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In this episode, Sam and Caron will share how the Center for Teaching and Learning, and Employee Engagement (CTLEE) at PVCC is leveraging the power of technology in order to better serve the college as a hub of innovation. Why did the newsletter go away? How are they launching on demand content with YouTube shorts? The CTLEE is letting go of the past and moving into the future by learning, changing and iterating.Books References-Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform UsSusan Magsamen and Ivy RossThe Art of Gathering: How We mMeet and Why it MattersPriya ParkerCenters for Teaching and Learning: The New Landscape in Higher EducationMary C. WrightNew CTLEE Youtube Channel- http://www.youtube.com/@PVCCCTLEEToastEDU Podcast Website- https://learn.maricopa.edu/courses/1260717
Who exactly is Sam? The TOASTEDU podcast host Sam Fraulino here at Paradise Valley Community College spends some time talking with Dr. Caron Sada in an episode dedicated to our Creativity series. Dr. Caron Sada wants to turn the tables and interview Sam and dive into his creative background, his art, and everything related to his long career here at PVCC. Caron will share how she used ChatGPT to prepare for today's interview. This fun and informative episode should be full of laughs and good creative and artistic storytelling, so join Dr. Sada and she plays podcast host and we get to learn the background and creative history of PVCC's Instructional Multimedia developer Sam Fraulino. TOAST EDU Podcast Website- https://learn.maricopa.edu/courses/1260717 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toastedu/message
There is an existential theory that there is no such thing as time and what we experience is nothing more than an elaborate illusion, a construct whose mechanisms we mere mortals cannot understand. For much of the history of Charlottesville Community Engagement, an extra hour or so was taken to turn the written word into something audible. This edition is evidence that something that seems like time has been spent on an audio intrusion. In today's edition:* UVA President Jim Ryan and UVA Police Chief Tim Longo offer their perspectives on the removal of an encampment on Saturday* Louisa County Supervisors restore funding to Piedmont Virginia Community College after hearing from officials * Albemarle County Supervisors adopt a budget for fiscal year 2025 based on the increase of two tax rates* A thrift store in Crozet celebrates its 45th anniversaryNotes for #674-AThese four audio segments were in yesterday's newsletter, which my records indicate is #674. Now that the podcast and the newsletter are disconnected, I've been struggling to come up with what to call it for my records. For now, I'm going with #674A.My hope is to eventually sync the two products back up, but that's likely not going to happen. I'm enjoying the freedom to get a newsletter out without having to worry about the audio, which means I can get out more stories. That's the whole point!You'll also note there's no sponsors in the body of this written version announcing this podcast. I used the same public service announcements in the audio as yesterday. If some entity would like to put their name to each podcast, drop me a line! In the meantime, paid subscribers help cover my time to get work like this done. If you sign up at $5 a month, $50 a year, or $200 a year, Ting will match your initial subscription.Ting can help you with your high speed Internet needs. If service is available in your area and you sign up for service, enter the promo code COMMUNITY and you will get:* Free installation* A second month for free* A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall 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 Charlottesville Community Engagement for May 4, 2024, a program that unfortunately has nothing to do with the fictional Star Wars universe and is less about a long time ago far far away and more about what's going on right now in the area in and around Charlottesville, Virginia. I'm Sean Tubbs, a local journalist who operates a fledgling information outlet called Town Crier Productions. What you're about to hear are some of the stories from just a little while ago. In today's edition:* Greene County Supervisors approve a two-cent decrease in the real estate tax rate and a three percent increase in the lodging tax rate (learn more)* Before adopting a budget, Louisa County Supervisors pull funding for Piedmont Virginia Community College due to the screening of a film on Palestinian independence (learn more)* A rezoning and special use permit that Albemarle County is seeking for its own property will go before the Planning Commission on May 14, less than two months after the application was filed (learn more)* Half of Charlottesville's Board of Architectural Review weigh in on a proposal for a hotel at 218 West Market Street in Downtown (learn more)* The University of Virginia wants to improve child care for its employees and seek a single firm to manage its four facilities plus a fifth that opens later this year (learn more)Early voting in the June 18 Virginia primary has begun (learn more)A word about the podcastThis newsletter got its start as a podcast. My career began at WVTF Public Radio back in 1995 as an intern. Back then, the news department produced a 15-minute local newscast with stories from municipalities across the listening area, combined with national stories read by the local announcer. That's gone now and has been for years. But back then, I learned how a news department put together enough resources to pull off a regular series of bulletins to inform the audience. I would go on to freelance for WVTF Public Radio and I created the Charlottesville Podcasting Network in 2005 to experiment with long-form audio. I stopped producing audio pieces around the time I went to work for Charlottesville Tomorrow in April 2007. I instead was directed to write articles about government issues. I still continued to work like a radio reporter, editing my stories in Audition but not actually producing them. I left Charlottesville Tomorrow in June 2018 when management changed, and I had an opportunity to try something different. I thought I would be able to continue to write at my new job, that didn't really turn out to the case. In January 2019, I experimented for a few weeks trying to see if I could pull together a daily newscast. I really wanted to get back to journalism as an independent reporter, but I needed a product. I didn't want to rely on freelance work, but wanted to create a way to get information out to people. These are all archived on Information Charlottesville, which had a different name when I initially experimenting. Go back and listen to the first one from January 1, 2019. There's no soundbites, and it's not the most interesting. Also notice there's no text, but I just found the script which ends with this quote:“I became a journalist to help bring people information about what they need to make their own decisions. That's a core value, and one that's helped me build trust with people throughout my career. I hope as you listen to this, you'll learn a lot more about the world around you. Thanks for listening. “ The podcast has been on hiatus due to a series of factors, the most important of which is that I'm focused on making sure I can get a version to WTJU 91.1 FM for Saturday morning. I also lost confidence in my recording set-up and am still trying to figure out how to engineer that back into the work flow. I view all of this as an experiment, an experiment funded by those who want to keep it going. I am a one-person information outlet capable of covering a great deal of things. Thanks to Patreon supporters and over 600 paid Substack subscribers, I'm able to constantly move forward in the hopes of creating more journalism. For now, the podcast will still be a separate product from the newsletter. Yet, I'm going to try to get two podcasts out a week. To make that more likely, perhaps I can find a sponsor? To make that more likely, perhaps I can find more volunteers who would like to learn audio production and journalism? Drop me a line if you have interest in either. Thanks for reading this bit that isn't in the podcast today. Also, tell people about it!To keep the experiment going, the audience needs to grow. Help that happen by telling people about it today! 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 crew reviews the first two USA vs Canada Men's T20i matches at PVCC. USA Cricket veteran Uzma Iftikhar joins Aaman and Nate to discuss USA women in their first ever ODI against PNG.
Aaman and Nate discuss recent revelations that USA Cricket is out of favor with the ICC and USOPC, and the resignation of Julie Abbott and Jamie Lloyd. Canada have wrapped their prep with MiLC's Dallas Mustangs at PVCC ahead of the five game T20 series with USA. USA Women prepare to ship out to Dubai for their first ODI. MLC cricketers vote for collective representation.
Welcome to the DropZone! Rush In, Roam In, Drag In, Drop In! What is the Drop Zone here at the Center for Teaching, Learning and Employee Engagement? The Drop Zone is a program we are offering for all faculty and staff to drop by the CTLEE and discuss technology issues, instructional strategies, all things Canvas and anything related to digital media and instruction. This podcast episode is a short introduction with CTLEE Director Lynn McCelland and Instructional Media Developer Sam Fraulino on just what the Drop Zone can do for you. Please listen in, as they talk all things pedagogy, instructional design, and digital media for enhancing and supporting learning and engagement here at PVCC. Sam Fraulino- sam.fraulino@paradisevalley.edu Lynn McClelland- lynn.mcclelland@paradisevalley.edu ToastEDU Podcast Site- https://learn.maricopa.edu/courses/1260717 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toastedu/message
Episode Notes Governor Glenn Youngkin's education townhall doesn't quite land. PVCC's Higher Education in Prison Program puts on an artistic performance for incarcerated students. Charlottesville's only homeless center for the elderly and seriously ill is closing soon. A new bill in the General Assembly would require age verification for pornographic websites Where does Charlottesville's beer comes from? In a new report, Norfolk turned out to have the fastest acceleration of sea level rise along the east coast.
“Aging is what happens if we're lucky; it means that I'm alive.” —Cindy Crawford.Young and old, we are unhappy with our bodies. Sometimes they don't work. Sometimes they don't make sense. But I want to tell you that your body has meaning, purpose, and a future. And to prove it…our Lord has one too.The sermon today is titled "Body." It is the third installment in our "Identity" Series. The Scripture reading is from Genesis 2:25 & Philippians 3:21. Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on February 26, 2023. All lessons fit under one of 5 broad categories: Begin, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under Discover: A New Identity.Click here if you would like to watch the sermon or read a transcript.Footnotes (Sources and References Used In Today's Podcast):For this series, I formed my outline (and begin each lesson) by consulting James Bryan Smith's The Good & Beautiful You. For this lesson, see especially chapter 2: "You Have A Body."Jokes about Dillard's bill in collection basket and wearing mismatched earings from Mary Maxwell.Statistics on happiness with bodies comes from the National Organization for Women and Mentalhealth.org.uk.Tish Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary.Jonathan Storment, "Adam & Eve: Searching for God in a Body." Sermon series at PVCC.N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God.
Note: The first 90 seconds is cut off. Full audio/video can be found on the PVCC page of Facebook.
Comes now December into the court of our current existence. What shall the tenor of this month be? Does this depend on the player and their ability to read the script? Every single episode of Charlottesville Community Engagement is written down in a fashion to serve as a way to communicate items of importance. I'm Sean Tubbs, producing these informational programs to describe as much of the stage as possible.On today's program:* One person is dead after an early morning fire on Pen Park Lane today* Charlottesville opens up applications for nonprofits to provide supportive services related to housing * Republican Delegate Marie March of Christiansburg submits several bills to undo legislation passed in 2020 when the General Assembly was controlled by Democrats* And the Albemarle Planning Commission recommends denial of a rezoning for 525 units on Old Ivy Road in part because of a lack of information about transportation solutions that are not yet ready for the public to see First shout-out: Homelessness in Charlottesville: From Stigma to SolutionsWant to learn how to help our unhoused neighbors find affordable permanent housing? LivableCville is hosting a webinar, "Homelessness in Charlottesville: From Stigma to Solutions", on Wednesday, December 14 at 5:30 PM. Learn from experts from The Haven and the Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless about housing, homelessness, and policy recommendations to address homelessness in Charlottesville. Registration information is available at LivableCville.orgFire on Pen Park Lane claims one lifeAn early morning fire in Albemarle County's urban ring killed one person after midnight today. The Albemarle County Fire Rescue announced that both career and volunteer units responded to a structure fire report on Pen Park Lane. “The first apparatus arrived on scene seven minutes after dispatch and observed fire through the roof of the residence,” reads a press release. Crews from the City of Charlottesville also responded. Unfortunately, the occupant of the home was found dead. The name has not been released and the Fire Marshal is investigating. The release ends with a reminder to check to see if your smoke alarms are working. Learn more at Albemarle.org/SafeatHome.Charlottesville opens up housing support applicationsA housing plan adopted by the Charlottesville City Council in March 2021 called for a shift in the way the city funded programs to build, preserve, and maintain units that are guaranteed to be sold or rented below the market value.“The Affordable Housing Plan recommends that the City make a strong and recurring financial commitment to address housing needs in Charlottesville in order to (1) increase the number of subsidized affordable homes by 1,100 homes (on top of an existing 1,630 actively subsidized homes), (2) preserve 600 existing subsidized affordable homes, and (3) stabilize 1,800 to 2,200 owner and renter households facing housing instability,” reads an application for non-profit groups seeking funding for Housing Operations and Program Support. In mid-October the city's office of Community Solutions announced future funds would be available through four separate pools.One of them is $575,000 made available to nonprofit organizations under the Housing Operations and Program Support category. This used to be under the city's Vibrant Communities Fund. (read the FY23 report)“This competitive application process is open to not-for-profit organizations that engage in affordable housing related activities that may be requesting operational or program type funding. Organizations must have substantial presence in the City of Charlottesville and engage in affordable housing activities within the City limits. Funding will not be guaranteed.”Examples of groups that are funded through this process range from the Albemarle Housing Improvement Program to Shelter for Help in Emergency. Applications are due on December 30, 2022. In early November, the city issued a notice of funding for major construction projects similar to the ones currently under construction at Friendship Court and at South First Street. That application round closed on November 30. 2023 legislation round-upThere are now 40 days until the beginning of the 2023 General Assembly and the flow of prefiled legislation continues. * Delegate Marie March has filed a bill to allow anyone to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. That's HB1393. March has another bill in HB1394 that would repeal the provision that allows a judge to approve the removal of someone's firearms if they are deemed to be a risk to others. Another bill in HB1398 would prohibit a private property owner from prohibiting others from carrying concealed weapons on their premises or in their vehicle. * Human rights would begin at conception under another March's next bill, HB1395.* Another bill from March would create the Education Savings Account Program which would allow parents and guardians who don't enroll their children in public to have the government pay for their education anyway. (HB1396)* March also has legislation in HB1397 that would allow parents to opt out of all immunizations required to attend school.* March also seeks repeal of the Community Policing Act and its provision that prohibits law enforcement officers from making decisions based on race, and would stop the requirement that police departments and sheriff's offices record racial data for motor vehicle stops and other interactions. (HB1401)* Another bill from March would change the way vehicles are assessed by altering the calculation method for personal property taxes. (HB1402)* Some of Virginia's colleges and universities would be required to provide housing at no cost to certain students when classes aren't in session. HB1403 is from Delegate Anne Ferrell Tata. * Switching to the Senate, Senator Ryan T. McDougle has filed a bill to require a photograph be presented as identification before someone votes. (SB794)* Senator Emmet Hanger has filed a bill to continue a requirement that 50 cents for each head of cattle that is assessed and earmarked for the Cattle Industry Board. (SB795)Second shout-out: The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign Since the very beginning of this newsletter, one Patreon supporter who has been there since July 2020 has used his shout-out to draw your attention to the work of the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign. The campaign is a coalition of grassroots partners including motivated citizens and volunteers, partner organizations, and local governments who want to promote the use of native plants. We're now close to the beginning of winter and if you're already looking forward to the spring, this is the time to learn about what you need to plan to attract pollinators who'll keep native species going. To learn more, visit plantvirginianatives.org to download Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Gardens. Albemarle Planning Commission recommends denial of Old Ivy Residences projectThe Albemarle County Planning has recommended that the Board of Supervisors deny a rezoning for development of a rental housing complex with 525 units on Old Ivy Road after several members said they did not have enough information about details about transportation improvements that are being planned but not yet released to the public. The motion to deny came after most members said they supported the project otherwise.“Hopefully our Supervisors will have seen that we wrestled hard with this and that we liked the development,” said Commissioner Julian Bivins. “But we are also trying to figure out how to get the various infrastructure in place.” This is the second time the Planning Commission has seen the proposal. The first was in June when the developer asked for a deferral after a long conversation about transportation impacts. (Greystar asks for more time on Old Ivy Residences rezoning after Planning Commission public hearing, June 23, 2022) The planner working for Albemarle County is Cameron Langille. He described the location of the five properties that make up the project. “To the west is the U.S. Route 250 and U.S. Route 29 bypass,” Langille said. “To the south is Old Ivy Road. To the north is some land that's actually owned by [the University of Virginia]. To the east there are some existing residential developments and that includes University Village and Huntington Village.” The Darden School of Business and the School of Law are to the northeast of the site. Some sections of the properties are designated as Urban Density Residential in the Future Land Use Map and others are designated as Parks and Green Systems. “Basically they want to rezone all of these parcels to R-15 so that a total of 525 dwelling units could be built on site,” Langille said. The development would be a mix of different types of housing from townhouses to apartment complexes. Greystar is proposing to guarantee 15 percent of the total units will be rented to households with incomes below 80 percent of the area median income, a change since the first proposal. That would last for a period of ten years. “That's the county policy now,” said Valerie Long, an attorney with the firm Williams Mullen representing Greystar. “Eighty percent AMI for ten years.” Long said she is aware the county is working on the details of a new policy to require longer terms at deeper levels of affordability. As for transportation, Greystar has proposed a transit stop on Old Ivy Road, new turn lanes into the development, a multiuse path along Old Ivy Road, and they've agreed to pay a portion of infrastructure improvements off-site up to $750,000. The area already has issues according to a traffic study conducted for the rezoning.“The existing conditions that were identified show that there are failing movements during the morning and afternoon peak hours,” said Kevin McDermott, a planning manager for Albemarle who specializes in transportation. “There's also a lack of pedestrian and bicycle connectivity in the corridor.” One of the requests in the rezoning is to have a proffer associated with the 1985 proffer waived. At the time, the landowners agreed to restrict further development until the county was satisfied that enough transportation infrastructure was in place. “That wasn't specified to what would meet that criteria,” McDermott said. Some sidewalks in the area have been constructed since 1985, but problems still exist such as the one-lane railroad underpass at the eastern end of Old Ivy. Road McDermott said the Virginia Department of Transportation has reviewed potential solutions and concepts have been shared with the county, the city, and the University. “They are still finalizing that study and it will be made publicly available but based on what we have seen, staff and VDOT believe that there are immediately implementable solutions to address those poor operational issues at the western end of the corridor,” McDermott said. McDermott added VDOT has identified funding for those projects as well. He said there are no immediate solutions to address the underpass.“But we are still digging into some options over there for a way to get pedestrians under that railroad,” McDermott said. Overall, staff changed their recommendation to one of approval.John Clarkson with Greystar Development represented the company and said the new application reflects previous concerns about affordable housing and transportation made in June. “We want to be good neighbors and participants within the community and we feel like we've made a lot of changes working with staff to meet those requests that you all made for us at that meeting,” Clarkson said. Long said the amount of funding for transportation has also been increased since the summer. “We increased the cash proffer for transportation,” Long said. “It's a total of $1.25 million. We've drafted the proffer to be very flexible.” Before we get to the public hearing, it's important to note that the University of Virginia has long-term plans to develop Ivy Garden, a 20th century apartment complex that will be replaced with more housing and non-residential space. (UVA making plans for Ivy Garden redevelopment, June 9, 2021)Public hearingSeveral dozen person spoke at the public hearing, mostly in opposition. One resident of University Village said the transportation impacts would still be too much. “You know that it takes a no vote on your part to nudge Greystar toward making some improvement in their project,” said Bill Sherman. “I am not against development, be it student or private housing, but I do oppose any consideration that would increase the traffic on Old Ivy and put everyone, especially our pedestrians, at greater risk,” said Elizabeth Vinton, a retired pediatrician who now lives at University Village. Another University Village resident, Lyle Hallowell, said he was concerned that some of the information about transportation including a new traffic study had not been made available to the public before the meeting“One thing I've heard is that there was new data collected and I'm happy to hear that as I'm a bit of a data person,” Hallowell said. “I'm a little sad that it wasn't widely shared with everybody so we learned a lot about who counts and who doesn't tonight.”Hallowell also said he would have liked to have known more about why staff felt comfortable switching their recommendation based on information not yet available to the public. He said residents already on Old Ivy Road should also be considered stakeholders. “We heard that were good plans here and in those good plans, shared with the stakeholders, that there's great promise for this road, shared with the stakeholders. In New York, where I came from two years ago, we say, ‘what am I, chopped liver?' Not all of the public comment was against the project. Will Sanford lives in the Rivanna District.“This property contains one of the longest privately-owned parts of the Rivanna Trail connecting Leonard Sandridge Road to Old Ivy Road,” Sanford said. “I'd like to thank the current owner for letting the public use this trail on the property for more than 20 years. Greystar has been proactive in reaching out to the Rivanna Trail Foundation and the Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club and after working with board members at both organizations, Greystar has illustrated the approximate location of the trail on the concept plan and are willing to proffer a permanent solution for the trail as part of their site plan.”Other speakers supported the project because they said it would bring new housing options to the area that needs them. One of them is Ivo Romenesko, who served in the early 2000's on an Albemarle County committee that recommended the creation of the Neighborhood Model District in zoning. “Predictability of land use was critical to approval of the Neighborhood Model principles over 20 years ago,” Romenesko said. “That was for neighbors and for landowners. Today urban areas are responding to density change, but not fast enough for the population growth.”Romenesko said Old Ivy Residences satisfies the Comprehensive Plan by putting new homes exactly where it was recommended. He reminded the Planning Commission that the reason it's not been developed yet is because VDOT planned to use some of the land for an intersection for the Western Bypass, a project long planned and now defunct. In her rebuttal after the public comment, Valerie Long acknowledged the project would impact a congested road but said Greystar would be part of the eventual solution by providing a multi use path and other infrastructure.“Denying this application and preventing it from being developed will not solve those safety problems or those congestion issues,” Long said. Long added that this project has jump-started a look at the existing issues. “Once we submitted our application, people started looking at, VDOT hired a consultant, they've continued to look at it,” Long said. “There have been lots of discussions with the University, VDOT, Mr. McDermott, and others about how to address it. The University is highly interested in pedestrian issues under the bridge. For all the same reasons that everyone else is.” Then it was time for the Commissioners to weigh in. Lonnie Murray went first.“I do feel very uncomfortable that we heard that there are proposed traffic solutions but we don't know what they are and so we can't really evaluate whether they would be effective or not because we don't have them in front of us,” Murray said. Commission Chair Karen Firehock agreed with the sentiment .“I have to weigh evidence that I have before me in terms of whether solutions are viable and I don't have enough detail on what it is that VDOT has proposed or what it is thinking of,” Firehock said. Commissioner Corey Clayborne said he could support the project. He said a by-right project would also impact transportation, but that would not come with anything from the developer to address issues. He said he trusted staff if they say there is a solution. Commissioner Julian Bivins said he had to honor the condition for the 1985 rezoning that limits development. “The Supervisors put a conditioned precedent on development there whether or not I like it or don't like it,” Bivins said. “They are the ones who get elected. We get appointed.” Bivins also said the University of Virginia needed to step up to be part of the solution to fix the railroad underpass. Commissioner Luis Carrazana also said it was difficult to have a position if the infrastructure would be sufficient. But he said much had improved since June.“There has been several areas that has improved,” Carrazana said. “However, we don't have the infrastructure. Maybe it's on the way. Maybe the plans are there and if this goes to the Board of Supervisors, they can evaluate if they believe it's substantial enough.” Carrazana also urged neighbors to come to the table to do their part to create a safer transportation network.“If everyone keeps trying to work together, we can actually make this happen,” Carrazana said. Valerie Long was offered one more opportunity to answer questions, most of them about transportation. She said she hoped the Commission would take McDermott at his word that the VDOT study will show solutions that will address issues on the western end.“I think we need to trust the experts,” Long said. Long also said the Timmons Group has produced documents to share with the University about ways to address the eastern end of Old Ivy Road. “The biggest problem with that bridge, and obviously the drainage is a significant issue that needs to be fixed, it's the alignment of the road under the bridge,” Long said. “It doesn't go perpendicular under the bridge. It comes in at an angle.” After that, Bivins made a motion to deny the rezoning. The vote was 5 to 2 with Commissioners Clayborne and Missell voting no. However, the Commission did vote unanimously to recommend approval of changing the classification of slopes from preserved to managed. The VDOT study may be available for the public by the time the project gets to the Board of Supervisors. “They may hopefully be in possession of the VDOT study by that time and can perhaps miraculously UVA could come forward and be more communicative about their willingness to engage in and help make some of these connections,” Firehock said.Reading material for this Friday afternoon:* After long hiatus, UVA's Democrat, Republican groups are speaking, dining again, Andrea Ramspacher, UVA Today, November 11, 2022* PVCC launches new associate degree program in partnership with WillowTree, Dominga Murray, NBC29, December 1, 2022* Albemarle County police say gang violence is behind increase in shootings, car thefts, Alice Berry, Charlottesville Daily Progress, December 1, 2022* ACPD: Juveniles charged in connection with shootings, car thefts, Dryden Quigley, NBC29, December 1, 2022* Police say Charlottesville area has a gang problem, members are juveniles, Felicity Taylor, CBS19, December 1, 2022* Around Virginia, transit agencies navigate the transition to electric buses, Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury, December 2, 2022Housekeeping for #465Another end of the week and another end of the program. There's still so much to get to, but the next regular installment won't come out until Monday. However, there will be installment of the Week Ahead out on Sunday as well as another installment of Fifth District Community Engagement.I have increased Fifth District Community Engagement's frequency and am slowly going through each locality to find out what elections are coming up at local bodies. Currently my time to do this is covered by those paying me through Patreon and I'd love you to subscribe if you haven't already. I also appreciate those subscribing through Substack and I'm just about to invoice Ting for our arrangement where Ting matches the initial payment. That could be for $5 a month, $50 a year, or $200 a year. That latter category comes with two shout-outs a month. And even if you don't subscribe, Ting still wants to be your Internet provider. If you sign up through this link and enter the promo code COMMUNITY, you will unlock:* Free installation* A second month for free* A $75 gift card to the Downtown MallThis Friday is Bandcamp Friday and consider buying a copy of Wraki's Regret Everything. Much of the music in the podcast comes from Wraki. Original theme is by P.J. Sykes and other things come from the Fundamental Grang. Any questions? Drop me a line and thank you for reading and or listening. 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
La Asociación Peruana de Capital Semilla y Emprendedor (PECAP), presenta la 7ma edición del Perú Venture Capital Conference (PVCC), el foro anual más importante de Venture Capital en Perú. Después de dos años consecutivos en formato virtual, este año, regresa de manera presencial para poner en vitrina al talento emprendedor peruano y latinoamericano que busca apalancar la recuperación económica y social de nuestra región a través de la innovación, la tecnología y el emprendimiento.Te invitamos a asistir a este súper evento que contará con emprendedores top cómo Diego Olcese (Crehana) y Domenica Obando (Talently), inversionistas cómo Lolita Taub (Ganas Ventures) y Cristóbal Perdomo (Wollef), y otros actores importantes del ecosistema de startups local, regional y global.Y para esta querida comunidad, PVCC está dándonos 25% de descuento al usar el código JAIME al comprar sus entradas en https://www.peruvcconference.comSi quieren conocer más sobre este evento, les dejo este pequeño episodio del podcast Innovación Sin Barreras donde entrevisto a Augusto Cáceres que está presidiendo la organización del PVCC. ¡Nos vemos en el PVCC!Support the show
As summer comes to an end, faculty, staff, and students are now trickling back to the PVCC campus for Fall 2022. Coming out of a pandemic offered many online and remote learning challenges and as well as learning to work and regaining our working relationships, it's now time to really get back into creating projects, collaborating with others and using new digital media to enhance our courses. This episode is just an update on the new location of the CTLEE- Center for Teaching, Learning and Employee Engagement and as well to discuss a few online tools that I have been using over the last 2 and a half years to create digital media to support instruction while working remotely during COVID-19 and while our new CTLEE was being remodeled to move us closer to the center of campus. I will briefly discuss Canvas, Google Sites and touch on a new tool that I used over the summer that I am sure faculty and staff will find a lot of fun as well with easy to learn and implement into your course materials. TOAST EDU Podcast Site- https://learn.maricopa.edu/courses/1260717 Employee Engagement Canvas Site- https://learn.maricopa.edu/courses/1231874 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toastedu/message
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
Today consists of a four and four twos, adding up to April 22, 2022. Far more understandable than Day 112, which is another name this Friday could go by. My name is Sean Tubbs, and this is another installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast that seeks to provide information about all manner of items in local and regional government in and around Charlottesville. Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.On today’s program:Charlottesville City Council learns of an even higher surplus than expected for the current fiscal yearVirginia is set to end its rent relief program in mid-MayA Colorado educator will become the next president of Piedmont Virginia community College A series of speakers wants Charlottesville Area Transit’s Route 6 to continue to stop at the doorstep of Crescent HallsAnd former UVA basketball star Sean Singletary enters the development community in Charlottesville First shout-out goes to the Piedmont Master Gardeners for their annual plant saleIn today’s first subscriber-supported shout-out, the Piedmont Master Gardeners are pleased to announce the return of their annual plant sale! That’s happening on Saturday, May 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Albemarle Square Shopping Center. The sale will offer thousands of annuals, perennials, shrubs, vegetables, herbs and houseplants, including a large selection of native plants.In addition, shoppers can purchase garden implements, yard ornaments and other “Green Elephants”; have their tools sharpened by an expert; and drop off their surplus plastic nursery pots for recycling. The sale will also feature a Help Desk for gardening questions and information tables on native plants, soil and composting, invasive plants, conservation landscaping and much more.For more information, visit piedmontmastegardeners.org. Before we begin today, a quick program note. This show is a product of the pandemic. For the past two years, I’ve been producing informational podcasts to help people know what’s going on. I became a journalist almost 30 years ago because bringing people information is what I’ve always wanted to do. At no point do I want to tell you what to think. And for the past two years, I’ve more or less been able to do this all from home. And for a lot of that time, most of you were at home too. Now that Albemarle and Charlottesville have both gone back to in-person meetings, it’s a bit jarring. I’m not used to it yet and I still have one eye on COVID cases to see what’s going on. Tomorrow’s show will contain an update from the UVA Health System.But I know I’m not alone. At Monday’s first in-person meeting in 25 months, Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook had a similar sense of disorientation when a resident of Crescent Halls came up to speak. “You’re Miss Sandridge… I know what you look like without a mask on a Zoom call but I don’t know what you look like face to face,” Snook said. We’ll hear more from Judy Sandridge later in the show, but I wanted to begin today by acknowledging the past two years and how they were very different from any other time in my career. I’ve gotten used to writing from home. Soon I’ll be back out there doing more, but it’s still an end to an era. The writer Addison Del Mastro has a piece on his Substack Deleted Scenes called Final Pandemic Thoughts which I think is worth a read. That’s not really within the scope of Charlottesville Community Engagement, nor is this whole first segment. But I am curious to know what your thoughts are on where we’ve been the last two years, and what you’d like to see going forward. As for me, I hope to continue bringing you this program.Council gets revenue update Even though Council has recently adopted a budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, there is never a time when the city’s finances are not in the public eye. Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers briefed Council this week on the state of revenue collection for the current fiscal year that ends on June 30. “So far this year we have currently collected 66.93 percent of our budgeted revenue and we remain on track to collect more than the adopted revenue budget of $192,212,843,” Rogers said. The next tax bills are due on June 6 and will include the one cent real estate tax increase adopted by Council earlier this month. Tax rates go with the calendar year, not the fiscal year. That means a budget surplus is almost certain. “While we discussed during the budget process that we would end up with $12 million more, what I’m seeing now based on that revision, it’s $13 million,” Rogers said.Final decisions about how to use that funding will be made by Council later this year after the FY22 books are audited. Runyon named as PVCC’s next presidentThe chancellor of Virginia’s Community College System has named a Colorado educator as the next president of Piedmont Virginia Community College. Dr. Jean Runyon is currently the campus vice president at Front Range Community College in Larimer. . “We are excited to welcome Dr. Runyon to PVCC and believe she will be able to build upon the success and great potential that exists here, not just at the College but throughout the community,” said PVCC College Board Chair Lola Richardson in a statement. Runyon will be PVCC’s sixth president since it was founded in 1972. She’ll succeed Frank Friedman in the position he has held since November 1998. The new president has a long history in higher education with positions such as the director of the Innovative Teaching Center at the College of Southern Maryland and eight years in various positions at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland. She’ll take the reins at PVCC in July. Virginia rent relief program is set to end In another sign that the pandemic era is over, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development is closing an online portal through which people can apply for rent relief. Virginians have until midnight on May 15 to make a new application. Virginia was one of the first states in the nation to put a mortgage and rent relief program in place soon after the federal Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES). The program went live in June 2020 and has provided more than $713 million in relief for 104,990 households across the Commonwealth. To be eligible, households need to have an income less than 50 percent of the area median or have to have had one member out of work for up to 90 days. “DHCD will continue to work with partners and stakeholders across the state to create comprehensive strategies to increase the supply of affordable housing, address and prevent evictions and reduce barriers in housing throughout the Commonwealth,” reads a notice on the agency’s website. For more information, visit the DHCD’s website.Today’s second shout-out goes to WTJUAlgorithms know how to put songs and artists together based on genre or beats per minute. But only people can make connections that engage your mind and warm your heart. The music on WTJU 91.1 FM is chosen by dozens and dozens of volunteer hosts -- music lovers like you who live right here in the Charlottesville area. Listener donations keep WTJU alive and thriving. In this era of algorithm-driven everything, go against the grain. This week is the annual Rock Marathon, so tune in and support freeform community radio on WTJU Consider a donation at wtju.net/donate.Former UVA basketball star part of redevelopment project at 1101 East Market StreetA former University of Virginia basketball player who also played in the National Basketball Association is part of a development team that seeks to build eleven townhouses in downtown Charlottesville. “Just excited to be back in town and on about the progress with this project,” said Sean Singletary, who played for UVA in the mid 2000’s. “Ever since I graduated from school here, I’ve always wanted to move back here and just give back to the community. Charlottesville and UVA have done so much for me.” A preliminary site plan has been filed with the city of Charlottesville to build several townhomes in the Little High subsection of the Martha Jefferson neighborhood at the intersection of East Market and 11th Street. In all, 11th Street Partners seeks to consolidate four lots into one before building ten townhomes. Several existing structures on those properties would be removed, but a house at 1103 East Market Street would remain as it is not part of this project and is owned separately. As part of this plan, the house at 1101 East Market Street would be replaced with a new structure. “We determined that the most beneficial to the community would be to demolish these existing structures and replace them with very attractive units that we think are going to add a significant benefit to the community at large,” said engineer Eric Woolley.One of these would be a sidewalk on this stretch of East Market where there currently is not one on the northern side of the road. Utilities would be placed underground. Each townhouse would have three bedrooms and three off-street parking spaces. “The way we’ve oriented the units, we think it’s going to be beneficial to the neighborhood by actually providing more parking within the development which alleviates the pressure of overlap parking to other neighbors,” Woolley said. While the application for the Vue at East Market is by-right and would not require a decision by elected officials, a request to close off a public right of way does.“The alley closure piece does have discretionary review by City Council but the other components would not,” said Carrie Rainey, a city planner. One of Singletary’s three partners is Keith Payne, an All-ACC conference running back on the UVA football team. “This is extremely exciting for our team to be able to develop in Charlottesville, especially downtown in a great neighborhood,” Payne said. Payne said he and Singletary graduated together, and have always been looking for an opportunity to develop in Charlottesville. “Being on the corner there, we felt this could be a vibrant site for the city,” Payne said. The team wants to develop other projects in the community. No one spoke at the community meeting on Wednesday. To view the discussion, take a look at the video here. PHAR seeks to keep Crescent Halls bus stop in placeA series of speakers at Monday’s City Council meeting asked the elected officials to weigh in on a decision by Charlottesville Area Transit to relocate the bus stop at Crescent Halls, a public housing site that is currently undergoing renovations. The homes are currently served in both directions by Route 6 and the agency is making the change to help speed up the route. That had not been the plan, according to one resident. “We were told that they would pick up one side and when they come back they would let people off in front of the door,” said Alice Washington. “We need that. Crescent Halls is a senior and disability building.” As such, Washington said many residents use wheelchairs or walkers to get around and need to be able to board the bus. That will be much harder if they have to walk what she said were the 89 steps to the new stop. “If they got to walk from way over here over there and some of these people are almost 80 or 90 years old, it’s impossible,” Washington said. We briefly heard from Judy Sandridge earlier. Let’s hear her again. “If you see me hear with my cart here again, my oxygen, and a thing full with food trying to walk 89 steps?” Sandridge said. “She walked 89 steps. I can’t do that.” Other voices included Brandon Collins, the redevelopment coordinator of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority who said keeping the bus stop where it is has been a high priority during renovation discussions. Another was Shelby Edwards, who succeeded Collins as the main voice of the Public Housing Association of Residents in her capacity as executive director. “PHAR has hosted both private and public conversations with CAT about this topic,” Edwards said. “We don’t understand why this has been such a laborious task. We know that that CAT would like to move to the 30 minute service to increase ridership, but this means little if the people who switch over already have other forms of transportation. Yes, we do want a world where everyone can use mass transit but we first need one where everyone who has no other form of transit can continue to move around freely.”Council also heard directly from CRHA’s Executive Director, John Sales. “We need that bus stop in front of the building,” Sales said. Sales added that a site plan amendment to the Crescent Halls renovation would be required, which could delay the ability for residents to move back in. Sales also pointed out that the route change has not yet been finally approved by City Council. “So I just want to make sure that any other route changes that are going to be impacted by this 30 minute transition gets discussed because not only will Crescent Halls be impacted, but people all over the city are going to be impacted, without anyone knowing,” Sales said.In 2021, Charlottesville Area Transit worked with a consultant to realign the routes, but the changes have not yet been implemented. Under the new changes, Route 6 would no longer travel to the University of Virginia Health System but would stil travel between Willoughby Shopping Center and Downtown. The route would also no longer travel on Ridge Street via Brookwood Drive. No action was taken at the meeting, but this morning Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders and CAT Director Garland Williams offered the following statement:“The City Manager has asked staff to consider options regarding the bus stop service to residents of Crescent Halls, including the Paratransit service administered for the City by JAUNT. There are multiple conversations in progress and a number of options are being considered but the iterative process of review, feedback, and costing is in full motion. We will be convening all parties to review and determine workable options to present to Council as soon as possible.”The route changes have not yet been made because of a lack of drivers that would be required to provide the additional service. 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
This podcast of the TOAST EDU, CTLEE Director Lynn McClelland and Instructional Media Developer Sam Fraulino sit down for a discussion about the upcoming development of PVCC's New Media Lab Experience. Join in on this conversation to learn about what exactly the New Media Lab Experience is, who is involved, and the many positive learning opportunities it can bring all faculty, staff, and students to enhance their digital media experience. The New Media Lab Experience at PVCC's Creative Commons welcomes students, faculty, and staff to a space where they can create multimedia projects, collaborate with others, and utilize the latest content-creating technology for videography and podcasting. For faculty and staff, we will provide opportunities for personal and professional growth. For students, we provide the opportunity to develop their written communication with a focus on digital publication. Whether researching a topic for a website, podcast, or video documentary, students will need to develop their written content and support their information with credible sources before transferring their work to a digital form. TOAST EDU Podcast Website- https://www2.paradisevalley.edu/ihub/toastedu_podcast.html Book Resource- Teaching Digital Natives-Partnering for Real Learning by Marc Prensky New Media Lab Experience Video with Dr. Jon Storslee and Lynn McClelland: https://vimeo.com/678231307 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toastedu/message
This podcast of the TOAST EDU, is a sit down discussion with the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Employee Engagement's Sofia Pijanowski and Sam Fraulino as they discuss the new CTLEE newsletter called Creative Connection. Sofia will talk about the upcoming new and improved newsletter that the CTLEE has developed to create a better connection with PVCC's faculty and staff. We'll be discussing what is different from this letter and newsletters past along with how and where you will be able to find this incredible resource. Creative Connection Newsletter- https://sites.google.com/paradisevalley.edu/ctlee-creative-connection/home TOAST EDU Podcast Website- https://www2.paradisevalley.edu/ihub/toastedu_podcast.html --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toastedu/message
Captain Balding conducts an "off the books" undercover operation to eradicate drugs on the PVCC campus once and for all, but things take a bit of a turn. Cast Narrator Darin – Derek Deutsch Narrator Phil - Dillon Horinek Darin - Josh Valladares Phil - Halrawk Captain Cooke - Derek Benison Captain Balding - Anthony Ziello Female Student # 1 - Courtzie Jock - Kyle Bonn Music and SFX by: https://www.videvo.net/ Stay up to date with news about the show, release dates, and more on our Twitter! https://twitter.com/ThatCollegeShow - @ThatCollegeShow --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adventuresincollegesafety/support
Welcome back Pumas! Spring 2022 is about to begin, as we know the beginning of a new semester brings back a fresh energy and an excitement that we all look forward to as we welcome back students into the classroom and connect with faculty and staff to create an innovative and fun learning environment both in person and online. As we wrapped up 2021 with some new projects, a new podcast, a new video series called Puma Playback, along with an Employee Engagement Canvas resource site. We look forward to the 23rd Annual Spring Learning and Leadership Week for our employees offered in virtual, hybrid and in-person formats next week, January 10-14, 2022. We are excited to bring back the Adjunct Faculty semester start-up session including a break-out just for new adjunct faculty. We at the CTLEE hope all PVCC's faculty and staff have a wonderful start to what we hope is a very successful and productive Spring 2022 semester. TOAST EDU Podcast Website- https://www2.paradisevalley.edu/ihub/toastedu_podcast.html Employee Engagement Canvas Resource- https://learn.maricopa.edu/enroll/DEDR63 Puma Playpack Collection: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8991328 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toastedu/message
Bits-N-Crumbs Segment! So in the last few weeks, the CTLEE has released a series of short videos highlighting a faculty member or staff member here at Paradise Valley Community College. Puma Playback? What is that? For the last few weeks, the CTLEE released a series of short videos highlighting a faculty or staff member here at Paradise Valley Community College: who they are and what they do. Collaborating with fellow faculty and staff, these short, casual, and fun videos created by Lynn McClelland and Sam Fraulino highlight the innovative projects and programs at PVCC. Their fresh ideas can inspire us all to be more creative. So, pull up a chair, sit back, relax, and listen in, as we talk a bit about the Puma Playback video concept and how you and your projects or programs can be featured. TOAST EDU Podcast Website- https://www2.paradisevalley.edu/ihub/toastedu_podcast.html Puma Playback Collection: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8991328 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toastedu/message
This podcast is a discussion about what it was like to teach during a pandemic, what did faculty learn, how did some adapt and five questions to ask yourself to improve or enhance how you teach students from this point on. As we know, for the last year in a half, students adapted to online learning and a remote style of communication with their instructor. So reflecting on my own experience, supporting a college and handfuls of faculty who never taught remotely was a significant challenge, that had both rewards and huge amounts of obstacles as well. Our CTLEE team here at PVCC adapted quickly and I believe successfully to keep things going and hopefully keep instruction solid with the support in Canvas and the growth of remote/virtual teaching tools such as Canvas Conferences and WebEx, Kahoot, etc. As well, we have two instructors who pre-recorder their insight to this subject as well. Dr. Caron Sada and Lynn McClelland both share their experiences with teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. We'll also hear a brief statement from Loretta Mondragon on what occurred behind the scenes at PVCC to support faculty, staff and students. Article- Teaching Online in the COVID Crisis: What We Have Learned --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toastedu/message
Let’s begin today with two Patreon-fueled shout-outs. One person wants you to know "We keep each other safe. Get vaccinated, wear a mask, wash your hands, and keep your distance."And in another one, one brand new Patreon supporter 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, the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!On today’s show:The latest campaign finance reports are out a week before Election Day in VirginiaArea planning and housing directors provide updates on projects across the region Charlottesville’s seeking a firm to help with financial advice related to long-term debtAnd Piedmont Virginia Community College is extending a tuition assistance program We’ll begin today with a quick update from three newsletters ago. On Saturday’s program, I wrote about the suspicious package found Friday night by the federal courthouse. The Virginia State Police bomb squad was called and the item was deemed to be no threat to public safety. Over the weekend, city communications director Brian Wheeler confirmed to the Daily Progress that the suspected threat was a “personal item.” (article)Jury selection began yesterday in the Sines v. Kessler trial, as well as the defeat of a motion from defendant Christopher Cantwell to sever himself from the case. Cantwell is representing himself in the civil rights suit which seeks damages and an injunction on further events such as the Unite the Right Rally from August 12, 2017. Read Tyler Hammel’s coverage in the Daily Progress to keep up to date. (Day 1 coverage)Last campaign finance report before the electionElection Day is one week away and the latest campaign finance reports have been submitted to the Virginia Department of Elections.CharlottesvilleIn the Charlottesville Council race, Democrat Brian Pinkston began October with $14,400 and raised only $25 in contributions. He loaned himself $1,815 and spent $1,816 in the period leaving a balance very similar to where he started. Pinkston has raised $111,122 in the campaign (info). Ticket mate Juandiego Wade began the month with $15,201 on hand and raised an additional $140. He spent $175 leaving a balance also similar to where he started. Wade has raised $81,375 this cycle. (info)Independent Yas Washington raised no money and spent no money and had a balance of zero on October 21. She’s raised and spent a total of $415 in the election cycle. (info)Albemarle County None of the Supervisors races in Albemarle County are contested, but there was campaign finance activity. Jack Jouett incumbent Diantha McKeel raised an additional $100, spent $6,473, and had a balance of $22,815 on October 21. (VPAP)Rio District Incumbent Ned Gallaway raised no money and spent $3 on parking in downtown Charlottesville according to his campaign finance report. Gallaway began the 2021 campaign with $7,293 on-hand and has raised $10,150 in total this year. He had an ending balance of $14,086 on October 21, 2021. (info)Newcomer Jim Andrews raised no additional money in the first three weeks of October, spent $2,503, and had a balance of $19,281 on October 21. Andrews has raised a total of $38,117 in the campaign cycle. Nelson County There are two contested races for the five-seat Board of Supervisors in Nelson County. Democrat incumbent Ernie Reed faces a challenger in Republican Pam Brice. Reed began October with a balance of $10,965 and raised an additional $275. He spent no money during the period. (info)Brice began October with a balance of $2,430, raised an additional $325, and spent $1,316 in the first three weeks of the tenth month. She had an ending balance of $1,439. (info)In Nelson’s North District, incumbent independent Thomas D. Harvey has been in office since 1984 and is being challenged by Democrat Mary Cunningham. No online records of Harvey’s campaign finance reports are available. He’s filed an exemption from reporting requirements, according to Nelson County Registrar Jacqueline Britt. Cunningham began October with $1,450 on hand and received $550 in contributions. Her campaign spent $420 and finished this reporting period with $1,580 on hand. Cunningham has raised a total of $7,132 this year. (info)More from this cycle of campaign reports in the next installment of the program. Routine advice wanted for city bondsCharlottesville has issued a routine request for proposals for a firm to provide advice with financial services related to the city’s capital improvement program as well as the issuance and administration of debt. The city’s request details the city’s existing $207 million in outstanding debt which includes a total of $17.8 million in debt service for the current fiscal year. (read the RFP)Charlottesville sells municipal bonds each spring for the CIP as well as four utilities that are all separate accounts. This year the city issued $20.8 million in bonds, $8.22 million of which is for new debt. The city has held a AAA bond rating from Standards and Poor’s since 1964 and a AAA bond rating from Moody’s since 1973. The RFP comes at a time when the city is anticipating sharp increases in capital spending to pay for $75 million in upgrades at Buford Middle School as well as a $10 million a year commitment to affordable housing projects. In September, Council signaled to budget staff that they no longer want to pursue local funding for the West Main Streetscape, a multi-phase project that also included funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation. Council was told in September that the additional spending will require additional tax resources. Assistance extendedPiedmont Virginia Community College announced this morning that a tuition assistance program will be extended into the spring semester. The PVCC4U 100%! initiative covers one hundred percent of tuition and fees for qualifying students.“During the current fall semester, the PVCC4U. 100%! program has made it possible for 431 students to receive $508,842 in additional funding to cover the full cost of their tuition and fees,” reads a press release. “For the full academic year, PVCC estimates $1.4 million in funding for over 700 students.”To be eligible, participants must be a Virginia resident, go through the financial aid process, and have a household income of less than $100,000 a year. Alternatively, the student could have been laid off or furloughed due to COVID-19. The student must also enroll in at least six credit hours. Learn more and apply at the PVCC4U 100% page. Albemarle building efficiencyFinally in our news round-up, a correction. In the last newsletter, I identified Albemarle Deputy County Executive Doug Walker under an incorrect title. To make it up, why not a quick soundbite from Mr. Walker in which he highlights an item from the recent report from the county’s Facilities and Environmental Services Department. (read the report)“I want to draw your attention specifically tonight today to the energy management program update which includes a report on the very real and meaningful savings the county has been able to realize in building operations through this program which tracks and optimizes energy consumption in your buildings,” Walker said.Energy consumption at the Scottsville Community Center, the Crozet Library, and Northside Library has been reduced to 25 percent of FY2017’s figures due to the program.“At Crozet Library the issue had been a missing sensor in the building,” Walker said. “In Scottsville there were relatively minor repairs needed and operational adjustments made. And at Northside, programming adjustments helped to realize those savings.” Walker said in addition to saving money, these reductions will also help Albemarle meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals. In today’s second Substack-fueled shout-out, Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit codeforcville.org to learn about those projects. The Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership was created by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District to serve as a regional clearinghouse for issues related to places to live. Last week, the partnership held the first in a series of fall and winter seminars on the topic which held up to that spirit. (watch the video)Representatives from four localities gave their perspective, including Alex Ikefuna, the former city planning director who is now the interim director of the Office of Community Solutions. “Local action alone is not going to be enough to address the affordable housing crisis so there is an outlook now that regional cooperation, partnership, and collaboration is going to be a critical component of addressing the affordable housing,” Ikefuna said. Jim Frydl is the planning director and zoning administrator for Greene County and he said the partnership’s assistance has been helpful.“We’re in the process of developing and refining our Comprehensive Plan and the public input and the support and the networking and the data from the Regional Housing Study that we have received are all invaluable as planning tools going forward,” Frydl said. Frydl referred to the Planning for Affordability report, adopted by the TPDC in August. The report has a chapter for each of the six localities in the planning district.“As a region, we’re tied together economically which means people commuting back and forth between jobs,” Frydl said. “The housing issue is a regional issue because affordability in Charlottesville impacts Fluvanna and impacts Greene and vice versa.”Frydl said between 700 and 800 housing units will come on line in Greene within the next year. “It’s a mixture of market rate apartments, senior-restricted apartments, independent living apartments, townhomes,” Frydl said. “There’s a lot more multifamily or missing middle housing that Greene County hasn’t had in the past.” The partnership also provides potential for dialog between communities of shared interest such as the urban ring around Charlottesville. Stacy Pethia is Albemarle’s Housing Policy Manager. “Often those conversations have been disconnected so this is a great way to bring everyone to to the same table,” Pethia said. Douglas Miles has been the director of Community Development in Fluvanna County since the summer of 2019. Fluvanna is also undergoing a Comprehensive Plan update to plan for places to live. ‘We’re about 96 or 97 percent single-family housing here and we have projects that are coming on board now such as Colonial Circle with 124 apartments, things like that,” Miles said. “We’re entering kind of this new era for us which is great for getting affordable workforce house type requests.”Colonial Circle is at the corner of Route 53 and Lake Monticello and also includes single family homes. The apartments are being built by Pinnacle Construction and will be targeted at households making between 50 percent and 70 percent of area median income. “This proposed development will be very similar to Brookdale in Albemarle, so that’s the model and that’s the style of the apartments with the clubhouse and the pool and the [recreational] areas,” Miles said.A performance agreement will be worked out with the Fluvanna Economic Development Authority, the developers, and the Fluvanna Board of Supervisors. Fluvanna and Louisa also share the Zion Crosswords growth area and Miles said that area will become residentially dense as water and sewer service is connected. Ikefuna said Charlottesville is ground zero for affordable housing, and many projects are underway. “We got a massive redevelopment initiative by the housing authority, a wholesale renovation of Crescent Halls which is about 100 units plus,” Ikefuna said. According to an October 21 update from CRHA Redevelopment Coordinator Brandon Collins, the waterline break from this past June has altered the construction schedule. All residents will eventually be moved out of the building and into other housing covered through vouchers for the duration of construction. Read the update for more info on public housing construction, which is being backed by millions in city taxpayer funds. The current five-year Capital Improvement Program anticipates $13.5 million in funding. (report)City taxpayers are also helping finance the Piedmont Housing Alliance’s redevelopment of Friendship Court. “That is a massive project,” Ikefunda said. “Four phases. At build out you will be looking at between 450 and 480 units.” The current CIP budget anticipates $15.9 million in taxpayer funds for all four phases. Construction has not yet been scheduled for the first phase. Ikefuna said the draft Comprehensive Plan seeks to increase residential density by allowing more units on individual lots. The extent of how many and where will be up to the rewrite of the zoning ordinance as well as development of an inclusionary zoning policy.“We’re expecting that it’s going to be done early next year and that will help with the rewriting of the zoning ordinance,” Ikefuna said. City Council is expected to have a first reading of the ordinance on November 15. The full video for the Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership meeting can be viewed on YouTube. 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 that’s pretty cool, right? This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
The Art and Science of Culture Change is a strength based approach to inclusion that creates a safe, welcoming and even fun environment where diverse groups of people can learn, unlearn, learn and solve problems together. With both individualism and collectivism in mind, Dr, Sada's bold vision could be described as creating better cultures for each of us and for all of us. This podcast is focused on The Art and Science of Culture Change designed by Dr. Caron Sada. Caron teaches psychology at Paradise Valley Community College but Caron is also a social entrepreneur, artist and organizational consultant beyond her internal role at PVCC. Caron's specialty is industrial-organizational psychology, sometimes called the “psychology of the workplace” and she is especially interested in the social contexts that best facilitate problem solving with the potential to lead to more inclusive, innovative and entrepreneurial cultures. Visit Caron's Website www.caronsart.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toastedu/message
Jake Busching got his start in Virginia winegrowing after he moved to Richmond Virginia and was a struggling musician working in the restaurant business to make a living. Eventually he would move to Charlottesville and take a position at Jefferson Vineyards working for the Woodward family. When Chris Hill, the consulting viticulturist at Jefferson Vineyards realized that Jake knew his way around a farm and could repair equipment he made a point of getting him into the vineyard side of the business and his career grew from there. Michael Shaps we there at the time and he would along with Chris Hill be instrumental in Jake's early career. He would go on to work at Horton, Keswick Vineyards, Pollack and Grace Estate before joining forces with Michael Shaps, once again, as the head winemaker and GM for Michaels Contract winemaking piece of Shap's Wineworks. It was there that Jake started to produce a small amount of wine under his own label and would continue making wine under Jake Bushing Wines. During a stint of teaching viticulture at PVCC in Charlottesville he met Aaron Hark who with his wife wanted to plant a vineyard and were taking classes at PVCC to learn about winegrowing. It was there that Jake and Aaron met and ultimately after Jake had started his own consulting business he would become the wine grower at Hark Vineyards in 2017 and manage their vineyard estate. He remains there today.HIGHLIGHTS:a). Jake explains how a Minnesota native who grew up on a cattle ranch would come to Virginia and eventually start a career in the wine industry.b). He goes on to detail after going to work for Stanley Woodard at Jefferson Vineyards Chris Hill would bring him over the vineyard side of the operation and have a significant impact on his career path and future.c). He touches on his relationship with Michael Shaps at times in the interview and how that influenced his career and the understanding about the winemaking side of the business.d). Jake shares a great story of how he sub in for Chris Hill teaching viticulture classes at Piedmont Valley Community College and how that would eventually lead to the relationship with Aaron Hark and come to be his winegrower at Hark Vineyards to this day.e). Jake explains to me why he likes working with Cabernet Franc here in Virginia.f). He goes on to describe the difference between the fruit from Shenandoah Valley vs. the Monticello AVA.g). Jake was there right at the table when the Winemakers Research Exchange was birthed. A complete result of when Bruce Zoecklein retired as the active Enologist at Va Tech. Learn more and in greater detail when you listen to the Podcast Episode or read the text transcript below.
In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out: With the summer heat in full swing, your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, wants you and yours to keep cool. LEAP offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!On today’s show:Charlottesville City Council approves a rezoning and pursues a collective bargaining ordinanceAlbemarle County is getting half a million to pay for two electric school busesFrank Friedman is stepping down as president of Piedmont Virginia Community CollegeAlso in Albemarle, the reopening of an emergency financial assistance pool of fundingThis morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 2,764 new cases and the percent positivity rises to 8.8. The percentage of adult Virginians is 66.4 percent. The seven-day average for vaccines administered is 14,676. Albemarle County has announced the relaunch of an emergency financial assistance for community members. These funds can be applied to mortgage, rent, or utility payments. If you or someone you know are eligible, you can call one of two hotlines to leave a message. A press release mentions it may take up to three weeks to get a response. Applicants will have to demonstrate a loss of income. The Albemarle Board of Supervisors allocated $800,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for this purpose. The numbers are 434-326-0950 for English speakers and 434-373-0930 for Spanish speakers.Frank Friedman will retire as president of Piedmont Virginia Community College when the upcoming academic year ends next May. Friedman has been the president of PVCC since 1999 and is the fifth person to lead the institution since it was established in 1972. “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as president of PVCC,” Friedman said in a statement. “I have worked with the finest, most dedicated faculty and staff you will find anywhere. I am so proud that in the 23 years I have been president, over 150,000 students have received an accessible, affordable, high-quality education at PVCC.”Since 1999, PVCC has acquired the former Monticello Visitor’s Center and converted into the Stultz Center for Business and Career Development for workforce services, launched satellites space in Stanardsville, the IX Building and the Jefferson School City Center, and 150,000 students have been enrolled. PVCC will launch a national search to find Friedman’s successor. Albemarle County will receive $530,000 from the state government to purchase two electric school buses. The funding comes from an environmental mitigation trust set up when the firm Volkswagen was caught lying about the ability of some of its engines to provide low emissions. Albemarle’s amount is part of a $10.5 million pay-out from the trust fund to replace 83 diesel school buses across Virginia. In all, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality administers over $93 million in the trust. “The Trust is the result of settlements resolving allegations that Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act through the use of emission testing defeat devices designed to cheat on federal emissions tests,” reads a statement on the DEQ site. “Volkswagen sold more than 500,000 excessively polluting vehicles in the U.S. More than 16,000 were sold in Virginia, and produced over 2,000 tons of excess nitrogen oxides (NOx) in violation of federal pollution standards.”Elsewhere in our area, Augusta County will receive $523,198 for two buses, and Culpeper County will receive $530,000. The city of Charlottesville and the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission are seeking comment on a year-end report documenting how one pot of federal funds has been spent. The Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) tracks where HOME funds and certain Community Development Block Grants are allocated, who gets the funding, and what housing units are either created or rehabilitated. “For PY20, completed HOME projects included two first-time homebuyer assistance projects, development of two new rental units, and twelve homeowner rehabilitation projects, for a total of 16 units,” reads the CAPER. “For CDBG projects, the City worked with sub recipients to implement public service and economic development projects.”For all of the details, take a look at the document. The TJPDC will have a public hearing on September 2 at 7 p.m. and Charlottesville City Council holds a public hearing on September 20. You can also submit written comments. Details in the public advertisement in the Daily Progress.Time now for another subscribed-supported public service announcement.Do you ever look at a tree and wonder what kind it is? In September, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards will hold several identification walks in city parks for people who want to know more about the bark, leaves, and the flowers of our wooden neighbors. These walks are free, but you’ll have to register because groups are limited to 16. September 5 at 11 a.m. at Pen Park (register)September 11 at 11 a.m. at the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont (register)September 24 at 11 a.m. at the University of Virginia (register)Learn more at charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org.Time now to catch up with the City Council meeting from Monday, August 16. One item on the consent agenda was Council’s approval of a tax refund plus interest of $63,009.25 to a nonprofit entity who had been charged after demonstrating they were exempt. Charlottesville Commissioner of Revenue Todd Divers said the identity of the group is protected from being revealed.“This was not our fault,” Divers said. “This taxpayer had been paying this license tax for years since before I was elected. The question of their exemption? It was a tough call. We consulted with the tax commissioner in Richmond. We consulted with the Attorney General’s office.”Divers said in both cases the state agencies advised him to make the exemption.Rezoning approved Council took a final action on a rezoning and special use permit for an eight-unit apartment building at 1206 Carlton Avenue in Belmont. Here’s City Planner Matt Alfele.“The applicant at 1206 Carlton Avenue is requesting a rezoning from R-2 multifamily residential to R-3 medium density residential with no proffers,” Alfele said. No changes had been made to the application since Council’s discussion on August 2. Nearby resident Charles Neer pleaded with Council to deny the special use permit for additional density because eight units is too dense and the eight parking spaces to be provided are not enough. “If people have one car, then that means that somebody is going to be driving around every night looking for a parking place,” Neer said. “And guess what? There’s going to be more than one car. There’s going to be a bunch of cars driving around.”Neer suggested Council approve the rezoning which would have allowed five units. Council voted 4-1 for the rezoning and 3-2 on the special use permit with Mayor Nikuyah Walker voting against both and Councilor Heather Hill voting against the increased density. City to study collective bargaining optionsAt the end of the meeting, Council took a vote to direct the city manager to pursue an ordinance to allow city employees to pursue entities to allow them to engage in collective bargaining. That’s not been possible until action by the General Assembly last year. (read the bill)At the public comment period earlier, bus driver Mary Pettis urged Council to proceed.“I’ve driven the bus for 35 years in the City of Charlottesville and I’m here to ask you all to allow us to have a union because I feel it will help us,” Pettis said. “Help us get more things that we need. I personally had to move from Charlottesville to Waynesboro because I couldn’t afford to live in Charlottesville. I have three jobs because I don’t make enough money just driving the bus.”Earlier this summer, Council approved a $2,400 bonus for new and existing school bus and transit bus drivers using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. City Manager Chip Boyles said the city of Alexandria and Loudoun County have begun to implement collective-bargaining.“Both governing bodies studied the topic over a course of several months, put together financial proposals, and used outside consultants in developing an implementation plan,” Boyles said. For some perspective, Loudoun County has a fiscal year 2022 budget of $3.3 billion based on a tax rate of $0.98 cents per $100 of assessed property. The city of Alexandria has a budget of $770.7 million based on a tax rate of $1.11 per $100 of assessed property. According to the U.S. Census, Loudoun has a 2020 population of 420,959 and Alexandria has a population of 159,467. So far, Charlottesville has not done the work on implementation but at least one group of city employees have requested the ability to enter into collective bargaining.“On March 6, 2021, Charlottesville Fire Department notified the City Council that a majority of its members within the department desired that the City Council should adopt such an ordinance to provide rules for the city employees to engage in collective bargaining with the city,” Boyles said.Boyles recommended Council deny an ordinance that’s been offered by employees of the fire department, but to move forward with study of how one might be crafted, as well as a review of possible budget implications. In the case of Loudoun County, their current budget includes $300,000 for eight positions to oversee the collective bargaining process. “This is an issue not studied or addressed within the current FY22 City Budget,” Boyles said. “I would research administration and support cost estimates for consideration for your FY23 budget development process,” Boyles said. Council voted unanimously to approve Boyles’ recommendation to proceed with study of a collective-bargaining ordinance. Charlottesville is currently without a human resources director. “The [Human Resources] position closed on Friday so we’ll begin that process this week of starting to narrow that down and hopefully we will have a director in shortly,” Boyles said. This week marks the six month anniversary of Boyles as city manager. In that time, two deputy city manager positions have been filled, as has the positions of city attorney and neighborhood development services director. Thanks for reading! Did you know that if you sign up for a paid subscription, Ting will match the amount! So, for $5 a month, $50 a year, or $200 a year, Ting will make a contribution to support this independent production and keep me in the business of tracking as many pieces of the puzzle as I can. And, please share with people you think would like to know more about what’s happening in the community. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
En el marco de la sexta edición del Peru Venture Capital Conference 2021 (PVCC21), el podcast Innovación Sin Barreras y PECAP, la asociación peruana de capital semilla y emprendedor del Perú, se juntaron para producir una series de mini episodios donde se entrevistarán a diversos invitados a la conferencia anual.En el episodio de hoy tenemos a Gabriela Florez, Gerente de Compañías Digitales en Microsoft. Se suma al episodio para brindarnos un adelanto de lo que podemos esperar de la participación Microsoft en el PVCC como también para conversar sobre lo que son las organizaciones Digital Natives. Además, son Sponsors Platinum del evento. Si deseas participar del evento, te invitamos a que te registres mediante el siguiente enlace: https://www.pecap.pe/pvcc21Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/innovacion)
En el marco de la sexta edición del Peru Venture Capital Conference 2021 (PVCC21), el podcast Innovación Sin Barreras y PECAP, la asociación peruana de capital semilla y emprendedor del Perú, se juntaron para producir una series de mini episodios donde se entrevistarán a diversos invitados a la conferencia anual.En el episodio de hoy tenemos a Alex Harasic, Business Development Manager de Startups & Venture Capital en AWS para Peru y Chile, y Carlos Samamé, Lead de AWS Connections en Europa, Medio Oriente y Africa. En el PVCC estarán participando de un segmento premium en una sala privada donde los corporativos interesados en trabajar con startups podrán preguntarles lo que sea.Si deseas participar del evento, te invitamos a que te registres mediante el siguiente enlace: https://www.pecap.pe/pvcc21Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/innovacion)
Steve Harvey, Buyer's Agent for Denise Ramey Real Estate Sales, and Alex Urpí, CEO of Emergent Financial Services, joined me live on The I Love CVille Show! The I Love CVille Show headlines (Tuesday, May 4) 1. Return to work by Monday, June 14. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/04/goldman-sachs-ceo-is-summoning-workers-back-to-the-office-by-june-14.html 2. JPMorgan Chase: Get back to in-person work in July. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/04/jamie-dimon-fed-up-with-zoom-calls-and-remote-work-says-commuting-to-offices-will-make-a-comeback.html 3. Dividends are back! https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/04/forget-earnings-stocks-have-two-big-tailwinds-pushing-them-higher.html 4. Free tuition, no fees for Fall and Spring Semester at PVCC. https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/education/pvcc-to-offer-free-fall-spring-tuition-fees-for-most-students/article_63d55b58-ac51-11eb-ab7c-6730ab2bc491.html#tracking-source=home-top-story The I Love CVille Show airs live before a worldwide audience Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. The I Love CVille Show is powered by four generation strong Intrastate Inc., trusted limo company Camryn Limousine, the talented Dr. Scott Wagner of Scott Wagner Chiropractic and Sports Medicine, custom home builder John Kerber of Dominion Custom Homes and entrepreneur Patricia Boden Zeller's Animal Connection – All Natural Store for Healthy Pets.
Ridge Schuyler on some of the economic reports we've been getting lately of real estate and jobs/unemployment, N2Wonline See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr Frank and JT look past (hopefully) COVID19... Network2Work FB See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Club Z: Expanding Our Comfort Zones Together, is focused on Club Z's culture that is based on the Art and Science of Culture Change, and what's happening at PVCC in this new virtual world. We talk a lot about how college classes have adapted, but what about co-curricular experiences for students? Join Sam Fraulino from Paradise Valley Community College's Center for Teaching and Learning along with Dr. Caron Sada creator of Club Z and Psychology Faculty as they discuss everything Club Z. Club Z is still saying, “Everyone is Invited!” and students have led projects including Calm Talk by Peter Tometi and Jovana Vincic's International Day of Human Rights event. For more information: Club Zeitgeist | Paradise Valley Community College (https://www.paradisevalley.edu/students/student-life/student-clubs/club-zeitgeist) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toastedu/message
Ridge Schuyler goes into the 4th edition of the report that started it all HERE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The fourth edition of the report that started it all, "Orange Dot 4.0" is coming next week. N2W ONLINE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Find out MORE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ridge Schuyler gives us a sneak peek at the soon-to-be-released "Orange Dot 4.0" on poverty in the Charlottesville area. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Frank Sqillace catches us up. FIND OUT MORE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Find out more about NETWORK2WORK See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
LEARN MORE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Frank Squillace on tech jobs and partnering with the Cville Chamber on Veteran's. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Visit Sam Fraulino is an instructional multimedia developer discussing all topics of multimedia, visual design, instructional technology , and Canvas in higher education at Paradise Valley Community College. This podcast will discuss new media strategies and techniques that can be used to enhance the student experience in and outside of the Canvas LMS. Staff and faculty here at PVCC will given strategies to enhance instructional technology skills, learn about new software, discuss and collaborate with others across the PVCC campus. Visit TOAST EDU on the iHub at: https://www2.paradisevalley.edu/ihub/toastedu_podcast.html --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toastedu/message
Good news for the workforce in Richmond, Hampton Roads and the Shenandoah Valley! READ MORE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
T.H.inc Online See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Network 2 Work Online See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Frank Squillace catches us up on some good jobs news. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Frank Squillace is in from Network 2 Work See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
Jon C. Peck Jr. joins us this week on the Advantage in Media Podcast! This was a highly anticipated podcast and it was a pleasure being able to sit down with one of my best friends and talk about a variety of different topics. Baseball, football and golf are all subjects we touch on while asking you listeners if you'd be interested in a podcast series titled 'Fore F***'s Sake'. We also talk about growing up together and our shared passion for music. Additionally, I gave a shoutout to one of my former teammates at PVCC, Luis Mendoza, for his incredibly selfless journey in raising money for scholarship funds for students at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. All links supporting this cause are below! Please subscribe if you enjoyed this episode! New episode every Saturday!!! Follow Jack on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackcpeck/ Follow Luis on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artmndza/ Support Luis on his journey: https://artmndza.store/ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/advantageinmedia/ Start your own podcast: http://advantageinmedia.co/
Valerie Palamountain, Dean of Workforce Services at Piedmont Virginia Community College, and Ridge Schuyler, Dean of Community Self-Sufficiency Programs at Piedmont Virginia Community College, joined Keith Smith and me on “Real Talk: An Insider's Guide To Real Estate In Central Virginia” powered by The YES Team Realtors and Yonna Smith! “Real Talk” airs every Friday from 10:15 am – 11 am on The I Love CVille Network! “Real Talk” is presented by Roy Wheeler Realty Co., Charlottesville Settlement Company, LLC, Pearl Certification, Mac Weems State Farm Insurance, First Heritage Mortgage, LLC, MarieBette Café & Bakery, Scott Morris – Home Loans, Oliver Creek Home Inspection and Dairy Market.
Find out MORE See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
Find out MORE See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
Ridge Schuyler gets into the data research behind the program that has helped hundreds of people already. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
Jerry Miller was live on The I Love CVille Show! You can save $288 on Ting Fiber Internet (free installation + first month free) through this link for a limited time: iLoveCVille.Ting.com The I Love CVille Show (Tuesday, Aug 11) 1. Can You Trust A Russian Vaccine? https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/11/europe/russia-coronavirus-vaccine-putin-intl/index.html 2. Will Fashion Square Mall and Simon Property Group Covert JC Penny and Sears into Amazon Fulfillment Centers At Fashion Square Mall? Is Amazon Bad For Charlottesville? https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-and-giant-mall-operator-look-at-turning-sears-j-c-penney-stores-into-fulfillment-centers-11596992863 3. Staunton Virginia is under a state of emergency. Show the flooding video from Downtown Staunton. Trying to raise $100,000 through a GoFundMe. https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-staunton-recover-flood-damage-support-fund 4. You can attend PVCC for free. Here's how: https://www.nbc29.com/2020/08/10/pvccu-gives-people-chance-attend-college-free/ 5. NYC apartment sales are crashing big-time. What's the future for the Big Apple? https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-apartment-sales-plunge-coronavirus-new-york-exodus-suburbs-connecticut-2020-8?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sf-bi-main 6. LittleJohn's GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-little-johns 7. Will we have ACC Fall Sports? https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29636505/will-there-college-football-fall-conference-conference-breakdown 8. JMU Suspends Fall Sports. JMU will try and play football in the Spring. https://www.wdbj7.com/2020/08/10/jmu-suspends-fall-sports-competition/ 9. “Big Money” college football games for small conference colleges are no longer a reality in 2020. These games help fund the rest of a college's athletic department. What does the loss of these games mean for college athletic departments across America? What does this mean for non-revenue sports like rowing, track & field, field hockey, cross country, golf, softball, etc? How could this impact high school athletes? https://www.cleveland.com/sports/2020/08/money-games-going-away-time-for-the-mid-american-conference-to-face-reality-about-football-budgets-terry-pluto.html The I Love CVille Show airs live before a worldwide audience Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. The I Love CVille Show is powered by four generation strong Intrastate Inc., trusted limo company Camryn Limousine, the talented Dr. Scott Wagner of Scott Wagner Chiropractic and Sports Medicine, custom home builder John Kerber of Dominion Custom Homes and entrepreneur Patricia Boden Zeller's Animal Connection – All Natural Store for Healthy Pets.
Logan Ehnes joins us as we reminisce on our college baseball careers' and the precious joy of being a student-athlete. Other topics include COVID-19 (weird, right), the education system, golf and other idiotic behavior. We hope you enjoy our (sometimes dark, but insightful) conversation.
Ridge Schuyler catches us up as Virginia businesses enter "phase 3"
Frank Squillace catches us up on "phase 2" at Network 2 Work
(2000-2004) Part II begins with Chris' entry to PVCC up to his psychiatric evaluation from UVA. Check it out on YouTube! Patreon Music Channel
(2004-2006) Part III starts with Christmas 2004 and goes up to Chris' graduation from PVCC. Check it out on YouTube! Patreon Music Channel
This week’s guest is Julie Lazzara. Julie has a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and has been a Psychology faculty member at Ottowa University, Grand Canyon University, and Maricopa Community Colleges. Julie is currently a Residential Faculty Member in the Psychology Department at Paradise Valley Community College. We cover everything from Nature vs Nurture, Emerging Adulthood, Mental Health in the US, and how to best communicate with someone with different political views. To learn more about PVCC and Julie Lazzara head to https://www.paradisevalley.edu/students/honors/julie-lazzara - To stay up to date on future onethirtysomething guests and #ThirtyStuff follow @onethirtysomething on Instagram!
Best Food Business Advice. What if you got almost 100 local food business folks together to learn and share how to be more successful and avoid common pitfalls? You'd have the Business of Food Conference held June 20th at the Omni. I was thrilled to be named a Community Partner and spent the day recording interviews, gathering valuable tips and information to strengthen our food community. The result is five terrific short interviews, each one offering a different viewpoint from a unique area of our local food scene. First up is Melissa Meece, owner of Firefly Restaurant and Arcade, a living tribute to its founder Mark Weber, who passed away from cancer in January 2015. His girlfriend Melissa inherited the restaurant and carries on his legacy and wish to create a community space around food, games, and fun. Through craft beers, ping pong, skeeball, pinball, board games and a great menu of family friendly favorites, Firefly does this and so much more. And the tips Melissa had for encouraging other food businesses to share their story and their history with customers are ones you don't want to miss. I'd love to have her on a future podcast - Firefly is a great space, and Mark's spirit lives on in the smiles of its patrons. Next up is Cass Cannon, owner of Peg's Salt. Not your ordinary table salt, Peg's is a special seasoning salt using kosher flake and 25 different spices. A secret family recipe created by her mother Peg. I use it on pasta but you could literally throw it on any food to make it taste just a bit better. Peg's Salt can be found in over 40 stores throughout the region including Whole Foods, Greenwood Grocery, Great Value in Crozet, and Ellwood Thompson in Richmond. I loved hearing the story of how this public relations expert took an old family recipe and her love for marketing to create a successful artisanal food business. You will too. A terrific lady and someone I hope to talk with again. Third we have Eric Breckoff, Program Head and Associate Professor of Culinary Arts for PVCC at the Jefferson School. In this role, Eric teaches, supervises other faculty, and performs important administrative duties like managing purchasing and the budget. Important for a program like PVCC, which currently has 15 students who have recently completed their that 2-year program and 14 young chefs enrolled in their first year. PVCC's Culinary Arts program includes five semesters and covers every aspect of food business and the culinary arts. Sure there are classes in knife skills and sautéeing, but also nuts-and-bolts courses in cost control, purchasing, menu planning, nutrition, and food safety and sanitation. I loved hearing about the behind the scenes aspects of running a restaurant. The unglamorous aspects you rarely hear about, but are just as important as running a successful business. Because as Eric so rightly stated, without them the whole ship sinks. Arley Arrington of Arley Cakes is a former artist who translated her passion for the visual into beautiful edible creations. Have you seen her Instagram? Wow! Gorgeous stuff! She should teach next year's breakout session on food photography! I first tasted Arley's creations at Brookville Restaurant, where Arley has waitressed on and off for the past five years and where Chef Harrison Keevil suggested one day, "Hey, why don't you come in next Tuesday night and bake a pie?" Thus a food business was born. Recently Arley has branched out into wedding cake territory. How did she learn the fine craft of icing roses and tiered cake skyscrapers? Why are visual aesthetics so important to her and her new food business? Listen to find out. Her thoughtful responses are so reflective of the supportive food community in Charlottesville that I continue to discover and be constantly amazed by. We truly live in a special place folks. And I'm eager to have Arley on sometime for a much longer conversation. Lastly, but by no means leastly, we have Marty Butts of Small Potatoes, who specializes in food business consulting. Marty was a featured speaker at the conference, and my personal favorite. The minute he opened his mouth at his first breakout session, I knew I had to speak with him. In our conversation we talk about the pluses and minuses around Yelp, but more importantly, how he teaches his Foodshed Model to help businesses learn what exactly is "local" and what isn't. Which is unique to each area of our country. And infinitely complex. Marty discovered his passion when he looked around his community of Syracuse, New York and saw many food producers who had difficulty expanding beyond their immediate region. By stepping in to help, sometimes acting as a sales representative, other times acting as a marketing guru, he helped these producers succeed in an ever-changing market. This led to a career in consulting and education, traveling the country to speak at events about the complex world of local, organic, sustainable. Marty's mission is to help small food businesses grow. His past experiences working as a buyer and merchandiser in food co-ops and grocery stores has also helped him spread knowledge where it needs to go. The Johnny Appleseed of local, organic, sustainable if you will. Helping get people engaged with local food in emerging small-scale food producing markets like Charlottesville, Virginia. Is local 100 miles or 300 miles? When you see buzzwords like additive-free, organic, all-natural, what should you expect? What does each term mean exactly? It can get very specific but Marty helped navigate this complex arena. Connection, community, inclusiveness, transparency, strong relationships. All are important core values in small food businesses. How do you grow locally, regionally, nationally? Transparency especially is becoming increasingly important. Just ask any farm to table restaurant in Tampa. Or the folks at Chipotle. Is a sense of place important? What aspects of a community make its food scene unique? Should you build your brand according to a sense of place? Build it around where you're from because that creates a unique identity? And does this uniqueness help or hurt as you attempt to expand? What does Marty think is a good example of that? And which business does exactly that and is the one he noticed first upon arriving in Charlottesville? Listen to find out! Food has cultural impact. As he says so well, chefs and farmers are treated like rock stars these days, helping to define the culture of a community while at the same time being one of the building blocks of local economy. Which is very powerful. And very cool. Marty is such an amazing speaker, knowledgeable and interesting and quick. I did the ugly laugh more than once. I absolutely loved our conversation and I know you will too, as well as all of the other great local folks I talked with during this year's Business of Food Conference. Enjoy! Important Tips for Food Business Owners That Came Up During Our Conversations: It's important to keep open communication, both between an employer and employee and between an owner and their customer. Use video on your homepage to tell the story of your business Do you have a mission statement? What are your business's core values? Before you do anything else with your business, do this. Human resources law which is an important, but often overlooked aspect of a food business. In the hiring process, what questions can you ask and not ask? In the old days restaurant kitchens were the Wild West, but these days a wrong word or action can derail a business. How do you stay ethically and legally compliant? What technology, social media, or apps do these folks use to make running their business easier? Are folks moving away from Facebook toward visual social media like Instagram and Pinterest? Being able to take a great picture of your product is becoming more and more important every day. And not always possible under dim restaurant lights. Packaging is so important and often overlooked. If your bottle of barbecue sauce is too tall to fit within a store set it might be relegated somewhere to the back. Or the buyer may not purchase it at all. Making sure your product displays well, and is the right amount size-wise, is just as important as your branding. Even if you've been in business a while, there is always more to learn. Things like taxes, accounting, finances, and regulations change all the time which is why conferences like this are so valuable. Get away from your business sometimes to learn and network! SHOW NOTES – Links to resources talked about during the podcast: The Charlottesville 29 Restaurant Auctions - Every dollar you bid goes toward four meals for our area's hungry. Auctions close DAILY starting yesterday so bid early and often for the chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime culinary experience! Central Virginia Small Business Development Center - Need help with your small business? SBDC offers one-on-one counseling for free and many events and courses, often free or for just a small fee. The Sporkful Podcast - Is the burrito a sandwich or not? This fun podcast asks and answers the important questions. This episode is sponsored by In A Flash Laser Engraving.
Do You KNOW who you are? How to find happiness For FREE?Have you discovered how to maintain a "good sense of being?"Join Jeanne Catherine-Gray as she explores Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy with Tensin Thosam and what it reveals about living life and the every day human experience.Tenzin Thosam was born in Tibet. He has been living in Charlottesville area since 2001. Tenzin works for UVA Medical library. He teaches Eastern Religions at PVCC. Tenzin has been studying and undertaking research in Tibetan Buddhist science of the mind for over two decades. He acts as an interpreter in various events both locally and nationally. Tenzin loves books and persons who teach about human consciousness. He firmly believes that it is extremely essential for one to know how to discover and cultivate the positive qualities that ingrained in each individual person’s consciousness for have a delighted and insightful life.
So, after coming to believe in Jesus and becoming part of his church, how should that new reality be reflected in our daily lives? What does being a recipient of the mercy of Christ have to do with parenting, marriage, friendship, work, and athletics? Not surprisingly, the Bible has a lot to say about how we can live our lives in a manner that brings glory to God, and especially testifies to the work of Jesus. One of our Elders (Craig Hunter) explores the implications of belief this morning at PVCC.
If you want to get something meaningful accomplished, it's helpful to have a concise summary of what you're trying to do so you don't get distracted! Jesus gave his church the Great Commission, and PVCC has its mission firmly aligned with Christ's. Do you know what your purpose is, your mission? When we are focusing on what God wishes, pursuing him through the spiritual disciplines, and believing and sharing the Gospel, we will be on mission for Christ, individually AND as a church.
Doing God's work often provokes opposition. In Nehemiah 3-4, we see that each person has part to play and a role to fulfill, if we are to accomplish God's work. And when the opposition comes, turning the matter over to the Lord and continuing the work, faithfully and diligently, leads to fruitfulness. In your own life and at PVCC, are you striving to please God on your own terms, or are you building on the firm foundation of Jesus' finished work?
PVCC is at the opening of a new chapter, and it is a great opportunity to consider what kind of church we want to be. Pastor Ben helps us see that in Acts 2, the church is called to be devoted to Scripture, communion, prayer, love, and fellowship - and as we practice those things, we will be the kind of church God wants.
God is building his church - and he often uses the language of construction to help us understand his work. We use a popular HGTV show to help us think in a fresh way about the work God is doing in our lives, and in our church. Especially important? The foundation, without which no building will stand. Find out what the church's foundation is this week at PVCC.
A fun video to showcase the Spring 2011 grand opening of the new addition to PVCC campus, the Q-Building.
Did you know you're in a race? Do you know where you're going? Are you developing the skills you need to finish strong? Do you have your map? Carl Pafford shows us how Adventure Racing gives us key lessons on running the race of faith, and lays out a "mini-vision" for the next several months at PVCC.