Berry, Daily Progress, November 9, 2022* Youngkin to propose new agency for workforce development, Markus Schmidt, Cardinal News, November 10, 2022* Maybe it's not just ‘the economy, stupid': winners and losers from the 2022 midterms, Bob Lewis, Virginia Mercury, November 11, 2022 (commentary)An inventory of end notes for #458We begin the end with a humbling confession. I got the beginning of the November 8 newsletter wrong by writing without actively engaging my brain. Election Day is the first Tuesday of the month unless it's the first day of the month, or something like that. I won't correct this error but will lead people to this blurb. These blurbs come at the end of a lot of writing. Is it possible I made this error just to bring new readers to this point? Possibly. The point of this section is to thank subscribers and point out that Charlottesville Community Engagement is a service of Town Crier Productions, a company formed to write as much as possible. Sometimes that does mean taking a quick break which I did Wednesday and Thursday. If you want to know when the next edition may come out, do consider joining the Chat function in Substack. It's still a work in progress, but I'm exploring non-Twitter alternatives. All of this work is paid for by many of you readers and listeners via Substack, in addition to the various individuals and entities who pay me through Patreon. More details on that later, as you don't need to read that every time. But, I do want you to know I appreciate the one in four who pays to keep my attention focused on a wide variety of things. You support my beat reporting which allows me to see patterns and incongruities. Ting match Substack subscriptions, though. I have to mention that! And even if you don't sign up for a paid subscription to this newsletter, Ting wants your business, and if you sign up through a link in the newsletter you will get free installation, a $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall, and a second month for free. Just enter the promo code COMMUNITY. 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

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:15).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments ImagesExtra Information Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 11-4-22. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of November 7 and November 14, 2022.  This is a revised version of an episode from November 2014.SOUND – 3 seconds – “Mayday!  Mayday!  Anybody got a copy?”  In this episode, in honor of Veterans Day on November 11, we focus on the “anybody” that did copy and respond to the distress call you just heard: that is, the U.S. Coast Guard.  Have a listen for about 45 seconds more of the Coast Guard's first response to that vessel sinking off Virginia's coast in April 2010. SOUND – 46 seconds – Boater: “I've struck an object and my boat is going down.  It's going down fast.”  Coast Guard: “Vessel in district, this is Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads.  Request to know your GPS position.  Over.” Boater: “I'm unable to get a GPS position.  I'm off South, South Cape, about three miles off South Cape.  I've gotta deploy my raft.  She's goin' under.” Coast Guard: “Captain, request to know if you have a life jacket on.  Over.” Boater: “I do have a life jacket on.” Coast Guard:  “Hello all stations.  This is United States Coast Guard, Hampton Roads, Virginia, Sector.  Time 0737 local, the Coast Guard has received a report of a vessel taking on water and going down, with one person on board. … All vessels in the vicinity are requested to keep a sharp lookout, assist if possible, and advise the Coast Guard of all sightings.”The Coast Guard began in 1790 as a 10-ship fleet established to enforce trade laws and reduce smuggling.  In 1915, Congress merged this fleet—by then called the Revenue Cutter Service—with the U.S. Life Saving Service to form the Coast Guard as a branch of the nation's military forces.  Later, the Lighthouse Service and the functions of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation, also became part of the Coast Guard.  Today's missions include law enforcement; national defense and homeland security; marine safety; environmental protection; navigation; and search and rescue activities, including the rescue of 13 people from a fishing vessel in the Atlantic off Virginia's coast just this past October 28.  Virginia's connections to the Coast Guard range from George Washington presiding over the establishment of the revenue cutter fleet; to life-saving stations put in service in the 1800s; to the first ice-breaking by a revenue cutter in the Chesapeake Bay in 1906; to today's several active units, including the large Portsmouth base, which started as a depot for lighthouse equipment and is now headquarters for the Coast Guard's Fifth District.Thanks to the Coast Guard for this long history of service “through surf and storm and howling gale,” as the lyrics say in the Coast Guard anthem, “Semper Paratus,” the Latin for “always ready.”  And we close with a short sample of that anthem, played by the U.S. Coast Guard Band. MUSIC -  22 seconds – instrumental. SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 239, 11-10-14. This episode's sound was excerpted from “Rudee Inlet Rescue Distress Call,” April 2, 2010, a public-domain recording of a U.S. Coast Guard radio communication from Portsmouth, Va., accessed at the audio link of the Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS), online at http://www.dvidshub.net/audio/34895/rudee-inlet-rescue-distress-call#.VGDcZMm_4_t. The U.S. Coast Guard Band's performance of the Coast Guard anthem, “Semper Paratus” (arrangement by Matthew Lake) was accessed November 10, 2014, at the Band's Web site, http://www.uscg.mil/band/recordings.asp, which stated at the time that “The Coast Guard Band produces CD recordings for public relations, educational purposes, public libraries, and morale purposes. ...MP3 recordings are made available here by permission.”  That Web site was not longer available as of November 7, 2022.Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. IMAGES Old Coast Guard Station in Virginia Beach, Va., October 17, 2014.  The station was built in 1903 by the U.S. Life-saving Service, one of the predecessors of the U.S. Coast Guard.  Photo by Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class David Weydert, accessed online at http://www.dvidshub.net/image/1636546/old-coast-guard-station-virginia-beach#.VGDt6sm_4_s.U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Shearwater (right), escorting vessels during Operation Sail 2012 in Norfolk, part of the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.  Photo by Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class David Marin, accessed online at http://www.dvidshub.net/image/595969/coast-guard-leads-parade-ships#.VGDspMm_4_s.EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT VETERANS DAY The information below is quoted from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “History of Veterans Day,” last updated July 20, 2015, accessed online at https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp, 11/3/22. “World War I—known at the time as ‘The Great War'—officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France.  However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of ‘the war to end all wars.' “…In November 1919, [U.S.] President [Woodrow] Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: ‘To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…'  The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m. “The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words: Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday, Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples. “An Act [of Congress] (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.' Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen in the Nation's history, [and] after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word ‘Armistice' and inserting in its place the word ‘Veterans.' With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.” SOURCES Used for Audio City of Portsmouth, Va., “Official Coast Guard City,” online at https://www.portsmouthva.gov/603/Official-Coast-Guard-City. Steve Jones, “Old Coast Guard Station Museum” [Virginia Beach, Va.], online at https://www.virginiabeach.com/listing/attractions-museums/old-coast-guard-station-museum. Military.com, “Coast Guard Birthday,” online at https://www.military.com/coast-guard-birthday. Militarybases.com, “Virginia Military Bases,” online at https://militarybases.com/virginia/. Mark Pratt and Ben Finley, “Coast Guard: 13 Rescued from Sinking Vessel off Virginia,” October 31, 2022, Associated Press, as published by Military.com, online at https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/10/31/coast-guard-13-rescued-sinking-vessel-off-virginia.html, as of 11-3-22. William H. Thiesen [U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Historian], “The Long Blue Line: Coast Guard's Fifth District—Home of Founders, Firsts and Flight for over 230 years!”  February 26, 2021, online at https://www.mycg.uscg.mil/News/Article/2508958/the-long-blue-line-coast-guards-fifth-districthome-of-founders-firsts-and-fligh/. U.S. Coast Guard, main Web site, online at https://www.uscg.mil/.  Specific pages used were the following:“Frequently Asked Questions,” online at https://www.history.uscg.mil/Frequently-Asked-Questions/;“History,” online at https://www.history.uscg.mil/;“History/Timeline 1700-1800,” online at https://www.history.uscg.mil/Complete-Time-Line/Time-Line-1700-1800/;“Missions,” online at https://www.history.uscg.mil/home/Missions/;“Moments in History: 200th Anniversary of the U.S. Coast Guard, 1990, online (as a PDF) at https://media.defense.gov/2020/May/21/2002303961/-1/-1/0/MOMENTSINHISTORY.PDF;“Semper Paratus (Always Ready)—The Official Coast Guard Marching Song,” online at https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/History-Heritage-Traditions/Semper-Paratus/;“Traveling Inspection Staff,” online at https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Prevention-Policy-CG-5P/Traveling-Inspector-Staff-CG-5P-TI/history/. U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area, “Sector Virginia,” online at https://www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil/Atlantic-Area/Units/District-5/Sector-Virginia/. For More Information about Veterans Day U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “History of Veterans Day,” last updated July 20, 2015, online at https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp; and “Veterans Day,” online at https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See especially the “Community/Organizations” and “History” subject categories. Following are links to other episodes for Veterans Day. Episode 289, 11-9-15 – Navy.Episode 341, 11-7-16 – Air Force.Episode 394, 11-13-17 –  Army.Episode 446, 11-12-18 – Marine Corps.Episode 498, 11-11-19 – All U.S. military services except the Space Force. FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode's audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post. 2020 Music SOLs SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.” 2018 Science SOLs Grade 66.9 – Humans impact the environment and individuals can influence public policy decisions related to energy and the environment. Earth ScienceES.6 – Resource use is complex.  2015 Social Studies SOLs Grades K-3 Civics Theme3.12 – Importance of government in community, Virginia, and the United States, including government protecting rights and property of individuals. Virginia Studies CourseVS.10 – Knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia. United States History to 1865 CourseUSI.5 – Factors that shaped colonial America and conditions in the colonies, including how people interacted with the environment to produce goods and service. United States History: 1865-to-Present CourseUSII.6 – Social, economic, and technological changes from the 1890s to 1945.USII.9 – Domestic and international issues during the second half of the 20th Century and the early 21st Century.Civics and Economics CourseCE.6 – Government at the national level.Virginia and United States History CourseVUS.14 – Political and social conditions in the 21st Century.

On today's program:* The federal government reports more jobs were added to the economy in October, but so too did unemployment claims* Albemarle Supervisors are briefed on spending on affordable housing and agree to pay $200,000 to keep an emergency homeless shelter open through the end of next April* Epidemiologists continue to keep an eye on new COVID strains at the same time flu and RSV are both on the rise* The two candidates in Virginia's Fifth District answer questions about taxation from the Chambers of Commerce of Charlottesville, Danville, and Lynchburg 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

We've reached the fourth Monday of the month and are now in the final lap with the finish line coming at the end of All Hallow's Eve. Shall we celebrate All Hallow's Day? Between now and then there's a lot to get through in as many installments of Charlottesville Community Engagement that I can put together between now and the time of disguise. I? Sean Tubbs. On today's version of this publication:* One person has died following an early morning shooting Sunday on the Downtown Mall * Charlottesville preparing to remove nine trees from the Downtown Mall* Two Charlottesville playgrounds remain closed while repairs continue* Time is running out to submit a poem to JMRL's latest contest* Albemarle County Supervisors finalize legislative priorities * The Center for Politics at UVA takes a look at concerns about the upcoming election Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.First shout-out: Rivanna Conservation Alliance Round-Up wrap-upIn today's first Patreon-fueled shout-out: The Rivanna Conservation Alliance would like to thank everyone who participated in the recent Rivanna River Round-Up! In all, 243 helped remove 173 tires, filled up 148 bags of trash and attended to 27 miles of river and trail. To help cover the costs, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance is selling t-shirts. Want to get involved with ongoing clean-up efforts? On Saturday, October 22, the RCA will hold a stream buffer maintenance day at Crozet Elementary School to check in on how trees planted three years ago are holding up. Visit rivannariver.org to learn more. One killed in early morning shooting SundayOne person has died following a shooting early Sunday morning on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall in which three people were hit with bullets. According to a release, the Charlottesville Police Department responded to the 200 block of West Main Street on the Downtown Mall. “The victims were then transported to UVA medical center for treatment; two of which are currently in stable condition. The third victim succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased later in the morning.”The release goes on to state that the incident does not pose an “immediate threat” and an investigation. A request for a follow-up this morning yielded no results. For more information, some other media coverage:* Charlottesville Mall shooting leaves one dead and two injured, Daily Progress* Police investigate fatal shooting on Downtown Mall, CBS19* CPD: 1 dead, 2 injured in connection with W. Main St. shooting, NBC29Photojournalist Eze Amos was on the Mall at the time. City crews preparing to remove some Downtown Mall treesLater this week, the city's Parks and Recreation Department will hold an information meeting on removing some of the trees on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall. Riann Anthony is the deputy director of the department. “We are very lucky that the Downtown Mall trees have been in existence for this long,” Anthony said. “Some of them are healthy and others are not healthy but per our urban forester is that all of the trees are stressed from a number of factors.”Anthony addresses the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board last Thursday. He said the number one factor are the tree grates that he said are squeezing trees that have outgrown them. He also said heaters for outdoor restaurants also cause stress.“There's a lot of café spaces that also have little lights that they use, nails, to put the lights on and stuff like that nature,” Anthony said. The city has been studying this issue for many year but action has not yet been taken. Anthony said the city is looking to remove hazards that might be in danger of falling. The ones most at risk will be removed over the next few months.“These are trees that are in the worst shape and we are looking out for the best interest of our community and of the folks that work on the mall,” Anthony said. “We do not want to ever see a tree just fall.” Nine trees in all will be removed. The first education session will be on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom. Two in-person meetings will be held next week. (meeting info)Anthony said the city is also seeking a consultant to help come up with a replacement policy for trees on the Downtown Mall. Charlottesville playground installation taking longer than expected The closure of city playgrounds at both Belmont Park and Meade Park will be a little longer than expected. The Parks and Recreation Department is installing new equipment at both locations and work had been expected to be completed this week. However, installation of individual pieces is taking more time. “We are extending the reopening date to tentatively, November 4th, but may open sooner if complete,” reads a press release that went out Friday morning. A Keaton Forest suite of playground structures is being installed at Belmont Park whereas Meade Park will have the first Modern City installation in Virginia. One more day to submit a poem for JMRL contestThe Jefferson Madison Regional Library and WriterHouse have teamed up for a poetry contest that ends tomorrow. If you're over 18 and have one original, unpublished poem you'd like to submit, there's an online form that's taking submissions through tomorrow at 5 p.m.  The theme is transformative change. “For hundreds of years, poets have altered the course of history by speaking out about issues that concern their communities, and this year's theme of transformation echoes that critical legacy of the power of the pen to affect positive change for all of us,” said WriterHouse executive director Sibley Johns. This contest is now in its sixth year. There are prizes for winners. For more information, visit jmrl.org/poetrycontest. Albemarle Supervisors set legislative priorities for 2023 General Assembly There are 79 days until the General Assembly convenes for the 2023 session for the second year with Glenn Youngkin in the Governor's Mansion. Last week, Albemarle Supervisors finalized their list of legislative priorities that they hope to convince legislators to turn into a bill. (2023 Legislative Priorities) (2023 Legislative Positions and Policy Statements)Supervisors last discussed the list in September and extensively discussed a request to expand the number of virtual meetings an appointed body can have. Another of the priorities is to request the ability for counties to decide for themselves if they want to hold a referendum on additional sales tax to generate revenue for school construction projects.“There are currently nine counties and one city in the Commonwealth which enjoy this authority to levy an additional one-percent sales tax which is used exclusively to fund school division capital projects,” said county attorney Steven Rosenberg. Legislation failed to make it out of a House of Delegates subcommittee last year. Another priority is to request a change of the eligibility rules for sites to participate in the Virginia Business Ready Sites program. Currently land in most economic development regions must be of a certain size to quality, and Albemarle wants that to be reduced.“There are not that many properties in the county that satisfy that 100 acre contiguous developable standard,” Rosenberg said.Albemarle wants to cut that in half to 50 acres and Rosenberg said two Go Virginia regions already have that lower threshold. “The economic development office (EDO) has identified sites that would otherwise fulfill the requirement but for their acreage,” Rosenberg said. “I will finally add on this item that there is one site in the county that does satisfy the requirement and it's in North Fork and the EDO is currently working with the University of Virginia Foundation in seeking funds for that site.” There will be one more discussion of the priorities in November if needed. See also: * House subcommittee kills school sales tax bills, February 25, 2022* Albemarle Supervisors to support legislation to allow advisory body meetings to go virtual, September 13, 2021)Second Shout-out is for the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards In today's second subscriber-supported shout-out, an area nonprofit wants you to know about what they offer to help you learn how to preserve, protect, and appreciate! The Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards holds several events throughout the year including a walk in western Albemarle County on the morning of November 12 through a well preserved and highly diverse woodland to see naturally occurring winterberry, spicebush, and dogwood laden with red berries. In abundance will be nuts from forest oaks, hickories, walnuts as well as orchard grown Chinese chestnuts, walnuts, pecans, and American hazelnuts. Registration is limited. There's also still time for an online Zoom tree identification class tomorrow night. Visit charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org for more information. Center for Politics forum explores election security in advance of Election Day Tensions are running high across the country as Election Day approaches and many members of one of the two American political parties continue to insist that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen. The University of Virginia's Center for Politics held a forum last week to discuss the upcoming elections moderated by Christopher Krebs, who served as the United States Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. He said much of the threat dates back to Russian efforts to hack the 2016 elections. (wikipedia article)“It had three different components,” Krebs said. “The first was attempts to get into voter registration databases and other systems administering elections. The second was targeting and hacking into political campaigns, the [Democratic National Committee], the Hilary Clinton and the third is this more pernicious, drawn out disinformation campaign that's really rooted in the entirety of Russian information doctrine going back really a century or more.” Krebs said the Russian campaign was intended to destabilize democracy, and not much was done to shore up security systems.“And there were domestic actors that saw the playbook run in 2016 and adapted it to their own measures,” Krebs said.Krebs said he is concerned about continued efforts to falsely claim that President Joe Biden was not elected, as well as continued attacks on election workers. He said death threats are common. “It's part of unfortunately doing business as election workers right now and that is leading to a retreat and exodus from the work force which in turn kind of turns out to be a former of almost voter suppression,” Krebs said.That's because fewer election workers means fewer precincts and longer lines. Krebs said there's also a strategy to radicalize election workers. Barbara Comstock served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia's former 10th District. The Republican politician is now involved in Issue One and the National Council for Elections Security.  “I am for the first time in my life a single issue voter,” Comstock said. “I've never been a single issue voter. I was a conservative Republican but now my issue is democracy before any other issue. And if you aren't going to respect elections and who wins and who loses, you can't have any other issues before that.” Comstock said she is concerned about candidates who have already declared they will not accept the elections results unless they win. “Those kind of situations are going to repeat themselves around the country,” Comstock said. “We're a 50/50 country. I won my first election by 422 votes.” Comstock said on that night, she knew where the votes were coming in because she was familiar with the polls. She said many with conspiracy theories have never worked an election before. “And these are people who just didn't understand anything about  retail politics,” Comstock said. “They were just people who were preaching to the choir, hung out with everyone who thought the way they did, and had never knocked on a door.”Renée DiResta, research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, has been studying rumors that circulate online about perceived election fraud.“When somebody believes that their ballot has been invalidated because they were given a sharpie marker at the polls and they remember being a kid in school and being told you can't use a sharpie marker on a scantron and they believe that there's a false plot to steal the election from them because that's kind of where the political climate of the country is at this point,” DiResta said. “Those claims tend to go viral and one of the things we look at at Stanford is how those claims go viral and where and in what communities on the internet.”DiResta said the sharpie argument has come back again in Arizona during the 2022 race. She said she's part of something called the Election Integrity Partnership which is a non-partisan coalition to help groups that want to fight disinformation by crowd-sourcing responses by helping to find the right messenger to convey correct information. “That person who is a trusted counter messenger counter speaks to the people in their communities,” DiResta said. “They don't want to hear Stanford Internet Observatory thinks that your sharpie markers is wrong because who the hell are we? We're ivory tower academics. We have no trust and we have no resonance in that community but the local elections theoretically do because they are members of the community.” Siva Vaidhyanathan, the Robertson Professor of Media Studies and director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia, said democracies have been under attack from across the world in the past decade. He said a lot of this builds off the stoking of fears of other Americans. “We're now in a situation in this country of all countries where we don't have a romance of  democracy,” Vaidhyanathan said. “We don't have something that moves us to believe deeply in the power of each other, in the shared future that we all have whether we admit or not.”Election Day is now 15 days away. This Wednesday, the two candidates in the Fifth District will meet at Hampden-Sydney College for the first and only campaign forum of the race. Some information here, and more in the next newsletter.You can watch the whole Center for Politics event on YouTube. Other articles for your review:As much as I try, I can't get it all. Here are some recent stories you may be interested in reviewing. * Charlottesville's first climate action plan, Anahita Jafary, NBC29, October 20, 2022* Richmond Fed: Va. gained 8,000 jobs in September, Virginia Business, October 21, 2022* Charlottesville man's lawsuit against University Village tests state condo law, Daily Progress, October 21, 2022* Bob Good visits Albemarle County, CBS19, October 22, 2022 * Public comment period ends Wednesday for proposed transgender policy, WWBT, October 24Concluding notes for the end of #447 Monday will end and Tuesday will begin and I am hopeful that there will be another installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. There is so much to get through, and I'm grateful for paid subscribers who are helping me attempt to keep the stables clean. Do consider a paid subscription through Substack at either $5 a month, $50 a year or $200 a year.And if you do that, Ting will match your initial payment, making it very likely I'll get to keep doing this for a while. That's my goal, at least. This work is how I exercise my love of democracy, by pointing out the decision points close at hand. I will try to resist saying what I think, because mostly what I think is how I can get this up to a seven-day-a-week publication. There's enough to go round. If you do sign up, Ting will match your initial subscription. And even if you don't sign up for a paid subscription to this newsletter, Ting wants your custom too, and if you sign up through a link in the newsletter you will get free installation, a $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall, and a second month for free. Just enter the promo code COMMUNITY.Did you know this newsletter is also the working script for a podcast? Do sign up in your podcast player, because it's a great way to hear people's voices. There is the occasional music bit from either the Fundamental Grang or Wraki, a chameleon-like blender of sonic stylings. Check them out on Bandcamp.  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

On today's show: * Democratic challenger Josh Throneburg outraises Republican incumbent in latest campaign finance numbers for Virginia's Fifth District race* Charlottesville announces funding opportunities for affordable housing initiatives* A member of the Fluvanna County School Board and Planning Commission has died* A look back at a site plan conference for more details on a plan to build 245 units on the floodplain on the Rivanna River off of East High Street 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

The minister that has apparently no trouble 'bearing false witness against his neighbors' will be facing voters today at the Senior Statesmen Forum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 5th Congressional District challenger's campaign creates another work of "political fiction" which is sad because as an ordained minister he MUST be familiar with that list of rules that says; "Thou Shall Not Bear False Witness Upon Your Neighbor" Or, has the new Pope cancelled those?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Connecticut Today with Paul Pacelli" kicked off a brand new week and a brand month as we inch closer to election season. Paul gave his thoughts on Vice President Kamala Harris announcing a stop in Connecticut in the next couple days (0:34). Holly Sullivan, the President of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League called in to talk gun politics and talk about some legal challenges towards gun legislation put in place following the Sandy Hook shooting (12:34). To wrap up the program, Mike O'Neill, from the Landmark Legal Foundation came on to talk about the United States Supreme Court coming back to work with a brand new judge (23:32). Image Credit: CT.Gov

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, we are joined by Congressman Andy Biggs, Republican from Arizona's 5th Congressional District. -Andy Biggs was first elected to serve the people of Arizona's Fifth District in 2016. He currently serves on the House Oversight and Reform Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, where he is Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.From 2019 through 2021, he served as Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. He is currently co-chair of the Border Security Caucus, Vice Chair of the Congressional Western Caucus, and a co-founder of the bipartisan War Powers Caucus.Prior to his election to Congress, Andy served in the Arizona State House of Representatives for eight years, and in the Arizona State Senate for six years. In 2012, Andy was elected Senate President.Andy received his B.A. in Asian Studies from Brigham Young University, his J.D. from University of Arizona, and his M.A. in Political Science from Arizona State University.An Arizona native, Andy and his wife, Cindy, have lived in Gilbert for 35 years. They have six children and are the grandparents of eight grandchildren.-Connect with us:www.breakingbattlegrounds.voteTwitter: www.twitter.com/Breaking_BattleFacebook: www.facebook.com/breakingbattlegroundsInstagram: www.instagram.com/breakingbattlegroundsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/breakingbattlegrounds This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit breakingbattlegrounds.substack.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Fifth District representative barely beat her DFL challenger. Hear the "Playing Politics" analysis from WCCO Radio's Chad Hartman and the Star Tribune Editorial Board's Patricia Lopez and John Rash.

There are many made-up holidays that somehow have found their way into being mentioned on this particular channel of programming as part the introduction. For some reason, today is Clean Your Floors Day, though it’s unclear who makes the money off of those greetings cards. But how clean are your floors? Are you a rebel without a broom, or are you a vacuum warrior? It’s a very good thing that none of the rest of this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement has anything to do with this particular topic. But I will have you know, I mopped mine yesterday in anticipation of this very important day. On today’s show:So far there are no debates scheduled in the contested Fifth Congressional District race but Democrat Josh Throneburg wants to change thatArea home sales volumes have decreased, though the cost to buy a place to live continues to increaseGreene County hires a water and sewer director to prepare to expand supplySeveral area organizations receive funding from Virginia Humanities, including a project to tell stories of PVCC students who have been or are in prisonAlbemarle County continues to review its Comprehensive Plan and the seven-member Planning Commission got their chance to review growth management options late last month First shout-out is for LEAP’s new Thermalize Virginia program In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out: Have you been thinking of converting your fossil-fuel appliances and furnaces into something that will help the community reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP,  has launched a new program to guide you through the steps toward electrifying your home. Thermalize Virginia will help you understand electrification and connect you with vetted contractors to get the work done and help you find any rebates or discounts. Visit thermalizeva.org to learn more and to sign up!  Challenger Throneburg challenges Good to an in-person debateThe Democratic candidate in the Fifth District Congressional race has asked his opponent to agree to meet in person for a debate or other kind of candidate forum before the November 8 election. Josh Throneburg of Charlottesville became the candidate earlier this year before the primary when he was the only one to qualify for the ballot. “There’s one question I get asked more than any other and that is, when will the two of you debate?” Throneburg asked in a campaign video sent out this morning. Throneburg addressed his comments directly to Good and said there were at least three organizations that would hold a campaign event, and that he’s accepted all of them.“But you have either rejected or ignored those invitations and so I want to make things crystal clear. I, Josh Throneburg, challenge you, Representative Bob Good to an in-person debate sometime between now and November 8.”Good is seeking his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives having defeated Cameron Webb in the 2020 election. Candidate Good did participate in a September 9, 2020 virtual campaign forum put on by the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. You can take a listen to that whole event at the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. A request for comment or a response is out to the Bob Good for Congress campaign. CAAR: Charlottesville real estate market continues to cool as prices continue to increaseThe number of sales in the Charlottesville housing market continues to drop as the median sales price continues to climb. That’s according to the latest report from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors. (view the report) “There were 1,380 homes sold in the CAAR area in the second quarter,” reads one of the bullet points in the CAAR Home Sales Report for the second quarter. “This is an eleven percent drop from the second quarter a year ago, which is 165 fewer sales.” CAAR’s jurisdictional area is the same as the Thomas Jefferson Planning District with the city of Charlottesville as well as the counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson. The median sales price increased to $417,850, an eleven percent increase over the second quarter of 2021. Additionally, supply has increased with 741 active listings in the area, a 28 percent increase over the same period in 2021. To put the increase in perspective, consider that the median sales price for the second quarter of 2018 was $301,000. The report also covers recent economic trends such as steady job growth and low unemployment. “Several job sectors have fully recovered and have actually expanded since the start of the pandemic, including the Professional and Technical Services sector, and the Federal Government sector. The homeownership rate within these two job sectors tends to be relatively high, so growth in these sectors provides fuel for the housing market in Virginia.”However, the leisure and hospitality sector continues to show signs of recovery. Mortgage rates are higher than last year, but have shown a slight decline from the end of June when the average rate on a 30-year fixed was 5.7 percent. However, the report acknowledges the cooling effect of rates that have increased two percentage points so far this year. Sales volumes were down in all localities except Greene County where there was a 33 percent increase in sales. There were 122 homes sold in that jurisdiction between April and June of this year compared to 92 in the same period the year before. The median sales price increased in all of the jurisdictions, but Nelson County saw the biggest jump in values from $285,000 in second quarter of 2021 to $425,000 in the second quarter of 2022. Visit caar.com to download the report. What do you think? If you’re a property owner, how does this change your views on what you may do with your own place? What about if you want to own? Say something in the comments. New water and sewer director in GreeneGreene County is preparing for anticipated population growth by expanding its urban water supply. Now the locality has hired its first ever water and sewer director. “Mr. Greg Lunsford… will oversee the development of a team to operate Greene County Water and Sewer Department as Greene transitions out of the Rapidan Service Authority,” reads an announcement posted to the county’s Facebook page. Greene County recently left the RSA in order to build a reservoir that’s already received permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The idea is to impound White Run to create storage. (learn more on the Greene website)Lunsford recently served as the town manager of Elkton in Rockingham County where the release states he helped advance a water system upgrade. In Greene, he will lead the work to create a water and sewer ordinance to govern the new supply. Virginia Humanities awards grants to area nonprofitsThe state agency that serves as the official humanities council for Virginia has made its latest round of grants to nonprofit organizations that seek to tell new stories about the people who have lived in the Commonwealth. “We want Virginians to connect with their history and culture and, in doing that, we hope we’ll all get to know each other a little better,” reads the About section of the website for Virginia Humanities. In all, Virginia Humanities awarded $153,200 to eighteen organizations including several in this general area. The Catticus Corporation of Berkeley, California will get $10,000 for a project to build a website intended to tell the story of Barbara Johns and the 1951 student walk out in Prince Edward County to a larger audience across Virginia and the nation. James Madison University will get $5,400 toward a project called A Miserable Revenge: Recovering 19th-Century Black Literature from the Shenandoah Valley. This will transcribe a handwritten novel by George Newman around 1880. Newman was an African American educator from the Winchester area. The Louisa County Historical Society will get $7,000 for a project called Representing our Residents: African American History at the Louisa County Historical Society. This will be a series of oral history interviews and public outreach activities.The National D-Day Memorial in Bedford will get $8,000 for a project called Someone Talked! A Podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. This will include conversations between the prolific WWII historian John McManus and other scholars and is intended and designed to reach and engage new audiences now that the generation that lived through WWII has passed. A project to add two Louisa County churches to the National Register of Historic Places received $3,000.Piedmont Virginia Community College will receive $10,000 for the PVCC Prison Creative Arts Project. The idea is to collect original writing from incarcerated PVCC students and then create a theatrical production based on the stories. The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum will get $8,250 to make three videos to introduce the Monacan Nation as “custodians of the lands and waters in and around Charlottesville” to serve as land acknowledgments The Virginia Tech Foundation will receive $20,000 for a podcast to be called Tribal Truths on the histories and cultures of state and federally recognized Tribes in Virginia. To see the rest, visit the release at Virginia Humanities. Second shout-out goes to Camp AlbemarleToday’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Camp Albemarle seeks support for a plan to winterize the Hamner Lodge, a structure built in 1941 by the CCC and used by every 4th and 5th grade student in Charlottesville and Albemarle for the study of ecology for over 20 years. If this campaign is successful, Camp Albemarle could operate year-round. Consider your support by visiting campalbemarleva.org/donate. Albemarle Planning Commission reviews seven options for growth management Is this the summer of 2022, or is it the Summer of AC44? AC44 is the name Albemarle County has given for the review of its Comprehensive Plan. That’s a document Virginia requires all localities to adopt and review every five years. Albemarle last updated its plan in 2015 and work got underway earlier this year. “We’re currently in phase one, plan for growth, where we are reviewing and evaluating the current growth management policy, using lenses of equity, climate action, and capacity projects,” said Tori Kannellopollous, a senior planner with Albemarle County.At the end of this phase, staff and hired consultants will have developed a draft vision for “growth and resilience” on which new policy objectives will be written.  The work so far has led to the development of seven growth management policies for the public to review. “We are planning having in-person and virtual roundtables and online opportunities in step three,” Kannellopollous saidThe Commission will then review the work in September followed by a review by the Board of Supervisors. Discussions about what changes might come in the rural area will come during phase two of the Comprehensive Plan Review. Several Commissioners wanted to know if survey responses have done enough to capture a diversity of opinion. “I did a deep dive on the last one that came out and when I look at the demographics, the demographics really trend white, upper class, middle-upper class, and extremely well-educated,” said Commission Julian Bivins. “What I’m nervous about is that those responses become the drivers for lots of decisions.” Charles Rapp, the deputy director of the Community Development Department, said he expected participation to increase when the plan review gets into specifics.“People are excited to get into the specific topics [and] into the details of this plan,” Rapp said. “At this point we’re still at such a high level trying to figure out which of those avenues we’re going to go down and which ideas we want to explore and what are those topics that we want to dive into.” The Commission also got an update on the buildout analysis of the county’s existing capacity for new homes and businesses. The firm Kimley Horn has been hired to conduct that work. Kannellopollous had several preliminary observations.“In mixed-use developments, the residential component tends to fill out first and the non-residential component may not build out until years later,” Kannellopollous said. “When factoring in site readiness and site-selection criteria, there appears to be sufficient capacity for commercial and retail uses but much less currently available for office and industrial uses.” Another finding is that new developments are not being approved at the maximum possible, and that by-right developments also do not use all of the potential building space recommended in the existing Comprehensive Plan.Seven growth management optionsThe firm EPR has been hired to help develop the growth management options. “These were developed by the consultants and the staff after the first round of public input,”  said Vlad Gavrilovic with EPR. “They’re not intended as picking one as the winner or the loser. They’re intended to initiate discussion.” Let’s go through them. Here’s option one:“Applying more density and more in-fill development within the existing development areas and retaining and enhancing green infrastructure,” Gavrilovic said. “Next option was looking in the development areas to adjust the densities and reduce the maximum densities to more closely align with what people have actually been building as.” The third option would be to develop criteria for which the growth area might be adjusted. “Looking at new criteria to identify when, where, and how growth areas should be expanded,” Gavrilovic said.  “The next option was opportunities for non-residential development around the interchanges on I-64 to support job growth and economic development.” Option five would explore the possibility of rural villages. “Rural villages where you would promote small scale commercial and service uses to nearby rural area residents,” Gavrilovic said. “Number six was looking at current service provisions and seeing if adjustments are needed to ensure equitable distribution of services, particularly health and safety services.” The final option is to “explore opportunities to promote forest retention and regenerative land uses in the Rural area that support climate action goals.” So those are the seven scenarios. A second round of community engagement went out with these results. “We heard that the three options that best support climate action were regenerative uses in the rural area, rural villages, and distribution of service provision,” Kannellopollous said. “The three options that best support equity were service provision, rural villages, and providing more density and infill in the development areas with green infrastructure.” For the “accommodating growth” lens, the top three options were rural villages, non-residential development at Interstate interchanges, and service provision. Commissioner feedbackCommissioner Karen Firehock said she saw the provision of infrastructure to support development areas as an equity issue.“People should be able to walk to a park or a trail or a healthy environment near to where they live and not have to get in the car and drive a really long way to find something green,” Firehock said. Firehock said the county is expanding some services into the rural area, such as the Southern Convenience Center in Keene. She said that will make it easier for people to meet other environmental goals. Commissioner Lonnie Murray lives in the rural area, and hopes the growth management strategy does not undo work to date. “I think it’s important to have a concept of ‘do no harm’ in the rural area,” Murray said.As an example, he said he wants the county to stop paving gravel roads in the rural area. Bivins urged the Commission to look ahead to the next redistricting after the 2030 Census, when he said the urban areas will continue to have more of the county’s expected population. “If we do not increase the development area, Samuel Miller [District] will end up in the near future as the largest land mass district in Albemarle County.” Bivins said “From an equity standpoint, one has to say ‘is that where we want to go as a county?’” The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service currently projects Albemarle’s population as increasing to 124,016 by 2030, up from 112,395 in the U.S. Census of 2020. Commissioner Fred Missel said he wanted to know more information about how capital infrastructure works together to support development.“How does the capital plan for infrastructure, how does that inform development and how are they linked together?” Missel asked. “Not to throw the [Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority] into the mix it’s just one that comes to mind. What is their capital plan and how does that support strategic density? How does it support sustainability?” Missel’s day job is as director of design and development at the University of Virginia Foundation. The Foundation is pursuing a rezoning at its North Fork Discovery Park for a potential mixed-use residential complex. If you’d like to learn more about capital projects in Albemarle County, click here.If you’d like to learn more about the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority’s Capital Improvement Program, download it here.Luis Carrazana’s day job is at the University of Virginia’s Office of the Architect. He said he wanted better metrics. “And a lot of times we focus on the big picture but we lose that option to say ‘we know we’re going in the right direction if we’re achieving A, B, C, and D,” Carrazana said. “So I would encourage everyone to think about that as well.” Planning Commissioner Corey Clayborne said density in the right place can help the county achieve certain goals, but he also acknowledged a tension with those who have pushed back. “That’s something we kind of have to wrestle to the ground and I’m not sure if that would be part of the final deliverable here as much as, is there an education sense in this process with the community as we step through this?” Clayborne asked. “Does that mean there are graphics or visuals? I’m not sure what that answer is yet but addressing it… if we can get our arms around and embrace strategic density, I think if you start talking about design importance, that could be a major key to affordable housing.” Commissioner Dan Bailey said one piece of data is experience that comes from what’s been approved and what’s actually been built. “I live in Belvedere and it has a concept that’s been there for nearly ten years of having centers in the community, but it’s been vacant for ten years,” Bailey said. “And we’ve done a lot of approving these novel neighborhood model density and other things where they should have this retail or office building. I would really love to know how many of them have actually been developed.” The next step will be a series of public engagement on the themes as well as the growth management options. Stay tuned. If you’re interested in this topic, invest an hour in the conversation to inform how you might participate. Housekeeping notes for 415 (Clean Floor edition)That’s the end of another installment of the program. Thank you so much for being here! I hope to have another one out tomorrow, followed by another on Friday. Then the Week Ahead and the Government Glance. The latter is the first publication of the new Fifth District Community Engagement.  That’s another service of Town Crier Productions, a company formed to keep you in the know. Contributions and payments to Town Crier Productions cover the cost of reporting. That includes a bill with the United States for the Public Access to Court Electronic Records. I use that service to stay up to date on federal lawsuits such the one former City Manager Tarron Richardson had filed against the city, or the two court cases that sought a House of Delegates race this year.  So, if you’re like to support this program which includes expenses like court reporting, consider a paid subscription through Substack. If do so, Ting will match your initial payment! And, if you sign up for their services through this link you’ll get a free standard install, your 2nd month free, and a $75 downtown mall gift card! Enter the promo code COMMUNITY for full effect. All of the funding goes to ensure I can keep doing the work, which two years ago included bringing the audio from a campaign forum to the public via the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. That’s also part of Town Crier Productions. There’s a lot, and your support will help me pull all of the pieces together into whatever it becomes. Music comes from the D.C. entity that currently goes by the name Wraki, selected randomly from a bin of basement-recorded cassette tapes. You can support that work by purchasing the album Regret Everything for whatever you would like to pay. Now. Off to go clean some floors. 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

Going up? Going down? Or, staying in the same place? Those are the only options to ponder now that it is National Talk In An Elevator Day. The idea is to spark up a quick conversation with a stranger while you level up - or down. So, polish up your pitch and perhaps you will find your way somewhere new? That’s one thought to have on July 29, 2022 and this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement hopes to get to the bottom of a few things. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. Sign up for free to be informed about a great deal of things! Pay for a subscription and you’ll help the information keep flowing!On today’s show:The deadline will soon close to tell the University of Virginia that your company wants to build affordable units as part of a housing initiativeAlbemarle Supervisors approve funding to further advance affordable housing projects at SouthwoodThere’s another algae bloom at Chris Greene Lake And Albemarle Supervisors deny a request from a landowner next to the lake to import clean fill to help restore the land to raise livestock First shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners want to help you rethink your lawnIn today’s first subscriber supported public service announcement: Want to change up your lawn to something more sustainable for pollinators and other creatures? The Piedmont Master Gardeners wants you to know about a program called Healthy Virginia Lawns which can assist you in your transition. The program is a joint venture of Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. If interested, the first step will be for a Piedmont Master Gardener to come for a visit for an assessment and soil tests. Healthy Virginia Lawns will give you a customized, science-based roadmap to a greener landscape that protects water quality, wildlife and other resources along the way. Visit piedmontmastergardeners.org to learn more!And if you want to learn more about how to use water more efficiently while gardening, Piedmont Master Gardeners are hosting a program at the Center at Belvedere this Tuesday, August 2, at 6:30 p.m. Learn more at thecentercville.org.Deadline looming for responses to UVA housing initiativeFirms and entities that seek to be part of the University of Virginia’s initiative to build up to 1,500 subsidized housing units have until Tuesday to answer a request for qualifications (RFQ). The University of Virginia Foundation has announced three sites on which mixed-use developments will be built, and the RFQ is for a 24 acre site on Fontaine Avenue known as Piedmont as well as a two acre site on Wertland Street near the intersection with 10th Street NW. Two weeks ago, the Foundation put out a list of answers to questions raised at a June 10 pre-proposal conference. (view the answers)“We expect submissions to provide clear examples of the approach to planning and development on other similar projects managed by the respondent,” reads the response to the first question. The document states that there have been no discussions with either Albemarle or Charlottesville about potential rezonings that might be necessary for the projects. The Piedmont site is located within Albemarle county and offers about 12 developable acres. The 10th and Wertland site is within Charlottesville close to three apartment buildings that have been constructed in the last ten years on West Main Street. There will be no homeownership options at either site and the Foundation’s involvement will be limited to leasing the ground to the development team. Existing tenants at the two locations are on year-to-year leases and have been informed of the potential redevelopment. Some but not all of the new tenants in the new buildings will be required to have specific low incomes. “Our team’s analysis demonstrates a need for units at [30 percent to 60 percent of area median income], but it will be up to the development team to determine the best approach to maximize affordability while producing a financially feasible project,” reads the response to question 10. The Foundation is also not stating a unit count at either location.“The count should be identified by the selected development team’s development program and financial plan,” reads the response to question 14. “It is assumed that teams will seek to maximize the number of affordable units while working to offer a variety of affordability levels across the development.”The response also clarifies that the units are not being targeted for UVA employees but for community members at the 30 percent to 60 percent level. The UVA Foundation has previously offered land at the North Fork Discovery Park, but an RFQ for that project will not be issued until after a rezoning is completed. See also:UVA announces three sites for affordable housing projects, December 14, 2021Places29-North committee gets first look at North Fork rezoning to add residential, March 3, 2022University of Virginia issues first request for qualifications for affordable housing developers, June 10, 2022Regional housing partnership endorses Piedmont Housing Alliance’s application to build affordable housing at two sites, July 7, 2022Albemarle Supervisors approve nearly $3.3 million in additional funding for projects at Southwood There’s a lot of demand for funding for housing projects across the community, and Albemarle County set aside some of its share of the American Rescue Plan Act to provide support to nonprofit agencies. The county asked those entities to apply for funding for affordable housing projects last gal “During the [Agency Budget Review Team] and [American Rescue Plan Act] processes we received requests for more than $20 million in funding support,” said Stacy Pethia, Albemarle’s Housing Policy Manager.On April 20, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors approved $1.29 million from the FY22 budget for three projects. “That money went to the Albemarle Housing Improvement Program to preserve 41 affordable units,” Pethia said. “$625,000 went to the Piedmont Community Land Trust to create 12 permanently affordable new housing units. And $250,000 was awarded to expand the county’s current energy improvement program and that would extend that program for an additional 25 existing units.” Another $2.7 million from Albemarle’s share of ARPA was set aside for housing, and Pethia said much of that went to the Premier Circle project being developed by Piedmont Housing Alliance, Virginia Supportive Housing, and the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless. On July 20, Supervisors were asked to approve funding for two additional projects. “The staff is requesting the Board approve $3.3 million in funding [and] $3 million of that will be given to Piedmont Housing Alliance to support their Southwood Housing project and $306,000 will go to Habitat for Humanity to provide temporary rental assistance for 40 Southwood families that need to be relocated during the redevelopment process,” Pethia said. That relocation will take place for two years as the second phase of Habitat’s Southwood redevelopment gets underway. The total project cost is $2 million, making the county’s cost about 15 percent of that total. Pethia said the relocation will be in a building being constructed as part of phase one. Pethia said Piedmont Housing Alliance’s Southwood Apartments will have 121 units in the first phase of the Southwood redevelopment. “Those units will serve households with incomes between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area  median income,” Pethia said. “The total project cost is $24.9 million.”Pethia said Albemarle’s total contribution for that project will end up around 12 percent of the total cost, or about $25,000 per unit. The main bulk of the funding comes from the sale of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits but other sources include the National Housing Trust Fund and the Virginia Housing Trust Fund. Albemarle’s Office of Housing will also dedicate eight vouchers to the project. “That equals approximately $500,” Pethia said. “That will provide rental assistance to dedicated units for 15 years.”Supervisor Ann Mallek asked what would happen after that 15 years. Pethia responded they would have to remain affordable for 30 years because that is the requirement under the Low Income Housing Tax Credits mechanism. Supervisor Ned Gallaway said Supervisors have to have a discussion about the future of the county’s affordable housing trust.“We’re on the 20th day of the Fiscal Year and our affordable housing fund, which we’ve taken probably four years to get up to $5 million is now down to under $500,000 again,” Gallaway said. “That’s not bad because we’re using it but there’s still so much out there that we need to do.” Gallaway said the county needs to do more than rely on surpluses and one-time money. Second shout-out: Join me for a Cvillepedia training session - Brand styleIn today’s house-fueled public service announcement, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society wants you to know about an upcoming exhibit at the Center at Belvedere featuring portraits of several historical figures active in the Charlottesville area in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Frances Brand was a folk artist who painted nearly 150 portraits of what she considered “firsts” including first Black Charlottesville Mayor Charles Barbour and Nancy O’Brien, the first woman to be Charlottesville Mayor. Brand’s work will be on display from July 5 to August 31 in the first public exhibit since 2004. And, if you’d like to help conduct community research into who some of the portraits are, cvillepedia is looking for volunteers! I will be leading a Cvillepedia 101 training session at the Center August 1 at 2 p.m. Sign up at the Center’s website.Another algae bloom at Chris Greene LakeAlbemarle County has closed the beach to people and animals at Chris Greene Lake due to another harmful algae bloom. “People and dogs are prohibited from swimming in the lake until further notice,” reads a press release that went out on Wednesday. “Hiking trails and the dog park remain open, and boating is still permitted.:This is the second such event in less than a year. Another harmful algae bloom shut down the water last October and Chris Greene Lake was reopened after tests showed reduced levels of the bacteria that cause the blooms to occur. Another bloom in June 2018 prompted the county to hire the firm SOLitude Lake Management to conduct a study of the lake’s chemistry to understand the source. Their work found that organic material has accumulated at the bottom of the lake since it was created in the 1970’s. Lower oxygen in warmer months releases phosphorus into the lake upon which the algae feeds.“Algae are naturally-occurring microscopic organisms that are found in fresh and salt waters of Virginia and around the world,” reads the Virginia Department of Health’s website on harmful algae blooms. “Most algal blooms are not harmful but some do affect fish and humans, as well as other animals like birds and marine mammals.” Western portions of Lake Anna are also experiencing harmful algae blooms and an advisory was issued on July 15. The next report on that situation is expected on August 10. Albemarle Supervisors deny landowners request to be exempt from new rules on clean fillThe Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has taken action on the first test of an ordinance adopted in the fall of 2020 to regulate the practice of importing dirt from construction sites and other excavations to agriculturally zoned land. “The fill regulations were developed to protect public health, safety, welfare, and those regulations were designed to limit the scale and impact on roads, the adjacent areas, noise, runoff,” said Bart Svoboda, the county’s zoning administrator. The owner of two properties just to the west of Chris Greene Lake wants an exemption from all of those rules because he says they restrict a contract he has with the federal government to further develop forested land that was clear cut in 2009 that he now wants to become suitable for livestock pasture. “I am currently working on a multiyear, federally-funded environmental quality incentive program  to improve the overall agricultural production of a 254 acre farm that has been in my family since the 1730’s,” said Tim Kindrick. The request is the first to come in since Supervisors adopted updated rules for what’s called clean fill on September 16, 2020. The new rules only allow imported fill on two acres per property. About 90 acres of the property were clear cut in 2009 and the stumps were left to decompose in place in order to prevent erosion. To move the land into productive use as pasture, Kindrick entered into a contract with the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Resources Conservation Service. One of the items in the meeting packet is a letter from Kory Kirkland with the NRCS. (read Kindrick’s application)“I have been working with Tim Kindrick on a multiyear project to conserve, improve, and protect the natural resources on his farm. This project promotes improved pasture condition and use, permanent/ perennial vegetation, and some use exclusion on areas that are most vulnerable. Part of the project area includes the area that Mr. Kindrick has proposed to use clean fill dirt as a land treatment to improve existing [conditions] for continued/ improved agricultural use.” Clean fill means solid matter brought from other sites that could include soil and other inert materials that change the topography of the landscape. Kindrick told the Board of Supervisors the project is agricultural in nature and that the new rules should not apply due to the Virginia Right to Farm Act. He said he has been held hostage by the new ordinance. Zoning administrator Bart Svoboda said staff does not see it that way. (county fill-dirt rules)“Under our ordinance, the zoning ordinance, the activity is not agricultural,” Svoboda said. “Fill activity is specifically excluded as an agricultural activity under state code and local code.”Svoboda acknowledged that the Virginia Right to Farm Act does restrict localities from regulating many agricultural uses, but clean fill brought in from external sites is not one of them.  “That activity of bringing fill from offsite is not an agricultural use,” Svoboda said. “It supports agriculture but under those definitions it is not agricultural use.” Svoboda said staff recommended denial in part because there was no plan for how environmental effects would be mitigated under the plan. Supervisor Jim Andrews questioned the request for exemption from all of the rules. “My sense is that this is really an attempt to say that this regulation shouldn’t apply at all and asking us to make that determination which seems highly inappropriate,” Andrews said. “Without conditions I can’t understand what I’m really looking at.” Before we get to the end of the story, we have to go back. Earlier in the meeting, Brian McCay spoke on behalf of the Earlysville Forest Homeowners Association and said Supervisors should not grant the exemption. “Earlysville Forest has a right of way easement with the Kindrick family that was signed when the neighborhood was first developed,” McCay said. The neighborhood dates back to the 1980’s and McCay said the terms give the association an 15-foot easement intended for a driveway that links to Carriage Hill Drive. “However that driveway is now being used as access for the fill dirt operation requiring repeated trips by heavy dump trucks and is not adequate for that purpose,” McCay said. When asked by Supervisor Ned Gallaway to further explain the neighborhood’s opposition, McCay spoke a second time saying he was not opposed to the use of the property. “Our opposition is directly to the use of this access by heavy equipment and we want to stop that basically,” McCay said. Supervisor Donna Price said she toured the property with Kindrick and saw the installation of mechanisms to keep additional organic material from being washed into the watershed of Chris Greene Lake. “I did have a tour of part of the property and I did see where livestock exclusion fencing has been constructed to protect the waterways,” Price said. “My concern here is that our ordinance may have someone created what I’d call the law of unintended consequences by limiting the soil to have to come from the farm itself.” Price said the farm was in existence many years before the homes were built on Carriage Hill Road and that Kindrick had a legal right to use it. “It is a farm,” Price said. ”A farm naturally engages in some sort of industrial use.” Price asked for a legal perspective on whether the county’s ordinance was against state rules.“As Mr. Svoboda said at the beginning, there’s a difference between agricultural use on the one hand and fill use on the other and as Mr. Svoboda also pointed out, there was a recent amendment to state law that specifically amended agricultural activity so as not to include imported fill,” said Deputy County Attorney Andy Herrick. Supervisor Ann Mallek said the county’s new rules on clean fill were the subject of much public discussion over several years.“I cannot support someone saying ‘I don’t want this law to apply to me,’ and I think we have to make a decision based on the information we have now and if there’s a future application that comes in with something different, that would be fair to the neighbors and to the process.” Supervisor Ned Gallaway said he was sympathetic to the landowner, but the county put its ordinance into place for a reason. “I think even then we knew that this would likely frustrate good actors coming forward but the regulations and the ordinance were put in place to stop the bad actors and the activity that we were concerned about,” Gallaway said. There are six ways you can get a waiver but Kindrick wanted a blanket exemption from all of the rules. Gallaway suggested a new application that sought to justify the waiver. Price said she also could not support a blanket exemption. “But I really want county staff to do what I believe county staff does which is help this community member achieve within the law what he wants to do which is to improve the quality of his farm,” Price said. The motion to deny the application for a special exemption was approved unanimously. Housekeeping notes for episode 413:And that’s it for another edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, and you may have noticed a focus on Albemarle County. I’d been wanting to get some of these items out there and it took a bit. There’s so much going on and I hope to have another edition out Monday at noon. Between now and then, there’s the Week Ahead coming out on Sunday. There will also be another look at what’s happening at government meetings in the Fifth District in the new Government Glance. In a few days, the above stories will be on the Information Charlottesville website. Want to read articles on land use at the University of Virginia? Click here!What about information on local waterways? Click here!How about economic development? Elections in Virginia? The archive grows each week!All of this is supported by readers and listeners under the Town Crier Productions company I formed two years ago and am still learning how to operate. I’m breaking even, but I’d very much like to find a way to grow. There are ways to do that!For one, if you sign up for a paid subscription through Substack, Ting will match your initial payment! And, if you sign up for their services through this link you’ll get a free standard install, your 2nd month free, and a $75 downtown mall gift card! Enter the promo code COMMUNITY for full effect. Music on the podcast version of the show comes from the D.C. sensation Wraki, and you can support their work by paying whatever you want for the album on BandCamp. My sincere hope today, though, is that someone will ponder the concept of elevators. And what would happen if they could predict the future? Ting will match your initial contribution if you sign up for a paid subscription! 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

In an open letter sent to her Fifth District constituents, Supervisor Barger said she believes "masking mandates are polarizing and unenforceable. The latest on the Oak Fire in Yosemite National Park. We have an update on the Kirsten Smart trial.

If this were a Leap Year, July 18 would be the 200th day of 2022. However, this Monday is in fact the 199th day of the year and we are 532 days away from 2024. Are these numbers compelling or a distraction from the beginning of this 409th installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement? Let’s ask the Magic 8-ball! I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. Sign up for a paid subscription to ensure this work continues long into the future! Ting will match your first payment! See below for more. In today’s installment:An update on the COVID-19 pandemic as local experts anticipate a future surgeThe Virginia Department of Health is cautioning swimming in the western tributaries of Lake AnnaThe latest campaign finance numbers are in for Virginia’s Fifth District Storefront vacancies are up in the six commercial areas tracked by the city of CharlottesvilleAnd some updates on infrastructure projects in Albemarle CountyFirst shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners want to help you rethink your lawnIn today’s first subscriber supported public service announcement: Have you thought about changing up your lawn to something more sustainable for pollinators and other creatures? The Piedmont Master Gardeners wants you to know about a program called Healthy Virginia Lawns which can assist you in your transition. The program is a joint venture of Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. If interested, the first step will be for a Piedmont Master Gardener to come for a visit for an assessment and soil tests. Healthy Virginia Lawns will give you a customized, science-based roadmap to a greener landscape that protects water quality, wildlife and other resources along the way. Visit piedmontmastergardeners.org to learn more!Youngkin’s health department makes COVID quarantines optional in education and childcare settingOn Friday, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that the Virginia Department of Health has updated its guidance for children, teachers and staff in educational and camp settings. “This revised guidance outlines that quarantine is no longer routinely recommended for asymptomatic individuals after exposure to COVID-19 infected individuals,” reads the updated guidance “In general masks are not routinely recommended in these settings, indoors or outdoors, except during isolation.”The guidance continues a shift away to individual decisions related to the pandemic rather than mandates. The federal Centers for Disease Control has a much more broad system of quarantine protocols, which can be reviewed here.Dr. Costi Sifri, director of hospital epidemiology at the UVA Health System, said schools and day care facilities should do what they can to improve spaces to reduce transmission, especially before the school year begins. “Those include things like just understanding whether there are more opportunities to improve ventilation and those other engineering type approaches to reducing risk of transmission within schools,” Dr. Sifri said. “We know the virus is not going to go away.” Today the Virginia Department of Health reports a seven-day average of 2,930 new cases a day and the seven-day percent positivity ratings for PCR tests is at 23 percent. This continues an upward trend that dates back to the spring as newer strains became more prevalent. Dr. Sifri said the Omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to spread and he expects an additional surge in cases at some point in the near future. “We’ve had new variants that have replaced previous variants and for most of 2022 what we’ve seen is that these variants are descendants or are related to the Omicron variant that was called BA.1,” Dr. Sifri said. Dr. Sifri said reinfection is becoming more likely due to the new strains. “That really helps us think about perhaps whom we should be trying to protect by revaccinating,” Dr. Sifri said. “The challenge is that the COVID vaccines are based on the original strain of COVID and the protection from that or from previous infection is unfortunately not as robust for general infection due to BA.5 or some of these newer variants.” Dr. Sifri said vaccination and previous infections do protect against serious outcomes, except for those who are immunocompromised. “So the CDC guidance and our recommendations are that if you are in a high-risk group, then you should make sure you are up to date with your COVID vaccine,” Dr. Sifri said. Dr. Sifri noted that nearly half of the country is currently considered by the CDC as an area of high transmission. He recommends people wear masks, but acknowledged the political reality of America in the third year of the pandemic. “We know that’s not being done in many places around the country,” Dr. Sifri said. “I just flew in from the west coast earlier this week and masking is really the exception to the rule on airplanes and in more airports right now. If you are in those situations and you’re not wearing a mask, you should anticipate that you could be exposed to COVID.”To find out if you are eligible for another vaccine dose or to get vaccinated for the first time, visit vaccinate.virginia.gov to learn more. Harmful algae bloom at Lake AnnaThe Virginia Department of Health is asking people to avoid swimming in or contact with waters on the western side of Lake Anna and its tributaries due to the presence of a harmful algae bloom. “Samples collected at six sites on the Upper and Middle Pamunkey Branch, including Terry’s Run, and the Upper and Middle North Anna Branches indicated a cyanobacteria bloom with cell concentrations at unsafe levels,” reads a VDH update posted on Friday.The next update from VDH will be given some time in the second week of August. Until then, VDH cautions people to not fish, swim, or let pets in bodies of water that smell bad, look discolored, or have visible foam or scum on the surface. For more on the topic across Virginia, visit www.swimhealthyva.com. Good leads Throneburg in fundraising for 5th District RaceThere are 113 days until election day and 59 days until the next time that candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives will have to file campaign finance reports. The most recent deadline was this past Friday for activity through June 30.In the Fifth District, Republican Incumbent Bob Good of Evington has raised $848,271 in his reelection campaign for a second term, including $149,017 in transfers. Of the $679,372 in contributions, nearly 75 percent comes from individuals or entities who contributed $200 or more. About eleven percent came from political action committees. Good has spent $570,585 and had an ending cash balance of $328,023 on June 30.Democratic challenger Joshua Throneburg of Charlottesville has raised $446,579 so far, including $50,000 in loans. Just under 77 percent of the $396,379 in contributions came from individuals  or entities who gave $200 or more. So far, Throneburg has spent $320,531 and had $126,048 in cash on hand at the midway point of the year.  For all of the details, read the quarterly reports on the Federal Elections Commission’s website. Here’s the one for Throneburg and here’s the one for Good. Second shout-out is for LEAP’s new Thermalize Virginia program In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out: Have you been thinking of converting your fossil-fuel appliances and furnaces into something that will help the community reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP,  has launched a new program to guide you through the steps toward electrifying your home. Thermalize Virginia will help you understand electrification and connect you with vetted contractors to get the work done and help you find any rebates or discounts. Visit thermalizeva.org to learn more and to sign up!  Storefront vacancies up slightly in Charlottesville Storefront vacancies are up in the six commercial areas tracked by the City of Charlottesville. That’s according to the latest twice a year report put together by the Office of Economic Development (read the report).“This study examines only the ground-level retail storefronts at the six major shopping centers, so vacancies on the second floor and higher are not included,” reads the report. “Not all vacant buildings are included in the vacancy rate provided .”Those six commercial areas include Barracks Road, the Downtown Mall, McIntire Plaza, Preston Plaza, Seminole Square, and the Corner. There were 22 vacancies in January and that has risen to 33 in July. That does not include storefronts that are under renovation. When factored in percentage, the vacancy rate increased from 5.01 percent to 7.21 percent. The study also does not cover West Main Street, which has some buildings that have storefronts that have never been filled. The Flats at West Village used to have a restaurant that closed before the pandemic, and one retail space required to be built due to the zoning has never been occupied. The Lark has seen two breweries come and go but the second closed during the pandemic. A retail space on Roosevelt Brown Boulevard has never been occupied.The Standard has several retail spaces, and only one has been occupied. Another appears to be a storefront, but is actually an advertisement for a ghost kitchen. Urban sidewalks are among several infrastructure projects under construction in AlbemarleEvery quarter, Albemarle County’s Facilities and Environmental Services Department puts out an update of its activities. The latest is on the consent agenda for Wednesday’s meeting of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. (read the report)Here are some of the highlights:Construction got underway in June on over 2,000 feet of sidewalk to connect Albemarle High School to Greer Elementary School. Funding comes from a one-time Neighborhood Improvements Funding Initiative as well as the Safe Routes to School program. Replacement of 376 exterior windows at the county’s office building on McIntire Road is also underway. The windows all date back to the late 70’s when Albemarle bought the former Lane High School from the city of Charlottesville. This will reduce energy costs and the report notes that electricity consumption in June was down 13 percent over the same month in 2021. The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently awarded Albemarle a $96,261 grant to study the potential for flooding in the 770-acre Branchlands watershed. This may take some years to complete. Design for an entrance road for the first phase of Biscuit Run is still ongoing with negotiations continuing between county staff and the Virginia Department of Transportation. The first phase will consist of that road, restrooms, and a parking area. According to the report, completion of the first phase is now expected in September 2023. Albemarle is considering using land proffered to the county as part of the Brookhill development for many uses, including a relocation of the vehicle maintenance facility used by Albemarle Public Schools. Other uses might include a solid waste convenience center, such as the one that will soon get under construction in Keene. A feasibility study for the Brookhill land should be ready in mid-August. The Southern Convenience Center is expected to be completed in December on a nearly $1.1 million budget. Completion of several sidewalk projects is expected in the coming weeks. Albemarle was successful in getting revenue-sharing funds from the Virginia Department of Transportation for sidewalks and improvements on Rio Road, Avon Street, and U.S. 250 West in Crozet.“The Rio Road Sidewalk Improvement project will connect the Stonehenge residential neighborhood to the John Warner Parkway and Rio Road sidewalk system. The Avon Street Walkway/Crosswalks Improvement project will provide sidewalks on the east side from Swan Lake Drive to Mill Creek Drive and then to Cale Elementary School [sic] and on the west side from Stoney Creek Drive to Arden Drive. The US 250 West-Crozet project will consist of the construction of sidewalk and crosswalks from Cory Farms to the Cloverlawn commercial area and Blue Ridge Shopping Center.”Cale Elementary was renamed Mountain View in 2020. Secure this work’s future with financial supportThis is episode 409 of this program and I’ll be getting to work on 410 and beyond. I really want to get to 818, 820, and so on. This is the work I want to do and I believe the community benefits when I’m able to spend my time as a reporter. Town Crier Productions is not a nonprofit organization, but around a third of the audience has opted to contribute something financially. It’s similar to the old days when you would subscribe to a newspaper. I subscribe to several, myself, and would greatly appreciate your subscription. Supporting the program through a Substack contribution or through Patreon makes it very easy for me to get paid and every single dollar that I get makes me want to work that much harder to serve the community. In just under two years, I’ve produced hundreds of stories that seek to give you information about how decisions are made in our community and in the Commonwealth of Virginia.For more information on all of this, please visit the archive site Information Charlottesville to learn more, including how you too can get a shout-out! Thank you for reading, and please share with those you think might want to learn a few thing or two about what’s happening.Also, Ting will match your initial payment! Visit them today to see if they can help you speed your Internet up. 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

It’s the final Friday of June, unless something can be done to add another day to the month. I am unaware of any campaign to do so, but perhaps there need to be changes. So, welcome to this 24th day of the fifth interval of what we’ve come to call the two thousand and twenty-second year. This is Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast about the built environment that celebrates 400 editions with this installment that arrives 711 days later. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. Sign up for a free subscription, but if you opt to pay, Ting will match your initial payment! On today’s edition of the program:Charlottesville’s budget surplus is increasing with revenues higher than originally budgetedCharlottesville City Council will make appointments to the Planning Commission in July You can count on one hand the number of Albemarle residents who voted in the Republican Primary for the 7th Congressional District Changes to Charlottesville Area Transit routes could soon occur as soon as more drivers can be hired First shout-out: The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign Since the very beginning of this newsletter, one long-time Patreon supporter has used his shout-out to draw your attention to the work of the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign but today let’s talk about National Pollinator Week, which runs through June 26! There will be many events designed to draw your attention to the crucial role that bees and other creatures play in making sure plants reproduce. On Saturday at 10 a.m., Scottsville’s Center for the Arts and Natural Environment will host Allison Wickham from Siller Pollinator Company will lead an introduction to bees and beekeeping. If you're thinking about starting a backyard beehive or are just curious about what's involved with keeping bees, then this is a great introductory class for you. There will even be a honey competition judged by Allison Wickham! For the tuition rate and to register, visit svilleartsandnature.org for a list of all of the upcoming classes. Charlottesville’s FY22 surplus likely to increaseThere’s less than a week until the fiscal new year for Virginia and its local governments. On Tuesday, Charlottesville City Council got an update from interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers on what can be expected in terms of “one-time money” in the form of a financial report. (read the report)“And we see that there’s a projected $14 million surplus for revenue,” Rogers said. That’s higher than the $13 million projected in April. However, Rogers said that number could change as the city’s expenditures have also been down due to various reasons including COVID. “We have a lot of vacancies in our budget, the market has had an impact on our ability to hire as rapidly as we need to,” Rogers said. “While 92 percent of the budget year has passed, we’ve only spent about 85 percent of our budget expenditures. That’s going to release in a surplus.”However, Rogers said the actual surplus will not be known until later in the year after the city’s books are closed and reconciled. One of the reasons why there will be a surplus is due to tax rates increases and assessment rises for personal property and real estate. Earlier this year, Council voted to increase the real estate tax rate to $0.96 per $100 of assessed value. That penny increase applied to the entire calendar year of 2022. Council also opted to keep the personal property rate at $4.20 per $100 of assessed value, also contributing to the surplus. That was over the recommendation of Commissioner of Revenue Todd Divers who suggested reducing it due to a sharp increase in the value of used vehicles. The city also will not bring in as much revenue from Parks and Recreation as originally believed. “During the budget process we budgeted for the idea that we thought we would be fully operational but as you know we’re not and so therefore we are not going to make those marks,” said Krisy Hammill, the city’s senior budget performance analyst. The city has also closed on its latest sale of municipal bonds which are used to finance capital projects. The cost of doing so will increase as interest rates go up. “We closed with about $28 million at a rate at about 3.07 percent, which is about double of what we got last year but it is indicative of the market and still a very good rate,” Hammill said. Council makes appointments, but not yet to Planning CommissionOn Tuesday, City Council appointed Laura Knott and Sally Duncan to the city’s Historic Resources Committee and Dashad Cooper to the Police Civilian Oversight Board. Other appointments included members of the Sister Cities Commission, the Region 10 Board, and the Retirement Commission. However, they did not fill all the open positions.“Appointments to the Planning Commission have been postponed until the July 18 Council meeting,” said Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook. “There were a few people we needed to interview and didn’t have time to do it today and at least one person was not available.”Council will not meet the first week of July. The window to apply for the Planning Commission has closed. There were at least 28 applications for the five seats, including those of sitting Commissioners Karim Habbab, Hosea Mitchell, and Rory Stolzenberg. There will be at least two newcomers because Commissioners Taneia Dowell and Jody Lahendro are not eligible for another term.  There are three at-large vacancies on the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Applications for those positions are due on August 5, 2022. That entity’s next public meeting is June 27, 2022 and there’s no information yet available on their website. In fact, there’s not been a meeting listed on the CRHA website since January 2021. (apply here)City still seeking to fill key vacancies crucial to approval of new buildings Earlier this month, interim Charlottesville City Manager Michael C. Rogers told Council of a shortage of building inspectors. On Tuesday, he said positions are being readvertised and other solutions are being explored. “I have executed an agreement with the University of Virginia’s building official to provide staff capacity to assist us in the permitting and inspections process and they began last week,” Rogers said.Rogers said the agreement will carry into the fall. Albemarle Republicans choose Anderson in 7th Congressional District Voters in Albemarle’s “Small Sliver” within Virginia’s new 7th Congressional District went to the polls Tuesday in the Republican primary. Eight people in all voted in the six way race and half selected Derrick Anderson, the candidate who came in second-place overall. There were two votes for State Senator Bryce Reeves who came in third and two votes for the winner. Yesli Vega received 10,878 votes and will face incumbent Democrat Abigail Spanberger in November. Albemarle County is otherwise entirely within the new Fifth District. I’ve begun reporting on the Fifth District with a new newsletter if you want to join my journey in learning more about the localities within. In today’s two other shout-outs: Code for Charlottesville and local media!You’re listening to Charlottesville. Community Engagement and it’s time for two quick shout-outs. 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. The final comes from another Patreon supporter who wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, the Crozet Gazette, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!Next steps for Charlottesville Area Transit route changes outlined at partnership meeting Before the pandemic, Charlottesville Area Transit hired the firm Nelson Nygaard to take a look at its routes to suggest changes to optimize service. The study was done but nothing has been implemented so far. The Jefferson Area Regional Transit Partnership got an update at their meeting yesterday.“CAT planned on implementing that system optimization plan last year but they’ve been dealing with driver shortages like every other transit agency in the country so that’s been postponed,” said Jim Baker of Nelson Nygaard. CAT director Garland Williams directed Nelson Nygaard to revisit the route changes to identify how it might be phased into service over time rather than be done all at once. This would include restoring service to pre-COVID levels, expanding service areas in both Charlottesville and Albemarle, and expanding Saturday and Sunday service. Since the pandemic, CAT has run no service on Sundays. “We felt like that’s a pressing need to get some level of Sunday service back on the streets,” Baker said. “So we’re proposing to get the trolley back online, the Route 12 which ran pre-pandemic up the U.S. 29 corridor, and to get service down into Avon Street past the CAT garage for Sunday service. Baker said three routes would see changes as part of the first phase.The Center at Belvedere would finally be served by the northbound journey of Route 11. To make up for the time, there will no longer be service on a loop that runs through the Locust Grove neighborhood.  Route 2 would be split into two services with 2A serving Fifth Street Station and the Willoughby Shopping Center and 2B serving Mill Creek in Albemarle County for the first time on its way to Piedmont Virginia Community College. This would also serve Monticello High School. 2A would run for some of Sunday A second bus would be added to the current Route 6 to improve frequency to 30 minutesThe second phase would make changes to services along the U.S. 29 corridor.Route 7 would be expanded to the Wal-Mart and would travel bi-directionally along Hillsdale Drive and through Seminole Square Shopping Center. Baker said the goal here is to link downtown Charlottesville with Wal-Mart, which is a major shopping destination. Route 5 would no longer travel to the Wal-Mart but would instead have a northern terminus at Fashion Square Mall. Its new southern terminus would be the UVA Hospital. The Sunday-only Route 12 would be eliminated in favor of Route 7 going seven days a week The third phase will implement the rest of the changes. Here are some of them:Saturday service would be introduced to Route 1 Route 3 would be broken into two routes with one traveling solely between downtown and Willoughby Shopping Center A new route, tentatively known as Route 3E, would travel around Belmont and downtownRoute 6 would no longer serve the University of Virginia Hospital via Prospect Avenue. It would also be routed along South First Street as it travels between downtown and the Willoughby Shopping Center. This would add additional service to Crescent Hall.Route 8 serves Stonefield and would be altered to travel south to the University of Virginia Hospital and down to Willoughby Shopping Center via Prospect Avenue. This service would no longer travel downtown. Route 9 would also no longer serve the UVA Hospital and would instead travel to Fashion Square Mall Route 10 would be altered to no longer travel on Stony Point Road and instead would travel bidirectionally through the Pantops Shopping Center on its way between Downtown Charlottesville and Sentara Martha JeffersonWhen will the phases be implemented? According to the presentation, that’s all going to depend on drivers. Six more drivers are needed for phase one, a total of 12 are needed for phase two, and a total of 27 are needed for phase 3. There’s an additional “phase three plus” that’s perhaps not worth detailing because it would need a total of 46 additional drivers. That’s a much higher number than six. “Assuming we can get the pay scale to be comparable to Jaunt and [University Transit System], and we can get six more drivers, that should not be [beyond the reach] and then we can begin phase 1,” Williams said. “The jump, though, is getting authorization from the city and the county to fund us to make the additional resources.” The Regional Transit Partnership meeting was held a couple of hours before a public meeting on the Regional Transit Vision Plan. which is $350,000 in the making. The following illustrates confusion that can come from having planning processes not tied to actual logistics. City Councilor Brian Pinkston asked what the proposed CAT changes had to do with that study.“Is this sort of like a first step towards that larger vision?”Williams said these changes have nothing to do with the Regional Transit Vision Plan. “They didn’t even copy these routes,” Williams said. “They took a whole new approach and said the slate was clean.” I’ll have more from the Regional Transit Partnership and more on the Regional Transit Vision plan in future installments of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Support the program!There’s a lot of information in this installment of this program, which is the 397th edition of the program. About a quarter of you are paying something to help keep Town Crier Productions in business. I have never been a very good salesperson, and won’t overly pitch.But, if you are benefiting from this newsletter and the information in it, please consider some form of support. I am not a nonprofit organization and most of my time is spent in putting the newsletter together, which includes producing the podcast.Supporting the program through a Substack contribution or through Patreon makes it very easy for me to get paid and every single dollar that I get makes me want to work that much harder to serve the community. In just under two years, I’ve produced hundreds of stories that seek to give you information about how decisions are made in our community and in the Commonwealth of Virginia.For more information on all of this, please visit the archive site Information Charlottesville to learn more, including how you too can get a shout-out! Thank you for reading, and please share with those you think might want to learn a few thing or two about what’s happening. 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

After today, 80 percent of May’s Tuesdays will have happened, leaving one more to go. While this one is with us, there are plenty of fake holidays to ponder including National Escargot Day, National Caterers Appreciation Day, Aviation Maintenance Technician Day, and National Scavenger Hunt Day. Can you find the clues in the May 24, 2022 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement? If so, please let me know so I can also try to figure it all out. I’ll reveal who I am at the end of the program. Send this newsletter and podcast on to someone else so we can grow the audience!On today’s program:Charlottesville City Council holds first of two readings on new mechanism to provide tax relief for city property ownersA public hearing is held for a segment of an east-west commuter trail The candidates are in place for the 5th District Congressional race this November The General Assembly will head back to Richmond on June 1 Details on a planned condominium complex in downtown Belmont Shout-out to Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards In today’s subscriber-supported Public Service Announcement, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards continues to offer classes this spring and summer to increase your awareness of our wooden neighbors and to prepare for the future. Coming up on June 7 is a tree identification course taught on Zoom by tree steward Elizabeth Ferguson followed by a separate hike on June 11 at the Department of Forestry’s headquarters near the Fontaine Research Park. That’s followed by a tree identification walk at the University of Virginia on June 12 for the public. On June 14, Rachel Keen will give a lecture on Zoom on the Social Life of Trees. Do trees really communicate with one another? What is a 'mother tree'? Can a tree do anything to repel a pest? Learn more at charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org.Republicans nominate Good for re-election to Fifth District We are now three days into the general election stage for Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District now that both major parties have selected their nominees for the November 8 ballot. On Saturday, Republicans who attended a convention at Hampden-Sydney College in Prince Edward Category overwhelmingly selected incumbent Bob Good of Campbell County to seek a second term. According to a raw vote count, incumbent Bob Good received 1,115 of the 1,303 votes cast. Of the 24 localities with Republican committees, challenger Dan Moy of Charlottesville performed best in Albemarle County where he got votes from 43 of 128 convention delegates and in Charlottesville where he received 15 out of 28 votes. However, the convention used a weighted system which gave Good 1,488 votes to Moy’s 271. (view the vote tally)Democrat Josh Throneburg got straight to work with a press release pointing out that the number of votes cast in the convention were less than 0.02 percent of the population of the Fifth District.  Throneburg became the nominee by default when all other candidates failed to qualify for the primary ballot. Other resources: 5th District Republicans nominate Good to represent party in November, Lynchburg News & AdvanceGood defeats challenger at convention, will be on November ballot, Chatham Star-Tribune NewsRep. Bob Good wins GOP nomination for 5th District, NBC29Virginia Public Access ProjectVirginia legislators to return to General Assembly on June 1A date has been set for the Virginia Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates to return to Richmond to complete the special session that convened on April 4. The two Chambers will convene at 10 a.m. according to the Legislative Information System.One of the major pieces of business left to complete is the state budget and a slate of legislators from both Houses have been seeking to work out a compromise to reconcile both versions.  There are also several bills that passed both Houses but also have to be reconciled before it can be sent to Governor Glenn Youngkin for action. These include a sales tax exemption for food and personal hygiene products, changes to the make-up of the State Board of Elections, and the establishment of a Virginia Football Stadium Authority.  City Council holds public hearing on trail connectionA new partnership has formed between the City of Charlottesville and an entity that secures open space easements in Virginia, and that will slightly increase the cost of land transactions. “We have a property owner that we’ve been negotiating with and we have a granting agency in the Virginia Outdoors Foundation that’s providing the funding which has already been appropriated,” said Chris Gensic, a planner in the Parks and Recreation Department. When complete, the transaction will trigger a $3 fee for recordation of most deeds to go toward a pool of money to allow the Virginia Outdoors Foundation to purchase more land. Gensic said most localities of Virginia already have this arrangement but the city has yet to record an open space easement within its borders. The property in question would allow for the 250 Bypass Trail to continue on an already paved trail in the woods to the south of Charlottesville High School toward the Piedmont Family YMCA to the east“The parks department has been working diligently over the past few decades to acquire pieces of property to stitch together a trail network per the Comprehensive Plan,” “We’ve been discussing this particular acquisition that’s on the western end of McIntire Park.” The public hearing was held to move the transaction forward, but Council took no action. That will come when the deal is nearing completion. Rex Linville of the Piedmont Environmental Council said the parcel in question was significant. “It is a crucial link in the multiyear effort to create a shared-use path that will connect McIntire Park, the YMCA, and Charlottesville High School to Hydraulic Road,” Linville said. “This parcel is also a vital part of a larger four-mile loop that will connect these public resources to Michie Drive, the Greenbrier neighborhood, and the John Warner Parkway.” No city funds will be directly used in the transaction, according to Linville. Council approves action plan for federal HOME and CDBG fundsCity Council has approved an action plan for federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the next fiscal year. Staff had suggested making some changes to the process in order to meet HUD’s guidelines, but some groups pushed back on some of those proposals. (read the staff report)“Staff will no longer request that the task force be changed to staff advisory,” said Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders. “Instead we’re going to focus on identifying income eligible participants to ensure that the diverse voice is always available.” Sanders said the city cannot use federal funds to pay participants to sit on that task force, but local funding can be found for that purpose should Council want to ensure participation by low income individuals. Charlottesville will also stop the process of designating a neighborhood to receive funds for three-year periods at a time. In recent years, projects in Belmont received those funds despite an influx of wealth. “Instead we will continue to work to identify projects that prioritize investment in those areas for the targeted low-income population to benefit from,” Sanders said. A project that had been recommended by the task force was $186,376.16  in funds for sidewalk improvements in the Ridge Street neighborhood, the current priority neighborhood. That will no longer be part of the action plan due to a concern that the project would not be completed in time to meet HUD’s deadline. Instead funds for project will be returned to the pool to allow for other proposals from the community to be funded for the Ridge Street neighborhood.  A second reading and vote on this year’s spending will be on Council’s agenda on June 6. City changing mechanism for property tax relief City Council will hold a work session with the Planning Commission this afternoon but before the joint session on transportation matters gets underway, there will be a second reading of an appropriation of $1.5 million in city funds to be used as grants to low- and middle-income property owners. This would replace the long-running program Charlottesville Housing Affordability Program (CHAP) that the city had been using to provide tax relief. Todd Divers is Charlottesville’s Commissioner of Revenue. “We’ve kind of scrambled to put together a program that I think is going to get us close to what we were doing,” Divers said. Divers said the previous tax relief program had been justified by the City Charter, but now a second avenue to justify the program will be used instead. “The Director of Social Services as the local Social Services board will be the official administrator of this program though I will be working in a cooperative agreement with her and we’ll still be effectively managing the program the way we always have,” Divers said. The move also allows the city to increase the threshold for eligibility for participation to a home value of $420,000, which is the average assessed value of a residential parcel in the city. The income threshold will be increased to $60,000. “This a grant program,” Divers said. “This is a grant for needy folks and the way that we are defining that is folks who make less than $60,000 a year and who own a home in the city of Charlottesville.”Divers said he estimates an additional 100 people will be eligible. The second reading is being held today to speed up the process to allow the process moving forward for this year. Shout-out for an ACHS program on the Fields of Honor This year, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society has been working with a group called the Fields of Honor to identify soldiers who were killed in action in the Second World War. Since February, ACHS researchers have helped locate several photographs of the fallen, including that of Private Clarence Edward McCauley who was tracked down through high school records. There are 18 remaining photographs to be found, and on Thursday, May 26 at 7 p.m. the ACHS will host Debbie Holloman and Sebastian Vonk of the Fields of Honor Foundation to talk about how you can take part in their volunteer efforts honoring the service and sacrifice of US WWII service members buried or memorialized at US war cemeteries in Europe. That’s Thursday, May 26, at 7 p.m. via Zoom or Facebook Live.Site plan meeting held for Belmont Condominiums projectOfficials with Riverbend Development have offered details on a proposal to build dozens of condominiums on undeveloped land in Charlotteville’s Belmont neighborhood. “I know on this site in particular I have been working with the neighborhood off and on for at least five years regarding this site and we’ve owned it for well over a decade now I believe,” said Ashley Davies with Riverbend Development.A previous submission that looked more like neighboring City Walk Apartments had gone to a site plan review conference in 2018 but that version did not move forward. “A lot of the feedback that we got from the neighborhood from that time is just that it felt like these two buildings were too big compared to what you see in the rest of the neighborhood,” Davies said. This development would include 130 total units and it needs city approval on three applications. Both a major subdivision and a site plan can be approved by staff, but a third requires endorsement by elected officials.“A critical slope waiver due to impacts to critical slopes requires a City Council action,” said city planner Matt Alfele said. “This means that application will go to the Planning Commission for a recommendation and then City Council for a final decision.” No date has been set for that Planning Commission meeting and a public hearing is not required. The six acres of property span many parcels which would be combined in the major subdivision. Since 2003, the zoning has been for Neighborhood Commercial Corridor which allows for mixed-use. Most of the buildings would be constructed in a form known as a two-over-two. “It looks like a townhouse style unit on the outside but once you go into the unit it actually has two units each two floors tall and there’s garages on the backside that have parking internal to those units,” Davies said. Davies said Riverbend has built these types of units at Brookhill in Albemarle County and they have proven to be popular. Eight of the units would be designated as being sale to households and individuals at a certain income level. The property is currently being used for automotive repair. One neighbor asked if the site needed to be remediated due to potential contaminants in the soil. Scott Collins is an engineer working on the project “As far as contaminants, they’ll be testing the soil as well when the asphalt and concrete is removed and checking the consistency of the soils and making sure it’s not contaminated and if it is, there are remediative measures that have to be in place,” Collins said. The site plan must be approved by staff if it meets all of the technical requirements. Staff has not yet completed the comment letter that will go to Riverbend. People still have until June 15 to make a comment about the site plan or to ask a question. But Council will have to approve a critical slopes waiver and one Councilor who attended the May 18 site plan conference did not like what he saw in the current project, taking his cues from a speaker from the Piedmont Environmental Council. Michael Payne said he preferred the previous approach Riverbend had taken. “I just would say that I’m pretty disappointed at where this has ended up,” said Michael Payne. “I feel like where this ended up is the worst of all worlds in terms of as Peter Krebs [of PEC] said the most impervious surfaces, the least compact and clustered development. And also the least affordable development. It seems like its the most sprawled version which will have the most expensive units and I think this project just would have been much better off to be more clustered and have more apartments similar to the Belmont Lofts project or City Walk for that matter.”  One neighbor suggested the city make a swap with the developer.“Wouldn’t it be lovely if the city could do an exchange with the owners of Belmont Holdings and give them the existing Clark School which is a gorgeous building with high ceilings and let them turn that into condominiums and turn this site into either a school or a park?” commented Deb Jackson. This is not likely to occur. Help Ting help support Town Crier productions!For one year now, Town Crier Productions has had a promotional offering through 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

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 467, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Wet And Wild 1: Of a bird, a fish or an insect, what a water boatman is. Insect. 2: The American Water and Irish Water breeds of this dog are both noted for retrieving waterfowl. Spaniel. 3: Bubalus babalis is the scientific name of this animal also known as the water ox. Water buffalo. 4: Water hog is another name for this, the largest living rodent, that looks like a giant guinea pig. Capybara. 5: The water opossum is also called the yapok, in honor of this continent's Oyapok River. South America. Round 2. Category: Yale Drama School Alumni 1: Going to school at Yale got her into films like "Sophie's Choice". Meryl Streep. 2: He had some "Happy Days" at Yale long before starring in "The Dinner Party" on Broadway in 2000. Henry Winkler. 3: That her acceptance to Yale was addressed to a "Mr." was a bit "Alien". Sigourney Weaver. 4: This "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" star attended Yale on a scholarship. Angela Bassett. 5: In 2000 this Yale grad was TV's "DAG". David Alan Grier. Round 3. Category: I Am A Crook 1: Ralph, nicknamed "Bottles", was the brother of this gangster, nicknamed "Scarface". Al Capone. 2: Sheriff Pat Garrett said this crook's "face always wore a smile". Billy the Kid. 3: In 1868 the Reno Brothers robbed one of these in Indiana, years before the James Gang did it out west. train. 4: The Queen Anne's Revenge was a ship of this pirate, whose whole known career lasted from 1716 to 1718. Blackbeard. 5: 2 months after Bonnie and Clyde were shot down in Louisiana, he got it outside the Biograph in Chicago. John Dillinger. Round 4. Category: Stuff 1: The lawyer who made famous the line "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit". Johnnie Cochran. 2: The car part called an aerial across the pond is known as this here in the States. an antenna. 3: The two projectiles in Olympic track and field that weigh 16 pounds. the shotput and the hammer. 4: It's official state vegetables are the frijole pinto bean and the chile pepper. New Mexico. 5: Since 2002 this Lower Manhattan area has had its own film festival. Tribeca. Round 5. Category: Taking The Fifth 1: Before he was president, Gerald Ford was a congressman from this state's Fifth District. Michigan. 2: Who, what, when, where and this are the 5 Ws that reporters should be concerned with. why. 3: This DJ on New York's WINS was nicknamed "The Fifth Beatle". Murray "The K". 4: AKA the "Father of the Military Academy", Col. Sylvanus Thayer was the fifth superintendent at this school. West Point. 5: On January 8, 1959 Charles de Gaulle took office as the first president of what was termed this French government. the Fifth Republic. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!

This 141st day of 2022 also has the distinction of being National Waitstaff Day, and in this time of college and university graduations, my thoughts are with those people who bring food and drink to celebrations all over the globe. For most of my career in journalism, I supplemented that work by being attentive, detail-oriented, and as accurate as possible as I served customers and clients. That experience really wasn’t that much different from any of the work that goes into every single installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, and I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. This is episode 383, and to help us all eventually get to episode 838, consider becoming a paying subscriber! On today’s program:Time is running out to tell Albemarle County your thoughts on the growth management policy that some would say has limited sprawl, and others would say has limited development Another land use lawsuit has been filed against the city of CharlottesvilleCharlottesville seeks a firm to help hire a new police chief And the spring COVID-19 surge continues with cases rising in Virginia and beyond Shout-out to Town Crier ProductionsIn today’s writer-and-publisher supported shout-out, Town Crier Productions, is the umbrella organization responsible for this Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter. I founded the company two years ago to support my interest in bringing the community as much information as possible about local government, land use, the environment, economic development, and so much more. The company is still just getting started, and if you’d like to help, consider a subscription through Substsck, or support Town Crier Productions through Patreon. There are also other sponsorship opportunities available as the number of offerings increases. To learn more, visit the Information Charlottesville archive and click on the Support the Info button. My sincere thank you to the hundreds of subscribers who have signed on so far! COVID-19 updateOn Friday, the Virginia Department of Health reported another 3,847 cases bringing the seven-day average of new cases to 3,157. The seven-day percent positivity increased to 15.6 percent, up from 9.1 percent three weeks ago. Nationwide, the trend is toward more cases and more hospitalizations according to the Centers for Disease Control’s COVID dashboard. That tool also shows a trend toward fewer deaths per day with 242 a day reported on Thursday night. That could change as death is a lagging indicator as explained by Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System. “As we see the summer surge start to move out of the northeast which is a highly vaccinated and COVID-experienced population to other parts of the country, we have concerns in the public health community that maybe what we’ve seen so far may not hold as true as the surge moves to the southeast,” Dr. Sifri said. This week, the Blue Ridge Health District discontinued its local dashboard for COVID data from within its boundaries. This follows the Virginia Department of Heath’s retirement of four dashboards. “The CDC dashboard is considered the standard when it comes to cases by vaccination status, as the definition of vaccination status is rapidly changing nationwide,” reads a newsletter from the Blue Ridge Health District. You can find local data on the VDH dashboard by selecting the appropriate geographic region on the cases tab. Children between the age of 5 and 11 are now eligible for boosters of the Pfizer vaccine. Appointments in the Blue Ridge Health District can be made online. Read the release on the Centers for Disease Control website for more information. There will be a community remembrance on Tuesday, May 24, at 7 p.m. at the outdoor ampitheater at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital for those who died from COVID-19 hosted by area health care providers. (Facebook event page)Charlottesville opening up search for new police chiefNearly ten months since former Charlottesville police chief RaShall Brackney was fired by former City Manager Chip Boyles, the city is seeking a permanent replacement. On Friday, the city issued a request for proposals for a firm to conduct an executive search. “The City is seeking a consultant to assist the City Manager through the process of hiring a new Chief of Police who embodies the principles of 21st Century Policing and has an anti-racist focus,” reads the request for proposals. As part of the work, the selected firm will also seek community input on what the “desired characteristics and qualifications” for such a person would be. The solicitation states this will include a survey and in-person meetings. The firm will also be responsible for conducting background checks on all of the finalists. “The Chief of Police is hired by and reports to the City Manager, but upon hire will be officially confirmed by the City Council,” the request continues. The department is currently being led by Acting Police Chief Latroy Durette.The city is being run by interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers.  The closing date for the executive search firm is June 15. Lawsuit filed against City of Charlottesville for rezoning of 240 Stribling A person who lives on property on Stribling Avenue has filed suit against the Charlottesville City Council seeking declaratory judgment that the rezoning of 240 Stribling Avenue in April was illegal. (read the complaint)“During the Planning Commission and Council meetings, the large amount of tax revenue to be gained from increasing the density was discussed as the primary reason for backing this ordinance,” reads paragraph eight of the suit, which was filed on May 18 and served to the city a day later. Charlottesville City Council approved the rezoning on April 18, which will allow up to 170 units on about 12 acres in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood. (read a story)The plaintiff is Cabell Marshall, who is representing herself in the matter. The suit states that Marshall “occupies a house” across from 240 Stribling, but does not specify which one until the signature at the end of the document. Much of the complaint repeats testimony made by opponents of the project, such as increased exhaust fumes and additional traffic. The suit filed on May 18 also argues that an agreement between the city and Southern Development to pay for the upfront costs of upgrading Stribling Avenue is also invalid. “Many neighbors on Stribling Avenue felt overwhelmed by [Charlie Armstrong]’s seemingly unfair advantage in getting advance encouragement directly from the city,” reads paragraph 13. “Virginia Code Section 2.3-3103 prohibits a city employee or someone in an advisory agency from using for his own benefit or that another party confidential information that he has acquired by reason of his public position and which is not available to the public.” The complaint also argues that the public hearing was invalid because it was held while Council meetings were still remote. There’s also an argument the city has not done enough to upgrade city streets, such as the intersection of Stribling Avenue and Jefferson Park Avenue.One of the first legal questions will be whether Marshall has legal standing to bring the suit forward. The owner of the house where she lives is John C. Marshall, who is not named as a part in the suit. He owns two other properties on Stribling Avenue as well as three other throughout city limits. In today’s other two shout-outs 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. The final comes from another Patreon supporter who wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, Charlottesville Inclusive Media, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!Albemarle closing survey on growth management policy Like many localities across Virginia’s Fifth District including Nelson County and Danville, Albemarle County is currently reviewing its Comprehensive Plan. State law requires localities to prepare such plans and update them on a periodic basis. Albemarle is reviewing its plan in a four-phase process and the first phase will take a look at the county’s growth management policy. A survey for input closes on Sunday at midnight. “The current Comp Plan directs new residential, commercial, retail, office, and industrial development into the Development Areas,” reads the first part of a StoryMap that seeks to explain the history of the growth management policy. “The Rural Area is intended to be used for agriculture, natural resource protection, and some residential homes.”That’s roughly five percent of the county’s 726 square miles. Albemarle’s first Comprehensive Plan in 1971, and originally envisioned a much larger development area.  This was at a time when Charlottesville still had the ability to annex county land if it could prove to a judge that the city would be able to provide urban services more efficiently. However, subsequent plans reduced that area due to concerns such as siltation at the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir, which opened in 1967 and soon began to fill in. Another issue was the high cost to build water and sewer infrastructure to remote areas. Several villages have been removed since, such as the ones in Earlysville, Ivy, North Garden, and Stony Point. In the early 90’s, four areas were added including the Village of Rivanna, the North Fork Research Park, and what is now being developed as North Pointe. For the full history, read part two of the StoryMap. It’s well worth a read as the county considers changes. “With an evaluation of the County’s Growth Management Policy, perhaps one of the most important factors to consider is how the policy is impacting the well-being of County residents and whether the policy is leading to equitable outcomes across different geographies within the County, such as residents in the Rural Area compared to residents in Development Area, or across different demographic groups such as age and race,” reads another portion of part 2.The survey closes Sunday night. (fill out the survey)Help Ting help support Town Crier productions!For one year now, Town Crier Productions has had a promotional offering through 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

When we advocate for one community, we uplift the voices of other communities. Kendall Martinez-Wright is an Afro-Puerto Rican transgender woman advocating for transgender rights in the Missouri Legislature. Amidst nationwide transphobic legislation in 2021, Kendall ran a historic campaign for Missouri's Fifth District. She has a long career in advocacy, politics and legislative work. The campaign's website was admitted to the Library of Congress, as she became the first Afro-Puerto Rican transgender woman to run for Missouri's House of Representatives. In this episode you'll discover: What challenges Kendall faced around identity, “Am I being Latina enough?” What drives her advocacy to bring a more just environment to the LGBTQIA+ community in Missouri More about Kendall's historic campaign, her interest in getting involved in politics and what drove her to end her quest for the capitol seat You can find Kendall on twitter at @KendallKaniMW

May 10, 2022 — Incumbent Ted Williams and challenger John Redding are vying for the Fifth District Supervisor's seat in next month's election. They presented their positions at a League of Women voters event last week, fielding questions about healthcare, fire preparation, drought, and economic development. A major issue on the coast is the uncertain future of the Mendocino Coast Healthcare District, and whether or not to dissolve it. Redding, who is Treasurer of the district board, fears that the county, which is struggling to balance its budget and has failed to collect millions of dollars in cannabis tax revenue, could take charge of healthcare on the coast. At stake is what he believes is local control over the decision to bring the existing hospital into compliance with seismic codes, build a new hospital, or rely on clinics. “What I'm not in favor of is dissolving the Healthcare District,” he said. “That would mean the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) would, without a vote of the people, dissolve the Healthcare District, and the successor agent would be the county. And they would seize our money, our taxes, our land, and there would be no representatives anywhere close to the coast to provide governance,” Williams countered that local control involves a lot of dysfunction on the district board, and doubled Redding's estimate of $50 million to build a new hospital. “I tune in to those meetings,” he said. “I see a lot of bickering. I don't see much progress. There's complaints going to the Grand Jury and FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission) and questions about was an attorney hired…and I think it's casting a shadow over the real discussion that needs to happen. A new hospital could cost $100 million, plus. Might only generate $2 million revenue… It's really a challenge for the segment of our population that can't afford to go to Ukiah or Santa Rosa for regular healthcare.” When it comes to abortion rights, Williams is a staunch supporter, saying restrictions on abortion limit a woman's right to participate in society. Redding said that, while he is pro-life, he does support the right to choose. He said that when the Healthcare District board was presented with a proposal to allow the clinic to perform chemical abortions, he voted in favor of it. “I would not in any way limit a woman's access to abortion, and I think I've proven that with my vote,” he said. Fire and drought are region wide issues that are top of mind as summer approaches. Though he is dubious about relying on the state, Redding thinks huge wildfires are largely the state's responsibility. He cited the state's years'-long policy of preventing wildfires by clearing and logging, saying, “This is really a state problem that affects us…we really need to put pressure on the State of California to follow through on its commitments.” Williams, a volunteer firefighter, invoked historical factors as well. But he also advocates a local response, saying, “”It's our problem, because we live here, and fire may be in our backyard.” He highlighted defensible space and chipper programs, adding, “There are also opportunities to coordinate the funds that are available to get local workforce out, putting people to work, who desperately need work.” Both candidates support the idea of water storage, which is emphasized in the governor's drought strategy. But while Williams touted the county's success at winning a $5 million state grant to build water storage in the town of Mendocino, Redding tied storage into his emphasis, which is encouraging private economic development. “To rely on government grants makes me uncomfortable,” he said, recalling a former boss who told him, “hope is not a business plan. And when you're hoping that you're going to get a grant from the State of California or the federal government, that's not a business plan.” Redding suggested hiring an economic development coordinator and supports funding West Business Development Center, which the Board of Supervisors agreed to continue doing last week. Williams agreed that economic development is a glaring need, but opined that, “the county's role in that needs to be to provide infrastructure where businesses want to exist, where people want to live.” He added that he is reluctant to shift financial resources away from core services like road maintenance, public safety and social services, “all of the services that the most vulnerable people rely on, and the services that would attract businesses to our area.” The candidates differed on the nature of the board's relationship with the sheriff's office, with Redding associating Williams, and an attempt at a system-wide audit of the sheriff's department, with efforts to defund the police. Sheriff Matt Kendall has since endorsed Williams. KZYX will have more election coverage this month. This Thursday, May 12, from 3-4 pm, we'll hear from Assessor/Clerk/Recorder Katrina Barolomie and Pat Dunbar, from the League of Women Voters. On Monday, May 16, from 6:30-8pm, we'll host a debate with Fifth District candidates Ted Williams and John Redding. And on Monday, May 23, frome 6:30-8pm, we'll host a debate with Third District candidates, incumbent John Haschak and challenger Clay Romero.

Welcome to the second Monday of May, a fact that will likely fade from our minds the further we get from its actual happening. Let the record show that this was in fact May 9, which is considered by some to be National Lost Sock Memorial Day. That’s an appropriate feeling for this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, which seeks to catch up on as many loose threads as possible. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.On today’s program:Charlottesville City Council is briefed on efforts to implement the Marcus Alert system across VirginiaSupervisor Donna Price will only serve one term on the Albemarle Board of SupervisorsAlbemarle County’s Historic Preservation Committee weighs in on the Comprehensive Plan review First shout to JMRL’s How To FestivalIn today’s first subscriber-supported shout-out, the Jefferson Madison Regional Library will once again provide the place for you to learn about a whole manner of things! The How To Festival returns once more to the Central Library in downtown Charlottesville on Saturday, May 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. There is something for everyone in this fast-paced, interactive and free event!There will be 15-minute presentations and demonstrations on a diverse set of topics. Want to know how to do a home DNA test? Tune a guitar? What about using essential oils to repel mosquitoes? Visit the library website at jmrl.org to learn more. Schedule is coming soon! That’s the How To Festival, May 14, 2022. Price will not seek re-election to second term in Albemarle’s Scottsville DistrictNow that she’s announced a candidacy for the 55th District in the House of Delegates, Albemarle Supervisor Donna Price has announced she will not seek a second term representing the Scottsville Magisterial District.  She made a Facebook post on Saturday. “I will continue to dedicate my service to the County through the end of my term, be it January 2024 (the natural end of my four year term), or January 2023 (should there be a House of Delegates election this year and I am elected to commence service with that body at that time,” Price wrote.That continues a string of one-term members in the Scottsville District. Price succeeded Rick Randolph, who had served one term from 2016 to 2019. Randolph succeeded Jane Dittmar, who was elected in November 2013 and did not seek another term in order to run for the Fifth District in the U.S. Congress. Before Dittmar, William “Petie” Craddock had been appointed to the seat to fill a vacancy left when Chris Dumler resigned after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery.  Dumler was elected after Lindsay Dorrier opted to not run for a fifth term representing Scottsville.Price faces emergency room nurse Kellen Squire for the Democratic nomination for the 55th District. Incumbent Rob Bell has not indicated his plans. Squire officially launched his campaign with a video on Friday. Albemarle Comprehensive Plan review continues; Historical Preservation Committee asked for input Albemarle County is in the first phase of a four phase review of the Comprehensive Plan, and there are three opportunities to learn what’s happening. This first phase is intended to look at the county’s growth management policy. The Let’s Talk Albemarle van will visit the Forest Lakes Farmers Market on Tuesday at 4 p.m. and will be at the Batesville Day Festival on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There’s also a “virtual office hour” on Thursday at noon to get more information.The Albemarle Historic Preservation Committee was consulted on the Comprehensive Plan at their meeting on April 25, 2022. Specifically they were asked two questions by Margaret Maliszewski, one of Albemarle’s planning managers. “What opportunities exist for achieving our historic preservation goals, objectives, and strategies?” Maliszewski asked. “Are there new, or current, or ongoing threats to the county’s historic resources?”Ross Stevens said he wanted the committee to play a larger role in the county’s land use process, particularly as it relates to demolitions of structures that may be historic but not protected. He specifically singled out a manor house called Dunlora that will be removed as part of a by-right development. “I think we should be called upon for our advice and consulting of these structures and be part of the mix instead of just documenting stuff afterwards,” Stevens said. “I think we should be brought in to give our advice just like the Planning Commission does for the Board of Supervisors. I think we should be that resource to provide data and information regarding these properties.”Another member, Liz Russell, agreed and said the committee currently has little venue to make their views known. “And even if only on things like rezoning and special use permits and things that go up to the Planning Commission and the Board,” Russell said. Russell is also a member of the Charlottesville Planning Commission. Betsy Gondes-Baten said she would like the county to pass a historic preservation ordinance to protect certain structures. “It would also provide an opportunity in that we would be able to qualify for certain funds for surveys and nominations and that sort of thing,” Gondes-Baten said. Russell said an ordinance would take more support from the county’s elected and administrative leadership. “So how do we educate not only the public but also our own leadership about the benefits, not just for protecting historic resources, but what other benefits?” Russell asked. “How do we make those links between the benefit between historic preservation and economic development? The benefits of historic preservation and sustainability? And I think now is the time to begin connecting those dots.” Russell said preserving naturally occurring affordable housing is also a role that historic preservation can play. “Older housing stock,” Russell said. “More modest turn-of-the-century, 1920’s, 1930’s, 1940’s. These houses are out there serving a role in our community in terms of affordable housing.” Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley threw cold water on the idea of historic preservation playing a stronger role in Albemarle. “I sometimes have to be [what] I’ll call it the reality check,” LaPisto-Kirtley said. “I know Betsy keeps bringing up the ordinance. That’s something you all would have to develop and we’d have to see what that is and what it means and what it entails. At this point I have no idea what kind of ordinance we want.” LaPisto-Kirtley acknowledged many people have passion for historic preservation, but she did not think it was the county’s role to make it happen. She said it was unlikely more staff time be dedicated to the topic. “I’m not going to lie,” LaPisto-Kirtley said. “We’re up to our necks in all kinds of different things as people on the staff know we’re doing a lot of things at the county level. There’s a lot going.”LaPisto-Kirtley suggested a private foundation be set up to raise funds for historic preservation efforts. She said many homestays are being set up in larger historic buildings and their outbuildings.Russell said she was disappointed by Supervisor LaPisto-Kirtley’s response. “That is one of the most discouraging things I think anyone on this committee could hear from a Supervisor who is appointed to be on this committee to advocate for us,” Russell said. “Historic preservation is a chapter in the county’s Comprehensive Plan because ostensibly the county values it just as it values economic development, the environment.” LaPisto-Kirtley said she was simply being realistic. “This is an important committee,” LaPisto-Kirtley said. “[But] this is not the top priority because of everything else going on.” For the rest of the meeting, the committee members discussed ways to advance an ordinance, beginning with research into what other communities have done. If you were to attend any of the three Comprehensive Plan meetings this week, what would be on your mind? Watch the April 25, 2022 Albemarle County Historic Preservation Committee:Second shout-out goes to Camp AlbemarleToday’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Camp Albemarle seeks support for a plan to winterize the Hamner Lodge, a structure built in 1941 by the CCC and used by every 4th and 5th grade student in Charlottesville and Albemarle for the study of ecology for over 20 years. If this campaign is successful, Camp Albemarle could operate year-round. Consider your support by visiting campalbemarleva.org/donate. Council briefed on efforts to bring Marcus alert system to region At least one in ten American adults will suffer a depressive illness every year, according to information from the National Institute of Mental Health.  That information was cited at City Council’s May 2, 2022 work session. Officials with the Emergency Communications Center for Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the University of Virginia briefed the Council on efforts to ensure that people experiencing mental health crises are not met with deadly force by public safety officers.  (view the presentation)“We do receive around a quarter of a million calls per year here in the Charlottesville-UVA-Albemarle Emergency Communication Center,” said Josh Powell, the support services manager for the ECC. Powell said at least 90 percent of the 9-1-1 calls are answered within 15 seconds, an industry standard. He said that at least some of those calls are misdials or hang-ups. “If you do happen to misdial 9-1-1, please do not hang up,” Powell said. “It is important that you are able to make contact with the communications officer and let them know there is no emergency because otherwise they are going to continue to reach you to confirm that there is not an emergency.” A new emergency number will soon go into operation. Powell explains about what the 9-8-8 service will do.“This is going to be a system that responds specifically for mental health crises,” Powell said. “Similar to 9-1-1 you will be able to reach it by call or text.” Also coming in the future is something called the Marcus Alert, as explained by Sonny Saxton, the director of the ECC. “The goal of Marcus Alert, if we were to place a singular goal on it, would be to provide a behavioral health response to behavioral health emergencies,” Saxton said. “Essentially Marcus Alert creates that coordination between the 9-1-1 and the regional crisis centers as well as specialized behavioral health response from law enforcement.”Saxton said there are multiple initiatives to address multiple structural issues, including a shortage of psychiatric beds across all of Virginia. “The time has long passed for us to deal with these behavioral health emergencies effectively and to understand that it can happen to any of us,” Saxton said. The Marcus Alert system is intended to identify behavioral health issues whether the call comes in from a crisis line, 9-1-1, the future 9-8-8, or the rest of what’s referred to as the “crisis care continuum.” “When it comes to 9-8-8 being the new short code if you will to emergency services for mental health crises, it’s really that ‘no wrong door’ approach,” Saxton said. “In order words, you could call any of those. You could call 9-1-1, you can call 9-8-8, you could call the suicide hotline and the idea is you would have a complete continuum of care no matter where you access it.” Saxton said nearly 80 percent of calls can be resolved over the phone, but the remaining would require mobile crisis teams consisting of local law enforcement, emergency medics, and social workers trained in emergency responses.“When you put that group together and deploy those into the community, that can really perhaps begin that emergency care treatment at the person’s side and then work on getting them to a crisis stabilization unit and then to a hospital or in-patient care if needed,” Saxton said. Marcus Alert programs are in different stages of implementation across Virginia. There are two pilot rounds, but the Charlottesville area is not located within either of these. Saxton said it might be some time to have the entire state covered. Region 10 is serving as a “crisis hub” but that’s not connected yet to the ECC. Legislation passed the General Assembly in 2020 to establish the system across Virginia, but legislation that passed in 2022 carves out exceptions for some communities (SB361). Saxton said it also took many years for the technology to make 9-1-1 ubiquitous, and the same can be said for implementation of behavioral calls to be as universal.“Now, we do know that for 9-8-8, the telephone companies have to have that short-code set up by July 1, 2022, so July of this year,” Saxton said.  Saxton said protocols are still in development and there will be more updates in the future. A sizable group of people in Charlottesville would like to see the Charlottesville Police Department abolished. Mayor Lloyd Snook asked this question perhaps on their behalf.“I know that a lot of folks in the community want very much for there to be as many opportunities as possible for there to be a non-police response to a mental health crisis,” Snook said. “Is there anything that can be done before we would get to the full implementation of the Marcus Alert System? Any sort of first step that we can be taking?”Saxton said some steps have already been taken.“For one, if you do call 9-1-1 today within the Charlottesville, Albemarle and UVA region, that call is answered by a communications officer that has received additional training,” Saxton said. “They’ll answer the phone and use the guidance from a National Academy protocol, so a new standard. They will do so quickly and get you on the line with someone that stay on the line until law enforcement gets there. They’re also trained in how they’re going to dispatch the law enforcement so they’re very careful about the information they give… over the radio to set the correct tone. That’s all training that’s underway that’s already happened.”Saxton said an alternative is to call the non-emergency line and state that there is a mental health care plan in place.“That’s essentially what the Marcus Alert voluntary database is,” Saxton said. “If you report to us or to Region 10, that you have a mental health care plan, we can notify law enforcement.”The non-emergency line is 434-977-9041. Help support Town Crier Productions with a paid subscription to this newsletter!For one year now, Town Crier Productions has a promo with Ting!Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

April 20 is Chinese Language Day but perhaps more importantly, 4/20 is also Lima Bean Respect Day, National Banana Day, and National Cheddar Fries Day. Is there anything else that signifies this day? While you ponder that question, I’ll tell you that this is Charlottesville Community Engagement, a program back from a brief break and ready to get going with another year of information as it flows. On today’s program:Charlottesville City Council gets an update on what environmental staff are doing to plan for climate actionFatalities on Virginia roads reached a 14-year high in 2021Andy Parker concedes in the 5th District race to be the Democratic nomineePaul Goldman explains in writing to a federal judge why he thinks a House of Delegates race must be run this year And the Virginia House of Finance advances a bill to provide a three month period where fuel haulers would not have to pay a tax to the state of Virginia First shout-out goes to the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority for e-waste collection dayIn today’s first subscriber supported public service announcement, the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority wants you to know about Electronic Waste Collection Day coming up on April 23, 2022. Residents of both Albemarle County and Charlottesville have the opportunity to drop off old electronics from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ivy Material Utilization Center. Permissible items include computers, printers, VCRs, stereos and televisions and people can dispose of up to ten items. Only two tube-style monitors or televisions per person! You must register in advance online where you will be give a time slot. Registration is limited to 110 people per hour. Visit rivanna.org for more information.Crashes reached 14-year high in Virginia in 2021Nine hundred and sixty-eight people died on Virginia roads last year. That’s the highest number in 14 years, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Fatalities were up in several categories including speed-related crashes, pedestrians, motorcyclists, young drivers, and bicyclists. The acting commissioner of the DMV is urging people to slow down, wear seat belts, and avoid distractions. “Vehicles and roadways are safer than they ever have been, yet we continue to lose lives to senseless crashes,” said Linda Ford, who is also Governor Glenn Youngkin’s highway safety representative. “Do your part to help.”Last year’s numbers in Virginia are part of a national trend toward higher fatalities in 2021 when over 31,000 people died across the United States in the first nine months. The full data for the whole country will be available later this year. 2022 might be worse than 2021. So far this year, 245 people have been killed on Virginia roadways, which is a 12 percent increase over last year. Parker concedes Democratic nomination to ThroneburgA candidate who failed to get a thousand signatures to be on the Democratic ballot in the June 21 primary has conceded to the only one who met that threshold. Andy Parker made his announcement via Twitter on Monday.“I was looking forward to a spirited primary and campaign against [incumbent Bob] Good but did not meet the technical requirements to be on the primary ballot,” Parker wrote in the tweet. Parker’s daughter was murdered on live television while doing a report from Smith Mountain Lake in 2015, along with her colleague. The default nominee, Josh Throneburg, noted this in his statement on Parker’s concession. "Andy is a person who rose from the ashes of his tragic personal loss and dedicated himself to a life of public service,” Throneburg wrote in a statement. “He was a tireless advocate who wanted to shield other families from the terrible grief he experienced, and I know his mission doesn’t end with this race.” First-term incumbent Bob Good faces Dan Moy in the Republican convention to be held on May 21 at Hampden Sydney College in Prince Edward County. That’s right in the middle of the new Fifth District as drawn by two Special Masters appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court last year to complete the redistricting process. Goldman files new motion arguing for oral arguments in suit to force 2022 Delegate electionWhen the statewide primary is held on June 21, will there be candidates for the House of Delegates on the ballot? Richmond attorney Paul Goldman hopes so and filed a new document on Monday arguing why Judge David Novak should not dismiss the case. To recap, Goldman filed suit against the Virginia Board of Elections last year asserting that their certification of the 2021 election was unlawful because the districts were based on the 2010 Census. Goldman argues that action violates the principle of “one person, one vote” because some legislative districts are much larger than others. “The old House District 87 ranked as the most populated with 130,192 inhabitants,” Goldman writes on page seven. “Old House District 75 ranked as the least populated with 67,404 inhabitants.” The response goes into detail in its claim that this deviation is unconstitutional and deserves a remedy in the form of an election this year based on the new districts. At heart, Goldman argues that none of the current members of the House of Delegates are in legally valid districts, citing the Cosner v. Dalton case that forced a House of Delegates race in 1982. (learn more on Wikipedia)Virginia’s Solicitor General has until April 25 to respond to Goldman’s response. Second shout-out goes to a Charlottesville Jazz Society event this weekendIn today’s second subscriber-supported shout-out, the Charlottesville Jazz Society is partnering with the Front Porch and the Tom Tom Festival to host musician Joel Harrison and Free Country this upcoming Saturday. The free show will feature the guitarist, composer, and vocalist with the touring band of Adam Larrabee on guitar, Stephan Crump on bass, and Jordan Perlson on drums. The timeless, haunting melodies of this music anchor the flights of improvisation that the band creates anew every night. The tour is funded in part by South Arts through the auspices of the Doris Duke Fund and the Jazz Road initiative. For more information, visit frontporchcville.org! Charlottesville City Council briefed on climate actionEarlier this year, the nonprofit group Community Climate Collaborative waged a campaign to get Charlottesville City Council to push staff toward meeting the city’s greenhouse gas emission goals. On July 1, 2019, Council adopted a goal of reducing community-wide gas emissions by 45 percent of 2011 levels by 2030, and to be carbon neutral by 2050. Council had an hour-long work session on the issue on Monday. Kristel Riddervold, the city’s environmental sustainability and facilities development manager, led off the discussion.“The city of Charlottesville has had an active climate program since 2007 when it committed to reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by joining the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement,” Riddervold said. (watch the update)Riddervold said the City reaffirmed that commitment by also joining the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, which offers resources for both reduction of gasses and adaptation to changing weather patterns. “We use the terms climate action to be the umbrella for both of these areas of focus,” Riddervold said. The presentation covered what work has been underway since the July 2019 goal was endorsed by Council. Riddervold said there have been stumbling blocks to preparing a specific climate action plan, and that includes the adoption of a new Comprehensive Plan. She also said going through several city managers during that time has been an issue, as has been the loss of top management in city government.“I for example have been serving not only as the environmental sustainability manager, but also since mid-2018, the facilities development manager, and have been pulled into a variety of roles and responsibilities,” Riddervold said. The city is currently taking applications for a climate program specialist to assist with planning and action. The job closes April 29, if you know of anyone. “What we are looking at now is a reboot of focused effort to bring this process back on the rails and to get back on the same page,” Riddervold said. Riddervold acknowledged the frustration on the part of climate groups and she asked for their support going forward.Susan Elliott, the city’s climate protection manager, said a climate hazard assessment is complete, a climate vulnerability assessment is underway, and the adaptation plan will be ready for review next year.“In parallel with these planning activities on these two tracks, we are also still delivering a program aimed at supporting and achieving greenhouse gas emissions across our community,” Elliot said. “What we have seen when we look at our emissions community-wide is that approximately 95 percent of emissions are coming from the community outside of our local government control and about five percent are from our municipal operations.” About 30 percent comes from residential, 30 percent comes from transportation, and 30 percent comes from commercial uses. That will inform where government resources will go. “This includes supporting and funding energy efficiency improvements including hundreds of home energy assessments annually, helping to find gap fill measures so that our low-income houses are as eligible for as many utility-funded programs as possible, providing EnergySmart home rebates, [and] the Commercial and Clean Energy Loan Fund,” Elliott said.Other recent initiatives:This month, the city hired CMTA Energy Solutions to review public buildings to see how energy and water usage could be reduced (press release)Charlottesville Area Transit is conducting a study of how vehicles might transition to alternative fuels Charlottesville participated in an urban heat island study last summer (press release)Lower occupancy in city buildings due to the pandemic lead to less water and energy use (press release)This morning, the city also released two public surveys to help inform future planning efforts. One is a climate action survey and the other is a climate vulnerability survey. Both will close on May 20. Youngkin’s bill to temporarily eliminate gas tax advances The Virginia General Assembly is in special session but have not had much action. Yesterday, the House of Delegates Finance Committee heard testimony of a bill sent down from Governor Glenn Youngkin that would waive the state motor fuel tax from May 1 to July 31. “The purpose for this bill is to help cut the cost for Virginia families and fight the price of gasoline that has increased 48 percent in the last 12 months,” said Delegate Tara Durant (R-28). “This uses unanticipated transportation revenues to provide Virginians much needed tax relief.”Under the bill, the tax would be restored to half-strength in August and September before going back to normal in October. Speaking to the bill, Transportation Secretary Shep Miller talked about its fiscal impact. “The revenue impact for the FY22-24 budget that I am responsible for is about $470 million,” Miller said. “That’s about a 12 percent reduction in the motor fuels over the 26 month period in question. The total [Commonwealth Transportation Fund] collections during that same period is about $14 billion. So this represents about a three percent reduction in the CTF collections during that period.”Democrats are skeptical that any of the reduction in the tax will translate to lower prices at the pump because consumers don’t actually pay the tax. Here’s Delegate Vivian Watts (D-39).“I wanted to make sure that the patron was aware that the gas tax is collected when the tanker truck fills up,” Watts said. “There’s no guarantee at all that when I fill up my tank that if there’s no gas tax charged that I’m going to benefit from this.” Delegate Sally Hudson (D-57) said many in the state want to invest more in transportation. “When I hear from Virginians, I hear them tell me that they think our transportation infrastructure or even behind, that the roads are too crowded, their commutes are too long, the buses are infrequent and unreliable,” Hudson said. “We have nothing approaching modern commuter trains.” Durant said no existing projects would be cut, but this would just lower the amount of funds available in exchange for tax relief. Testimony against the bill came from Virginians for Better Transportation, the Amalgamated Transit Union, the Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance, the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Virginians for High Speed Rail, the Old Dominion Highway Contractors Association, the New Virginia Majority, the Southern Environmental Law Center, the Commonwealth Institute, and the Virginia Association for Commercial Real Estate“This coalition includes some pretty strange bedfellows,” said Trip Pollard of the Southern Environmental Law Center. Testimony in favor of the bill came from a series of individuals representing small businesses or speaking to their own pain.“I’d rather spend the money than have the government spend the money,” said Colonel Courtney Whitney, who served in the Youngkin campaign. Democrats on the committee sought to introduce a substitute that would issue a direct tax relief to Virginians for each registered motor vehicle, but the effort failed. On voice vote, the motion to advance the bill passed and it will now move to the House Appropriations Committee. No meetings are currently scheduled. Support Town Crier Productions through Ting!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

We are now halfway through the fourth month of the year, and when the clock strikes midnight later on, 29.77 percent of 2022 will have passed. Seven out of ten days of the year are still to come. Is this is a good place and time to take stock? That answer is up to you, but I can tell you that this is another installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Thanks for reading, and please send it on to someone else! On today’s program:Campaign finance reports are in for candidates in the Fifth District An update from the Charlottesville Parks and Recreation DepartmentAn area grocery chain is set to eliminate plastic bags A Jefferson Elm is planted on Grounds to mark UVA’s long term landscape architectFirst shout-out: The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign It’s springtime, and the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign wants you to know they are grassroots initiative of motivated citizens, volunteers, partner organizations, and local government who want to promote the use of native plants. This spring the group is working with retailers across the region to encourage purchase of plants that belong here and are part of an ecosystem that depends on pollination. There are plenty of resources on the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page, so sign up to be notified of lectures, plant sales, and more! Good leads in fundraising totals for 5th District candidatesRepublican incumbent Bob Good has raised the most money among candidates seeking election to Virginia’s new 5th District for the U.S. House of Representatives. According to the Federal Election Commission, Good raised $152,092.13 in the first three months of 2022. His campaign spent $144,310.62 during the period and has spent total of $431,328.87 over the course of the campaign. Good has raised a total of $675,964.49 and had $376,792.76 on hand at the end of March. Republican Dan Moy raised $114,046 in the first quarter and spent $66,106.12, and has $47,939.88 to spend. He did not file a report for activity prior to this year. The Republican nominee will be selected in a convention at Hampden-Sydney College on May 21. On the Democratic side, Josh Throneburg raised $37,524.33 and spent $106,726.72 in the quarter and reported a $50,000 debt. He’s raised $307,678 over the course of the campaign, and had $149,037.30 in his account on March 31. This week the Democrats announced that Throneburg was the sole nominee who turned in enough qualified signatures to make the ballot for the June 21 primary. Andy Parker failed to make the ballot for the Democratic Primary, but raised $178,314.37 between January 1 and March 31. He spent $26,010.45 and had $152,303.92 in the bank.  Park told reporters this week he is considering a challenge of the results. A third Democratic candidate, Warren McClellan, raised $2,900 in the period and a total of $13,901.18 over the campaign. A fourth Democratic candidate, Lewis Combs, dropped out of the race raised $5,155 in the period. Combs raised a total of $227,018 during his campaign and has disbursed $184,832, leaving $42,186.01 in his account as of March 31. COVID-19 updateThe Virginia Department of Health reported another 1,538 COVID-19 cases yesterday and a seven-day percent positivity of 5.4 percent. The total death toll over two years has now risen to 20,022. The VDH no longer reports data by localities on their dashboard, and the Blue Ridge Health District’s dashboard last reports data from April 13. However, an email update sent out last night shows 22 new cases in Albemarle this week, and 16 in Charlottesville. While those figures may be lower than the actual number due to at-home testing, there does not appear to be a significant public health threat from COVID at this time. “What we’re not seeing is a significant spike or a significant increase in case counts at the hospital of people diagnosed with COVID,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Medical Center. “Particularly with people diagnosed with severe COVID.  Second boosters are now recommended for those over the age of 50 or those who are immunocompromised. Those who got the Johnson and Johnson vaccine and booster may want to consider a switch.“In general, for most patients we’d recommend if they received a Johnson and Johnson vaccine initially, that we steer them towards a [messenger]RNA vaccine, the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines,” Dr. Sifri said. For more information on vaccinations, visit the Blue Ridge Health District website. Wegman’s to eliminate single-use plastic bagsAs Albemarle County and Charlottesville both consider levying a tax on plastic bags, a major grocery chain has announced they will phase out their use by the end of this calendar year. “With this decision, the company’s goal is to shift all customers to reusable bags, the best option to solve the environmental challenge of single-use grocery bags,” reads a press release on the company’s website.Wegmans will begin to charge five cents per paper bag, with proceeds going to local food banks or United Way chapters. The company has already eliminated plastic bags in New York, where they were banned ini 2019 by that state’s legislature. Wegmans has also experimented with eliminating them from some stores around Richmond. The release makes the claim that making the transition will eliminate over 345 million bags from going into circulation each year. Albemarle County will hold a public hearing Wednesday evening on imposing a five-cent tax per bag. (staff report)Charlottesville City Council will hold a work session on climate action at 4 p.m. on Monday. Second shout-out goes to Camp AlbemarleToday’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Camp Albemarle seeks support for a plan to winterize the Hamner Lodge, a structure built in 1941 by the CCC and used by every 4th and 5th grade student in Charlottesville and Albemarle for the study of ecology for over 20 years. If this campaign is successful, Camp Albemarle could operate year-round. Consider your support by visiting Donate to Camp Albemarle. Charlottesville Parks and Recreation still seeking lifeguards; no date yet for Smith reopeningThis week, Charlottesville’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board got an update on preparations underway to get the city’s pools and spraygrounds ready. “We are currently still developing our operational hours and what that’s going to look like at our outdoor facilities,” said Gator Batton is the interim manager of aquatics for the department. “The goal is to open Washington Park, Onesty, and Smith.” Of those three, only Washington Park opened last summer. Onesty Park didn’t open because of a shortage of lifeguards and Smith Aquatic Center has remained closed for the duration of the pandemic due to repairs to address air quality issues. Hours and operations will depend on having lifeguards in place, and Batton said there are currently 65 set up for the summer. “We have looked at some creative ways of recruiting and trying to bring in certified lifeguard staff as well encouraged current staff to stay with us throughout the summer,” Batton said. These include waiving fees for certification courses, $250 signing bonuses, and a second bonus at the end of the summer. The city is also looking to outsource operations of Onesty Pool and there’s a request for proposals on the street. Vic Garber, the deputy director of the department, said they need at least 25 more lifeguards for full operations this summer. Garber said testing has been completed at Smith Aquatic Center. “This included the filtration and chemical feed system,” Garber said. “We had National Pools do that. We basically passed that with flying colors.” Air qualities have been conducted by two different firms. “It should be totally sound from any type of chloramines or chlorine smell,” Garber said. Tests will continue to be conducted after the pool opens and people are using it. An opening date will be announced after the results of a third test. Garber also said the equipment in the fitness room is being replaced.“When people come in, they need to smile and stay as long as they want and be happy,” Garber said. Batton said the hope is to have the spraygrounds at Belmont, Greenbrier, Tonsler, and Forest Hills Parks operational in less than a month. “The goal is over the next two weeks to test out water features, balance water chemistry, and our project opening for those is May 14,” Batton said. Elm planted at UVA Lawn for Mary HughesThe University of Virginia celebrated its founding Wednesday with a tree-planting ceremony to mark the career of retired landscape architect Mary Hughes. Hughes stepped down in January after serving in the position for over a quarter of a century. UVA Today reports that President Jim Ryan spoke at the event. “While at UVA, she expanded awareness of the landscape beyond the Academical Village, both developed and wild lands,” Ryan said. “She secured funding for a multiyear research project on the history of land-use and landscape design of the University Grounds, which resulted in summer internship opportunities for UVA landscape architecture students and enriched the cultural landscape curriculum.”During her time as landscape architect, Hughes directed a study of local waterways and UVA stormwater system, which led to the creation of the Dell. Hughes also studied the history of enslaved workers and served on the President’s Commission on Slavery and the University, which resulted in the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers. A Jefferson Elm was planted outside of Pavilion III in Hughes’ honor. For a full list of memorial trees on Grounds, visit the Office of the Architect’s website. 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

Admittedly, it is quite difficult to get the hang of Thursdays, but many of us endeavor to try. April 14 is the 15th such day of the year, and this is the equivalent edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Both the sonic version and its the textual counterpart seek to bring you to up to date on things you may not yet have known. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. On today’s program:A Charlottesville minister has become the Democrat’s de facto candidate in the race for the 5th District seat in the U.S. House of RepresentativesMore documents have been filed in a lawsuit seeking to force a House of Delegates race this year Trees have come down on Garrett Street to make way for the redevelopment of Friendship Court Nelson County Board of Supervisors are asked to allow a mobile home park in the rural area to help provide more affordable housing opportunitiesFirst shout-out goes to the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority for e-waste collection dayIn today’s first subscriber supported public service announcement, the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority wants you to know about Electronic Waste Collection Day coming up on April 23, 2022. Residents of both Albemarle County and Charlottesville have the opportunity to drop off old electronics from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ivy Material Utilization Center. Permissible items include computers, printers, VCRs, stereos and televisions and people can dispose of up to ten items. Only two tube-style monitors or televisions per person! You must register in advance online where you will be give a time slot. Registration is limited to 110 people per hour. Visit rivanna.org for more information.Throneburg becomes Democrat’s default nominee for 5th DistrictOnly one candidate in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District has correctly filed the paperwork required to be on the ballot for the June 21, 2022 statewide primary. That means Democrat Josh Throneburg will face the winner of the May 21 Republican convention in the general election.Neither Warren McClellan nor Andy Parker turned in enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, as Throneburg announced on Twitter on Tuesday. “We just received word a couple of hours ago that I am officially a Democratic nominee for Congress in Virginia’s 5th District.” Throneburg is an ordained minister and small business owner who lives in Charlottesville. He grew up in a small town in Illinois. The candidate raised $270,154 in 2021, according to data collected by the Virginia Public Access Project. Candidates seeking to be in the June 21 primary had until April 7 to turn in ballots to their party for verification. To get on the primary ballot, a candidate needed 1,000 registered voters in the district to sign a petition. A source in the Virginia Democratic Party confirmed a Washington Post report that Parker turned in 1,093 ballots, but only 937 of them were verified as valid. Democrats in all eleven of Virginia’s Congressional districts chose to hold a primary, whereas Republican Committees in only seven chose that route. The other four will hold a convention, including the 5th District. The Republican convention will be held in the Kirby Field House at Hampden-Sydney College. Incumbent Bob Good faces Charlottesville attorney Dan Moy (convention details).As of the end of 2021, Good had raised $518,278 and Moy reported no funds. The next set of campaign reports to the Federal Election Commission are due tomorrow. In his announcement, Throneburg said he believes he can win.“We currently have a Freshman incumbent who is deeply out of touch with the people in this district,” Throneburg said. This will be the first election under the new boundaries of the Fifth District, for which Albemarle County is the northern boundary. New documents filed in Goldman suit to force 2022 House of Delegates electionThe current plan is for the new legislative districts for the Virginia General Assembly to go into effect with next year’s state races, but a lawsuit seeking a race this year is still alive in the federal court. Richmond attorney Paul Goldman sued the Department of Elections last year alleging the results of the 2021 House of Delegates should only be certified for one year because otherwise they would be unconstitutional. In March, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals sent Richmond attorney Paul Goldman’s suit back to the Eastern District of Virginia to determine whether he has the standing to bring the case. On March 25, Goldman submitted a detailed statement that documents his potential candidacy for the 68th House District in 2022 as well as a potential bid for Lieutenant Governor. Paragraph 22 points out that he now lives within the 78th District. (Notice of Additional Facts Relevant to Standing)“The old 68th District no longer exists as a legal entity recognized under the Constitution of Virginia as pointed out by Article II, Section 6 [of the Virginia Constitution],’” reads paragraph 27.“Accordingly, Plaintiff has no representative in the General Assembly that is constitutionally required to represent his interests or been constitutionally selected to be his said representative,” reads paragraph 28.  The Virginia Supreme Court finalized new legislative maps on December 28. On April 1, the Virginia Attorney General’s office filed a motion to dismiss the case once again for lack of standing. Goldman has until April 18 to respond and the defendants have until April 25 to make their reply. Trees come down on Garrett Street to make way for Friendship Court’s first phaseCrews removed several decades-old White Oak trees on Garrett Street this morning as part of a Piedmont Housing Alliance project to redevelop Friendship Court. The trees were removed as part of the first phase of the development, which got underway with a groundbreaking in January. Phase one is being constructed on a former open field. Piedmont Housing CEO Sunshine Mathon said the trees’ removal ended up being necessary due to complex topography involving a waterway that travels below the site.“We were not 100 percent sure until meeting with City staff to finalize sidewalk replacement, utilities, etc. along Garrett,” Mathon wrote in an email to Charlottesville Community Engagement this morning. Mathon said the removal of the trees is an example of a trade-off related to the need for new buildings to be set back from the street. Accommodating the channeled Pollocks Branch reduced the amount of buildable area. “The residents and the rest of the design team were balancing building footprints, number of total units, housing typologies (multifamily + townhomes), a new Community Center and Early Learning Center, ample amounts of open green space (including existing and new tree cover), parking needs, and interconnection with future phases,” Mathon continued. Mathon said the remaining phases should not have similar constraints related to Pollocks Branch and that more of the mature tree canopy in those sections could be preserved. Phase one is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. Mathon also said the wood from the trees will be used to make furniture and other products in the future. Second shout-out goes to CBIC for the WeFunder Pitch nightIn today’s second subscriber supported shout-out, the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council wants you to know about a unique event coming up on April 19 that aims to provide investment opportunities for regular people. CBIC is teaming up with WeFunder for live equity based financing for local start-ups who need capital. Recent changes in regulations allow for the event, where people can invest directly in these companies in exchange for early equity. The event will take place at 4:30 p.m. April 19 at the Irving Theater in the CODE building. Nelson County Supervisors consider Ridgecrest Mobile Home ParkThe Nelson County Board of Supervisors heard from the public Tuesday on a proposal to build a mobile home park near the Ridgecrest Baptist Church on U.S. 29 north of Lovingston. Civil engineer Justin Shimp needed a special use permit for the project. Shimp said he was pursuing the project to help provide more housing that can be affordable to households with lower incomes. “Five years ago, I would not have thought about this and didn’t think it would be needed because of affordability, but such are the increases in cost that achieving housing for folks who don’t make $100,000 a year is very difficult,” Shimp said. Shimp said mobile home parks can be a good way to provide housing at a lower cost.“One can buy a new mobile home so as little as $60,000 to pay to set it up,” Shimp said. “You could then rent a mobile home pad for around $400 a month. That is a much different sort of price point for folks than typical housing stock.”Shimp said under his arrangement, the people who would live there would own a share of the common areas and could sell those shares in the future. “I think this park investor opportunity will be a way for people who historically haven’t been able to set anchor somewhere would be able to buy in and take ownership of that and it will be good for the community,” Shimp said. The Planning Commission voted 4-1 in March on the proposal but set 33 conditions for Supervisors to consider in their review. Several neighbors of the proposed park spoke at the public hearing. One person wanted to know what Nelson County’s standards are for mobile homes and how wastewater would be handled. “Has there or will there ever be done a study on the effects of 51 additional homes on the water source?” asked Larry Shelton. Another person was concerned about the entrance off of U.S. 29. “You have to be very careful with any kind of proposals about how you’re going to get the trailers in there, how is this going to happen, how this is going to affect the residents that are there,” said Tonya Bradley. Another person was concerned that allowing 51 units in the rural area was not acceptable under the Comprehensive Plan. The debate got heated as South District Craig Barton peppered Shimp with questions about the cost of housing. Barton said he was skeptical the trailer park would work. “Have you thought about ways to figure out how to get it so people who live in this country can be able to afford a house?” Barton asked. “What could be done as a builder to help you build a house that a person will know will increase in value in his lifetime?” Shimp said there was little that the Nelson County Board of Supervisors could do. The conversation broke down as West District Supervisosr J. David Parr tried to establish order. Barton said he did not think it was likely that the trailers would increase in value. “The problems of housing are real and we need to deal with those problems,” Barton said. “Whether or not a mobile home will help in solving this problem, I don’t know. I think probably not.” Shimp said there was ample water on the site, and that many of the neighbors would be on the other side of Muddy Creek, which would mean any wells would not affect their groundwater. There were only four Supervisors present when it was time to take a vote as North District Supervisor Tommy Harvey was not in attendance. “There are aspects of this project that I think are positive and admirable, but the density concerns me,” said Central District Supervisor Ernie Reed. Parr supported the project, as did East District Supervior Jesse Rutherford. He is chair of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and sits on the Regional Housing Partnership. “More often than not the struggle always comes down to how to make something affordable, Rutherford said. “Question always comes down to where is the appropriate place. I’ve found if you put it near an area that’s meant for high density, folks usually may not like it. And if you put it in the middle of nowhere folks might not like it and you’re going to get that perspective no matter which way you look at it.” Rutherford said the only way to attain affordability is through density. He said the Comprehensive Plan update needs to consider this as Nelson considers how to make housing attainable for more people. Given Harvey’s absence, Supervisors opted to continue the matter to the next meeting. That will give Shimp more time to respond to some of the questions asked. Watch the video:Support Town Crier Productions through Ting!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

Daniel R. May graduated with a degree in ocean engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, in the Class of 1979. After time aboard the Coast Guard cutter Ingram, based in Portsmouth, Virginia, Dan became the ocean engineer for the Fifth Coast Guard District. He earned a master's degree in ocean engineering from the University of Rhode Island in 1982. Retired Rear Admiral Dan May with his wife, Leslie, at Boston Light. Courtesy of Dan May. Block Island Southeast Lighthouse, Rhode Island, before its 1993 move back from the edge of the eroding bluff. Photo by Dan May. During his time as the ocean engineer for the Fifth District, Dan worked on lighthouse projects from Delaware Bay to the Carolinas, along with other engineering projects involving buoys and other structures on the water. After time as the commanding officer of Coast Guard Station St. Louis, Dan moved to Civil Engineering Unit Providence, Rhode Island, where he served as the project engineer for several major lighthouse projects including the relocation of Block Island Southeast Light, the first move of a major lighthouse structure in the United States. Dan May with Gordon Russell of the Truro (MA) Historical Society just prior to the 1996 move of Highland Lighthouse on Cape Cod. Courtesy of Dan May Dan retired as a rear admiral in 2013. This is part one of a two-part interview. In part one, Dan talks with host Jeremy D'Entremont about projects involving erosion control at Montauk Light Station, New York, the moves of Block Island Southeast Lighthouse in Rhode Island and Highland Light in Massachusetts, and several projects involving Boston Light.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Chuck Todd reflects on the one year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, and reacts to President Joe Biden's speech marking the violent event. Todd is the moderator of “Meet the Press,” host of “Meet the Press Daily” on MSNBC and the political director for NBC News. Then, we ask listeners their reflections on the anniversary of Jan. 6. Andrea Cabral weighs in on the outcome of the Elizabeth Holmes trial, in which Holmes was convicted of fraud for her company Theranos, which failed to deliver on its promises of a blood test with the prick of a finger. Cabral is the former Suffolk County sheriff and the former Massachusetts secretary of public safety. She is currently the CEO of the cannabis company Ascend. Paul Reville updates listeners on the latest in the chaos of back to school plans amid Omicron, and the future of standardized testing after Harvard waived its requirement until 2026. Reville is the former Massachusetts secretary of education and a professor at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, where he also heads the Education Redesign Lab. His latest book, co-authored with Lynne Sacks, is “Collaborative Action for Equity and Opportunity: A Practical Guide for School and Community Leaders.” Myrieme Churchill talks about how to deradicalize people who have fallen prey to extremism, and why people feel drawn to extremist circles to begin with. Myrieme Churchill is a psychotherapist and the Executive Director of Parents for Peace, a non-government public health non-profit that helps families and communities address and treat the radicalization of loved ones. Rep. Katherine Clark shares her memories from the Jan. 6 insurrection, her reactions to Biden's speech and what she thinks the Democrats must do to fortify democracy. Clark is assistant house speaker and represents the Fifth District of Massachusetts. We end the show by continuing our conversation with listeners about the legacy of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Dan and Pat are joined by Tim Eaton to discuss this recent argument before the Illinois Appellate Court, Fifth District. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Currently serving as U.S. Congressman representing Arizona's Fifth District, Andy Biggs shares his experiences as a young father in law school, his commitment to faith and family, and some of the great leaders who have influenced him along the way. We'll revisit his first day in elected office and reflect on what people get right - and get wrong - about this local leader. ---------- Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders Join our hosts, Sarah Watts and Ben Kalkman, as we explore the human journey of leaders - their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned - as they reflect on how they became who they are today and share stories of inspiration and hope with listeners. We'll take away the title, just for a moment, and enjoy a connection with the soul. Be sure to subscribe to our show for more interviews with community leaders. This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and Rocket SPACE. Learn more about our show at https://guidinggrowth.co. View our Privacy Policy at https://rocketspaceaz.com/privacy

Today on Boston Public Radio: Rep. Katherine Clark discusses President Joe Biden's spending plan, including the importance of childcare funding, and updates listeners on the state of Democratic negotiations. Clark is assistant house speaker and represents the Fifth District of Massachusetts. Then, we ask listeners about their thoughts on vaccine mandates in Massachusetts and the politicization of vaccines, as New Hampshire residents push back against public health efforts. Sue O'Connell talks about Texas' child welfare agency removing resources for LGBTQ youth from its webpage, and an upcoming walkout by transgender Netflix employees over Dave Chappelle's latest comedy special. O'Connell is the co-publisher of Bay Windows and the South End News, as well as NECN's political commentator and explainer-in-chief. Shirley Leung breaks down latest proposals to address the crisis at Mass. and Cass, and tells the story of a woman from New Jersey who drove north to look for her son there. Leung is a business columnist for The Boston Globe and a Boston Public Radio contributor. Andy Ihnatko talks about how iPhones can now track location even when turned off, so that the Find my iPhone feature can locate the device. He also discusses bipartisan efforts in Congress to bar tech companies from giving preferential treatment to their own products. Ihnatko is a tech writer and blogger, posting at Ihnatko.com. We end the show by asking listeners for their tips on tackling phone addiction.

Peter Dolkart discusses what is happening with renters in the Fifth District as state and national moratoriums on evictions wane and COVID-19 infections surge. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_20210916_dolkart

Episode 514 Congressman Andy Biggs is a First Class Father currently serving his third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Arizona's Fifth District. Before being elected to Congress, Congressman Biggs served in the Arizona Legislature for 14 years with the last four as the Arizona Senate President. Congressman Biggs is a member of the House Judiciary and Oversight and Reform committees. He is chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, co-chair of the Border Security Caucus, co-chair of the War Powers Caucus, and Chief Regulatory Reform Officer of the Western Caucus. In this Episode, Congressman Biggs shares his Fatherhood journey which includes six kids and seven grandchildren. He describes the top values he instilled in his kids growing up. He discusses the Fatherless Crisis and how it relates to what is going on at the US southern border. He talks about the challenges of being a Congressman while being a Dad in today's toxic political atmosphere. He offers some great advice for new or about to be Dads and more! Subscribe to First Class Fatherhood and watch on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCD6cjYptutjJWYlM0Kk6cQ?sub_confirmation=1 SPONSORS: SeatGeek - https://seatgeek.com Promo Code: FirstClass Save: $20 off tickets MY PILLOW - https://www.mypillow.com Promo Code: Fatherhood Save Up To 66% Off 1-800-875-0219 More Ways To Listen - https://linktr.ee/alec_lace First Class Fatherhood Merch - https://shop.spreadshirt.com/first-class-fatherhood-/we+are+not+babysitters-A5d09ea872051763ad613ec8e?productType=812&sellable=3017x1aBoNI8jJe83pw5-812-7&appearance=1 Follow me on instagram - https://instagram.com/alec_lace?igshid=ebfecg0yvbap For information about becoming a Sponsor of First Class Fatherhood please hit me with an email: FirstClassFatherhood@gmail.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alec-lace/support

Laura Ullrich shares her insights on historically black colleges and universities and their role in workforce development and the economy in general. Ullrich has spoken to presidents and administrators at HBCUs throughout the Fifth District as part of her research on the higher education sector. She is a regional economist based at the Charlotte branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Full transcript and related links: https://www.richmondfed.org/podcasts/speaking_of_the_economy/speaking_20210519_ullrich

You can hear COVIDCalls anytime recorded as podcasts on Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or anywhere you get podcasts. Congresswoman Nikema Williams represents Georgia’s 5th congressional district in the US House of Representatives. The Fifth Congressional District is a historic district, a seat formerly held by Congresswoman Williams’ friend and mentor, civil rights icon the late Congressman John Lewis. Congressman Lewis represented the Fifth District for over 30 years, until his passing in 2020. Congresswoman Williams contributed to history by being elected as the first Black woman to represent Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District.  Congresswoman Williams was elected as the Freshman Class President for the 117th Congress. As President, she organizes and advances the interests of her Freshmen Democratic colleagues to fulfill their oath to work for the people.  Before her congressional election, Congresswoman Williams served in the Georgia State Senate.  As a State Senator, Williams got in the “Good Trouble” Congressman John Lewis spoke about. In the wake of the disastrous 2018 Georgia elections, marked with rampant voter suppression, she was arrested at the Georgia State Capitol while peacefully protesting with her constituents that every vote be counted.   Congresswoman Williams was born in Columbus, GA and raised by her grandparents in Smiths Station, Alabama. She attended Talladega College – a liberal arts Historically Black College in Talladega, Alabama.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Rep. Katherine Clark discusses the financial toll of COVID-19, and argued for the passage of the American Rescue Plan. She also touches on vaccine distribution in Massachusetts. Rep. Clark is the Assistant House Speaker and represents the Fifth District of Massachusetts. Next, we open the phone lines to ask listeners if they’ve experienced pandemic-induced brain fog. Juliette Kayyem revisits her March 2020 column for The Atlantic, “The U.S. Isn't Ready for What's About to Happen,” looking at what she got right and suggesting what the government should learn. She also talks about the tenth anniversary of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi disaster. Kayyem is an analyst for CNN, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and faculty chair of the homeland security program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Stephanie Leydon talks about how high school students are dealing with the pandemic, and what she’s learned from her work on GBH’s COVID and the Classroom. Leydon is a senior editor at GBH News. Jenifer McKim discusses her reporting on COVID-19’s impact on Massachusetts prisons, and Gov. Charlie Baker’s decision to prioritize vaccines for inmates. McKim is an investigative reporter with the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting. Jared Bowen and Brian O'Donovan explain what reopening Massachusetts could mean for arts and cultural institutions in the state. Bowen is GBH’s executive arts editor and the host of Open Studio. O'Donovan hosts GBH's Celtic Sojourn. We wrap up the show by talking with listeners about what arts and cultural institutions they’re looking forward to returning to.

On Episode 13 of the Podium and Panel podcast with a special guest Jarrod Beasley of the Kuehn Beasley and Young where he devotes his time to a diverse practice including civil litigation, specifically personal injury and products liability, corporate law and appellate work. We are here to talk about Estate of Van Dyke v. Milner a case he recently argued before the Illinois Appellate Court, Fifth District that we discussed on Episode 12. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We wrap up the week by catching you up on the fallout from winter storms in Texas, a spotlight on governors and the Perseverance rover landing on Mars. Plus, how Black churches are stepping in to help their communities get vaccinated. And, Texas water shortages. Guests: Axios' Margaret Talev and Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, presiding bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church’s Fifth District. Credits: "Axios Today" is produced in partnership with Pushkin Industries. The team includes Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Dan Bobkoff, Carol Wu, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Naomi Shavin and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at podcasts@axios.com. Go deeper: Power restored to 2 million homes in Texas Winter storm causes "widespread delays" of COVID vaccine shipments Get Smart: Vaccines Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yet again, Republican's try to suggest that voting in secret on how they administer your offices is the same as YOUR right to a secret ballot when electing them! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ann Macheras offers her perspective on the state of the economy in the Fifth Federal Reserve District, which includes the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, most of West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Macheras is a group vice president at the Richmond Fed, with responsibility for microeconomics and research communications.

The General Assembly’s special session is winding down, and we’ve got an update on what they’re up to… Two formerly segregated state parks near Farmville are among 12 new sites added this fall to Virginia’s civil rights trail… Yesterday, we met Democrat Cameron Webb – today, we meet his Republican opponent in the Fifth District, Bob Good….

The General Assembly’s special session is winding down, and we’ve got an update on what they’re up to… Two formerly segregated state parks near Farmville are among 12 new sites added this fall to Virginia’s civil rights trail… Yesterday, we met Democrat Cameron Webb – today, we meet his Republican opponent in the Fifth District, Bob Good….

Harrisonburg animal officials respond to bear sightings in one upscale neighborhood… The General Assembly’s special session may soon be wrapping up, and we have the latest… We begin our profile of the Fifth District congressional candidates, and today we’ll meet Democrat Cameron Webb….

Harrisonburg animal officials respond to bear sightings in one upscale neighborhood… The General Assembly’s special session may soon be wrapping up, and we have the latest… We begin our profile of the Fifth District congressional candidates, and today we’ll meet Democrat Cameron Webb….

On today’s show, we focus on going back to school during the COVID-19 pandemic. The beginning of the 2020 school year is nothing like before. The word “difficult” is an understatement—and it’s difficult for all: for teachers, for students, for parents, (especially mothers) and for our colleges and universities too. Meanwhile, economic strains on families are sky-high as many families face eviction, and affordable child care is out of reach. Helping us to sort out questions related to schooling during pandemic and how we should think about these issues and more:Randi Weingarten is the president of the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO; and creator of AFT Innovation Fund, a groundbreaking initiative to support sustainable, innovative and collaborative education reform projects developed by members and their local unions. Rep. Katherine Clark represents the Fifth District of Massachusetts; her career in public service is driven by her commitment to helping children and families succeed; in Congress, she brings her experience as a former state senator, state representative and general counsel for the Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services, and policy chief for the state attorney general. Fatima Goss Graves is the CEO of the National Women’s Law Center; co-founder of the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund; author of many articles and reports, including We Must Deal with K-12 Sexual Assault, and Unlocking Opportunity for African American Girls: A Call to Action for Educational Equity. Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media. Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.Support the show (http://msmagazine.com)

What You Need to Know is President Trump is working to get football back! He called Kevin Warren to tell him that to let the Big Ten play! The season was cancelled abruptly two weeks ago without anyone having a say. Students want to play and the parents of these students want them to play. Don’t they get a say? The pressure is on the Big Ten to play football! Representative Andy Biggs, of Arizona's Fifth District, shares with us that Patients deserve a 'right to try' drugs that are safe and might help with COVID-19. He also discusses what the elections will look like in November. Salena Zito, National Political Reporter, discusses her recent article The door-to-door army that helped Trump win in 2016 is ready for battle. She explains how effective the group “Mighty American Strike Force” has been with going door to door for Trump. Wrap up: National monuments are in jeopardy in Washington, D.C., because the Mayor of D.C. wants to get rid of them. When will this craziness end?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How does a national teacher of the year - turned Congresswoman - view school reopening plans in Connecticut? This hour, we talk with Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, who represents Connecticut’s Fifth District in the U.S. House of Representatives. The freshman lawmaker is nearing the end of her first term in Congress. Hayes is a member of the House Education and Labor Committee--we ask her to weigh in what measures need to be in place for students and teachers to return to school safely. And how should Congress take action nationally on police accountability? We want to hear from you, too. Are you a resident in the fifth congressional district? What questions do you have for Congresswoman Hayes? GUEST: Representative Jahana Hayes - U.S. Representative for Connecticut’s Fifth District. This November, Representative Hayes will be up for  re-election in the Fifth District against Republican David X. Sullivan Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

EAZYSENSE is helping people through the Pandemic-Help to support our work!Breaking news and more breaking news Cheers to the Broderick lab-Why? The photo shoot was fabulous!!! Let me tell you about it! Big news is that we are set with India and that means Japan and Spain are not far beyond.Big news is that we reopened our lab today under Covid guidelines and our dean for research Dr. Maria Lima is great. My CFO Paul Sethi is with us and will be with us on the radio soon. Paul is on..he is on the money and I am happy!!Now brainwork @ eazysense.com is all set up- All support is going to Easysense Nanotechnologies. the actual bank account to take care of support. photo-diodes and lasers and Rachel Silva is with us to tell us what Crowdfunding is and now I am working with Wuhan!!!!!!!Member of the Board-Psyche for Biological Psychiatry, Dr. Tom Schlapfer. Biological Psychiatry.every day-every day I started with honors from Dr. Nathan Kline. From sad to glad. the biological cowboy!!!!!!! antidepressants do work but covid is causing depression and suicide.Ironic! We have now built 240 Miles of new Border Wall on our Southern Border. We will have over 450 Miles of the year. here-remember Border was closed by Mexico to us due to covid and Canada on the other end has closed its border Daily Comment The Essential and Enduring Strength of John Lewis By Jelani Cobb July 19, 2020John LewisThe news of John Lewis's death prompts a question: What does one do when a figure of his stature departs? Photograph by David Deal / Redux By the time John Lewis made his exit from this realm, on Friday, his life had been bound so tightly and for so long to the mythos of the movement for democracy in America that it was difficult to separate him from it. For this reason, a friend who texted me "John Lewis is gone, what are we going to do now?" was not only reacting to grief but expressing a real and common sentiment. Lewis, who spoke at the March on Washington, chaired the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and served seventeen terms in Congress, representing Georgia's Fifth District, succumbed to pancreatic cancer, a ruthless and efficient plague whose diagnosis is fatal around ninety-five per cent of the time. When he revealed his condition, last December, hope persisted despite those odds, in part because, for many people, the thought of confronting the reactionary, racist, and antidemocratic realities of the Trump era without one of the nation's most potent symbols of decency was too difficult to countenance.LET'S GO TO SELMAin Selma, 1963 Alabama, that were part of the campaign for a national voting-rights act. He wrote of the moment in his memoir "Walking with the Wind," from 1998: The first of the troopers came over me, a large, husky man. Without a word, he swung his club against the left side of my head. I didn't feel any pain, just the thud of the blow and my legs giving way. I raised an arm—a reflex motion—as I curled up in the "prayer for protection" position. And then the same trooper hit me again. And everything started to spin. Lewis, who was bleeding badly, somehow made it back across the bridge. He returned to the church that had been a staging area for the march and gave a speech denouncing Lyndon B. Johnson's priorities. "I don't know how President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam, I don't see how he can send troops to the Congo, I don't see how he can send troops to Africa, and can't send troops to Selma" he said. The footage of brutal bedlam in Selma pressured Johnson to support what eventually became the Voting Rights Act of 1965. From the New Yorker! COVID AND THE NEW ARCHITECTURE!Unlike the airy, pristine emptiness of modernism, the space needed for quarantine is primarily defensive, with taped lines and plexiglass walls segmenting the outside world into zones of socially distanced safety. Wide-open spaces are best avoided. Barriers are our friends. Stores and offices will have to be reformatted in order to reopen, our spatial routines fundamentally changed. And, at home, we might find ourselves longing for a few more walls and dark corners.We need to talk about 5 G People are protesting! Are these small cells or big ugly and expensive towers. Support Eazysense as it will bring medicines but 5 G will ruin your daily life. Is this too strong?Schumamn's resonance-stumped people with this but getting the word out. How about cell phones we have now-we need to get to this discussion.I am an expert on proteins!!!!! Now all this about Hertz---and devastating towers am I saying just that the towers are not pretty and you will not have your bagels toasted correctly. But that is not what the only thing that I am saying!!!!!__?????????