Podcasts about sifri

Baruch Hashem we are up to the tenth pasuk of the Shofarot. Over the month of Elul we've gone through 30 pesukim, and anyone who has participated in all of them should pat themselves on the back. Great job. Bli Neder, we will post the complete transcript for those that want to print it out to read over the holiday. And now, our final pasuk- וּבְי֨וֹם שִׂמְחַתְכֶ֥ם וּֽבְמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם֮ וּבְרָאשֵׁ֣י חׇדְשֵׁיכֶם֒ וּתְקַעְתֶּ֣ם בַּחֲצֹֽצְרֹ֗ת עַ֚ל עֹלֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם וְעַ֖ל זִבְחֵ֣י שַׁלְמֵיכֶ֑ם וְהָי֨וּ לָכֶ֤ם לְזִכָּרוֹן֙ לִפְנֵ֣י אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם אֲנִ֖י יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם And on the day of your happiness, on your holidays, and your Rosh Chodesh's.. Blow with trumpets on your Olahs, and on your peace offerings, it will be for you a remembrance. in front of Hashem, your God. I am Hashem, your God. The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah, as well as the Sifri on Bahalotecha, explains that this is the source for Malchuyot, Zichronot and Shofarot. We've spent a month on 30 pesukim based on the Gemara where God says, If you want to have a good judgment on Rosh Hashanah, say pesukim to discuss Hashem's Kingdom, say pesukim that discuss Hashem remembering us, and say pesukim that talk about the Shofarot, the revelations of Har Sinai, of our shofar, and of the shofar of the future, which, as we explained, was really all one shofar of revelation. All of that comes from our pasuk. Toward the end of the pasuk it says, says, Utkatem/Blow. That's the shofar. Vehayu Lachem Lezikaron/God will remember you- that is Zichronot. Ani hashem Elokechem/ I am Hashem, your God. That's Malchuyot. There we have it, Malchuyot, Zichronot and Shofarot all come from this pasuk. The Sifri points out that it's out of order. The first thing we mentioned is Shofarot. But, he says we put Malchuyot/Hashem's kingdom first, because first you have to accept God as King. After He's King, then you ask Him to remember you. And what's going to arouse Him to remember you? The shofar of freedom, says the Sifri. We don't only want the shofar of today, we want the Shofar Gadol. Who's going to blow that shofar? Hashem Elokim- God is going to blow it. This final pasuk is all inclusive and that's why it's number 30, because everything we've been doing until now is from this pasuk. This is our source. One of the Gerrer Rebbis, known as the Lev Simcha offers a beautiful way to read the pasuk. He says it doesn't fit with the Gemara and Rishonim on the pasuk, but it's a way to read it to bring out a lesson- Really, we know this pasuk is talking about Rosh Hashanah, and possibly many other things, but let's take it at face value. It's only talking about Rosh Hashanah, Malchuyot, Zichronot and Shofarot. So let's start from the beginning of the pasuk. Firstly, וּבְי֨וֹם שִׂמְחַתְכֶ֥םIt's a day of happiness. As we've been stressing throughout, Rosh Hashanah is a day of happiness. It's called Yom Haggenu. The prophet, when he saw them crying in the times of Ezra and Nechemyah, said, Don't cry. It's not a time for crying. Secondly, וּֽבְמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם֮It's a holiday. Rosh Hashanah is called a Yom Tov. And thirdly, וּבְרָאשֵׁ֣י חׇדְשֵׁיכֶם It comes out on Rosh Chodesh. All three of these forces are in our Rosh Hashanah, and according to the way he reads it, all three descriptions are about the same day. It's a happy day, it's a holiday and it's Rosh Chodesh. Aside from Rosh Hashana, we never have a happy day that's a Rosh Chodesh and a holiday. Rosh Chodesh usually is just Rosh Chodesh. It's not a holiday, it's not a Moed. And when we have a Moed, it's not usually Rosh Chodesh. It might be a happy day. Sukkot and Pesach are happy days, and they are holidays. But they aren't on Rosh Chodesh. When do we have all three come together? Only on Rosh Hashanah. That's why this is the last pasuk that we read, that has, incapsulated in it, this important lesson. Yes, it's a Day of Judgment, and yes, it is a Day of Kingdom, but it's also a day of happiness. Why is it a day of happiness? Rav Wolbe says- What is the meaning of the word Moed? We say holiday but that's not the real meaning. Based on a pasuk in Amos 3,3 where it says, הֲיֵלְכ֥וּ שְׁנַ֖יִם יַחְדָּ֑ו בִּלְתִּ֖י אִם־נוֹעָֽדוּ׃ Can two people walk together? Unless there were Noadu. Rashi says, they set a time to meet. So Moed means a time that you set to meet. Rav Wolbe points out that Tisha B'Av is called a Moed. How could Tisha B'Av be called a holiday? The answer is, holiday doesn't mean celebration. Holiday means we're meeting. We can have a time to meet to discuss our differences. We can have a time to meet to discuss the problems that we're having in our relationship. And yes, it is a relationship. We're not divorced. It's a meeting. It's a meeting of minds. There are different types of meetings. So there's no question that Rosh Hashanah is a Moed. It is a time to meet. But we're adding that if you look at it properly, it's not just a time of meeting. It's a time of meeting that has in it a happiness, and a celebration, if we use it properly. That's our whole story. Rosh Hashanah is a time to meet. Who am I meeting? I'm meeting my Father. I'm meeting my King. And if I have the right attitude towards our relationship all year, says Rav Wolbe, it's going to be especially meaningful at the time of the shofar. It's like I haven't seen that special relative in a year, and now he's coming close. On Rosh Hashanah, we say, Ki ba. God is coming. God is coming into our hearts. Let's see how we accept Him. I wish everybody Tizku L'Shanim Rabot, a special year. And with help, Hashem sees how much time and effort we are putting into His pesukim. It's all taken into consideration. And Hashem will bring us all a special happy, and sweet, good new year.

In this shiur, the first shiur of the year in Tomer Devorah, Rav Burg explores the Machlokes as to when we begin to be obligated in the Mitzvah of Bikkurim. According to the Gemara it is from the time we settle Eretz Yisrael. According to the Sifri it is from when we first enter the land. Based on a Torah from the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l, Rav Burg explains the difference between rational and supra rationale and how they relate to gratitude.

We are now in Perek Shira, in an interesting pasuk in Iyov , that is the song of the Ananei HaKavod/ Clouds of Glory (There are actually two versions of the song of an Ananeh Hakavod, today w e're going to discuss this one (Iyov 37,11 ): עַנְנֵי כָּבוֹד אוֹמְרִים. אַף בְּרִי יַטְרִיחַ עָב יָפִיץ עֲנַן אוֹרוֹ The Clouds of Glory say,"Biri" causes the clouds to trouble themselves, they spread Anan/the cloud its light. What exactly is this cryptic pasuk saying and why is it the song of the Ananei Hakavod? The first glimpse we get comes from Rashi, who tells us the name the angel that is appointed to clouds is Biri . So this angel called Biri is in charge of the clouds- in this case, referring to the seven Clouds of Glory/the Ananei Hakavod, that surround Bnei Yisrael from four sides (it says in the Devarim , 32,10 Yisovevenu/they were surrounded) , with a fifth cloud on top to provide shade, a 6th one that brought them light (They didn't need any light from candles or anything else, they had the light of the cloud) and a 7th cloud that would go ahead of them and smooth everything out to make it easier for them to walk ( Baraita D'Melechet HaMishkan פרק . יד These are wonders of the clouds that were carrying the Jewish people, and this is the song on this miracle. Af Biri , this angel in charge of the clouds, Yatriach Av/would trouble the clouds, and make the clouds work hard. . They were carrying a few million people through the desert, like a mother carries its suckling child. And not only were they working hard carrying the Jewish people, Yaffitz Anan Oro/ they were also working hard bringing light upon the Jewish people. The sefer Pi Eliyahu points out that there are seven words in this pasuk , to correspond to the seven Clouds of Glory. The name of the angel is Biri . What does Biri mean? In Aramaic Bar is ben , my child. So the name of the angel in charge of the Ananei Hakavod , is My child, because the purpose of the Clouds of Glory is to make the Jewish people realize that they are children, being carried. Rashi brings down the famous, beautiful mashal by the episode with Amalek, where it says the Jewish people asked, Hayesh Hashem Bekirbenu im Ayin/ Is God with us, or is He nothing? Because they asked that question, God threw them down, and Amalek came to attack. Rashi there gives a mashal of a father who is carrying his son on his shoulders. Whatever the son asks for, he gives him. Then the boy asks somebody, Where's my father? The father says, You want to know where I am? and he throws the boy off his shoulders, and a dog bites him. So, the clouds that we're talking about here are these Clouds of Glory that are there for God's children. By the sin of the spies in Devarim א , when Moshe Rabbeinu describes the sin, he says, You don't believe in this , which the Or HaChaim HaKadosh explains as, You don't believe that God is your loving father, and you are His children, and He's carrying you through the desert on these clouds. That's the song of the Clouds of Glory. אַף בְּרִי יַטְרִיחַ עָב יָפִיץ עֲנַן אוֹרו / The angel in charge of My son causes the clouds to trouble themselves to carry the Jewish people and cause the cloud to light up the way. And lest one think that this cloud was only then, when Rav Yerucham Levovitz talks about the Ananei Hakavod , he cites a Sifri that says that, " Follow Hashem your God, Zeh HaAnan, " referred to the Clouds of Glory that led us in the desert, and adds that we still have clouds of glory leading us, and we still have a cloud that's lighting up the way. We don't see them openly, but these clouds are still there, and we still have to hear the song of the Clouds of Glory that are protecting us, carrying us and lighting up the way for us as Jewish people, the children of God.

Comment comprendre que, dans chaque génération, on peut recevoir la Torah ? En quoi est-il dangereux de voir le don de la Torah comme un événement lointain ? En quoi consiste la Mitsva d'aimer Hachem de tout son cœur ? En quoi est-il si important d'étudier la Torah régulièrement ? La quantité est-elle l'essentiel de cette étude ? Pourquoi ? En quoi est-il constructif, dans l'étude de la Torah, de répéter ce qu'on a appris ? Réponse à travers des propos du Sifri, un passage de Guémara et plusieurs histoires.

Yahrtzeit Yomi #1090!! כב סיון Miriam Gets Tzaraas זכור את אשר עשה ה׳ אלקיך למרים בדרך בצאתכם ממצרים (דברים כד:ט) ---------------------------------------------------- בענין זכירת מעשה מרים מראה מקומות!! א. גמרא מגילה יד. ׳שבע נביאות מאן נינהו שרה, מרים, וכו׳ ב. מיכה ו:ד ג. שמות טו:כ ד. דברים כד:ט, רש״י שם ה. רמב״ן שם ו. גמרא תענית כט. ׳דהוו להו עשרין ותרתין בסיון, וכתיב ותסגר מרים, וכו׳ ז. רש״י במדבר יב:א, ד״ה ותדבר מרים ואהרן ח. ספרי בהעלתך ק, מובא ברמב״ן שם יב:ג ט. אור החיים שם ---------------------------------------------------- The Humblest of Men והאיש משה ענו מאד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה (במדבר יב:ג) This declaration of the Torah seems to be in a strange place: it might have been more appropriate to have described Moshe's unparalleled humility in the Parsha of Korach, or perhaps at the end of the Torah, after Moshe Rabbeinu's passing, as a eulogy on Moshe Rabbeinu. Why is this statement mentioned precisely at this point? Furthermore, this statement interrupts the narrative of the story of Miriam's “slander”: it is sandwiched right between Miriam's complaint about Moshe, and Hashem's response!!? Rabboisai, what's pshat?? Zukt the Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh, moiradik!! He brings from the Sifri that Miriam and Aharon ACTUALLY APPROACHED Moshe Rabbeinu, and lodged their complaint directly to him!! (The Ohr HaChaim points out that it would have been pointless for Miriam and Aharon to have had this discussion without Moshe around; rather, Miriam & Aharon were giving Moshe words of Tochacha (rebuke), as follows: “Since we are prophets as well, why are you behaving differently?”) Now, there was a very simple response to Miriam's complaint, of which Moshe was well aware: Moshe was on a much higher level of prophecy then Miriam and Aharon!! And that is exactly what Hashem's response was: לא כן עבדי משה בכל ביתי נאמן הוא!! Ayyyyy, so now the question is, why didn't Moshe explain this to Miriam? Why was it necessary for Hashem to come to his defense instead? Why couldn't Moshe simply explain that he was on a much higher level?? Ahhhhhhh…!!! Zukt the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh…….noira shebenoira!! Do you know why Moshe could not respond? The possuk itself provides the answer: והאיש משה ענו מאד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה!! Because of his supreme humility, Moshe Rabbeinu could not come to express the answer to Miriam's complaint; namely, that he was on the highest level of prophecy ever reached!! He could never utter anything that would even remotely indicate that he was any greater than anyone else!! So, says the Ohr HaChaim, the possuk's description of Moshe's humility is actually part of the Torah narrative!! It explains why Moshe could not respond to Miriam's complaint!! So therefore, Hashem Himself had to intervene, and speak on Moshe‘s behalf!! AHHHHH!! RABBOISAI!! WHAT A GESHMAKEH OHR HACHAIM!!!

We're now on Tehilim 125,1: שִׁ֗יר הַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת (This is one of the songs of the steps that ascend to the Bet Hamikdash) הַבֹּטְחִ֥ים בַּיהֹוָ֑ה כְּֽהַר־צִיּ֥וֹן לֹא־יִ֝מּ֗וֹט לְעוֹלָ֥ם יֵשֵֽׁב׃ Those that rely on Hashem, they're like Mount Sion. They will not falter; They will last forever. Simply speaking, this is a mashal . Yerushalayim is surrounded by mountains, and we are like those protected cities that are surrounded by mountains, like the Swiss who were always neutral and protected because they had their Alps around them. But the next pasuk says יְֽרוּשָׁלַ֗͏ִם הָרִים֮ סָבִ֢יב לָ֥֫הּ /Yerushalayim has mountains around it, וַ֭יהֹוָה סָבִ֣יב לְעַמּ֑וֹ מֵ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם׃ But Hashem surrounds His nation from now and forever. The sefer Ma'aseh Hashem ( Helek Ma'aseh Bereshit, chapter 10) quotes a pasuk from Devarim 4,4: וְאַתּ ֶם֙ הַדְּבֵקִ֔ים בַּיהֹוָ֖ה You are connected, Which we know from the Meshech Hochma (on U'Bo Tidbak )is the source for Bitachon. A person is connected to Hashem through bitachon. We also say in Shirat HaAzinu ‘ God surrounds us,' which Rashi says refers to the Ananeh Hakavod/the clouds of glory, or the Succah, which surrounds us in Hashem's protection. Lastly, David Hamelech said וַ֭יהֹוָה סָבִ֣יב לְעַמּ֑וֹ מֵ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם / But Hashem surrounds His nation from now and forever. T hat's the depth of this pasuk, says the Ma'aseh Hashem. The people that were in Yerushalayim were protected, but when they left Yerushalayim, they were no longer in that area. There are mountains around it, and the mountains don't move. But if you leave, then you're no longer under the protection. However, the one relies in Hashem, wherever he is, he's still within the boundaries, because Hashem is with His people. He adds that the man who relies on Hashem remains in His boundaries. He never left them, even though he's in galut, because his boundary is that he's surrounded by Hashem! This really compliments another beautiful thought, a famous D'var Torah , regarding the Jewish people in the desert, specifically within the Ananeh Hakavod: We learn the laws of Shabbat from the Mishkan. On Shabbat you cannot demolish a house, but there's an opinion in the Gemara that it's only a problem to demolish the house if you plan on rebuilding that house in that spot; if you don't plan on rebuilding in that spot, then the demolishing is just destructive. The question is, when they took down the Mishkan, they never put it back in the same spot because they were always traveling. So if I'm learning out the laws of Shabbat from the Mishkan, in which they destroyed without rebuilding in the same spot, why would that be allowed on Shabbat? The answer that's given by the Baalei Mussar (including Rav Naftali Trop and Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz) says that the Jewish people in the desert traveled with the Ananeh Hakavod, and therefore wherever they were, they took down the Mishkan and they put up the Mishkan in the same spot . It might not have been the same latitude and longitude, but the spot was always the same- They were encamped and surrounded by Hashem's clouds. A mashal they give that it's like a child in his mother's arms, getting on an airplane and traveling. If you ask the child, Where are you? he'll say, “ I'm in my mother's arms ,” at takeoff, “ In my mother's arms. ” during the flight, “ in my mother's arms,” and the same when they land. He never moved because his location was his mother's arms. That's how the Jewish people were in the desert. That's the concept called Yesovevenu / we are surrounded . One might have thought that this was only in the desert, but that would be a mistake. וַ֭יהֹוָה סָבִ֣יב לְעַמּ֑וֹ מֵ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם Hashem surrounds his people. forever. We're forever in those clouds of glory. Anyone that has bitachon is surrounded by Hashem's clouds of glory. There is a pasuk in Devarim 13,5 אַחֲרֵ֨י יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם תֵּלֵ֖כוּ Follow Hashem your God . The Sifri says, this refers to the cloud. The Ramban, on that pasuk, says that this can apply today as well. Rav Yerucham Levovitz, in his sefer Da'at Torah on Shoftim page 240, says that even in our times we can fulfill this concept. There is a cloud that's directing us. There's a cloud that we follow. Every person in their own life can be directed by that cloud because with bitachon, we are surrounded. Rav Nosson Wachtfogel, the Mashgiach of Lakewood, said in the name of Rav Yerucham Levovitz that there's a cloud in every generation that Hashem directs us with. And he says, the difference is. in the generation of the desert, the cloud was revealed. We could see it. Today, we don't see it. The Shela HaKadosh on Parashat Baha'alotcha says on the pasuk, ‘W e should travel and encamp on the mouth of God,' that there's a good way to remember this- In whatever you do, say ‘ Im Yirtzeh Hashem, with Hashem's help ,' or ‘ B'Ezrat Hashem/with Hashem's help' … I'm going on this trip. I need Hashem's help . When I get there, I say, thank you Hashem, that I got here. In that way you're keeping Hashem on your mind and fulfilling this concept of following Hashem, even today, because the man that has bitachon is surrounded by Hashem's clouds of glory and is always protected, even more than Har Sion.

We're now on Tehilim 125,1: שִׁ֗יר הַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת (This is one of the songs of the steps that ascend to the Bet Hamikdash) הַבֹּטְחִ֥ים בַּיהֹוָ֑ה כְּֽהַר־צִיּ֥וֹן לֹא־יִ֝מּ֗וֹט לְעוֹלָ֥ם יֵשֵֽׁב׃ Those that rely on Hashem, they're like Mount Sion. They will not falter; They will last forever. Simply speaking, this is a mashal . Yerushalayim is surrounded by mountains, and we are like those protected cities that are surrounded by mountains, like the Swiss who were always neutral and protected because they had their Alps around them. But the next pasuk says יְֽרוּשָׁלַ֗͏ִם הָרִים֮ סָבִ֢יב לָ֥֫הּ /Yerushalayim has mountains around it, וַ֭יהֹוָה סָבִ֣יב לְעַמּ֑וֹ מֵ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם׃ But Hashem surrounds His nation from now and forever. The sefer Ma'aseh Hashem ( Helek Ma'aseh Bereshit, chapter 10) quotes a pasuk from Devarim 4,4: וְאַתּ ֶם֙ הַדְּבֵקִ֔ים בַּיהֹוָ֖ה You are connected, Which we know from the Meshech Hochma (on U'Bo Tidbak )is the source for Bitachon. A person is connected to Hashem through bitachon. We also say in Shirat HaAzinu ‘ God surrounds us,' which Rashi says refers to the Ananeh Hakavod/the clouds of glory, or the Succah, which surrounds us in Hashem's protection. Lastly, David Hamelech said וַ֭יהֹוָה סָבִ֣יב לְעַמּ֑וֹ מֵ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם / But Hashem surrounds His nation from now and forever. T hat's the depth of this pasuk, says the Ma'aseh Hashem. The people that were in Yerushalayim were protected, but when they left Yerushalayim, they were no longer in that area. There are mountains around it, and the mountains don't move. But if you leave, then you're no longer under the protection. However, the one relies in Hashem, wherever he is, he's still within the boundaries, because Hashem is with His people. He adds that the man who relies on Hashem remains in His boundaries. He never left them, even though he's in galut, because his boundary is that he's surrounded by Hashem! This really compliments another beautiful thought, a famous D'var Torah , regarding the Jewish people in the desert, specifically within the Ananeh Hakavod: We learn the laws of Shabbat from the Mishkan. On Shabbat you cannot demolish a house, but there's an opinion in the Gemara that it's only a problem to demolish the house if you plan on rebuilding that house in that spot; if you don't plan on rebuilding in that spot, then the demolishing is just destructive. The question is, when they took down the Mishkan, they never put it back in the same spot because they were always traveling. So if I'm learning out the laws of Shabbat from the Mishkan, in which they destroyed without rebuilding in the same spot, why would that be allowed on Shabbat? The answer that's given by the Baalei Mussar (including Rav Naftali Trop and Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz) says that the Jewish people in the desert traveled with the Ananeh Hakavod, and therefore wherever they were, they took down the Mishkan and they put up the Mishkan in the same spot . It might not have been the same latitude and longitude, but the spot was always the same- They were encamped and surrounded by Hashem's clouds. A mashal they give that it's like a child in his mother's arms, getting on an airplane and traveling. If you ask the child, Where are you? he'll say, “ I'm in my mother's arms ,” at takeoff, “ In my mother's arms. ” during the flight, “ in my mother's arms,” and the same when they land. He never moved because his location was his mother's arms. That's how the Jewish people were in the desert. That's the concept called Yesovevenu / we are surrounded . One might have thought that this was only in the desert, but that would be a mistake. וַ֭יהֹוָה סָבִ֣יב לְעַמּ֑וֹ מֵ֝עַתָּ֗ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם Hashem surrounds his people. forever. We're forever in those clouds of glory. Anyone that has bitachon is surrounded by Hashem's clouds of glory. There is a pasuk in Devarim 13,5 אַחֲרֵ֨י יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם תֵּלֵ֖כוּ Follow Hashem your God . The Sifri says, this refers to the cloud. The Ramban, on that pasuk, says that this can apply today as well. Rav Yerucham Levovitz, in his sefer Da'at Torah on Shoftim page 240, says that even in our times we can fulfill this concept. There is a cloud that's directing us. There's a cloud that we follow. Every person in their own life can be directed by that cloud because with bitachon, we are surrounded. Rav Nosson Wachtfogel, the Mashgiach of Lakewood, said in the name of Rav Yerucham Levovitz that there's a cloud in every generation that Hashem directs us with. And he says, the difference is. in the generation of the desert, the cloud was revealed. We could see it. Today, we don't see it. The Shela HaKadosh on Parashat Baha'alotcha says on the pasuk, ‘W e should travel and encamp on the mouth of God,' that there's a good way to remember this- In whatever you do, say ‘ Im Yirtzeh Hashem, with Hashem's help ,' or ‘ B'Ezrat Hashem/with Hashem's help' … I'm going on this trip. I need Hashem's help . When I get there, I say, thank you Hashem, that I got here. In that way you're keeping Hashem on your mind and fulfilling this concept of following Hashem, even today, because the man that has bitachon is surrounded by Hashem's clouds of glory and is always protected, even more than Har Sion.

We are continuing with the Bet Halevi, who is telling us the fundamental that Hashem has ways that are not our ways. He says Hashem's ways are hidden when it comes to enemies attacking or the like. He speaks about how this is true even in life or death situations with a sword on your throat. Now he says the same is true when it comes to one's parnasa . He quotes, ה׳ מוריש ומעשיר Hashem is the One who makes people impoverished and Hashem is the One that makes wealthy. Then he adds another pasuk, השלך על ה׳ יהבך והוא יכלכלך Throw your load on Hashem and He will sustain you.” And the 3rd pasuk he quotes is, “ ה׳ רעי לא אחסר Hashem is my Shepherd, I shall not lack.” And then he ends with a statement that is consistent with his approach, where he says, “ ויזכר כי ארבעים שנה הלכו אבותינו במדבר לא חסרו דבר Remember, for 40 years, our forefathers journeyed in the desert, and they did not lack anything.” One may ask, “ What does that have to do with me? I'm not in the desert. How do I apply these miracles of the desert to myself?” And the answer lies in a piece of the Sifri, cited by the Ramban, where it says, Achre Hashem Elokechem Telechu/Follow Hashem, your God. The Sifri asks, what does Follow Hashem, your God, refer to? It refers to the cloud that Hashem had in front of us in the desert, which led them in every direction they went. This mitzvah, says this Sifri, applies to all generations. Rav Yerucham Levovitz explains in Daat Torah that we also have a cloud that leads us. The only difference is that they saw the cloud and we don't. But there is a cloud. Follow the cloud is a real concept. The cloud is there. Rav Wolbe tells of a story that happened 400 years ago at the funeral of Rav Moshe Cordovero, who was a great makubal . The Arizal asked, “ Does anybody see anything?” A young boy answered, “ Yes, I see something.” The Arizal asked him what he saw and he said, “I see a pillar of fire, and I see a cloud.” The Arizal said that the pillar of fire and cloud that appeared were what appeared for the Ramak Rav Moshe Cordevero) and led him throughout his life. Great people have a specific cloud that's leading them. But each of us, at whatever level we're at, get direction from Hashem, leading us through life, helping us along the road. Again, we don't see the cloud, but we are being led and we are being directed from above. What is this cloud of glory and this cloud of fire? The commentaries explain that the pillar of fire came at night and the cloud was by day, In our religion, we have two Torahs, Torah Sh'Bechtav and Torah Sh'b'al Peh/ The Written Law and the Oral Law. The Written Law was there during times of redemption, when we were in Eretz Yisrael . That's the Torah SheBichtav . It's clear, it's what you see, it's the prophecies that came directly from God. Then there's Torah sh'bal Peh, the Oral Law , which is the fire that lights up the exile, which comes about through our toiling in our Torah. And this is the hiddush : Where is that cloud leading us? That cloud comes from our Torah learning. The Zohar says that when a person learns, Hashem speaks to him through his learning. This is something that I'm sure many of you have experienced- you're working on a certain topic, or something's on your mind, and you learn something that really speaks to you. That is how God, in a hidden way, still directs us and leads us. Again, we're talking about a person's business. How is he going to make those correct decisions? Hakadosh Baruch leads a person. רַבּ֣וֹת מַחֲשָׁב֣וֹת בְּלֶב־אִ֑ישׁ וַעֲצַ֥ת יְ֝הֹוָ֗ה הִ֣יא תָקֽוּם He will give you guidance. It says the name of the Gaon of Vilna that if a person has to make a difficult decision, he should sit down and learn until he gets really deep into the learning and reaches a level where he thinks he's learning lishma,for the sake of learning alone, and then he should make the decision, because then the Torah will guide him. So we are guided today. We have to believe that. Even though it's a time of darkness, it's a time of Galut and exile, God is directing us and God is leading us. We have to rely on Him to do that, and then we will be led. Follow the cloud. Have a wonderful day.

In this episode, Martin talks to Giovanni-Battista Fucini about a recent paper from Germany that examined infection rates in critical care in which it was reported that hospitals without sinks in patient rooms have lower infection rates. Newer hospitals in Germany tend not to have sinks in the patient rooms in ICU. The paper we discuss is here: Giovanni-Battista, F., C. Geffers, F. Schwab, M. Behnke, W. Sunder, J. Moellmann & P. Gastmeier (2023) Sinks in patient rooms in the ICU are associated with higher rates of hospital-acquired infections. A retrospective analysis of 552 ICUs. J Hosp Infect, 10.1016/j.jhin.2023.05.018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2023.05.018 Other papers of interest are: Kotay, S. M., H. I. Parikh, K. Barry, H. S. Gweon, W. Guilford, J. Carroll & A. J. Mathers (2020) Nutrients influence the dynamics of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase producing enterobacterales in transplanted hospital sinks. Water Res, 176, 115707. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32224328 Constantinides, B., K. K. Chau, T. P. Quan, G. Rodger, M. I. Andersson, K. Jeffery, S. Lipworth, H. S. Gweon, A. Peniket, G. Pike, J. Millo, M. Byukusenge, M. Holdaway, C. Gibbons, A. J. Mathers, D. W. Crook, T. E. A. Peto, A. S. Walker & N. Stoesser (2020) Genomic surveillance of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. in hospital sink drains and patients. Microb Genom, 6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32553019 Mathers, A. J., K. Vegesana, I. German Mesner, K. E. Barry, A. Pannone, J. Baumann, D. W. Crook, N. Stoesser, S. Kotay, J. Carroll & C. D. Sifri (2018) Intensive Care Unit Wastewater Interventions to Prevent Transmission of Multispecies Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase-Producing Organisms. Clin Infect Dis, 67, 171-178. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29409044 Grabowski, M., J. M. Lobo, B. Gunnell, K. Enfield, R. Carpenter, L. Barnes & A. J. Mathers (2018) Characterizations of handwashing sink activities in a single hospital medical intensive care unit. J Hosp Infect, 100, e115-e122. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29738784 Kotay, S., W. Chai, W. Guilford, K. Barry & A. J. Mathers (2017) Spread from the Sink to the Patient: In Situ Study Using Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)-Expressing Escherichia coli To Model Bacterial Dispersion from Hand-Washing Sink-Trap Reservoirs. Appl Environ Microbiol, 83. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28235877 Garvey, M. I., N. Williams, A. Gardiner, C. Ruston, M. A. C. Wilkinson, M. Kiernan, J. T. Walker & E. Holden (2023) The sink splash zone. J Hosp Infect, 135, 154-156. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36870392

In this episode, Martin talks to Giovanni-Battista Fucini about a recent paper from Germany that examined infection rates in critical care in which it was reported that hospitals without sinks in patient rooms have lower infection rates. Newer hospitals in Germany tend not to have sinks in the patient rooms in ICU. The paper we discuss is here: Giovanni-Battista, F., C. Geffers, F. Schwab, M. Behnke, W. Sunder, J. Moellmann & P. Gastmeier (2023) Sinks in patient rooms in the ICU are associated with higher rates of hospital-acquired infections. A retrospective analysis of 552 ICUs. J Hosp Infect, 10.1016/j.jhin.2023.05.018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2023.05.018 Other papers of interest are: Kotay, S. M., H. I. Parikh, K. Barry, H. S. Gweon, W. Guilford, J. Carroll & A. J. Mathers (2020) Nutrients influence the dynamics of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase producing enterobacterales in transplanted hospital sinks. Water Res, 176, 115707. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32224328 Constantinides, B., K. K. Chau, T. P. Quan, G. Rodger, M. I. Andersson, K. Jeffery, S. Lipworth, H. S. Gweon, A. Peniket, G. Pike, J. Millo, M. Byukusenge, M. Holdaway, C. Gibbons, A. J. Mathers, D. W. Crook, T. E. A. Peto, A. S. Walker & N. Stoesser (2020) Genomic surveillance of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. in hospital sink drains and patients. Microb Genom, 6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32553019 Mathers, A. J., K. Vegesana, I. German Mesner, K. E. Barry, A. Pannone, J. Baumann, D. W. Crook, N. Stoesser, S. Kotay, J. Carroll & C. D. Sifri (2018) Intensive Care Unit Wastewater Interventions to Prevent Transmission of Multispecies Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase-Producing Organisms. Clin Infect Dis, 67, 171-178. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29409044 Grabowski, M., J. M. Lobo, B. Gunnell, K. Enfield, R. Carpenter, L. Barnes & A. J. Mathers (2018) Characterizations of handwashing sink activities in a single hospital medical intensive care unit. J Hosp Infect, 100, e115-e122. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29738784 Kotay, S., W. Chai, W. Guilford, K. Barry & A. J. Mathers (2017) Spread from the Sink to the Patient: In Situ Study Using Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)-Expressing Escherichia coli To Model Bacterial Dispersion from Hand-Washing Sink-Trap Reservoirs. Appl Environ Microbiol, 83. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28235877 Garvey, M. I., N. Williams, A. Gardiner, C. Ruston, M. A. C. Wilkinson, M. Kiernan, J. T. Walker & E. Holden (2023) The sink splash zone. J Hosp Infect, 135, 154-156. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36870392

In this episode, we speak to Rav Mordechai Torczyner, who shares his Desert Island Torah, looking at Gittin 57b, Torah from Nefesh HaChaim and a Sifri on Haazinu

In this episode, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe shares a short & sweet idea of inspiration on the holy day of Lag Ba'omer, the 33rd day of the Omer, the day of passing of the great Tannaic sage, Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi). Rashbi was the great author of many important works in Jewish thought, including the Zohar and the Sifri and Mechilta. Rebbi Shimon said do not mourn my passing, but rejoice on it.This Jewish Inspiration Podcast by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of TORCH (Ep. #186) is dedicated to my dear friend and teacher, Rabbi Lazer Brody and his Rebbetzin, for the incredible work they do on behalf of the entire Jewish people! May Hashem bless you and your beautiful family with good health, success and true Yiddish Nachas!!!****To listen to other podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: https://linktr.ee/ariwol Jewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodes Parsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodes Living Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodes Thinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodes Unboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodes Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodes Please send your questions, comments and even your stories to awolbe@torchweb.orgPlease visit www.torchweb.org to see a full listing of our Jewish outreach and educational resources available in the Greater Houston area and please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help support our global outreach at https://www.torchweb.org/donate. Thank you!For a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at https://www.TORCHpodcasts.comRecorded in the TORCH Centre - Studio B to a live audience on May 9, 2023, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on May 9, 2023 ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this episode, Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe shares a short & sweet idea of inspiration on the holy day of Lag Ba'omer, the 33rd day of the Omer, the day of passing of the great Tannaic sage, Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi). Rashbi was the great author of many important works in Jewish thought, including the Zohar and the Sifri and Mechilta. Rebbi Shimon said do not mourn my passing, but rejoice on it.This Jewish Inspiration Podcast by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of TORCH (Ep. #186) is dedicated to my dear friend and teacher, Rabbi Lazer Brody and his Rebbetzin, for the incredible work they do on behalf of the entire Jewish people! May Hashem bless you and your beautiful family with good health, success and true Yiddish Nachas!!!****To listen to other podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: https://linktr.ee/ariwol Jewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodes Parsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodes Living Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodes Thinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodes Unboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodes Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodes Please send your questions, comments and even your stories to awolbe@torchweb.orgPlease visit www.torchweb.org to see a full listing of our Jewish outreach and educational resources available in the Greater Houston area and please consider sponsoring a podcast by making a donation to help support our global outreach at https://www.torchweb.org/donate. Thank you!For a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at https://www.TORCHpodcasts.comRecorded in the TORCH Centre - Studio B to a live audience on May 9, 2023, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on May 9, 2023 ★ Support this podcast ★

Vayishlach | Rachel's Tragic Death: Why Did It Have To Happen? by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom The dramatic event of the birth of Binyamin, the only child of Yaakov to be born in the Land (according to the Sifri, in his own land), was e'er marred by the death, while birthing him, of the beloved Rachel. Rachel, buried on the road, weeping for her children to return, becomes the sentinel and lighthouse for all of Bnei Yisrael as a result - but why, indeed, did she die at this point? Was it the not unexpected result of a formerly barren woman having a second child (note that neither Sarah nor Rikvah seemed to try that after the long-awaited pregnancies) - or is there more that the Torah subtly communicates through the various responses of Yaakov to this and other tragedies throughout his elder years? Stay tuned... Source sheet >>

Parashat Re'eh begins: ראה אנוכי נותן לפניכם היום, ברכה וקללה – “Behold, I am presenting before you today a blessing and a curse.” Moshe Rabbenu proceeds to explain to the people that they have the choice between two paths – the path of mitzvah observance, which brings blessing, and the path of disobeying the Torah, which brings the opposite. The Sifri makes what I believe to be a crucially important comment about these two paths. It gives an analogy to a man who is traveling and reaches a fork in the road. He must choose between two routes. The first is full of thorny branches at the beginning, but clear and smooth at the end, while the other is clear in the beginning, but full of thorns at the end. This analogy is relevant to virtually anything good in life. When it comes to anything valuable which we want to achieve, we have this choice to make – to take the easy route, which leads to hardship, or to struggle and work hard, and then enjoy the great benefits that our hard work yields. If a young person who is just starting out takes an easy job, he might enjoy the comfort of not having to work hard, but he will later suffer the consequences of not having built a career. However, if he begins with a difficult job, which requires long hours and probably doesn't pay very much, he will walk through “thorns” for a while, but he treads along a path that ultimately leads to success. When a couple first gets married, they can choose the easy way – doing whatever they want, saying whatever they want, and ignoring the other's needs. But then the marriage becomes full of “thorns.” If they put in the hard work to be attentive, flexible, compromising and sensitive to each other, then they will later enjoy the unparalleled benefits of a beautiful marriage. Many alcoholics and drug addicts start out happy. It's a fun and exciting life, filled with parties, laughter, and good times – until they reach the “thorns,” and their lives are in shambles. Torah life is just the opposite. Yes, it has its “thorns.” It can feel restrictive having to observe Shabbat every week, to keep a kosher kitchen, to eat only at kosher restaurants, and to maintain the prayer schedule. But ask anyone who has been doing it for many years, and they'll tell you that they would never give it up. People who observe Shabbat love it. They see it as the greatest and most precious gift. Yes, there are “thorns,” it can be complicated and difficult – but when we get past the “thorns,” we reach the beautiful experience of Shabbat. It is important not to be misled by the “clear” and “thorny” paths that we see in front of us. Even if the path of Torah appears “thorny,” we need to remember that the path is beautiful at the end – and this is the path which we want to follow.

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

For those who follow government budgets in Virginia, Happy 2023! Fiscal year 2023, that is. To my knowledge, there is no celebration but there likely will be a few hiccups here and there as new laws take effect and some cheering as municipal and state employees receive pay increases with the new budget. But for a massive celebration, you’ll have to head north to the border where it’s Canada Day. I’m Sean Tubbs, and I strive to make as many days as possible have a new installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement and so far I’m one for one for the fiscal year.On today’s program:A brief look at new laws that go into effect today The Virginia Department of Health announces a dashboard to track firearm injuries in the CommonwealthCharlottesville City Schools expect the bus driver shortage to worsen and are encouraging parents and guardians to think about alternative methods of transportCharlottesville Area Transit looks at several different kinds of new bus sheltersPiedmont Housing Alliance gets another $2 million from the federal government to help subsidize Friendship Court and Southwood Apartments RCA seeks volunteers for clean-up of invasive vines In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance wants you to know about some upcoming opportunities to volunteer. For the mornings of both July 7 and July 9, RCA is seeking people to help clean up invasive vines in the Dunlora neighborhood near a recent buffer planting. Clearing out the vines will help protect newly planted trees and is part of  natural forest regeneration project conducted by the Virginia Department of Forestry. RCA will provide gloves and some cutting equipment, or you can bring your own but leave the chainsaws at home! Visit rivannariver.org to learn more! Fiscal Year 2023 begins: Some of what’s newIt’s the first day of the Fiscal Year 2023, and July 1 brings with it several changes in rules, regulations and rates. A whole host of new legislation has gone into effect, according to a status report put together by David Blount of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. (view his latest update) Another 37 miles of the middle portion of the James River are now considered scenic, as are another 23.2 miles of the Maury River. Also, an 8.8 mile section of the Shenandoah River. There is now a Forest Sustainability Fund to promote public education about outdoor recreation and forest conservation The Town of St. Charles in Lee County in no longer exists (updated!)It is now a Class 6 felony to steal a catalytic converterThere can now be seven judges in Virginia’s 31st Judicial Circuit, which covers the area around Manassas in northern Virginia Localities must report potential cybersecurity threats to the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center Localities smaller than 40,000 people can now opt out the Marcus Alert System If you’re hunting with a dog, the dog needs to wear an identification tagFor more on new state laws, read this Associated Press article. The elimination of the 1.5 percent state sales tax on groceries does not go into effect until January 1. At the local level, Albemarle County’s food and beverage tax rate increases to six percent of the total bill and the transient occupancy rate increases to eight percent. Charlottesville’s meals tax rate increases a half-percentage point to six and a half percent. The one penny increase in the real estate property tax rate is already in effect, as that rate goes by the calendar year. State agency launches dashboard to track firearms injuries in Virginia The number of firearm injuries in Virginia that resulted in emergency room visits increased by nine percent from 2020 to 2021. That’s according to a new dashboard unveiled yesterday by the Virginia Department of Health that tracks the information by age, sex, race, and ethnicity. The data is tracked by counting up the number of times key phrases are used when a patient gives a reason for a visit. The terms include: gun with wound, gunshot, buckshot, revolver, rifle, shotgun, firearm, pistol, handgun, been shot, I was shot, I got shot, or graze with bullet. A press release points out that:Emergency room visits for firearms injuries have increased 72 percent from 2018 to 2021Since the data set begins in January 2016, 86 percent of visits for firearm injuries are males In 2021, 65 percent of patients were Black In 2021, 31 percent were between the ages of 18 and 24In the Blue Ridge Health District, there have been 294 visits to emergency rooms for firearm injuries since 2016. The work is covered by a grant to the VDH from the Centers for Disease Control to help improve public health surveillance of firearm injuries, according to a release. For acronym fans, the CDC program is known as Firearm Injury Surveillance Through Emergency Rooms, or FASTER. The dashboard does not yet extend to hospitalizations and deaths, but that’s expected later this year. Those who are going to take a look at the data are reminded to review a list of limitations with what’s known as syndromic surveillance. Pandemic update: Still on the plateauIt’s another holiday weekend during the era of COVID-19 and Virginia remains on a plateau of a high number of cases. The seven day percent positivity for testing is 20.5 percent, up from 17.4 percent on June 23. Today the Virginia Department of Health reports another 3,393 new cases. That’s based on PCR tests and does not include at-home tests. “There is still a fair amount of disease in the community,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiologist at the University of Virginia Health System. “We’re certainly seeing that with our staff. In fact, there are a fair number of people that are out right now because they have COVID and its frustrating.”Dr. Sifri said many have already had COVID and are vaccinated, but COVID-19 continues to mutate with new strains. However, vaccination has led to less severe cases.“What we are not seeing is people getting critically ill like they were before so the fact that folks are vaccinated has made a huge difference in how the disease presents,” said Dr. Reid Adams, chief medical officer for UVA Health. According to the VDH, nearly 83 percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated. There is a seven-day average of 3,000 doses administered a day. Dr. Sifri said this is a good time to get a booster if you have not done so. He also said a panel of the Food and Drug Administration is encouraging to continue vaccine manufacturers to continue development of new versions that can combat the latest variant of the Omicron strain. Dr. Sifri said people should not wait. “I would advocate if you are eligible for a booster and its been a long time since your body has seen the spike protein, it’s a good time now to get it to prevent infection,” Dr. Sifri said. Visit vaccinate.virginia.gov to schedule an appointment. Piedmont Housing Alliance gets $2 million in additional federal funding The U.S. Treasury Department has awarded $2 million to the Piedmont Housing Alliance through its Community Development Financial Institutions fund. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine made the announcement in late June. The funding comes specifically from the Treasury Department’s Capital Magnet Fund. In a release, Piedmont Housing Alliance said the funding would provide gap funding for the second phase of Friendship Court as well as the 206 apartments the agency is building at Southwood to satisfy the terms of funding Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville received from the Albemarle County and the Albemarle Economic Development Authority. “High development and construction costs, high land and acquisition costs, and limited subsidy resources translate to significant funding gaps for affordable housing developments,” reads the release. “Without adequate subsidies, it is virtually impossible to build affordable housing.”In the fiscal year that begins today, the city of Charlottesville is providing an additional $2.5 million to Piedmont Housing Alliance for the second phase of Friendship Court. Another $10.25 million in city funding for Friendship Court in FY24 through FY27. The adopted capital improvement program for Charlottesville also shows nearly $5 million in city subsidies for two other affordable housing projects, both located on Park Street and rezoned by City Council earlier this year. Today’s second shout-out: Frances Brand and Cvillepedia 101In today’s house-fueled public service announcement, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society wants you to know about an upcoming exhibit at the Center at Belvedere featuring portraits of several historical figures active in the Charlottesville area in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Frances Brand was a folk artist who painted nearly 150 portraits of what she considered “firsts” including first Black Charlottesville Mayor Charles Barbour and Nancy O’Brien, the first woman to be Charlottesville Mayor. Brand’s work will be on display from July 5 to August 31 in the first public exhibit since 2004. And, if you’d like to help conduct community research into who some of the portraits are, cvillepedia is looking for volunteers! I will be leading four Cvillepedia 101 training sessions at the Center every Monday beginning July 11 at 2 p.m. Sign up at the Center’s website.Charlottesville schools preparing for “worse” situation for bus drivers this fallThere are 54 days until Charlottesville City Schools begin for the next academic year. The school system is seeking assistance and input on alternative methods of getting students to school as an ongoing transportation crisis continues. “As we look to fall 2022, our school bus challenges appear to be worse, not better,” reads a website set up to provide information in advance.The website states the city’s efforts to incentivize new drivers by increasing pay and offering bonuses are not working out. As such, the city wants to get parents ready for potential alternatives. Supporting walking in expanded walk zonesEncouraging use of public transportationCollaborating with community partners to support bikingAdding mini-school buses (hopefully electric)The first of several listening sessions will be held next Wednesday at Westhaven, with others scheduled later in the month at Friendship Court and Hearthwood Apartments. Charlottesville Area Transit designing new bus sheltersAs it seeks to find new drivers, Charlottesville Area Transit is also working to redesign its bus shelters. The agency has hired the firm Wendel Companies to come up with a customized template, and the Regional Transit Partnership got a briefing on the work last month.“We’re really looking at how to look at transit holistically, how to encourage people to take transit,” said Jeana Stright of Wendel Companies. “Part of what makes people want to take public transportation is having a place to wait for the bus, having amenities while you are there, or having a system for what reflects their needs.” Three concepts for the future shelters have been designed, one of which mimics the design of the Downtown Transit Station on Water Street. Stright recommends benches be present in all shelters, as well as space for wheelchairs. She also suggests one modular design with easy to replace parts due to the possibility of vandalism. “We are also looking at a way to incorporate local artists or local communities into the stops to be able to help yourself as you’re riding along on the bus as well, as you’re passing these different shelters, seeing different art, seeing different color schemes perhaps as part of that art panel, so that you can say ‘I’ve driven by that really cool fruit graphic,” Stright said. The partnership was asked to provide feedback. There was no specific information provided about how much each would cost, or how much of a budget CAT has to install the shelters. However, Stright said they have researched costs and all three options would be in the same basic price range. One member of the partnership said she was concerned about the practicality of some of the shelters. “I love all the designs but once again it’s a question of taxpayer’s dollars,” said Albemarle Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley. “And the artwork I think is great if we can afford it. But I like simple.”Albemarle Supervisor Diantha McKeel said she has been working with CAT Director Garland Williams on the idea of incorporating artwork into some bus shelters. “That artwork would need to be funded privately by neighborhoods,” McKeel said. “We wouldn’t be using [tax] dollars. You know, the murals that got put up on Georgetown, and Barracks, and Hydraulic? Those were all privately funded so that’s what we’d be talking about.” McKeel said it was crucial that the shelters provide relief from the sun and rain. See also: Next steps outlined for Charlottesville Area Transit route changes at partnership meetings, June 24, 2022Watch the partnership meeting:Support the program!This is episode 403 of this program and it contains stories you’re simply not going to see anywhere else. At least, a style you won’t find except here and Information Charlottesville. Town Crier Productions is not a nonprofit organization, but around a third of the audience has opted to contribute something financially. It’s similar to the old days when you would subscribe to a newspaper. I subscribe to several, myself!If you are benefiting from this newsletter and the information in it, please consider some form of support. I am not a nonprofit organization and most of my time is spent in putting the newsletter together, which includes producing the podcast.Supporting the program through a Substack contribution or through Patreon makes it very easy for me to get paid and every single dollar that I get makes me want to work that much harder to serve the community. In just under two years, I’ve produced hundreds of stories that seek to give you information about how decisions are made in our community and in the Commonwealth of Virginia.For more information on all of this, please visit the archive site Information Charlottesville to learn more, including how you too can get a shout-out! Thank you for reading, and please share with those you think might want to learn a few thing or two about what’s happening. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Do you have milk? Do you have the grain? Grab a pot and find a stove, and it’s time to celebrate National Porridge Day! Each and every day there are so many things to celebrate, such as today’s honoring of Women in Engineering Day. However, this 399th edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement is not being faithful to National Typewriter Day as it is composed on an abacus. On today’s program:The Thomas Jefferson Planning District takes the Regional Transit Vision to Fluvanna and Greene countiesAlbemarle County reports on an eviction diversion program And a brief update on the ongoing COVID-19 situation 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!  COVID-19 update Today the Virginia Department of Health reports another 3,085 cases of COVID-19 with a seven-day positive result percentage of 17.4. The trends for both metrics are heading down, but Dr. Costi Sifri of the University of Virginia Health System said that could change. “I actually think we’re sort of at a plateau where we’re seeing continued transmission in the community,” Dr. Sifri said. “My sense is that it’s not increasing but it is has been at a fairly consistent level now for the last several weeks or maybe even up to a month.” The big news in the past week has been federal approval of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for children under the age of five but older than six months. “The doses that are used for these young pediatric vaccines is dose-reduced so when Pfizer and Moderna trialed these vaccines they made sure to use a lower dose for the reasons of wanting to make sure it was safe,” Dr. Sifri said. New versions of the mRNA vaccines are being developed to address newer strains. “That is being looked at right now this month by the [Food and Drug Advisory Committee],” Dr. Sifri said. “So at the heart of the question is do we need a reformulation or a coformulation of the COVID vaccines to account for Omicron?” The Blue Ridge Health District will begin their administration of the vaccines to children at a clinic from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Charlottesville/Albemarle Health Department at 1138 Rose Hill Drive. They’ll also be on site at Tonsler Park on Cherry Avenue from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. check the Blue Ridge Health District’s website. Albemarle and LAJC have teamed up to prevent evictionsAlbemarle County and the Legal Aid Justice Center helped prevent 158 evictions in a pilot program that ran from December to this May. Albemarle County sent out a press release this morning announcing the results. "Many rent-relief programs are phasing out, yet there remain many Albemarle families still deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Supervisor Chair Donna Price is quoted in the release. “Low-income households have not recovered as quickly, and programs such as this provide additional stability for households continuing to face financial hardships, using federal relief dollars to fund legal services and to provide wrap-around support.”Albemarle committed $200,000 from its share of the American Rescue Act Plan to the project. The Legal Aid Justice Center is being paid for legal counsel for households that qualify.“The program requires consideration for the impacts of contesting evictions on landlords who own less than three units and prioritizes mitigation efforts to secure outstanding funds for landlords while keeping families housed,” the release continues. The program will continue through June 2023. 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. Public meeting tonight for Regional Transit Vision planThe final public meeting for the development of a Regional Transit Vision will be held tonight in an online format. The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is overseeing the study, which seeks to come up with an aspirational document for enhanced public transportation throughout the entire Charlottesville area including Buckingham County.The draft document has gone before the Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, as I’ve reported. But the Regional Transit Vision also has been to the outlying counties. Last week, Boards of Supervisors in both Fluvanna County and Greene County had a briefing. “It started in the summer of 2021 with assessing the situation,” said Lucinda Shannon, a planner with the TJPDC. The $350,000 study was conducted by the firms AECOM and Jarrett Walker + Associates.“So they looked at the existing systems, they looked at the land use planning, and the transit market potential for the entire region and kind of assessed where would be good places for transit to be,” Shannon said. “They also worked with the public and identified goals and visions for the region plan and priorities for what this community wants to see in a vision plan.”All of that engagement was done online, as the study got underway during the pandemic. Tonight’s meeting is also virtual. The work has resulted in a constrained plan that would be paid for through new tax powers granted to a Regional Transportation Authority, as well as an unconstrained plan that did not factor how the expanded transit service would be paid for. For a sense of scale, the constrained plan would have an annual cost estimate of $26 million whereas the unconstrained plan would be $70 million a year. The unconstrained plan would mean buses operating at full service, seven days a week, including fixed-route service between Ruckersville between Charlottesville. “All day fixed-route service from Ruckersville to Charlottesville would add services to three percent of residents and it would also reach 11 percent more jobs in the county,” Shannon said. One Supervisor asked if the plan includes one item he would like to see. “Does it include light rail? Does it include those kinds of things?” asked Steve Bowman of the Monroe District. “Because I’ve always thought that down U.S. 29 would be an ideal place to put a light rail all the way down.” The TJDPC previously studied light rail in a 2004 report that looked at the future of passenger rail service in Virginia. By the time a few years later when there was discussion of a Regional Transit Authority, that vision had been reduced to something called bus rapid transit. Shannon said the consultants in the new vision have included that in their recommendation.“I think that what they want to is propose things that the community will accept and can be funded so right now they are proposing a Bus Rapid Transit up and down Route 29 so there would be service up to the airport so from Charlottesville on U.S. 29 on up to the airport with 15 minute service,” Shannon said. Greene Supervisors did not have a long discussion of the matter.  The next day, Shannon made the trip to Palmyra to speak to the Fluvanna Board of Supervisors about the plan. “So this is a collaborative effort to evaluate and establish a clear long term vision  for transit in our region, and not just the city,” Shannon said. “And it’s kind of like all of the things we’d like to buy and then the next study that we’re hoping to do is a transit governance study that would start in July.” Shannon gave more details on what the “unconstrained” vision means.“The unconstrained vision we wanted to be ambitious and creative and come up with what we could do if there was no budget and there was no fund limit on funding for that concept,” Shannon said. As stated above, that would mean 60-minute fixed-route service to Charlottesville from surrounding population clusters. “These routes would go to Scottsville, Crozet, Lovingston, Palmyra, Louisa, and Ruckersville seven days a week,” Shannon said. One Supervisor said that would be an improvement for Fluvanna residents who currently use the public transit that’s available. “Right now people going to the city on Jaunt to the doctor’s office have to stay all day until Jaunt comes back to pick them up,” said Supervisor Mozelle Booker of the Fork Union District. Supervisor Tony O’Brien of the Rivanna District supported the concept of expanded transit.“I love the idea of expanding rural transportation,” O’Brien said. “So critical not just for the environment but also for those who are constrained by their finances and or ability to drive. So anything we can do to make it better for people to be able to access other areas of Central Virginia I think is wonderful.” Shannon said the details of how to implement the vision will come during the governance study. “We will be engaging you again once the governance study starts and our objective for the governance study is to really work with all the counties and be inclusive and come up with a plan for the funding of the services that works for all the counties, both urban and rural together,” Shannon said. Tonight is your chance to weigh in at a meeting that begins at 6:30 p.m. tonight.  Details of both visions and a link to the meeting are availaleYou can also take a survey on the topic. Have you done so yet? Let me know in the comments. (take the survey)Comments will be taken through July 15. Previous coverage:Regional transit vision may suggest resumption of Regional Transit Authority foundation, December 14, 2021Regional transit vision update, May 20, 2022Partnership briefed on potential vision for regional transit, June 1, 2022Albemarle and Charlottesville officials weigh in on regional transit, June 14, 2022Support the program!There’s a lot of information in this installment of this program, which is the 397th edition of the program. About a quarter of you are paying something to help keep Town Crier Productions in business. I have never been a very good salesperson, and won’t overly pitch.But, if you are benefiting from this newsletter and the information in it, please consider some form of support. I am not a nonprofit organization and most of my time is spent in putting the newsletter together, which includes producing the podcast.Supporting the program through a Substack contribution or through Patreon makes it very easy for me to get paid and every single dollar that I get makes me want to work that much harder to serve the community. In just under two years, I’ve produced hundreds of stories that seek to give you information about how decisions are made in our community and in the Commonwealth of Virginia.For more information on all of this, please visit the archive site Information Charlottesville to learn more, including how you too can get a shout-out! Thank you for reading, and please share with those you think might want to learn a few thing or two about what’s happening. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

The first Saturday in June has arrived, just as it did 364 days ago. This particular day goes by the name June 4, 2022, but it may also answer to Day 155. This particular episode of Charlottesville Community Engagement may be referred to as number 391, a fact whose significance is suspect. If this show were a mystery, I, Sean Tubbs, would be the suspect for host. This newsletter and podcast is free, but Ting will match your initial payment to help keep this brand of community journalist in style! On today’s show:A third Democrat is seeking the nomination for the new 55th House of Delegates The General Assembly takes the next step towards adoption of a Virginia budget for the next two fiscal years The spring 2022 COVID surge continues The University of Virginia’s land use committee reviews the $2.8 billion capital plan, including a 1,000 space parking garage and 440 units of student housing at DardenFirst shout-out goes to a Livable Cville eventIn today’s first subscriber supported shout-out, Livable Cville wants you to know about an online presentation coming up on June 7. The Community Climate Collaborative and Livable Cville are presenting a talk on what they consider Climate-Smart Zoning. Executive Director Susan Kruse and Director of Climate Policy Caetano de Campos Lopes will be the presenters. This is happening on Tuesday, June 7, from 5:30 p.m to 6:30 p.m. Sign up for the free event on EventBrite. Laufer seeking Democratic nomination for 55th District A third Democrat has filed paperwork with the Virginia Department of Elections to be a candidate in the new 55th House District in the next election cycle, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Amy Laufer is the current chair of the Albemarle County Democratic Committee and was twice elected to the Charlottesville School Board in 2011 and 2015.In 2017, Laufer was one of two Democrats on the ballot for Charlottesville City Council and placed a close third behind Independent Nikuyah Walker and Democrat Heather Hill.  In 2019, she resigned from the School Board when she moved to Albemarle County. Soon after, she ran in the 17th Virginia Senate District against Republican Bryce Reeves. Reeves won with 51.6 percent of the vote with Laufer receiving 48.1 percent.Laufer joins Albemarle Supervisor Donna Price and emergency room nurse Kellen Squire in the nomination race, which could still take place this year pending a federal lawsuit. No new orders have been issued in the Goldman V. Brink case since May 5. The incumbent, Republican Rob Bell, has not announced whether he will seek a new term in the new district, which now includes most of Albemarle County and parts of Nelson and Louisa Counties. General Assembly moves forward with state budgetBoth Houses of the General Assembly have adopted the conference reports that represent compromises in the state budget. It’s now up to Governor Glenn Youngkin to determine whether to sign the bills as presented or make further amendments. He has up until the end of the month to take action. Delegate Barry Knight (R-81) served on the House Conference Committee for both HB29 and HB30, the bills that technically carried the budgets for the current biennium and for the next two years. “It’s been a long haul but I believe the result is a fiscally sound, bi-partisan budget we can all be proud of,” Knight said. Knight said a record growth in state revenue has enabled the General Assembly to invest in core government services.“At the same time, the extraordinary revenue situation has enabled us to protect for the future by using one-time revenues to address long-lingering, one-time investment needs, prepay upcoming commitments, fund capital projects with cash and not bond, and remove the account gimmicks we used to balance our budget during the Great Recession,” Knight said. Those investments include $400 million for public school system capital projects already constructed with each locality getting at least a million, as well as another $450 million for new school construction. Knight said that includes a $750 million payment into the Virginia Retirement Services as well as an additional $250 million if the state hits a certain revenue target. Additional funds will go into the “rainy day fund” to have that balance hit what Knight said was a record-setting $3.4 billion. There’s another $2.5 billion from surpluses that will go to previously committed projects. “In addition, the conference report reflects $4 billion in tax relief for Virginia’s families including an increase in the standard deduction including from $4,500 to $8,000 for individuals, double that for joint filers [and] the full elimination of the state’s sales tax on food,” Knight said. There’s also to be a $250 tax rebate for individuals and $500 for households. HB29 passed the House of Delegates on a 93 to 2 vote and the Senate on a 35 to 1 vote. There was no comment about HB29 in the House, but several Democrats had concerns about some of what was in HB30. Delegate Dawn Adams (D-68) had three reasons why she voted no, but one was a lack of transparency during the conference process. “I haven’t seen this lack of transparency in the process since I’ve been here and there’s a fair amount of policy being written through the budget that I think is really, really concerning and has not involved legislators which is so important in making good laws,” Adams said. Delegate Danica Roem (D-13) said she was concerned that revenue cuts to transportation will take away dozens of millions that she said are required to maintain Virginia’s crumbling system. Others were concerned about changes made to marijuana possession that were made in the budget. Others said there was not enough money being put toward affordable housing, with one Delegate citing a 2020 study by the Joint Legislative Audit Review Committee (JLARC). “We have got billions in surplus revenue,” said Delegate Alfonso Lopez. “Now is the time for Virginia to be forward thinking, to invest in housing. Housing trust dollars are the critical layers of debt and equity needed to develop quality affordable housing.” The vote on HB30 was 88 to 7, with dissenters coming from both parties. Republican Delegates Nick Freitas (R-30) and Phil Scott (R-88) joined Adams and four other Democrats in voting against. The Virginia Senate approved HB30 on a 32 to 4 vote. After the votes, Delegate Terry Kilgore explained the next steps. “The Speaker [of the House Todd Gilbert] and the Lieutenant Governor [Winsome Earle-Sears] have three days to sign and enroll the bill or get it to the Governor,” Kilgore said. “The Governor then has seven days to act on any amendments and then we would need to come back prior to July 1 to act on those amendments so what we can make sure we have a budget for Virginians.” Spring 2022 COVID surge continuesOn Friday, the Virginia Department of Health reported 4,057 new cases as detected through PCR tests, the highest one day total in several weeks but consistent with a growing trend. The seven day average is 2,841, though the actual number of cases is likely much higher due to the number of home tests. The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reports 87 patients in intensive care units with 30 COVID patients on ventilators. The proliferation of the second Omicron strain has led to many people contracting COVID for a second time. “We are seeing second infections occurring particularly in people that had infections in December and January and in early February and now we’re three months out from that and because of the strain differences and that time lag and difference, we are seeing breakthrough infections,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, director of hospital epidemiology for the University of Virginia Health System. Dr. Sifri said at least some patients do have lingering symptoms associated with long COVID such as fatigue and brain fog. This is still an active area of investigation. “There is still much to be understood about long COVID, what its pathophysiology is, what are the biologic mechanisms that lead to it,” Dr. Sifri said. “That’s still being an active area of investigation trying to understand that and perhaps at some point better be able to predict who may be more susceptible to it.” Dr. Sifri said it can be expected that additional variants will emerge, but that the outlook is not bleak.“What we’re also seeing is that as this occurs, the relative proportion of people that are needing medical care, that are coming into the hospital because of severe COVID, coming into our intensive care units, and importantly, the proportion of people that are dying of COVID, those are going down,” Dr. Sifri said.However, Dr. Sifri said the public should be mindful of the potential for a more deadly strain to emerge. On Thursday, the White House announced that authorization for vaccines for children under the age of five may come sometime this month. The Blue Ridge Health District said in their weekly newsletter they would be ready to distribute and administer the vaccines when the time comes. Today’s second shout-also goes to WTJUIn today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out:  This year, WTJU 91.1 FM turns 65 and to mark the occasion, there’s a new micro-museum exhibition this summer! Radio Relics traces WTJU’s storied history of broadcasting for our community. As part of our 65th anniversary celebrations, WTJU has curated photos, artifacts, and t-shirts – so many t-shirts! – spanning more than six decades.The exhibition is free and will be open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from June 3 through July 29. The museum space is a renovated, vintage camper parked behind WTJU’s studios at 2244 Ivy Road in Charlottesville. WTJU’s Radio Relics exhibition shows off some of the artifacts collected over the years, many contributed by former WTJU General Manager Chuck Taylor.  In fact, there’s even a new initiative to raise money through the Chuck Taylor Fund for WTJU History. Contact General Manager Nathan Moore to learn more. Or donate today!UVA committee briefed on new capital projects The Buildings and Grounds Committee of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors met on Thursday and got an update on capital projects and the next master plan. Colette Sheehy is the executive vice president and chief operating officer at UVA. “So this is the time of year when we ask for approval of the newly revised Major Capital Plan,” Sheehy said. “You’ll recall that we reviewed it with you in March.” The last Major Capital Plan adopted last year was for $3.1 billion worth of projects and several of those have been completed since then such as the University Hospital Expansion, the orthopedic center on Ivy Road, and the student health and wellness center on Brandon Avenue. “We have a lot going on,” Sheehy said. “Thirty-one percent of the value of the entire capital program represents projects under construction and we are going to have a very busy 24 months coming up as many of these projects reach conclusion.” The landscaping and the infrastructure for the Emmet-Ivy Corridor should be completed by next spring. Renovations of Alderman Library and construction of the Contemplative Commons should be completed in the fall of 2023.“The School of Data Science will follow on the heels in December of 2023 and then the following spring, late spring, early summer, the Brandon Avenue undergraduate residence hall,” Sheehy said. Sheehy said the next plan will include several design studies as well as eight new projects, four of which were not on the list in March. One of them would be for student housing at the Darden School of Business. “They are proposing to build about 440 beds that would house two-thirds of their residential MBA students,” Sheehy said. “It is something that competitor business schools do.” There is no cost estimate for that project, which would offer a range of options for students and their families. (read a fact sheet) Sheehy said another project is to construct a 1,000 space parking garage, but she did not elaborate on its location. A fact sheet states the cost estimate is $54 million and would replace parking in the existing Emmet Ivy Parking Garage that will be dedicated to uses such as the future hotel, the Karsh Institute of Democracy, and the School of Data Science. “The current parking inventory displaced by the Ivy Corridor redevelopment must be met in a location that serves multiple constituencies and links effectively to transit,” reads the fact sheet. Other new projects are renovations to the physics building as well as Pinn Hall. After that presentation, UVA Architect Alice Raucher updated the committee on the creation of the 2030 Grounds Framework Plan, which updates a master plan adopted in 2008. The pandemic delayed the work slightly and the end of this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement will delay my reporting on it. I’ll cover that in a future edition. Sound permitting. Town Crier Productions has a sponsorship thing with Ting!For over a year one year now, Town Crier Productions has had a promotional offering through Ting!Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

This 141st day of 2022 also has the distinction of being National Waitstaff Day, and in this time of college and university graduations, my thoughts are with those people who bring food and drink to celebrations all over the globe. For most of my career in journalism, I supplemented that work by being attentive, detail-oriented, and as accurate as possible as I served customers and clients. That experience really wasn’t that much different from any of the work that goes into every single installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, and I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. This is episode 383, and to help us all eventually get to episode 838, consider becoming a paying subscriber! On today’s program:Time is running out to tell Albemarle County your thoughts on the growth management policy that some would say has limited sprawl, and others would say has limited development Another land use lawsuit has been filed against the city of CharlottesvilleCharlottesville seeks a firm to help hire a new police chief And the spring COVID-19 surge continues with cases rising in Virginia and beyond Shout-out to Town Crier ProductionsIn today’s writer-and-publisher supported shout-out, Town Crier Productions, is the umbrella organization responsible for this Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter. I founded the company two years ago to support my interest in bringing the community as much information as possible about local government, land use, the environment, economic development, and so much more. The company is still just getting started, and if you’d like to help, consider a subscription through Substsck, or support Town Crier Productions through Patreon. There are also other sponsorship opportunities available as the number of offerings increases. To learn more, visit the Information Charlottesville archive and click on the Support the Info button. My sincere thank you to the hundreds of subscribers who have signed on so far! COVID-19 updateOn Friday, the Virginia Department of Health reported another 3,847 cases bringing the seven-day average of new cases to 3,157. The seven-day percent positivity increased to 15.6 percent, up from 9.1 percent three weeks ago. Nationwide, the trend is toward more cases and more hospitalizations according to the Centers for Disease Control’s COVID dashboard. That tool also shows a trend toward fewer deaths per day with 242 a day reported on Thursday night. That could change as death is a lagging indicator as explained by Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System. “As we see the summer surge start to move out of the northeast which is a highly vaccinated and COVID-experienced population to other parts of the country, we have concerns in the public health community that maybe what we’ve seen so far may not hold as true as the surge moves to the southeast,” Dr. Sifri said. This week, the Blue Ridge Health District discontinued its local dashboard for COVID data from within its boundaries. This follows the Virginia Department of Heath’s retirement of four dashboards. “The CDC dashboard is considered the standard when it comes to cases by vaccination status, as the definition of vaccination status is rapidly changing nationwide,” reads a newsletter from the Blue Ridge Health District. You can find local data on the VDH dashboard by selecting the appropriate geographic region on the cases tab. Children between the age of 5 and 11 are now eligible for boosters of the Pfizer vaccine. Appointments in the Blue Ridge Health District can be made online. Read the release on the Centers for Disease Control website for more information. There will be a community remembrance on Tuesday, May 24, at 7 p.m. at the outdoor ampitheater at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital for those who died from COVID-19 hosted by area health care providers. (Facebook event page)Charlottesville opening up search for new police chiefNearly ten months since former Charlottesville police chief RaShall Brackney was fired by former City Manager Chip Boyles, the city is seeking a permanent replacement. On Friday, the city issued a request for proposals for a firm to conduct an executive search. “The City is seeking a consultant to assist the City Manager through the process of hiring a new Chief of Police who embodies the principles of 21st Century Policing and has an anti-racist focus,” reads the request for proposals. As part of the work, the selected firm will also seek community input on what the “desired characteristics and qualifications” for such a person would be. The solicitation states this will include a survey and in-person meetings. The firm will also be responsible for conducting background checks on all of the finalists. “The Chief of Police is hired by and reports to the City Manager, but upon hire will be officially confirmed by the City Council,” the request continues. The department is currently being led by Acting Police Chief Latroy Durette.The city is being run by interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers.  The closing date for the executive search firm is June 15. Lawsuit filed against City of Charlottesville for rezoning of 240 Stribling A person who lives on property on Stribling Avenue has filed suit against the Charlottesville City Council seeking declaratory judgment that the rezoning of 240 Stribling Avenue in April was illegal. (read the complaint)“During the Planning Commission and Council meetings, the large amount of tax revenue to be gained from increasing the density was discussed as the primary reason for backing this ordinance,” reads paragraph eight of the suit, which was filed on May 18 and served to the city a day later. Charlottesville City Council approved the rezoning on April 18, which will allow up to 170 units on about 12 acres in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood. (read a story)The plaintiff is Cabell Marshall, who is representing herself in the matter. The suit states that Marshall “occupies a house” across from 240 Stribling, but does not specify which one until the signature at the end of the document. Much of the complaint repeats testimony made by opponents of the project, such as increased exhaust fumes and additional traffic. The suit filed on May 18 also argues that an agreement between the city and Southern Development to pay for the upfront costs of upgrading Stribling Avenue is also invalid. “Many neighbors on Stribling Avenue felt overwhelmed by [Charlie Armstrong]’s seemingly unfair advantage in getting advance encouragement directly from the city,” reads paragraph 13. “Virginia Code Section 2.3-3103 prohibits a city employee or someone in an advisory agency from using for his own benefit or that another party confidential information that he has acquired by reason of his public position and which is not available to the public.” The complaint also argues that the public hearing was invalid because it was held while Council meetings were still remote. There’s also an argument the city has not done enough to upgrade city streets, such as the intersection of Stribling Avenue and Jefferson Park Avenue.One of the first legal questions will be whether Marshall has legal standing to bring the suit forward. The owner of the house where she lives is John C. Marshall, who is not named as a part in the suit. He owns two other properties on Stribling Avenue as well as three other throughout city limits. In today’s other two shout-outs Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit codeforcville.org to learn about those projects. The final comes from another Patreon supporter who wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, Charlottesville Inclusive Media, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!Albemarle closing survey on growth management policy Like many localities across Virginia’s Fifth District including Nelson County and Danville, Albemarle County is currently reviewing its Comprehensive Plan. State law requires localities to prepare such plans and update them on a periodic basis. Albemarle is reviewing its plan in a four-phase process and the first phase will take a look at the county’s growth management policy. A survey for input closes on Sunday at midnight. “The current Comp Plan directs new residential, commercial, retail, office, and industrial development into the Development Areas,” reads the first part of a StoryMap that seeks to explain the history of the growth management policy. “The Rural Area is intended to be used for agriculture, natural resource protection, and some residential homes.”That’s roughly five percent of the county’s 726 square miles. Albemarle’s first Comprehensive Plan in 1971, and originally envisioned a much larger development area.  This was at a time when Charlottesville still had the ability to annex county land if it could prove to a judge that the city would be able to provide urban services more efficiently. However, subsequent plans reduced that area due to concerns such as siltation at the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir, which opened in 1967 and soon began to fill in. Another issue was the high cost to build water and sewer infrastructure to remote areas. Several villages have been removed since, such as the ones in Earlysville, Ivy, North Garden, and Stony Point. In the early 90’s, four areas were added including the Village of Rivanna, the North Fork Research Park, and what is now being developed as North Pointe. For the full history, read part two of the StoryMap. It’s well worth a read as the county considers changes. “With an evaluation of the County’s Growth Management Policy, perhaps one of the most important factors to consider is how the policy is impacting the well-being of County residents and whether the policy is leading to equitable outcomes across different geographies within the County, such as residents in the Rural Area compared to residents in Development Area, or across different demographic groups such as age and race,” reads another portion of part 2.The survey closes Sunday night. (fill out the survey)Help Ting help support Town Crier productions!For one year now, Town Crier Productions has had a promotional offering through Ting!Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

There is a month and a week left until the summer solstice, and the time when the days begin growing shorter. Until then, there are now over 14 hours of sunlight in the section of the Earth on the day when the May 16 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement is produced. That’s enough time to ensure that this newsletter and podcast at least tries to bring as much information as possible. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. On today’s program:Charlottesville Planning Commission recommends a seven-story building on Jefferson Park AvenueA fatal crash on U.S. 29 near Greenbrier Road has claimed the life of a Charlottesville manAn Augusta County elections official is the latest appointee to the State Board of ElectionsA quick update on COVID-19 from the UnivToday’s first shout-out goes to LEAPWe’re now well into spring, and many of us may have already turned on our air conditioning units for the first in months. To see what you can do to get the most out of your home, contact LEAP, your local energy nonprofit, to schedule a home energy assessment this month - just $45 for City and County residents. LEAP also offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If someone in your household is age 60 or older, or you have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!COVID cases still increasing; UVA Health urges renewed maskingAs the week begins, the Virginia Department of Health this morning reports a seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases at 2,750 a day and the seven-day percent positivity has increased to 14.6 percent. The actual amount of spread is likely higher due to the number of home tests that have become common as a first diagnosis for many people. “There are many people calling saying they’re COVID positive and importantly and interestingly, a fair number of those people have been vaccinated,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology for the University of Virginia Health System. With more cases in the community, UVA officials say its time to take precautions again.“Personally I’m masking back up and I think a lot of people are making the decision,” said Wendy Horton, the CEO of the UVA Health System. “It’s people that have been really careful, been vaccinated, and I think we’re just in this interesting time where we’re really tired of masking but I think it’s alive and well. We know it. We see it in our workforce. We see it in our patients.” The latest COVID model from the UVA Biocomplexity Institute was released on Friday. “Models forecast a significant surge of cases in the coming weeks,” reads the model. “Case rates are not expected to reach levels seen during the January wave. But they will likely exceed those seen in pre-Omicron waves.” Dr. Sifri said ebbs and flows are likely to continue as COVID-19 continues to transition from pandemic to endemic. He said the same public health advice exists. “In a period of time like now where we’re starting to see a surge in cases, this is the time to say okay, in this time and place right now, wearing a mask is helpful to prevent transmission,” Dr. Sifri said. “It’s also important because with COVID it still remains the case that probably half or more than half of cases are in people who are asymptomatic or have such mild symptoms that they don’t recognize that they’re sick.” This week the Virginia Department of Health is retiring several dashboards and ways of reporting COVID. People who seek to know cases by vaccination status will need to go to the Centers for Disease Control website. Cases and Deaths by Date Reported will also be phased out. The changes will take place on May 19. The VDH already has stopped reporting cases by locality on its website. Learn more about the changes on their website.Fatal crash on Seminole TrailAlbemarle County police are investigating the cause of a fatal crash last night in the 1200 block of U.S. 29 near Greenbrier Drive. Thirty-six-year old Justin Michael Tilghman of Charlottesville died at the scene of the crash which happened at 9:21 p.m. last night. The driver of a second vehicle was taken to the University of Virginia hospital. The Albemarle County Police Department’s Fatal Crash Reconstruction Team is leading the investigation. This is the fourth fatality on Albemarle County roads so far in 2022. Augusta County official named to State Board of ElectionsGovernor Glenn Youngkin has named a member of the Augusta County Board of Elections to serve on the Virginia State Board of Elections. Youngkin named Georgia K. Alvis-Long to the position. A press release identifies her occupation as a registered nurse instructor. Under Virginia law, the State Board of Elections is a five-member body that will have three members from the political party that won the Governor’s mansion in the last election. “Each political party entitled to an appointment may make and file recommendations with the Governor for the appointment,” reads Section 24.2-102 of Virginia Code.Alvis-Long fills a position left by the resignation of Jamilah D. LeCruise. For more recent appointments, take a look at the full release. Second shout-out: Charlottesville Jazz Society spotlighting benefit show for UkraineIn today’s second subscriber supported shout-out. The Charlottesville Jazz Society is spotlighting a benefit event to support the people of Ukraine at the Whiskey Jar this Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Young jazz students near the besieged city of Mariupol sent guitarist Royce Campbell a plea to help, and several area musicians have jumped into help. Vocalist Monica Worth has organized the event, and Campbell will play for Ukraine with bassist Andre La Vell and drummer Jim Howe. Many of Charlottesville’s best jazz musicians will sit in. Donations will be collected and sent to Global Giving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund, and you can also go ahead and support this effort with a payment online. That’s We Play for Ukraine at the Whiskey Jar this Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Divided Planning Commission approves seven-story building on Jefferson Park Avenue A divided Charlottesville Planning Commission voted 4-3 on May 10 to recommend that City Council approve a special use permit for additional height and density for a seven-story U-shaped building at 2005 Jefferson Park Avenue.  They’ve also recommended reducing parking requirements by 22 percent over what would otherwise be required.“The [special use permit] is required to accommodate a development being proposed for 119-units of multifamily dwellings within one building with underground parking,” said city planner Matt Alfele. This project was filed after the city adopted a new Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map created as part of the Charlottesville Plans Together initiative, which is still underway. There are currently 17 units across multiple structures across the property. “The Future Plan Use Map, the Comprehensive Plan that we went through, is increasing density and increasing density in certain areas of the city, and this area of the city is one that is looking to increase density and to increase density at especially this scale is going to create a big building,” Alfele said. The developer would pay $500,000 into the city’s affordable housing fund rather than provide required affordable units on-site or at another location nearby. They’ll build 125 parking spaces in an underground garage with access on Washington Avenue. Residents would not be eligible to park on that street or Observatory due to restricted parking. The building would be seven stories taller from JPA and would be five stories tall at the back. “The biggest concern I think staff had was the rear elevation, the five story building going down into the mainly single-family, two-family neighborhood,” Allele said. This request comes after City Council adopted a new Comprehensive Plan with a Future Land Use Map that encourages more residential density, but before the new zoning rules have been written. “Do you happen to know and can you remind me what in our Future Land Use map, what this area is designated as, and what the by-right height would be in that corridor?” asked City Councilor Michael Payne. “This is Urban Mixed Use Corridor and the height is five stories or up to eight at key intersections,” Alfele said. “This is one of the areas where our Comprehensive Plan land use conflicts with our current zoning because our Comprehensive land use map is anticipating our zoning changing. The Future Land Use Map measures in stories and not feet.” Under the existing zoning, the structure could be 35 feet tall without a permit. This is one of the areas that will be clarified in the zoning rewrite. The term “key intersection” is also currently not defined. Payne pointed out the Comprehensive Plan seeks to encourage more units that would be rented to people below market. “The framework that we’ve adopted for that is that if we’re going above the by-right height, the reason we’re doing that is to have an inclusionary zoning program that’s going to required affordable housing as part of that,” Payne said. Payne also suggested $500,000 as an affordable housing contribution would not go far. “I know it’s their choice and we don’t have any control over it but I would just note for the record that we got an affordable housing report that included data on the total subsidy needed to construct a new affordable unit, and I can’t remember the exact number but I know in Virginia that total subsidy to build one new unit could be around $300,000,” Payne said. Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook noted that there had been a lot of concerns during the Future Land Use Map from other neighborhoods such as North Downtown, but he had not heard much from the JPA neighborhood at that time.“The one area where it seemed clear that everyone was willing to agree we should have increased density was along JPA yet there was no basically no public discussion of that fact,” Snook said. Until the rezoning is finalized, individual applications like this are the forum for how the city will look in the future. The project will need a certificate of appropriateness from the Entrance Corridor Review Board, which is also the Planning Commission. They’ll get to influence the design. The developer said the area was already predominantly occupied by renters, and that this level of density is served by transit. “We are one block away in each direction from the trolley stops,” said Erin Hannegan with Mitchell + Matthews Architects and Planners. Hannegan acknowledged the Future Land Use Map designation of Urban Mixed Use Corridor and said this project meets the goals of the Comprehensive Plan.“The further definition is ‘higher intensity mixed-use development’ for this area and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do,” Hannegan said. “A higher intensity development. Mixed use is not allowed under the R-3 mixed-use currently designated.” Hannegan acknowledged that the new building would be out of scale with what is currently there, but anticipated the future conditions of JPA.“This building might be taller than its current neighbors but it won’t be out of character with the future implementation of the Comprehensive Plan and the implementation of the vision that’s been in the works for over 20 years for this particular neighborhood,” Hannegan said. At the public hearing, Nina Barnes of the Jefferson Park Avenue Neighborhood Association said the Comprehensive Plan compels Council and the Planning Commission to take adverse effects into account when considering a special use permit. “Adverse impacts may include traffic or parking congestion, undue density and population, and massing and scale,” Barnes said. “This project has adverse effects in all of these ways.”Barnes said the seven-story building would block the sun from existing one and two story buildings.Ellen Contini-Morava said the staff reports seemed to be in favor of the developer, and noted the gap between an adopted Comprehensive Plan and older zoning. She said this undermines the spirit of the Cville Plans Together Initiative. “This application treats the rezoning that’s proposed in the Future Land Use Map as if it were already in place,” Contini-Morava said. “This application not only aims to short-circuit the rezoning process but even requests a height that is two stories higher than the five stories suggested in the Future Land Use Map for the JPA corridor.” Fifeville resident Matthew Gillikin spoke for the group Livable Cville, which is not a registered entity with the State Corporation Commission but is active in promoting higher density in the community. Gillikin said the answer to affordability in Charlottesville is more housing. “And the developer is planning to contribute nearly $500,000 to the Charlottesville affordable housing fund as a condition to build,” Gillikin said. “This will fund groups like [Charlottesvile Redevelopment and Housing Authority], LEAP, [Albemarle Housing Improvement Program], [Piedmont Housing Alliance], and Habitat for Humanity in the work to address local housing issues.” Gillikin said approval of this project would prevent students from moving into local neighborhoods such as Tenth and Page and Fifeville. These units would have no affordability provisions. For comparisons let’s look at the Standard, another building designed by Mitchell + Matthews Architects. According to their website, the lowest rent for a room in a four-bedroom unit goes for $1,029 a month. Double occupancy in a single bedroom in a three bedroom unit can go for $845 a month. One and two bedroom units in the Standard are sold out. Pricing is not available online for the Flats at West Village. The Lark on Main has a one bedroom unit with a study for $1,879 a month. A room in a four bedroom, four bathroom costs $955 a month. Garage parking is an extra $100. Commission discussionAfter the public hearing, Commissioner Hosea Mitchell said he supported the project, but did want the massing to be a little more consistent with the rest of the neighborhoods. “We do need more housing in Charlottesville and we do a bit of relief valve,” Mitchell said. “We need housing in Charlottesville that is closer to UVA so that the housing that is further away from UVA can be used by the rest of our citizenry,” Mitchell said. Commissioner Taneia Dowell said if the developer is going to additional density based on the future zoning for the property, the spirit of the Affordable Housing Plan must also be honored. “That’s where I’m really having some heartburn,” Dowell said. “If we’re going to go off future endeavors for this project and this special use permit, then we need to go off future endeavors for everything related to this.” Commissioner Jody Lahendro said he could not support this level of density in the area and especially with a building with that much massing. He said the Comprehensive Plan also calls for development on Entrance Corridors to be compatible with existing neighborhoods. “I am not in favor of sacrificing a long term neighborhood for providing student housing for the University,” Lahendro said. “I think the people who have lived here and the single-family homes in this neighborhood deserve… we can’t just pretend that they’re not there.” Commissioner Rory Stolzenberg said he was reviewing the permit request under existing rules and not looking ahead to the new zoning. Quoting the standards of review, he noted that the Commission must review whether a proposal would be “harmonious with existing patterns of use and development in the neighborhood.”“But it will shock you guys to learn that harmonious is not actually defined in the code so the question I think before us is whether a five-story building can co-exist near or next to even smaller buildings including detached houses,” Stolzenberg said. “I’d note there’s already a four and a half story building at the head of the street.” Bill Palmer is with the Office of the Architect at the University of Virginia and sits as a non-voting member of the Planning Commission. He said UVA is not in an era where they are being required by the Commonwealth of Virginia to increase enrollment. According to the UVA office of Institutional Research and Analytics, there was an on-Grounds enrollment in Fall 2021 of 16,793 undergraduates and 6,928 graduate students. (enrollment data)“If you look at our official projects, they are flat,” Palmer said. Palmer said UVA is building additional housing on Grounds, including a second new structure in the Brandon Avenue Corridor. He also said the UVA initiative to build up to 1,500 new affordable units in the community includes a site further down from 2005 JPA in Albemarle County at the Piedmont housing site. “In terms of having affordable housing close in the future, that will be a place where the University is trying to provide something,” Palmer said. Council thoughtsCouncil will have the final decision, but did not vote during what is their first reading.Councilor Payne said he was frustrated that the affordability rules of the future are not yet in place. “This happened with another [special use permit] a few weeks ago where we’re in this strange situation where we’re sort of evaluating the Future Land Use Map and zoning map rewrite in mind, but if we’re using that in our evaluation, that will include our framework of inclusionary zoning and affordable housing overlays which are critical to the success of that plan for affordable housing,” Payne said. Councilor Brian Pinkston said he is learning toward support because it did provide more housing close to the University of Virginia. “I’m not able to fully articulate how we square that with point number one which is whether it is harmonious,” Pinkston said. “To some degree I think harmoniousness might be in the eye of the beholder. I will say that in terms of how the design was laid out and that you have seven stories in the front and five stories in the back, I thought there was some care and attention to trying to integrate into the neighborhood.” Snook also said he had issues with the word “harmonious” and said the traditional form of land use control known as “Euclidean zoning” is not good at dealing with change. “It doesn’t allow for us to grow gradually from a little bit of density to a little bit more density,” Snook said. “It allows us to say okay, we’re going to rezone the entire block of the entire neighborhood but it doesn’t let us go bit by bit.” As the Entrance Corridor Review Board, the Planning Commission voted unanimously on a motion to acknowledge there would be an adverse impact, but those impacts can be mitigated through the design process. As the Planning Commission, they consider a motion made by Stolzenberg to recommend approval. The was 4-3 with Stolzenberg, Mitchell, Habbab, and Commission Chair Lyle Solla-Yates voting in favor. Lahendro joined Dowell and Commissioner Liz Russell in voting no.  Help Ting help support Town Crier productions!For one year now, Town Crier Productions has had a promotional offering through Ting!Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Mother’s Day Eve, a holiday that may not exist, but is certainly a possibility in a world that seems to have an occasion for everything. While we wait for Mommoween to be invented, we’ll just have to settle for another installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast that is most certainly not funded by Big Greeting Card. Find the info worthwhile? Send it on to others! On today’s program:Greene County’s Commissioner of Revenue resigns after pleading guilty to federal charges of witness tampering Kellen Squire officially launches his race to the Democratic nominee for the 55th House District Dr. Denise Bonds is stepping down as director of the Blue Ridge Health DistrictAnother surge of COVID appears to be in the making, but it’s too early to tell how severe it might be And the City of Charlottesville is taking donations to help cover unpaid utility bills Today’s first 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.Snow resigns as Greene County Commissioner of RevenueLarry Snow has resigned as the Commissioner of Revenue in Greene County after pleading guilty in federal court to tampering with a witness. Snow appeared in the Western District Court in Charlottesville Friday to answer to charges that stemmed from a federal investigation, along with his son who pleaded guilty to a charge of heroin distribution. The elder Snow was caught trying to harass and intimidate a confidential informant involved with the investigation.“Elected officials should hold themselves to a higher standard and serve their community responsibly,” said Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division in a release sent out by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia. “Mr. Snow violated the faith entrusted to him, and with his son criminally used personal information of community members for their own gain,” Snow was first elected to the position in 1987 and was reelected in 2019 while under indictment with three quarters of the vote. In November 2017, Bryant Snow was arrested on two state counts of distribution after selling methamphetamine and heroin to an informant. He plead guilty to the meth charge in April 2018 and was imprisoned at Central Virginia Regional Jail. While there, the father and son discussed ways to intimidate someone referred to as Person A. At one point, the elder Snow sent out over 12,000 pamphlets to Greene County residents describing how the Sheriff’s Department uses informants in an attempt to dissuade Person A. Larry Snow will be sentenced on July 25 and Bryant Snow will be sentenced on August 1 before Senior Judge Norman K. Moon. Bonds stepping down as director of the Blue Ridge Health DistrictA search will soon get underway for a new director of the Blue Ridge Health District now that Dr. Denise Bonds has announced she’ll step down from the position at the end of this month. She’s been the health director since 2015 and led the agency during the COVID-19 pandemic and during a name change. “Under Dr. Bonds’ leadership, BRHD expanded its HIV testing and prevention services, increased access to testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and broadened the size and reach of the Population Health Division, including launching a robust Community Health Worker program,” reads an announcement from the Blue Ridge Health District sent out yesterday afternoon. Dr. Bonds also served as interim director of the Rappahannock Area Health District from August 2020 to April 2021. The Blue Ridge Health District is also closing down its COVID-19 case investigation team. According to the release, they followed 47,274 cases since March 2020. After this weekend, the Mobile Health Unit created during the pandemic has held 200 events at which over 5,000 COVID vaccinations were administered. A memorial to those lost during the COVID-19 pandemic will be held on May 24, 2022 at the Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital Amphitheater.COVID-19 update A spring surge of COVID-19 continues to rise with the Virginia Department of Health reporting 2,677 new cases on Friday, with a seven-day average for positive tests at 11 percent. That’s about where things were in late February when the Omicron surge was waning. “And that’s up from around three percent, three and a half percent in March, so we have seen an increase in test positivity,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System. “This is occurring in a background where we’re having less testing in general because of the growth of at-home testing and I would say the vast majority of the people who are testing positive at home through a rapid antigen test are not going on to get a PCR test somewhere else.” The dashboard for the Blue Ridge Health District hasn’t been updated since May 1, and the Virginia Department of Health no longer provides that information in an easily-consumable fashion. The dataset is available here.  The increasing number of cases are not leading to increased hospitalizations. Today the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reports 30 COVID-positive people in intensive care units and 11 on respirators. At the height of the Omicron surge in late January of this year, that number climbed over 400. Dr. Sifri said the numbers are expected to rise as more people forgo wearing masks indoors and as people move further away from their vaccinations or boosters. “There is some progressive loss of some immune response,” said Dr. Sifri. “And finally, in this background is new subvariants of Omicron.” Dr. Sifri points people to the weekly models produced by the University of Virginia's Biocomplexity Institute. The latest from April 29 predicts a further surge this summer, though with lower death rates due to treatments that are now available, more than two years after the pandemic began. “The open question is how much of an impact will that have on health systems?” Dr. Sifri asked. “Is that going to lead to more hospitalizations? Is that going to lead to more [intensive care unit] hospitalizations and deaths? That’s our concern.”Dr. Sifri said vaccinations may not prevent infection but do limit the severity. City taking donations to cover unpaid utility billsIt’s been nearly a month since the City of Charlottesville announced it would resume the practice of shutting down service for unpaid utility bills. There was a statewide moratorium on such disconnects that expired last September. In all, the city used $557,000 in various federal assistance programs to help some customers.However, they announced in April disconnects would resume. “To date, six accounts have been disconnected and remain out of service,” said Chris Cullinan, the city’s finance director, in an email to Charlottesville Community Engagement. However, the city is taking donations to help prevent further disconnects. Cullinan said that as of Thursday, the city had received $800 from concerned community members. He said checks marked with “Water/WW Assistance” in the memo can be sent to:City of Charlottesville Utility Billing OfficePO Box 911Attn: Water and Wastewater AssistanceCharlottesville, VA  22902Second shout-out goes to a Charlottesville Jazz Society event this weekendIn today’s second subscriber-supported shout-out, the Charlottesville Jazz Society and WTJU are pleased to bring bassist Joe Fonda back to town with his long-standing group the Nu Band. They’ll be appearing Tuesday May 10 at the Bridge at 209 Monticello Road. The Nu Band is a dynamic jazz ensemble from New York City, featuring some of the most unique, compelling and in-demand voices in creative music today. The band was formed in 1999, and since then has released 10 recordings, completed 9 European and several US tours, bringing forward-leaning, provocative and evocative music to the world. All tickets for The Nu Band at The Bridge, May 10th at 7 pm will be $10 at the door. For more information visit cvillejazz.org, Squire launches campaign with ad releaseThere’s still no firm resolution on whether Virginia will elect the next set of members of the next House of Delegates this November or the next, but there are two active candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the newly drawn 55th District. On Friday, Kellen Squire released a video to launch a campaign for which he filed earlier this spring. He’s an emergency room nurse who ran in the 58th District in 2017 against incumbent Rob Bell. “Just as I believe there’s hope for me when I come home to my family,” Squire narrates in the two-minute video that depicts him driving home from a shift, concluding with him getting out of his vehicle. “I’m Kellen Squire and I’m running for the House of Delegates because as an emergency department nurse, I know that we all do better when we all do better,” Squire continues. “I’ll fight unapologetically for rural Virginia. I’ll put people before party. And I’ll make sure no Virginian gets left behind.” Squire joins Albemarle Supervisor Donna Price in the race for the Democratic nomination, a race in which the winner could take on Republican Rob Bell, who has represented the 58th District since 2002. He’s not yet made an announcement about the next election. The 55th District is geographically different and will consist of most of Albemarle County, western Louisa County, and northeast Nelson County. Price made her announcement on Facebook on Tuesday, a day after someone leaked a draft Supreme Court ruling purporting to overturn Roe v. Wade. (read the story)There is a chance that an election could be held this year due to a federal lawsuit filed by Richmond attorney Paul Goldman arguing that legislators elected in 2021 are in unconstitutional districts. Judge David Novak of the Eastern District of Virginia is expected to rule on whether Goldman has the legal standing to file the case.On Thursday, Novak admonished Goldman for filing a motion to ask the court to consider the draft ruling as evidence for why a House of Delegates race should be run this year. “The Court hereby STRIKES this Motion at patently inappropriate and completely irrelevant to this case,” Novak wrote in an order. “Neither draft opinions nor press reports have any impact on the decisions of this Court.” Novak told Goldman to stop filing additional motions. Help support Town Crier Productions with a paid subscription to this newsletter!For one year now, Town Crier Productions has a promo with Ting!Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

It’s been three months since February 2, prompting the question: Has anyone checked to see how the groundhog is doing? Still, May 2 is the 122nd day of 2022, and we are now mathematically one third of the way through. Perhaps nothing is still. In any case, this is Charlottesville Community Engagement and I remain Sean Tubbs, here for another week and another months of newsletters and podcasts that are hopefully informative. On today’s program:Charlottesville crews are taking down dead Ash and Oak trees this yeCOVID cases are up sharply across Virginia this morningCharlottesville has a new Fire MarshalA Buckingham County resident has died following a fatal crash this morning in Albemarle County City Council will take up two land use items tonight, one of which would double the already approved residential density on a property near the University of VirginiaFirst 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. COVID-19 update: Numbers trending upward again? As the week and month begin, it’s worth checking in with the COVID-19 pandemic statistics in Virginia. Brace yourselves for this number. The Virginia Department of Health reports another 4,192 new cases today, and the seven day average for positive PCR tests is at 9.8 percent. The seven day average for new tests is at 1,870 new cases a day. However, these cases have not yet resulted in a higher number of people in the hospital for COVID. According to the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, there are 166 COVID patients currently in hospital care across Virginia and 28 are in intensive care units. Eleven are on ventilators. Those numbers are drastically lower than three months ago when the Omicron surge was at its peak. On Friday, the VDH reported 1,705 new cases. That’s the same day the UVA Health System held its weekly briefing, which included Chief Executive Officer Wendy Horton. She encouraged vigilance. “Among our employees and our workforce, we are seeing an uptick in community exposure in COVID so it isn’t going away in our community and I think a lot of friends and family are experiencing that this week,” Horton said. Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia, said the actual case counts are likely higher due to the number of home testing and due to the spread of a variant in Omicron. “They are increasingly more transmissible and because of that it’s very reasonable to take precautions,” Dr. Sifri said. “Masking works. It’s always worked. It will continue to work.” Dr. Sifri also encouraged people to investigate whether it is a good time for them to take an additional booster if eligible. “I think the first and foremost thing is to make sure that you are fully vaccinated and that you have completed what we consider the three dose vaccine series,” Dr. Sifri said.With allergy season in play, Dr. Sifri recommends self-testing to protect those you spend a lot of time around. “Your sniffles or scratchy throat that you may wish to attribute to hay fever may not be that but it could be a sign of COVID and to test yourself,” Dr. Sifri said. The Friday briefing also covered another emerging medical issue across the globe. So far there are no cases at the University of Virginia of severe unexplained cases of hepatitis in children, but doctors are keeping an eye out. Dr. Debbie-Ann Shirley is a pediatric infectious disease specialist who says more study is needed after an alert went out in late April.“Both the Centers for Disease Control and the Virginia Department of Health put out health advisories to notify health care providers about an increase in clusters of cases of severe liver diseases in children which we call hepatitis,” Dr. Shirley said in a briefing last Friday. One potential commonality is an adenovirus which can cause a variety of different ailments. The United Kingdom has seen a relatively high number of cases, some of which have required liver transplants. “It’s really the severity of these cases in young children that is causing concern and alarm and the reason that we want to investigate urgently to find out more information,” Dr. Shirley said. Local physicians are encouraged to reach out to UVA Health officials if they see pediatric patients with elevated levels of liver enzymes that are otherwise unexplained. “For parents who are trying to understand what to do when they hear this message, if they see signs and symptoms of hepatitis then to talk to their health care provider,” Dr. Shirley said. That includes yellowing of the eyes and skin, belly pain, and fatigue. I’ll have more on both issues as time moves on. Fatal crash at Hillsdale and Rio intersection this morningA 20-year-old from Dilwyn has died following a fatal crash this morning at the intersection of Rio Road and Hillsdale Drive. According to the Albemarle County Fire Rescue department, Mr. Kyjuan-Shallah Anthony Maurice Bell died at the scene after a collision with another vehicle. “The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Albemarle County Police Department’s Fatal Crash Reconstruction Team,” reads the press release. “This is the third traffic fatality investigated by ACPD in 2022.”City to remove dead treesThe biological war between the Emerald Ash Borer and ash trees is still being waged, but it’s very much in the favor of the invasive species. That’s been confirmed by the city’s new urban forester, Steve Gaines.“The beetle larvae tunnel under the bark, and damage nutrient and water flow throughout the tree – basically girdling the tree,” Gaines said in email Friday afternoon. “Once infested, the trees usually die within 2-5 years after initial infection.”This morning, Charlottesville’s Parks and Recreation Department began removing six dead ash trees at the intersection of McIntire Road and West Main Street. That will take place Monday through Wednesday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and motorists can expect delays. Gaines said it is hard to tell how many more ash trees across the city will die but there will be a focus on removing ones that can cause harm. “It is safe to say that the city will be removing Ash hazard trees for quite a while,” Gaines said. “Standing dead Ash trees are particularly dangerous because the dead limbs are brittle and can easily break and fall during wind/weather events.”Gaines said the city is seeking to treat some ash trees with injections, but this often requires a landowner or organization to help cover the cost of treatment. Later in the week, crews will remove three dead Oak trees from Belmont Park. Gaines said there are many possibilities for why they have died. The Charlottesville Tree Commission meets virtually Tuesday at 5 p.m. (meeting info)Fire Captain Phillips elevated to Fire MarshalA veteran with 23 years of experience on the Charlottesville Fire Department has been named as the city’s new fire marshal. Joe Phillips will replace Deputy Chief Joe Powers, who had been in charge of Community Risk Reduction. According to a release, Phillips joined the department in January 1999 as a firefighter and medic. He has served as a battalion chief and has been in the Fire Marshal’s office since 2017. That’s where the fire department’s Office of Community Risk Reduction is located. A national search is underway for a new Deputy Chief for risk reduction. In today’s other three shout-outs Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit codeforcville.org to learn about those projects. In the middle, I’d like to take the opportunity to wish my nephew, Ryan Craig, a happy 29th birthday. Where did the time go? The final comes from another Patreon supporter who wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!Council to review two land use items this eveningLast month, the Charlottesville Planning Commission recommended approval of one land use item and recommended the denial of another at a joint public hearing with City Council. Tonight, City Council will hold final votes on both of them.The first is on the consent agenda. Southern Development seeks an increase of residential density at 209 Maury Avenue near the University of Virginia. Here’s city planner Matt Alfele.“The subject properties were rezoned from R-2U (residential two-family University) to R-3 with proffers in December 2019,” Alfele said. “The original plan called for residential development with 33 units. The new proposal calls for the same configuration but removes the parking underneath building 2 to accommodate additional units.”The new maximum count would be 64 units. As part of the proffers, six affordable units would be built by Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville at the Flint Hill development in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood. Flint Hill is also being developed by Southern Development and that required eight affordable units. Habitat will be building those, as well. Charlie Armstrong is vice president at Southern Development. “Yes, it would create more units if we have more density on this site,” Armstrong said. “It does create more affordable units. Those will need to be off-site and we like the idea of doing them with Habitat at Flint Hill. We need to get Flint Hill through the approval process and built.”Armstrong said University of Virginia students do not drive as much, but the company has agreed to develop a parking plan for the site. They’ll also build a seven-foot sidewalk along Maury Avenue.  An existing structure on the property will be kept as part of the project. The Commission voted unanimously to recommend the increase. Council has opted to put it on their consent agenda rather than discuss it in open session tonight.Planning Commission recommends denial of conversion of apartments to hotel useIn the other matter, developer Bill Chapman sought permission to convert an apartment complex on 14th Street into a hotel. Here’s city planner Dannan O’Connell. “The subject property is currently developed with a 21-unit multifamily condominium use and the applicant wishes to renovate the existing building to accommodate a 19-unit hotel with one residential apartment,” O’Connell said. The structure was originally built as a hotel in 1964 but converted to apartment use some time later. Tonight’s consideration by Council comes just over a year after the city adopted an Affordable Housing Plan that seeks to increase the number of units and nearly six months after a new Comprehensive Plan was adopted.“The proposed redevelopment does meet some of the 2021 Comprehensive Plan’s goals regarding sustainable reuse of existing buildings, protecting the existing identity of city neighborhoods, and retaining successful businesses and jobs,” O’Connell said. “The proposed change of use would also result in a reduction of available rental housing within the city and this area. However, the existing apartment use is non-conforming in nature and located in an area of dense residential apartments geared towards short-term student housing.”Much of the discussion at the Planning Commission was whether the residential units should be removed from circulation. Commissioner Rory Stolzenberg noted that the units rented at what would appear to be what’s known as “naturally occurring affordable housing.” “The studio rents for $770 a month and that includes utilities,” Stolzenberg said. “And then I go look at what that is in terms of [Area Median Income] and it’s right at the 45 percent AMI range for a one-person household.” O’Connell said the application made clear that none of those units were participating in a subsidized program requiring the rents to be that low. “The reason these units are affordable is because they are older and so people can afford to live in them,” said Planning Commissioner Liz Russell. Developer Bill Chapman said the conversion would be similar to what he and his business partners did at the Oakhurst Circle and Inn project at the corner of Jefferson Park Avenue and Jefferson Park Avenue. “My partners and I own nine buildings over here on the south side of UVA in the Oakhurst Gildersleeve Historic District and some of them are apartments and some are private homes and some are hotel rooms,” Chapman said.Chapman said he thought the end result of the renovations of those buildings has made some of those streets better than they been. He said he wants to do the same at 207 14th Street.“The block just down the hill from this property on 14th Street is one of the dirtiest blocks in the whole city in terms of trash and we’re going to transform that a little bit because being in the hospitality business it needs to look good,” Chapman said. Chapman said the apartments are run down and cheap because they are old hotel rooms. He is a contract purchaser, and does not currently own them. He said financing their renovation as an apartment would result in much higher rents. “This property was built as a motel and I think it’s best operated as a hotel especially since it needs this new life brought to it,” Chapman said. “Now, could it go for a few more years as an apartment building? Yeah. Could it go for 20 more years as an apartment building. No.”Russell said she did not think the people living in the apartment were necessarily students. “We have to remember that not just students live in the area around the University but it seems like a pretty great proximity to the UVA Health System,” Russell said. “So many people can’t live in this community let alone proximate to UVA. Russell said she would vote to recommend denial because she housing is more important than hotel rooms. Commissioner Karim Habbab also could not support it.“This is currently exactly the missing middle housing that we are trying to develop in the city and given our affordable housing issue, I cannot see how this would help with that,” Habbab said. The Commission voted 4-2 to recommend denial. Now it’s up to Council to make a decision. Help support Town Crier Productions with a paid subscription to this newsletter!For one year now, Town Crier Productions has a promo with Ting!Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

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

Today begins the final week of the month as well as the last four days of 2022’s first quarter. There are so many ways to order time and to order our affairs as human beings as we move through a world that may or may not make sense, depending on how you count. I’m Sean Tubbs, I provide information on a regular basis in each installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement to describe a few of the things that have happened so far. Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.On today’s show:The area’s transportation decision-making body wants a future pedestrian bridge to connect Pantops with the Broadway Blueprint The University of Virginia’s School of Architecture hires its first Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and InclusionUVA no longer requires masks in classrooms, and an update on the COVID-19 pandemic Today’s first shout-out goes to WTJUAlgorithms know how to put songs and artists together based on genre or beats per minute. But only people can make connections that engage your mind and warm your heart. The music on WTJU 91.1 FM is chosen by dozens and dozens of volunteer hosts -- music lovers like you who live right here in the Charlottesville area. Listener donations keep WTJU alive and thriving. In this era of algorithm-driven everything, go against the grain. Support freeform community radio on WTJU and get ready for the station’s 65th anniversary this Friday, April 1! Consider a donation at wtju.net/donateCOVID-19 update: Masks now optional in UVA classroomsToday marks the end of the mask requirements in classrooms at the University of Virginia, but people are still asked to carry one in case they are asked to by someone else. “As we navigate the shift to most settings being mask-optional, we are encouraging everyone to treat each other with respect and common courtesy,” reads a March 25 email from Provost Ian Baucom and Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis. The Centers for Disease Control now regard the COVID-19 Community Level to be low for Albemarle County and Charlottesville. This morning the Virginia Department of Health reports another 1,340 new cases and the seven-day average for percent positivity is now at 3.3 percent. There is a subvariant of the Omicron virus that is leading to new surges across the world including Hong Kong. That’s a place where Dr. Costi Sifri of the UVA Health System said has not yet experienced much community spread because of an early zero tolerance policy.“It is causing significant stress to their health system,” Sifri said. “There is this view that Omicron is less virulent than other COVID variants.”However, Dr. Sifri said that Hong Kong also has low vaccine rates providing a population base through which the Omicron subvariant can spread. “Here in the United States we’re seeing an increasing amount of B.A.2, the sister subvariant of the original Omicron strain,” Dr. Sifri said. “It’s growing in proportion nationwide. In our region it’s about 30 to 35 percent or so of all isolates.”Dr. Sifri said this subvariant is not as virulent, but does appear to be more transmissible and that it will become the dominant strain in a matter of weeks. Dr. Sifri said a local spike could happen as mask requirements are dropped and as more social gatherings.“I don’t think that’s guaranteed so I think there is also a possibility we could just reach a plateau at least for the near-term,”  Dr. Sifri said. “And of course, things may change if there is a new variant that emerges somewhere in the world that is able to essentially escape the protection that boosters and vaccinations have provided.”As of today, 72.7 percent of Virginians are fully vaccinated, but only 2.9 million booster doses have been administered. There’s still no word yet on whether an additional dose will be needed for the general population or just those who are at higher risk of developing a virulent infection.There are 76 new cases in the Blue Ridge Health District today. On March 16ths, Last week, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted to end the local COVID emergency, paving the way for in-person meetings beginning next week with the Albemarle Board of Supervisors.UVA School of Architecture hires Associate Dean for equity and inclusionThe School of Architecture at the University of Virginia has hired its first ever Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. C.L. Bohannon will take the position in late July as he also joins the faculty as an Associate Professor in the Landscape Architecture Department. Bohannon is currently the interim director of the School of Architecture and Design at Virginia Tech, as well as founder and director of the Community Engagement Lab. “I am enthusiastic to collaborate with faculty, students, staff, and communities across the Commonwealth as we contend with long-standing socio-environmental inequalities,” Bohannon said in a news release on the School of Architecture’s website. “I believe that as creative practitioners, we have the necessary critical and creative tools to redress harms that have come from design and planning and that we can work with congruent integrity and practice.”The Community Engagement Lab will come with Bohannon to UVA. Second shout-out goes to a March 29 event happening at MorvenIn today’s second subscriber supported shout-out, the Morven Summer Institute at Morven Farm wants you to know about a seminar coming up on March 29. How are UVA students, faculty, and community partners collaborating to tell the stories of Morven? Researcher Scot French has spent over ten years studying Morven’s history and will provide glimpses into a course he’ll be teaching this summer on Recovering the Stories of Morven’s Enslaved and Descendant Communities.  The March 29 event is a chance for the public to get a preview of the four week course. If you’re interested, visit morven.virginia.edu to fill out an interest form. MPO selects Broadway Avenue / East Market location for pedestrian bridgeIf a bridge to cross the Rivanna River between Albemarle County and the Woolen Mills is ever built, the western end will be connected to East Market Street rather than Riverview Park. “It seems to me that the connection at the East Market Street provides an additional value or return on the investment in that it is connecting two activity centers from Pantops over to what’s being planned in that Broadway corridor,” said Albemarle Supervisor Ned Gallaway, the chair of the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Policy Board.Transportation staff with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission are working on an application for Smart Scale funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation for the project, which would have an eastern landing just to the west of the former State Farm regional headquarters. The MPO Policy Board voted 4-1 on March 24 to choose an alignment that would land at East Market Street. This alternative is more expensive with a preliminary cost estimate of $15.3 million compared to $11.3 million for the Chesapeake Street alignment. They also discussed whether the bridge should be “cable-stayed” or should be built on a “truss.” bridge. A cable-stayed bridge would require more maintenance, and there are questions about who would be responsible for the cost. “When we’re looking at new projects, we generally don’t try to promote or support projects that would provide an increased cost for maintenance when it’s not strictly necessary,” said Sean Nelson, the district engineer for VDOT’s Culpeper District. Nelson said if the cable-stayed bridge was selected, the localities would be asked to cover the additional maintenance. Albemarle Supervisor Ann Mallek wanted to know if that might affect the project’s Smart Scale score.“Getting something approved is my highest priority and I want to make sure that we are thinking about that rather than asking for the beautiful, blue crystal slipper,” Mallek said. “ Are we then not getting something at all then if we applied for the work boot?” The group opted to proceed with a truss bridge. No matter the type of bridge, the East Market / Broadway bridge would have two spans connected with a pier.City Councilor Brian Pinkston was the lone vote in favor of the Chesapeake Street option.“To me, if the least expensive, more likely to occur option is to have it at the park on the northern side,” Pinkston said. A majority of people on a stakeholder committee favored the Chesapeake Street option, as did the MPO-Technical Committee. More information needs to be gathered as part of a necessary environmental review and that will be gathered as the application is finalized. This includes impacts on historic sites well as the impact on the floodway. Nelson said one of the sites would provide more room for flexibility if the design needed to be amended to take into account potential impacts. “The Woolen Mills location there [are] more opportunities to mitigate at that location then at the other location,” Nelson said. Mallek said she supported the Woolen Mills option because of the county’s planning work. “There are things in the Broadway corridor which the county has been planning and working on for several years including more sidewalk connections and improvement of the connector road which would also benefit users of the bridge,” Mallek said. After Mayor Lloyd Snook offered his opinion, one member of the public who was on the call expressed their opinion.“I would vote for the southernmost route, the route that goes down to East Market,” Snook said. “Unbelievable,” said an unidentified voice in what may be one of the last awkward moments of the Zoom era of public meetings. Before the vote, nearby resident Jenny Milulski said she would have supported either option, but wanted the MPO to take Albemarle’s economic development planning efforts into account. “I just wanted to voice my enthusiasm for considering this project in tandem with the Broadway economic development plan,” Milukski said.The Albemarle Board of Supervisors recently received information about the Broadway Blueprint and the Economic Development Authority had a conversation about the document earlier this month (read the final study) Mikulski said the bridge would transform the way she thinks about where she lives.“For example it would only be a 1.5 mile walk from my house to the Kluge-Ruhe Museum,” Mikulski said. Currently that would be a three mile walk. Preliminary Smart Scale applications are due by the end of the month. A final application is due on August 1. The rankings will be released in late January. Support Town Crier Productions!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

March Eleven. 3/11? 3-1-1? In some places you can dial that number to get information, a valuable commodity in a complex world. On this 70th day of 2022 and in this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, you can find out a lot of odds and ends about what’s happening. How many of each? Stick around and find out. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. For all the odds and ends, please sign up for free and consider becoming a paid subscriber!On today’s program:Charlottesville City Council will get an update on efforts to create a long awaited climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions The city will use funding from a carbon cap and trade program to prepare for future flooding Charlottesville Area Transit wants your input on the next generation of bus sheltersCharlottesville is close to hiring a new communications director, and is seeking college students to apply for internshipsA brief update on the pandemic First shout-out if for CBIC’s C-E2 eventIn today’s first subscriber-supported shout-out, the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council wants you to know that after two years, they’re holding their Charlottesville Entrepreneurs and Espresso event in-person on the morning of Tuesday, March 15 at the CODE Building? What is Charlottesville Entrepreneurs and Espresso, or C-E2? It’s a casual, caffeine-fueled gathering of learning at all stages of venture creation. Get inspired, meet fellow entrepreneurs, share lessons learned, and become a part of Charlottesville’s vibrant and growing entrepreneurial ecosystem. Visit cvilleinnovation.org to learn more about this free event or sign up on Eventbrite. Pandemic turns 2 Tomorrow marks the two-year anniversary of the declaration of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic in Virginia. The seven-day percent average for new COVID tests is at 4.7 percent, around a level not seen since late last July when the Delta variant caused a surge that has not quite receded until now. Still, the Virginia Department of Health marks another 1,272 new cases today. The agency has also made changes to its COVID dashboard and no longer is listing case counts by locality. That data, as well as deaths reported by date, will continue to be available on Virginia’s open data portal.The Blue Ridge Health District does report local case data and there are 48 new cases today and the percent positivity is at 4.5 percent. The Centers for Disease Control now list Albemarle, Charlottesville and the other Blue Ridge Health District localities as medium. (review the map)“We were anticipating that we would be dropping to a medium level when we were looking at the numbers earlier this week so those were born out yesterday when the CDC updated their calculations,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System.Dr. Sifri said he would recommend that those with underlying conditions or who are immunocompromised to remain masked indoors and to make sure their mask offers enough protection. Dr. Sifri said there is a lot of immunity in the community through both vaccination and infections, but he said there is still opportunity for another variant to happen in the future. When will be determined on a number of variables. “And I think clearly for a lot of people after two years of living through this pandemic, they are at a point where they’ve been vaccinated, they’ve taken precautions, but have now sort of have come to a point where its an understanding there will be some level of circulation likely going forward for the foreseeable future and we could anticipate this may become another seasonal virus,” Dr. Sifri said. As we hit the two-year mark, there have been 19,212 COVID deaths in Virginia, and 431 in the Blue Ridge Health District. It’s been two years since I launched a podcast to cover the response. Go back and listen if you’d like to revisit any of that recent past. (Charlottesville Quarantine Report)Charlottesville sets April 18 work session for work session on climate action Nearly all functions of government in most Virginia localities can be derived from their Comprehensive Plan, which lays out broad steps to turn a community’s vision into action. The new Comprehensive Plan adopted by Council in November calls upon the city to create a specific plan to demonstrate how Charlottesville will meet specific reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The nonprofit Community Climate Collaborative wants City Council to spend more money to get a plan in place as soon as possible. Executive Director Susan Kruse posted a blog entry on March 3 saying Charlottesville has fallen behind on efforts. She read from this post at Council’s meeting this past Monday. “This July will mark three years since Charlottesville set its sights on climate leadership,” Kruse wrote in the post. “Three years, and we have no Climate Action Plan, our GHG emissions inventory is four years out-of-date, and the window to reduce emissions to prevent catastrophic impacts is rapidly closing.” On Monday, Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders acknowledged that the city has not been able to move swiftly to create a plan. “I just want to be upfront with everyone and acknowledge we know there’s work to be done there,” Sanders said. Sanders said there will be a Council work session on April 18 and staff in the city’s sustainability division will present what they have been working on since Council adopted reduction targets on July 1, 2019. That stated the city would work towards a “community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 target from its 2011 inventory year” as well as to be carbon neutral by 2050. (read the minutes)At the time, then-city manager Tarron Richardson was less than two months on the job and two other people have held that position since. Sanders has only worked for the city since last July. “There have been significant impacts from the COVID pandemic and organizational staffing changes that have prevented them from moving as originally planned,” Sanders said. “Our goal would be to try to get back on track so this would be a moment to reboot that effort.”Sanders said groups such as the Community Climate Collaborative will be involved in the work. After Sanders gave Council an update, Kruse read from her prepared letter during the city’s Community Matters portion. She acknowledged the April 18 work session, but pushed for a deadline to complete a Climate Action Plan. .“If current resources are not enough to complete the plan, it’s time for Council to bring in some outside help,” Kruse said. Last November, City Council adopted an update of the Comprehensive Plan, a document for which state code requires periodic revision. Review of this plan took nearly five years and its completion required the city to pay a consultant over a million dollars.One of the guiding principles in the plan is under the heading Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability. (look for it on page 22)“The City government will reduce its carbon footprint and other environmental impacts,” reads that guiding principle. “The Charlottesville community will be empowered and encouraged to reduce their environmental footprint and benefit from energy-efficiency efforts.”The various chapters of the Comprehensive Plan are embedded with many directives, strategies, and goals. For instance, Strategy 3.4 of the land use chapter (page 38) is to “encourage sustainable, energy efficient building designs and low impact development as complementary goals to historic preservation, including through support for adaptation, reuse, and repurposing of the built environment.” Goal 4 of the housing chapter has four strategies with steps toward addressing energy efficiency in new and existing housing (page 50)The transportation chapter (page 55) seeks to expand alternatives to driving and encourages the “adoption and support of new and emerging transportation technologies will further expand travel options throughout the city and will contribute toward the City’s climate goals and improving public health by reducing vehicle-related emissions.” There is an entire chapter with the title Environment, Climate, and Food Equity (page 65) that repeats the July 1, 2019 greenhouse gas emissions goal of which the first goal is dedicated to reaching the reduction targets, with eight strategies. The first listed is to create a Climate Action Plan.The environmental chapter also includes directives to prevent further degradation of the tree canopy, continue work in the city’s Water Resources Protection Program, and to encourage use of sustainable materials. The Community Facilities and Services chapter (page 79) covers community infrastructure and strategy 2.4 calls for the city “to employ innovative technology and green building practices for all eligible capital construction and renovation projects” and strategy 4.10 to “participate in and complete Climate Hazard Risk Assessment activities, to follow finalization of the Climate Action Plan.” Goal 1 of the Community Engagement and Collaboration is to “empower community members by providing and actively sharing the information they need to participate in a meaningful way.” Albemarle County adopted a Climate Action Plan in October 2020 that has much more specific details about how to get there. That work session will be held on April 18. Make sure you’re reading the Week Ahead newsletter each Sunday to know what’s coming up and follow along with stories on climate action at the Information Charlottesville archive. Today’s second shout-out goes to a Livable Cville eventIn today’s first subscriber supported shout-out, Livable Cville wants you to know about an online presentation coming up on Wednesday, March 16. "Can Zoning Create a More Affordable Charlottesville?" That’s the question to be explored by Dr. Jenny Schuetz of the Brookings Institute. She’s the author of Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems. The event is free but you’ll have to register at EventBrite. Charlottesville seeking firm to model Moores Creek watershedA changing climate has meant the likelihood of more flooding across the Commonwealth, and Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) has meant more funding to help with preparation. Charlottesville is currently seeking an engineering firm to update models from 2008 for how stormwater flows in the Moores Creek watershed.Back then, the city partnered with the United States Army Corps of Engineers to produce that model, as well as ones for the portions of the city in the Rivanna and Meadow Creek watersheds. Now Charlottesville will use $153,000 from the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Grant program to further study the Moores Creek watershed, which makes up a third of the city’s land along the southern border with Albemarle. “The stormwater management model will be a critical tool for planning and project implementation efforts administered under the umbrella of the City’s Water Resources Protection Program,” said Andrea Henry, the program’s administrator. “This is the first in what will hopefully be a series of models to support the development of stormwater management and flood resiliency plans for the City.”The more detailed information will help determine best locations for stormwater pipe upgrades, and to develop flood inundation maps for the various tributaries of Moores Creek including Lodge Creek, Rock Creek, Pollock’s Branch, and Quarry Creek. Goal 10 of the Community Facilities chapter of the Comprehensive Plan relates to stormwater conveyance infrastructure, with strategy 10.3 related to modernization efforts. Virginia joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the summer of 2020, which means companies that generate electricity through fossil-fuel companies must pay to exceed caps on the amounts of carbon dioxide. In Virginia, more than half of the proceeds go to pay for flood preparedness programs. Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order soon after being inaugurated to withdraw Virginia from RGGI, but legislative approval is needed and so far efforts to withdraw have been blocked by the Senate, where Democrats have a 21 to 19 majority. So far, Virginia has received $227.6 million in proceeds from four auctions, including $85.6 million in December.Charlottesville Area Transit seeking input on future bus sheltersThe area’s primary fixed-route transit service is seeking your input into how their future bus shelters will look. “Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT) seeks to develop a bus shelter design that will serve as a unique and universal identifier of transit in the Greater Charlottesville Area,” reads an announcement for a public survey seeking input on three designs.All three come out of a charette held last August, and CAT’s architectural consultant wants more comments in order to come up with one single concept. Another round of presentations will be held when that’s ready for public review. City seeking applications for internships, close to hiring CAPE director Do you know someone younger who could use an opportunity to gain some real-world experience? The City of Charlottesville is accepting applications from college students to work as paid interns all across the municipal government. “This is developmental work designed to provide university students and recent graduates with meaningful entry-level professional work,” reads the press release for the opportunity. “The assignments require application of university-level knowledge typically gained in profession-specific curriculum typically found in local government.” The release goes on to state that interns will be closely supervised and will work on a specific project during their temporary employment. Departments seeking interns include the City Manager’s office, the Office of Communications, Neighborhood Development Services, and the Police Civilian Oversight Board. Applicants need to have completes sixty hours of coursework and to have a grade point average of 2.0. Anyone interested can apply here. Speaking of jobs, the city still has several top vacancies that are still being filled. Deputy City Manager Ashley Marshall have City Council an update on Monday, March 7. “The city is making some progress on some key hires,” Marshall said. “Interviews are underway for our director of communications and public engagement. And yes that title does sound a little different because we are going to emphasize public engagement within our communications’ professional team.”That matches the same job title as the equivalent job in Albemarle County. Marshall said the city is also reviewing resumes for the Director of Human Services and the Director of Informational Technology. The position of Human Resources Director is still being advertised. “We expect to move forward to interview phases on all three of those last director positions shortly,” Marshall said.  Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

The name of today is also a command. March Forth! The world has changed a lot in the past several years, and it will change again as our future quickly becomes history. With so many potential choices and pathways, sometimes all you can do is march forth, and today is a good day to ponder what that all may mean. This is Charlottesville Community Engagement and I’m your host Sean Tubbs, fervently hoping that you will find your way. Sign up to get every edition in your inbox!On today’s program:Area transportation planners are submitting three projects to VDOT to improve the Fifth Street Corridor in both Albemarle County and CharlottesvilleRiverbend Development has filed plans for a mixed-use community near the intersection of U.S. 29 and Interstate 64Another update  on the waning of the omicron surgeAlbemarle County may soon return to in-person meetings Today’s first shout-out goes to Mulch MadnessIn today’s first subscriber-supported shout-out, are you ready for Mulch Madness? The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority has a free mulch giveaway beginning tomorrow through April 16. In between all the big games, the RSWA wants you to get your yard ready for spring. If you have a way to transport mulch, head on over to the Ivy Material Utilization Center between 7:30am and 4:00pm, Monday through Saturday, where you can pick up up to two tons free. Rivanna staff are available to help load, but ask that you bring a covering. Mulch is double ground and derived from vegetative materials brought to Ivy for disposal. That’s Mulch Madness at the Ivy Material Utilization Center. Visit rivanna.org to learn more.Pandemic update: Omicron continues slow declineThe Omicron surge of COVID-19 that began in mid-December continues to slowly recede. Today the Virginia Department of Health reports a seven-day percent positivity of 7.2 and the seven-average of new cases is 1,326. In the Blue Ridge Health District, there are 81 new cases reported today and the percent positivity is 7 percent. Dr. Costi Sifri is the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System and he said he expects the numbers to remain on a steady decline, but people should remain vigilant. “I think we can anticipate that in the spring and hopefully the summer, COVID is going to be much less of an issue for us on a day-to-day basis,” Dr. Sifri said. “But we should anticipate that it could come back.”Dr. Sifri said there are no new variants of concern on the horizon, but a substrain of omicron continues to spread. He said monitoring efforts must continue and also be strengthened. “The genome surveillance systems around the country and around the world have continued to improve,” Dr. Sifri said. “There needs to be continued investment in those to beef those up so that we can have better early warning signals for variants of concern.” This week a new law went into effect allowing parents and guardians let their children opt out of mask mandates in public schools. The Centers for Disease Control lists this region as having a high level of transmission. “It seems very prudent to me that students continue to mask indoors until those case counts come down to a low level,” Dr. Sifri said.Tonight, the UVA Medical Center’s South Tower will be illuminated in blue and yellow to support members of the community who are affected by the Putin administration’s invasion of Ukraine. That will continue on Saturday and Sunday night. Dr. Sifri called the invasion a humanitarian catastrophe that could be compounded by COVID. “I do think about the intersection between the pandemic and what is occurring with displaced peoples,” Dr. Sifri said. “Ukraine has a populace that is I think only 40 percent vaccinated and they are having to flee their country and their cities and their homes on buses and trains and we can anticipate will be living in challenging situations with multifamily settings and the opportunities in that setting for infectious disease like COVID are tremendous.”Dr. Sifri said the world’s response to COVID as well as other challenges speaks to the need to be prepared for crisis before it happens. Albemarle Supervisors briefed on eventual end of the local COVID emergencyAlbemarle County and Charlottesville remain underneath a local state of emergency, which has meant virtual meetings for the past two years. On Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors were briefed on the steps to move forward. “The local emergency has allowed the county a number of advantages in addressing timely issues related to mitigating the spread of the COVID virus during the emergency,” said Doug Walker, the deputy county executive. “We now believe that those advantages are no longer needed and we are in the progress of returning to a more normal operation.” The Board will be asked to vote on a resolution to end the emergency while also allowing the “continuity of government” ordinance to remain in place. That would allow for some meetings to remain virtual for a period of time. However, if they adopt the ordinance, the Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission, and the School Board would begin holding hybrid meetings beginning with the first week of April. Other groups such as the Economic Development Authority would begin hybrid meetings in June, and others would have up to the end of March 2023 to meet virtually. Lane Auditorium would be reconfigured to allow distanced seating on the left hand side of the room and normal seating on the right hand side. Total visitor capacity would be capped at 200. The ventilation system has been upgraded to refresh the air in the auditorium ten times an hour. The resolution will be voted on at the March 16 meeting. Rezoning sought for land near Virginia Eagle distribution facilityThe highway-like character of U.S. 29 in Albemarle County southwest of Charlottesville will further change in the near future now that a rezoning has been filed for around 63.5 acres around the Virginia Eagle distribution center. Riverbend Development is seeking a rezoning to the Neighborhood Model District to build several hundred apartment units. “This project will include a mix of residential and commercial units, as anticipated by the Comprehensive Plan for this location,” reads the narrative for the application. “Approximately 475 residential units are proposed, primarily multifamily.”Also proposed are a hotel, a congregate care facility, office buildings and retail. The Board of Supervisors adjusted the county’s growth area boundaries in September 2015 to add 51 acres as part of an incentive package to attract a brewery to locate on the site. That was a lower amount than had been requested, and only extended to land that already within the jurisdictional area for public water and sewer. (read the minutes from the September 23, 2015 meeting)“At 64.36 acres, the Sieg property is strategically positioned at the crossroads of Interstate 64 and Route 29 and within the growth area of Albemarle County,” the narrative continues. “This land is ideally situated for a new mixed-use community with a variety of housing options, office sites, aging in place and retail destinations.” The Comprehensive Plan designates the land as Regional Mixed-Use. Riverbend Development will pay to extend water and sewer to the properties. U.S. 29 is considered by the Virginia Department of Transportation to be a Corridor of Statewide Significance.A traffic light was installed in late 2020 on the southern side of the U.S. 29 and I-64 interchange as part of a Smart Scale funded effort to make the junction safer. That signal is about 1,400 feet away from Gold Eagle Drive, which would serve as one primary access point to the property with Shepards Hill Road serving as the second. The plans propose a “Green T” intersection which would halt southbound traffic on U.S. 29 at a second traffic light in the area. Second shout-out goes to a Livable Cville eventIn today’s second subscriber supported shout-out, Livable Cville wants you to know about an online presentation coming up on Wednesday, March 16. "Can Zoning Create a More Affordable Charlottesville?" That’s the question to be explored by Dr. Jenny Schuetz of the Brookings Institute. She’s the author of Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems. The event is free but you’ll have to register at EventBrite. Review process continues for next round of Smart Scale candidate projects Efforts are underway to secure funding to transform the character of Fifth Street and Fifth Street Extended between Ridge Street and Ambrose Commons. There are at least three projects being considered for the next round of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale process. “Smart Scale is the process that the state uses to prioritize and fund transportation projects,” said Sandy Shackelford, the director of planning and transportation for the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. The deadline for the fifth round is approaching later this spring. Each locality can submit up to four projects, and regional planning bodies also get four. “Projects are evaluated and given a benefit score based on how well the project meets needs in areas like safety, congestion relief, and economic development,” Shackleford said.Project pre-applications need to be submitted by March 31 with a final application is August 1. The results will be presented to the Commonwealth Transportation Board next January. Funding is limited. The TJPDC held a workshop on February 28 to present candidates to the public. (watch the workshop)Charlottesville will only submit one application this year. That will be for safety improvements on Fifth Street Extended that could be coordinated with a previous Smart Scale project. (read that application)“We do currently have a funded project at the intersection of Cherry [Avenue] and Elliott [Avenue] so we are looking to kind of connect to that already-funded project and continue south,” said Brennen Duncan, the city’s traffic engineer. How far south depends on how much funding would be available. Earlier this year, the City Council dropped the speed limit on 5th Street Extended to 40 miles per hour to try to slow down traffic after a series of fatalities in 2020. “We’re primarily focused on safety, congestion, pedestrian access, and bicycle access,” Duncan said. Duncan said public meetings will be held in April to shape this project and there is no current cost estimate. There are other previously awarded Smart Scale projects along the corridor. Further to the south, the Metropolitan Planning Organization will submit an application to make improvements for a four-tenths of a mile long stretch where Albemarle County is on one side of the road and Charlottesville is on the other. (read details)“The Fifth Street improvements include adding a left turn lane south into Fifth Street Station Parkway, median adjustments into the Willoughby Shopping Center across from the Willoughby residential neighborhood, construction of a left-turn midblock into Willoughby Shopping Center, [and] traveling north, restricting south turn lane into the Willoughby Shopping Center,” said Ryan Mickles, a regional planner with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District. A shared-use path is also suggested in this project as are other elements. There’s no cost estimate yet for this project. Another project would see bicycle and pedestrian improvements between Ambrose Commons to Stagecoach Road south of I-64. These would provide a way to get to Southwood on foot or bike while passing by the Albemarle Business Campus and Albemarle County’s southern office building. (read those details)“We’re going to basically install a shared-use path on the west side of the road offset by a six foot buffer strip,” said Chuck Proctor, a transportation planner with VDOT. In the fourth Smart Scale round, Albemarle County won $5.263 million in funding for a roundabout at the intersection of Old Lynchburg Road and Fifth Street. The Board of Supervisors committed a $2 million match to the project to help improve its ranking under Smart Scale. I will have more from this workshop in future installments of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

We continue with the Bet HaLevi's discussion that rebuke has to come from love. He quotes a pasuk in Mishleh (3,12) כִּי אֶת־אֲשֶׁר יֶאֱהַב ה׳ יוֹכִיחַ וּכְאָב אֶת־בֵּן יִרְצֶה The one who God loves, He rebukes, like a father to a son that wants. What does wants mean? Rashi says that after the father rebukes the son, the father wants to appease him and do good for him. That is human nature. After a father has to rebuke his child, he wants rekindle the relationship. It hurts to be in that situation. When I was about 3-5 years old and living in Silver Springs, I remember being punished by my father and sent to my room, probably for fighting with my younger brother. I still remember my mother smuggling some snack into the room. That's the way it is- you punish your child, but feel scared that your relationship will be weakened, so you try to soften it. So too, Rashi says, that after someone gets rebuked by Hashem, there will be an added sweetness. The Bet Levi's point is that we have to emulate God. Our rebuke has to be like the parent who doesn't want to lose the relationship. When you give someone mussar, you have to have the feeling of wanting to smuggle a snack into the room. If you don't do it this way, it won't work. That is what Rashi says. Rabbenu Yonah, in Shaar Teshuva ( Shaar 2, אות ד) quotes from the Sifri in Devarim that says, “Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says, As long as a person is serene, his sins are not forgiven. (But)Through suffering, he becomes wanted by God,” and he quotes the above pasuk from Mishleh כִּי אֶת־אֲשֶׁר יֶאֱהַב ה׳ יוֹכִיחַ וּכְאָב אֶת־בֵּן יִרְצֶה Hashem gives mussar, and just like a father wants to get along with his son afterwards, so too, with God. But he adds another explanation. The father only rebukes the son that he wants, and he doesn't rebuke the children that he gave up on, because he knows it won't help them. And, as we've said, this is the way God works. He only gives mussar to the children that He knows it will help. It's the same with our friends. We aren't here to beat people up. If you know it's not going to work, don't even go there. It's not about bashing people, it's about helping to fix a person. These are important lessons, because if we don't know how to rebuke, we can't rebuke. Have a wonderful day.

It’s the final day of February, but 2022 still has a long way to go. In fact, after today there is 83.8 percent left before it’s time to change the yearly calendar once more. Tomorrow may be heralded by a lion, so be on the listen-out for a roar. But for now, it’s time for another Charlottesville Community Engagement, and I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.This newsletter and podcast is free to sign up for, but your paid subscription ensures this one-person operation will continue well into the future! On today’s program: A new group called Friends of Cville Downtown launches by wrapping the Dewberry structure with a muralCity Council upholds a decision made by the Board of Architectural Review One Charlottesville tax relief deadline is approaching, and the city is looking for more people to serve on advisory panelsA University of Virginia epidemiologist weighs in on what’s next with COVID First shout-out goes to a Livable Cville eventIn today’s first subscriber supported shout-out, Livable Cville wants you to know about an online presentation coming up on Wednesday, March 16 at 5:30 p.m. "Can Zoning Create a More Affordable Charlottesville?" That’s the question to be explored by Dr. Jenny Schuetz of the Brookings Institute. She’s the author of Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems. The event is free but you’ll have to register at EventBrite. Pandemic update to begin the weekToday the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day percent positivity is now at 7.3 percent, another indicator the Omicron surge is continuing to wane. The seven-day average for new cases is now at 1,621 with 764 new cases reported today. However, the death count from the Omicron variant continues to grow with a cumulative total of 18,771. Ten days ago, that number stood at 18,016 but the VDH always stresses that it takes a while for COVID deaths to be officially recorded. The Blue Ridge Health District now has a total of 419 deaths from COVID, and that number was at 386 ten day ago. There are 26 new cases in the BRHD today. What’s next? Dr. Costi Sifri is director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System. He said a majority of people in the Charlottesville area are either fully vaccinated or have had COVID. “I think in the near term we can and are expecting that we will see a continued diminution of cases going forward and I think that’s likely to occur not only over the next couple of weeks but perhaps and hopefully the next couple of months,” Dr. Sifri said. However, Dr. Sifri said COVID can be unpredictable and there are many parts of the world have low vaccination rates, allowing further mutations to occur. He said the current question is how long immunity through vaccination or previous infections will last.“Will there be future differences with the virus?” Dr. Sifri asked. “Does it evolve or change to overcome some of these protective immune responses that we’ve developed? And how robust or how prolonged are those immune responses?”Tomorrow is also the day that a new law goes into effect allowing parents to opt out of school mask mandates. This morning the UVA Health System announced that the drop in case counts will result in additional visitation at the UVA Medical System. To see the details of what has changed, visit the UVA Health System.Tax relief deadline is tomorrow Tomorrow is the last day for elderly and disabled property owners in Charlottesville to apply for tax relief. “If you own and are living in your home in the city of Charlottesville, if you are over 65 years of age, or are permanently disabled, and if you have a yearly household income of $55,000 or less, and a net worth of $125,000 or less excluding the value of the home, you may qualify for tax relief under this program,” said City Councilor Sena Magill. Visit the Commissioner of Revenue’s website for more information and to find the application. Residential property is up 11.69 percent in 2022. In addition, Council has advertised an increase of ten cents on the property tax rate. City Council will be presented with the budget on March 7. Want to be on a Charlottesville board or commission?With spring here perhaps you’re looking for a fresh hobby. Why not consider being on a Charlottesville Board of Commission? There are several vacancies and Council is taking applications through March 12. Charlottesville Economic Development Authority - one openingCitizens Transportation Advisory Committee - two openingsCommunity Policy and Management Team - two openingsHistoric Resources Committee - four openingsHousing Advisory Committee - one vacancy (specifically for a member of a neighborhood association)Measurements and Solutions Group - eight openingsPersonnel Appeals Board - one opening (for a non-city employee) Region Ten Community Services Board - one openingSocial Services Advisory Board - two openingsTree Commission - four openingsVendor Appeals Board - one openingYouth Council You can apply here. Council will next make appointments on March 21. Council upholds BAR approval at 605 Preston Place The Board of Architectural Review approved what’s called a “certificate of appropriateness” to allow for an apartment complex to be built in the side yard of a 19th century structure. Council was asked to hear the appeal from neighbors who argue the city’s architectural design control (ADC) rules were not followed. At the beginning of the appeal, city historic preservation planner Jeff Werner described the project.“The project is a proposed three-story apartment building,” Werner said. “It’s located on a parcel at 605 Preston Place. The property is within the Rugby-Road-University Circle-Venable ADC district. Also on this property is Wyndhurst which is a home constructed in 1857 and it was formerly the manor house for a 102-acre farm.” The appellants sent in a 19-point letter to make their arguments. Point number two argued that the footprint and massing of the new building would not be not in harmony with the district. Werner disagreed.“To be clear, the design guidelines are intended to be flexible and flexible enough to both respect historic properties and to embrace future new design,” Werner said. Werner recommended the Council uphold the BAR’s determination. Larry Getty represented the appellants. “We actually feel the Board of Architectural Review did not really explain their decisions as to why the number of elements that Jeff Werner discussed actually do satisfy the guidelines,” Getty said. “It is totally out of place with the buildings that are on three sides of the site.” Breck Gastinger is the chair of the BAR and before he spoke he told Council a little about what the panel does. “We are made up of nine citizens of Charlottesville,” Gastinger said. “All of us are volunteers and we are appointed by City Council. We work on your behalf for the city. We’re made up of design professionals, business owners, residents of properties within historic districts.”Gastinger said BAR members must follow the guidelines as they make their determinations. He said the city’s architectural story is always changing. “Our guidelines for the BAR do not mandate particular styles of architecture or prevent new buildings from being added within historic districts,” Gastinger said. “As Charlottesville continues to grow and evolve as a city, we want to make sure it’s going to be done in a compatible way.”Gastinger said the BAR helped inform the project through multiple hearings and their approval was a unanimous 8-0 vote. Mayor Lloyd Snook said he sided with the BAR.“I was struck by the fact that some architects for whom I have a great deal respect were looking at it quite critically and praising what was being done and I would have to say that if those architects are saying good things about it, that’s a very strong recommendation for me,” Snook said. The vote to uphold the BAR was unanimous. Patreon-fueled shout-out to LEAPWhen you think of romance, you might not immediately think of energy efficiency - but the folks at LEAP think keeping your family comfortable at home is a great way to show you care during the month of love. Your local energy nonprofit wants to make sure you are getting the most out of your home all year round, and LEAP offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If someone in your household is age 60 or older, or you have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!Friends of Cville Downtown launches with unveiling of mural on Dewberry building It was a warm morning for this last day of February and several dozen people gathered in Central Place outside the Dewberry Hotel, an unfinished structure for which construction stopped over 13 years ago when the previous owner ran out of money. A group called Friends of Cville Downtown has raised funds to wrap the skeleton of the unfinished hotel with artwork. The official reveal was a chance to also launch the organization. Board member Michael Caplin called a “placemaking partnership” to increase economic development downtown in an inclusive manner. “Friends of Cville Downtown is raising private money to fund the costs of a campaign for Main, an array of projects that can invigorate the downtown environment with lights, art, paintings, seating, events, banners, sanitation, safety add-ons, and a rich array of events with something for everybody,” Caplin said. “We will accomplish this by working together with one another and with city government in the spirit of goodwill and common purpose.”The first project is the Music Box on Main, which is the name for the temporary installation by the artist Eric Waugh which covers all nine stories of the unfinished Dewberry. “Eric’s paintings, Jazzmaker 1 and Jazzmaker 2, were enlarged and printed on a 13-foot-wide vinyl mesh banner wrap,” Caplin said. “Ten giant rolls of wrap were carried to the roof.”Crews rappelled from the top affixed the wrap to the building, and the goal is to cover up the skeleton for at least the next year. Caplin said the work has been done in conjunction with the Dewberry Group, who even donated $10,000 to the project. “I hope you will say to yourself, ‘what wonderful thing shall we do next, and how shall we get it done together?’” Caplin said. Mayor Lloyd Snook said he welcomed the effort. “We lost sight of the fact that so many of the businesses on the Downtown Mall are operating on very thin margins and the last few years have been very tough for them,” Snook said. “To have people who have the ability to step up to make significant contributions to be able to do the kinds of things the Friends of Cville Downtown are talking about doing is really exciting. It’s exciting for the city government to know that there are going to be people out there who are able to help and willing to help.”Ludwig Kuttner is the vice chair of the Friends of Cville Downtown board. He said he wanted to take action to cover up visual blight and to restore what he described as “positive energy” to the mall.“I think people have complained about it now for over 12 yeers, and it’s ugly and there have been complaints and we just decided let’s do something about it,” Kuttner said. Caplin came up with the idea for the wrap, which includes a wrap on 2nd Street SE. He saw the black façade of the old Boxer Learning building as being like the black keys of a piano.“So I envisioned the windows white and then a swirly jazz thing at the top and I had a friend of mine photoshop it for me to see what it would like when it was done and we sent that image to the Dewberrys and said ‘would you give us permission to do this to your building?’ and Jaimie Dewberry called up and said ‘this is genius, go right ahead!’” As for the future of the Dewberry, Caplin said he was not privy to any information but that they had full permission to apply the temporary measure. “It’s now a positive element of our skyline instead of a ‘what’s happening’ element of our skyline,” Caplin said. Stay tuned for more information as it develops. What do you think? Leave a note in the comments. Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

We have already been through seven Saturdays in 2022, and this is the eighth. There are 45 left until 2023, but so much more has to happen before we get there. For now, it’s perhaps best to take a breath, take a look at the horizon, and figure out ways to make whatever time we have count. Charlottesville Community Engagement appears to be obsessed with counting, and determined to make sense of as many of the variables as possible. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. On today’s program:Governor Youngkin wants to return $4.5 billion to Virginia taxpayersThe omicron chapter of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wane as temperatures warm and the days get longerIf you want to report some crimes to Charlottesville police, you’ll have to do it onlineNelson County’s administrator is set to retire after 24 years in the position A quick look at the General Assembly First shout-out goes to Camp AlbemarleToday’s first 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 http://campalbemarleva.org/donate.Pandemic update: Omicron cases continues to recedeA new approach to the public health response to the pandemic is now with us in Virginia, as a new administration continues to undo the previous one had taken to take public steps to try to stop the spread of COVID-19.  On Friday, the waning of the omicron surge is reflected in the latest snapshot of numbers. The seven-day average was 2,846 a day on Friday, down from a high of 26,175 on January 8. As of today, Virginia hospitals report 1,334, down from a high of 3,948 on January 18.  Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia, said omicron is the dominant strain at the moment. “The majority of people have some level of immunity to it,” Dr. Sifri said. “We can anticipate that we should continue to see this downward trend of cases. The open questions after this are: How long is that immunity? How robust is it? Is there a difference in it if you’ve been infected with omicron or if you maybe have had omicron infection and have been vaccinated? And finally, what other variants may read their heads?”Another question is if there will need to be a booster for omicron. A lot of it depends on how long immunity will last. “And that’s going to be not clear and there may be some differences depending on different populations,” Dr. Sifri said. “If the at-risk factor is for severe infections, maybe that is going to be different if you don’t have those risk factors.” On March 1, new legislation goes into effect that will allow parents of public school students to opt out of mask mandates. Dr. Sifri said as omicron continues to wane, there are multiple mitigation measures such as vaccination. “I think it really is important to remember that the virus has humbled us along the way but we also understand that two years into this pandemic there is probably a right-sizing that needs to occur as we combat the challenges of this virus,” Dr. Sifri said. Dr. Sifri acknowledged that vaccination is still not available for people under the age of 5 and the immunocompromised are also more at risk. On Wednesday, the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board voted 7 to 3 to rescind workplace safety rules adopted in July 2020 to protect employees. That according to a report from Bloomberg Law. Governor Youngkin issued an executive order on January 15 directing the board to study the rules with an eye toward removing them. Read through the agenda to get a deeper sense of what was discussed. (meeting page)The death toll from that surge has been slowly increasing. Fatalities from COVID often take some time to be fully recorded. On Friday, the Virginia Department of Health reports there have been 18,016 deaths in Virginia over the past 23 months. On January 18, that number was at 15,822. In the Blue Ridge Health District, the death toll stands at 386 for its six localities. When the second anniversary of the pandemic arrives, I’ll still be counting out the numbers. Youngkin wants to return tax money to VirginiansGovernor Glenn Youngkin has sent a letter to the chairs of the General Assembly’s money committees that signals another different approach to government. “The bottom line is taxes paid to the government are soaring and the revised revenue forecasts estimates the Commonwealth will collect $1.25 billion more in the current fiscal year,” Youngkin wrote to Delegate Barry Knight and Senator Janet Howell. Knight chairs the House Appropriations Committee and Howell chairs the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. Youngkin said that is on top of the $3.3 billion that was added to the state’s revenue forecast in December under former Governor Ralph Northam. An agreement on the budget is needed by March 12, and Youngkin wants the General Assembly to “return” $4.5 billion to taxpayers. “The stunning amount of money being collected from taxpayers is the direct result of over taxation,” Youngkin wrote.  In all, the economic forecast states that there is around $13.4 billion in unanticipated revenue, and Youngkin said that would still allow $9 billion to “invest in schools, teachers, law enforcement, behavioral health” and other priorities. Youngkin’s letter also casts doubt on the actual health of the economy and states that these revenue increases should not be seen in a positive light. He made several claims to back this point including:Virginia has seen a net out-migration of 100,000 over the past eight years, citing the U.S. Census Bureau’s State to State Migration FlowsVirginia has lost 74,000 jobs over the past five years, citing data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis but no specific source. “Virginia is 42nd in the country when it comes to the recovery” but the claim does not link to a specific source. “We have a labor shortage due to lack of population growth and too many people sitting on the sideline while there are 300,000 job openings, nearly 100,000 more than when we entered the pandemic,” citing the November 2021 Virginia Job Openings and Labor Turnover report produced by the Virginia Employment Commission. “Virginia is 30th in cost of living overall,” according to the 2021 Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s Cost of Living Data SeriesThere are a lot of statistics that can be used to describe the economy and the people who live and work in a civilization. Virginia had a 2.9 percent increase in gross domestic product (GDP) between the second and third quarter of 2021, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The nationwide average was 2.3 percent and Virginia outperformed North Carolina, Kentucky, and South Carolina. Nelson County administrator stepping down Nelson County is now looking for people to run two of its top positions. The county is already looking for a new School Superintendent, but there’s vacancy at the top of the general government. County Administrator Stephen Carter will retire on July 31 after 24 years in the position. During that time, two elementary schools and a middle school were built, and the high school on U.S. 29 was renovated. According to a press release, other achievements include construction of the Piney River Water and Sewer project, construction of the Blue Ridge Railway Trail, and establishment of the universal broadband commitment and accompanying involvement in the Regional Internet Service Expansion (RISE) project. In addition, since 1998 the county has begun paying for some emergency rescue personnel to supplement volunteers, a business park was established in Colleen, and Nelson became the first rural tourism program in the Commonwealth to be accredited by the Virginia Tourism Corporation. Charlottesville Police Department to adjust service callsStaffing shortages in the Charlottesville Police Department have led to a decision to change responses to some service calls. According to a release sent out yesterday, people will need to fill out an online form for several non-emergency requests including annoying phone calls, littering, lost property, suspicious activity, and vandalism. Some forms of larceny and fraud will also need to be reported online rather than through a phone call. “Officers will continue to respond to emergency calls and crimes in progress,” reads the release. “As it relates specifically to past larcenies, officers will still respond in person to larcenies of firearms and vehicles.” The release states the department is down 24 percent in personnel. “Shift supervisors are making every effort to manage the resources available and prioritize calls for service based on the severity of the incident and impact on the community,” the release continues. Meanwhile, officers in the department do continue to make arrests. A review of open data in the past week shows arrests for violation of an emergency protective order, a domestic assault, credit card larceny, burglary, contempt of court, and a fourth incident of a specific individual driving while intoxicated. Shout-out to the National Sporting Library and MuseumIn today’s subscriber-fueled shout-out, if you’re interested in learning more about the birds around us, the National Sporting Library and Museum has a virtual event for you coming up on February 24. Jennifer Ackerman, the author of the Genius of Birds, will explore the brilliance of birds and delve into the mysteries of the avian brain. Ackerman as she shares her global adventures into the genius of birds. Learn how birds make and use tools, teach each other skills, count, navigate, create art, perform astonishing feats of memory, communicate, and even pass along cultural traditions.  The author will be joined by two top officials from the Wildlife Center of Virginia, an organization that has helped nearly 90,000 wild animals from every corner of Virginia. Center President Ed Clark and Senior Vice President Amanda Nicholson will bring along Ambassador Animals. The program is free and available via Zoom or Facebook like. Drop a line to info@nationalsporting.org for a link, or visit the National Sporting Library and Museum on Facebook. General Assembly check-inThere is less than a month to go before the close of the 2022 General Assembly. Since my last quick check-in, several more bills that passed the House of Delegates have passed the Senate, and Governor Youngkin has signed one additional piece of legislation. Bills that will go to Youngkin’s desk include:HB165 would allow issuance of over $100 million in bonds for “revenue-producing capital projects” at Virginia Tech and James Madison University. Localities would be able to convey real estate with outstanding debts and liens to a land bank under HB298. Currently that land must go to a public auction. HB971 would bring Virginia’s taxation system into conformity with the Internal Revenue Service. Governor Youngkin has signed a bill (HB828) that expands eligibility for a program that helps subsidize producers of dairy products. Several bills have passed the House of Delegates and await action in the Senate.A bill preventing public school teachers from teaching “divisive concepts” (HB787) passed the house on a 50 to 49 vote. It will now go before the Senate Committee on Education and Health. A bill that would prohibit drop-off boxes for absentee ballots passed the House on a 52 to 47 vote and will now go before the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee. (HB34)A bill to reduce the window for voting absentee in person passed the House on a 52 to 48 vote and is also before that Senate committee. (HB39)A bill to get a patient’s written consent before an abortion passed the House 52 to 48 and is before Senate Committee on Education and Health. (HB212)A bill to allow religious exemptions to vaccination mandates passed 52 to 45. (HB306)A bill to exempt religious institutions from state declarations of emergency passed 51 to 46 and will go before the Senate General Laws and Technology committee. (HB775)A bill to alter the rules for collective bargaining for public employees passed 53 to 47. (HB336)A bill to allow public colleges and universities to create lab schools passed 52 to 48. (HB346)A bill to exempt businesses under ten employees from Virginia’s minimum wage requirements passed 54 to 46 and will go to the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. (HB1040)A bill that would prohibit public schools from denying participation in extracurricular activities due to nonpayment of school meals passed 75 to 25. (HB583)A bill to exempt food for human consumption and personal hygiene from sales tax passed the House on 80 to 20 vote. That now goes to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. (HB90)A bill that would create a program to educate hotel operators and staff on anti-human trafficking measures passed unanimously. (HB258)Bills from the Senate in the next edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. 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

Another week begins, and it’s the first Monday of February and the sixth of 2022 so far. There are two more minutes of daylight in the Charlottesville area today according to the almanac, and another two minutes per day for every single remaining day in this month. Time has its advantages. So does every installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast that always has a protractor handy. I’m Sean Tubbs, trying to plot out all the angles. On today’s program:Details on how Albemarle’s Comprehensive Planning update will be conductedAlbemarle supervisors are briefed on the Urban Rivanna Corridor Plan a few days before City Council considers adding it to their comp plan Another status update on bills in the 2022 Virginia General AssemblyShout-out for WTJU’s Folk MarathonIn today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out, WTJU 91.1 FM invites you to tune in all this week for the annual Folk Marathon. It’s a round-the-clock celebration of folk music, specially programmed for your listening pleasure. Whether your favorites are Woody Guthrie, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Eva Cassidy, or Neil Young… When you connect with WTJU’s Folk Marathon, you’ll find authentic music playing for you. And WTJU amplifies local artists, and this year’s Folk Marathon will air live music every day for you. We’re excited that the line-up includes Barling & Collins, BRIMS, Mama Tried, and more! Plus special guest hosts Terri Allard, Charlie Pastorfield, Jamie Dyer, Devon Sproule, Waverly Milor, and many others. Visit wtju.net to learn more and to make a contribution. Pandemic updateAs we begin the week, the Omicron surge continues a gradual decline. The Virginia Department of Health reports a seven-day percent positivity of 19.7 percent, down from 25.5 percent a week ago. There are 2,250 patients with COVID in Virginia hospitals according to the Virginia Healthcare and Hospital Association. That’s down from a high of 3,948 in mid-January. Dr. Costi Sifri is the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System and he said there is a noted decline, but people should remain vigilant. “While we’re declining we still have very high case rates,” said Dr. Sifri. “There’s been a lot of discussion and anticipation that we’ll see a rapid decline and we are certainly hoping for that in terms of cases. There’s some concern that maybe we’ll see a bit of a plateau or a shoulder perhaps due to the emergence of the omicron subvariant B.A.2.” Today in the Blue Ridge Health District there are another 102 cases reported today. If you’re told by someone you’ve come into contact with that they’re COVID positive, you should get a test. “If you’ve been exposed to somebody who has COVID then it’s really very important so we can break these chains of transmission,” Dr. Sifri said. If you still are looking for a vaccine in the area, visit the Blue Ridge Health District’s website to learn more about you or someone you know might get one. Here’s the link for vaccines. Here’s the link for testing. Albemarle Supervisors briefed on Urban Rivanna Corridor PlanA plan to guide future development on both sides of the Rivanna River has been reviewed by one of the two localities and will go before the other tonight. Albemarle Supervisors learned the details of the plan at their meeting on February 2.  Sandy Shackelford is the director of planning and transportation for the Thomas Jefferson Planning District and she provided a geographic reference. (read the draft)“It’s the portion of the Rivanna River corridor that is 4.3 miles long,” Shackleford said. “It spans from Pen Park as the northern terminus to I-64 as the southern terminus.”Shackelford said the most important priority that came out of the public engagement process was a focus on environmental protection and stewardship of the river. “The determination was that among the guiding principles, environmental protection had to be pulled out as the most important to first consider and only once environmental protection stewardship was addressed could the other guiding principles be considered to be equally important to each other,” Shackelford said. Environmental recommendations include identifying sensitive areas, retaining existing natural habitats, and continued improvements on stormwater management in the urban areas of both communities. City Council will take up the matter at their meeting tonight in the form of an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. General Assembly update: Good news for dairy providersThere’s a week until Crossover Day in the Virginia General Assembly. February 15 is when bills from one House must have passed in order to make it to the other one for the potential of passing. Control of the legislature is divided up by each political party and differences in political philosophy will continue to be revealed.But, here’s a snapshot as the week begins. A total of 2,466 bills have been introduced and only one has passed both the House of Delegates and the Senate. That bill (HB828) would expand eligibility for a program to help farmers and others who make dairy products. The Republican-controlled House has passed 150 of its own bills, and the Senate has passed 203 of its own. Another 221 bills or resolutions have officially failed, 46 have been carried on to next year, and another 2,035 are pending. Let’s look at some of those that have passed the House of Delegates and now await their fate in the Senate. A bill that would require school principals to report potential misdemeanors to law enforcement passed on a 59 to 40 vote. (HB4)A bill that would make it easier for School Boards to dismiss teachers passed on a 52 to 47 vote. (HB9)A bill that would prohibit localities from requiring contractors to provide benefits passed on a 52 to 48 vote. (HB58)A bill to require political candidates to file campaign finance reports electronically passed 99 to 1. (HB86)A bill altering the requirements for advertisements of public hearings in a newspaper passed 77 to 23. (HB167)A bill allowing City of Martinsville to hold a referendum on whether become a town in Henry County passed 82 to 18. (HB173)Localities could increase the amount of funding they can apply for through the Local Food and Farming Infrastructure Grant Program to $50,000, up from $25,000. That bill passed the House 99 to 0. (HB323)A bill to add “all-virtual public meetings” to a list of permitted government passed meetings 98 to 0. (HB444)Now, a few from the Senate:Augusta County would be authorized to hold another referendum on removing the county seat away from the city of Staunton, under certain conditions in SB283. The bill passed 39 to 1 with the lone vote against coming from Senator Creigh Deeds (D-25). A bill to require a study of public notice requirements with an eye toward streamlining them passed 40 to zero. (SB417)A bill that would prohibit the use of traps to hunt or kill game animals passed 23 to 16. (SB492)Shout-out: Pen Park cemetery discussion on WednesdayIn today’s subscriber-fueled shout-out, work continues to identify people whose remains are buried just outside a cemetery in Charlottesville’s Pen Park. The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society and the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library will give an update in a webinar on Wednesday, February 9 on the Forgotten History of Pen Park: Unmarked Graves of Enslaved Persons. The panel will discuss the research thus far to identify the unmarked graves of enslaved individuals outside the Gilmer, Craven, and Hotopp family cemeteries and the connections that are being made to living descendants. Speakers include Charlottesville’s historic preservation planner, researchers and descendants. Visit the library’s website at jmrl.org to register. Also go watch the first installment from past June on the Historical Society’s YouTube page.  Albemarle County Comprehensive Plan review underway On Thursday morning, staff in Albemarle County’s Communications and Public Engagement office will hold the first in a series of pop-ups on the county’s review of the Comprehensive Plan. The county’s Planning Commission learned about how the update will be conducted, including details of a working group that will be appointed to work on the project. But what is a Comprehensive Plan? (pop-up info)“It’s a guiding document for growth, development, and investment in the county, and its used to guide decisions on public infrastructure and funding, also policies and programs, and then review of some development applications that come through the county,” said Rachel Falkenstein, the county’s planning manager. Comprehensive Plans have a 20 year horizon and the last update in Albemarle County was approved in the summer of 2015. Since then, Falkenstein said there’s been a lot of change. “An example of that is that we’ve had 4,000 new dwelling units since that 2015 plan was completed and the community’s median household income and home values have continued to rise since that time,” Falkenstein said. There’s also been adoption of a new housing plan, a new economic development plan, and a climate action plan.  The review of the Comprehensive Plan is known as AC44 and will be done in four phases with the first currently underway. (project website)“Phase one is called ‘Planning for Growth’ and in this phase we will review, evaluate, and update the current growth management policy through the lenses of equity and climate action and identify options for updating the policy based on best practices and on capacity projections for residential and business growth in the county,” said senior planner Tori Kanellopoulos. Since 1980, the key feature of that growth management policy has been directing growth into approximately five percent of the county’s 726 square miles. To help inform all four phases, the county seeks applicants for a working group and will spend money to ensure participants come from different backgrounds. “We want to conduct outreach and collaborate with community members whose perspectives haven’t historically been represented in our processes,” Falkenstein said. “We want to think about that equity profile and members of our community who have different lived experiences and maybe the quality of life outcomes have not been as well as others in the community so we want to think about different demographics.” Falkenstein said the expected time commitment is about ten hours a month. People who want to apply have until February 28 to do so. (apply)“Working group members will be compensated for their time and expertise at a rate equivalent to the county’s minimum wage which is approximately $15 an hour,” Falkenstein said. Virginia code assigns each locality’s Planning Commission the responsibility of preparing and recommending the Comprehensive Plan. Commission Chair Karen Firehock said the roles and responsibilities of the working group need to be clear to avoid disappointment in the future. “I think it will be really important to make sure the working group understands their role because I know sometimes in the county there’s been various committees where there has been some confusion on who is making what recommendations, who is in charge,” Firehock said. “We’ve established quite a few committees and we don’t always do a perfect job of having people understand. This is a brand new group and there’s no precedent so I think just being really clear with them what their role is.”Planning Commissioner Luis Carrazana suggested the Commission be as involved as possible. “If we can be involved earlier and having some dialogue either with staff or perhaps with the working group at key moments, I think that would be much more productive,” Carrazana said. Falkenstein said each phase of the review would include two work sessions with the Planning Commission. “One towards the beginning and one towards the end,” Falkenstein said. “Hopefully that would solve for that dynamic where the Planning Commission is not saying yes or no to something that the committee or the public had spent a long time wrestling with.”One of the first deliverables will be an analysis of the county’s capacity to absorb residential and commercial growth with the existing boundaries. Stay tuned in the weeks and months ahead, and do consider that pop-up this Thursday if you’re really keen to learn more about the county’s vision for the future. 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

Yesterday we mentioned the pasuk that the Bet HaLevi quotes: וַיְהִי בִישֻׁרוּן מֶלֶךְ בְּהִתְאַסֵּף רָאשֵׁי עָם יַחַד שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל When is God king? When the leaders gather together.. The Sifri in Parashat Zot HaBeracha (chapter 5) quotes this pasuk as well, and mentions the following mashal from Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai: This is comparable to a man that bought two boats and tied them together with thick, heavy ropes. Then, atop the boats, he builds his palace. He has a floating palace. As long as the boats are tied together, the palace stands. But if the boats separate, the palace collapses into the water. So too, the Jewish people. When we are united, then we can hold up God's kingdom. But if we are separated, has v'Shalom, the kingdom collapses. It's a very scary mashal. In the famed Yeshiva of Kelm, there was a notice hanging on the door, throughout the high holidays season. It was a wondrous awakening that quoted the following logic: A kingdom is only successful if there is unity in the army and among the people. If there is dissension, the entire nation falls apart. As we know, without fear of kingdom, men will swallow themselves up alive. We see this from riots and civil wars. If you don't have unity, the kingdom is worthless. We are supposed to learn from human kings how to serve God. Therefore, he says, “The main way to make God King upon us is through achdut/ unity. As such, we have to work on ourselves to be involved, throughout the year in the Mitzvah of VeAhavta LeRe'echa Kamocha/Loving your friend like you love yourself. We may not realize this, but by getting these classes on Ahavat Yisrael, we are preparing for the high holidays! Every day, we say Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad. But we start with the introduction of Shema Yisrael first- recognizing that we are a part of the Jewish people. We should have the kavana that there cannot be a Kingdom without unity. This is what we are working on now. We are working on Hashem being King over us. The Elder of Kelm continues, saying, You don't have to change in one moment. Slowly but surely you'll get better. And you'll be considered a little bit of a Baal Teshuva. You can't imagine the zechut/merit for us, and the whole world, if there is a group of people who work on us the whole year.“ This is what we are doing! He says that it might be a little difficult, but by constantly thinking about it, slowly but surely it will become enjoyable. Therefore, he says that this is something to keep in mind all year. And a good place to have this in mind, he says, is every day in our prayers when we say (right before the Amida in Shaharit) על שפת הים יחד כלם הודו והמליכו Together they made God into King. Without that unity, Hashem's kingdom is incomplete, and we aren't doing our jobs. What unbelievable words from this beautiful pasuk! Have a wonderful day.

2022 ends its third week today, and this edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement is intended to capture where we are as of January 21. Listeners and readers do not need to know that this is Squirrel Appreciation Day, National Cheesy Socks Day, National Hugging Day, and One-Liners Day. But, now you do, and that is information you may find useful. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs, and now here’s something I hope you’ll really like.In the 318th edition:The Blue Ridge Health District hits another one day record for COVID-19 with 800 casesA quick snapshot of where the General Assembly was as of this morning And the Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership takes a look at “missing middle” housingFirst subscriber-supported public service announcement - #MLKCVILLEThe commemoration in Charlottesville of the life, times, and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. continues on Sunday with the 37th Community Celebration put on by the Mount Zion First African Baptist Church. Beginning at 4 p.m., a panel discussion will be held virtually on the topic of “The Urgency of Creating the Beloved Community.” Nancy O’Brien will moderate the event which will features speakers Bitsy Waters, Sarad Davenport, and Cameron Webb. Community members will be recognized and the winners of the local MLK essay contest will be announced. Visit and bookmark the YouTube mlkcville page to review last year’s celebration while you wait for Sunday at 4 p.m. New one-day record of new COVID cases in the Blue Ridge Health DistrictThe Virginia Department of Health reports another 800 new cases of COVID-19 in the Blue Ridge Health District. That’s the highest one day total so far. Those cases are among 17,027 reported across the Commonwealth today. The seven-day average for percent positivity statewide continues to decrease and is at 30.9 percent today. Kathryn Goodman of the Health District confirmed the numbers.“It is important that people follow multiple mitigation strategies to help prevent spreading COVID-19, which include staying home when sick, getting COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, wearing masks in public settings,” Goodman said. The highest plateau of hospitalization numbers so far continues with 3,836 new cases according to the Virginia Healthcare and Hospitalization Association. There are 632 patients in intensive care units and 387 are on ventilators. Today the UVA Health System has the most number of COVID patients then at any time of the pandemic to date. Wendy Horton is the Chief Executive Officer for UVA Health and said there are 114 in-patients today.“And of those 114 COVID patients, 36 are in our ICU’s and six of them are pediatric patients,” Horton said. Some of those COVID patients are asymptomatic and had gone to the hospital for other reasons. We’re now in the third year of the worldwide pandemic, and the Associated Press reports some countries across the world are opting to shift their public health strategy towards accepting COVID-19 as a continuing condition. More of an endemic rather than a pandemic. Dr. Costi Sifri is the director of hospital epidemiology at UVA Health he cautions against making that conclusion.“Many people have predicted the ending of the pandemic at various interactions through this and we think that we’re all a little bit concerned about doing that prematurely,” Dr. Sifri said. “We don’t know what things may look like after Omicron and if there are other variants that we’ll have to deal with. We may see some of the old variants come back and cause problems.”So far, Dr. Sifri said the omicron variant does not cause as many fatalities per infection. “There are reasons for that that seem to be bearing out based on studies,” Dr. Sifri said. “Things like the fact that it causes upper respiratory tract infections compared to pneumonia and lower respiratory tract infections.” Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order Two declared that mask usage in public schools was optional. One stated reason is that the omicron variant “results in less severe illness.” Dr. Sifri said it’s still a serious issue.“Omicron still really can cause very, very serious illness and we’re still seeing patient deaths and we’re seeing them almost on a daily basis,” Dr. Sifri said. Vaccination continues to be a protection against serious disease. The seven-day average for doses administered per day is at 20,915 today and 68.6 percent of the total Virginia population is fully vaccinated and around 2.3 million have received a third dose or a booster. Horton said it is a misnomer to state that omicron is not a threat. “It does cause quite a bit of disease especially in immunocompromised individuals so far our health systems a lot of strain on the intensive care units and caring for those individuals,” Horton said. Later in the week, Youngkin issued another executive order to declare a limited state of emergency to provide hospitals and health care with “flexibility” in the work against COVID-19. (Executive Order 11)“For a health system it really is an acknowledgment of where we’re at and really garners additional resources,” Horton said. “I was really so pleased to see an emphasis on making sure that people have access to vaccination. So that is really very, very important.” Horton said this allows hospitals the ability to increase bed capacity and increase staffing. “We are very fortunate here at UVA that we haven’t had to activate those special accommodations, but it is really great that we know that we have them if we ever need to activate or use any special resources available,” Horton said. Regional group briefed on “missing middle” housingChanges to land use rules are being made across the region to allow for additional density to create what planners and developers refer to as “missing middle” housing. The term was coined by Dan Parolek in 2010. “His focus is on small units and making them feasible to build in neighborhoods where only large single-family houses currently exist,” said Emily Hamilton is a senior research fellow and director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.Hamilton was one of the speakers at the latest discussion run by the Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership on Thursday. She said additional flexibility to allow more housing can lead to units becoming more affordable. (watch the video)“In some of the cases where we see lots of small in-fill construction happening there is that increased flexibility where for example large duplex units or townhouses can be built in places where exclusively detached single family houses would have been permitted previously,” Hamilton said.The recent adoption of the Crozet Master Plan as well as the Future Land Use Map in the Charlottesville Comprehensive Plan are both intended to encourage the production of these units and developers have responded. Many community members have pushed back, as seen this week in Scottsville when community opposition may have led to a deferral of two special use permits.However, Hamilton said this is how houses in communities used to be built.“Historically in an era before zoning we saw that what we would now call missing middle was often times the bread and butter housing of working and middle income Americans because it has lower per-foot construction costs compared to a large multi-family building,” Hamilton said. The topic comes up a lot in the community. Here are two examples I’ve not yet had the chance to review completely: The Places29-North Community Advisory Committee was introduced to the new Middle Density Residential category at its meeting on January 13. (watch the video)The Crozet Community Advisory Committee discussed a planned residential community within that designated growth area on January 12. (watch the video)Second subscriber-supporter public service announcement goes to Shift/EnterDo you or someone you know want to find a job in the tech community? On this upcoming Saturday, there will be another Shift/Enter workshop in which participants can go through directed sessions with knowledgeable volunteers on resume feedback, interview advice, and perspectives on the tech landscape. For an $8 ticket, you'll have three different interview sessions with people to have a career conversation, to review your resume, or to have a mock interview. To learn more and to sign up, visit shiftenter.org. General Assembly update: Charlottesville sales tax referendum moves close to passage in the SenateToday is Day Nine of the Virginia General Assembly, and we’re at the point where the first pieces of legislation have made their way out of Committee and await a vote in either the House of Delegates or the Senate. There’s a lot of these, but here are some of note. For starters, a bill from Senator Creigh Deeds that would allow Charlottesville to levy a one-cent sales tax increase for capital education costs has been reported out of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on a 14-2 vote. Senators Steve Newman and Emmet Hanger voted against the measure. (SB298) Today, the bill was read for the second time by the full Senate. Delegate Sally Hudson has similar legislation in the House of Delegates. It is currently within a subcommittee of the House Finance Committee (HB545)If signed into law, voters would have to approve the measure in a referendum. The funding would be earmarked for the school reconfiguration project. Here’s the status on more legislation. A bill (HB28) from Delegate Ronnie Campbell (R-2) to increase the length of the Maury River’s Scenic River status by 23.2 miles was approved by the Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources Committee on a 19-2 vote. One of the two to vote against it was Delegate Chris Runion (R-25). The full House had first reading today. A bill (HB828) from Delegate Tony Wilt (R-26) to expand eligibility in the Dairy Producer Margin Coverage Premium Assistance Program was reported out of the same committee on a unanimous vote. Learn more about the program here. The full House had first reading today. Delegate John McGuire (R-56) has a bill (HB358) would direct the Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs and the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to examine the feasibility of waiving fees for small businesses owned by veterans. The House Commerce and Energy Committee unanimously recommended adoption. A bill (HB8) from Delegate Tim Anderson (R-83) would allow veterans hired by school boards to be school security officers to perform any other duty they are requested to do so. The House Education committee reported that out unanimously. The full House had first reading today. Another bill (HB9) carried by Delegate Lee Ware (R-65) would allow school boards to extend probationary period for teachers and would appear to make it easier for school boards to dismiss teachers by reducing the period of notice of a dismissal hearing from ten days to five days. That was also reported out of the House Education Committee unanimously. The full House had first reading today. A tax credit program for “major business facilities” is currently slated to sunset this July 1, but a bill from Delegate Kathy Byron (R-22) would extend that to July 1, 2025 (HB269). The House Finance Committee reported that out on a 20-1 vote. Delegate Nick Frietas was the lone vote against this action.  The full House had first reading today. The Attorney General would be required to report every year the number of fraudulent Medicaid claims on a public website if HB232 from Delegate Bobby Orrock (R-54) becomes law. The House Health, Welfare, and Institutions unanimously reported this out unanimously. The full House had first reading today. Over in the Senate, a bill (SB8) from Senator Chap Petersen (D-34) to permit hunting on Sunday reported out of the Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources on a 9 to 4 vote, with two abstentions. Second Here are some other bills of note:A bill from Senator Barbara Favola (D-31) that would allow roof replacement projects at for public buildings to enter into a energy performance-based contract (SB13). The Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources committee reported this out and it has been rereferred to the General Laws and Technology Committee. Another bill from Senator John Edwards (D-21) would remove the ability of the Department of Wildlife Resources to charge a fee for boat ramps that the agency manages but doesn’t own. (SB141) The same committee reported this out, and rereferred it to the Finance and Appropriations Committee. Currently localities with combined stormwater and sewer systems have until 2036 to have replacement systems in place. Under a bill from Richard Stuart (R-28), that would be moved up to 2030. This reported out of the same committee by an 11 to 4 vote, and the bill will go to the Finance and Appropriations Committee. (SB534)A bill has passed the full Senate that would add the City of Chesapeake to a list of localities that require an analysis of drinking water. Albemarle County already has this ability. (SB53)Localities would be allowed to require broadband be installed as part of a residential development if a bill from Senator Jennifer Boysko (D-33) is approved. The Senate Commerce and Labor reported that out and it now goes before the Local Government committee. (SB446)Boysko has another bill to be known as Adam’s Law to require private and public higher education facilities to develop anti-hazing policies (SB439). This was reported unanimously from the Education and Health Committee but with one abstention. Legislation is also pending to require the Department of Education to develop guidelines on policies to inform student athletes and their coaches about the dangers of heat-related illness. SB161 was reported out of the Senate Education Committee and is now before the Finance and Appropriations Committee. The Virginia Arts Foundation would be eliminated and its powers transferred to the Virginia Commission of the Arts under one bill (SB597) from Senator Todd Pillion (R-40). The Education and Health Committee unanimously reported this out. A bill from Siobhan Dunnavant (R-12) would allow certain pharmacists to dispense cannabis products until such time as retail sale licenses are available. (SB621) The Education and Health Committee reported this bill out, and it’s now been assigned to the Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee. A bill from Senator Richard Stuart would require cyclists riding two abreast to not impede vehicular traffic passed out of the Transportation Committee on an 11-4 vote. (SB362)Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

It’s the end of the second week of 2022, and over 324 hours have happened so far. Not everyone has experienced the exact same situations so far, but it’s perhaps quite certain that the year to date has not been quite what people expected. What do people expect? I have no specific knowledge, but listeners and readers of Charlottesville Community Engagement have come to expect a lot of information stitched together in a reasonable manner. On today’s program: The U.S. Supreme Court says a plan to require American businesses require a vaccine mandate is not ConstitutionalGovernor Northam makes a lot of announcements in his final hours in officeGeneral Assembly committees continue to interview Governor Glenn Youngkin’s top appointmentsFirst shout-outIn today’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement: The Charlottesville Jazz Society at cvillejazz.org is dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and perpetuation of all that  jazz, and while this might not be the time to go out and listen people who love to play it’s a great time to learn about musicians in our area. The Charlottesville Jazz Society web site is dedicated to enriching your experience of jazz within the Charlottesville community and beyond. Go visit cvillejazz.org. And if you’d like to get a mention in this space, consider a $25 a month Patreon contribution. U.S. Supreme Court denies federal vaccine mandateThe U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a bid by the Biden administration to require most businesses to mandate vaccines by using the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The 6-3 ruling states that OSHA does not have enforcement authority. (read the ruling and dissent)“Although Congress has enacted significant legislation addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, it has declined to enact any measures to what OSHA has promulgated here,” reads the ruling in National Federation of Independent Business v. Osha.The ruling called the mandate “a significant encroachment” and that OSHA only has the power to set workplace safety standards but not to issue “broad public health measures.” To the majority of Justices, COVID-19 is not an occupational hazard but instead can spread wherever people gather.“That kind of universal risk is no different from the day-to-day dangers that all face from crime, air pollution, or any number of communicable diseases,” the ruling continues. The case was consolidated with another in which 27 states sought a stay. There are currently 27 Republican governors. The six Justices on the majority were all appointed by Republican presidents. The three dissenting Justices were appointed by Democratic presidents who argue in their dissent that the majority “seriously misapplies the applicable legal standards.”However, in another case, the Supreme Court ruled on a 5-4 vote that the Secretary of Health and Human Services does have the authority to require that health care and assisted living facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid can impose a COVID vaccine mandate. (read that ruling)Today’s pandemic numbersToday, the Virginia Department of Health reports another 17,219 cases and the percent positivity remains at 35.8 percent, among the highest levels of the pandemic. There are 3,845 people in Virginia hospitals with COVID, 656 of whom are in intensive care units and 360 are on ventilators. Dr. Costi Sifri is director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System, where there continue to be COVID patients. “We are seeing that about 75 percent of those individuals are not vaccinated,” said Dr. Sifri. “The remaining 25 percent typically are immunosuppressed or have preexisting conditions that put them at high risk for COVID, things like heart failure, heart disease, advanced diabetes, and other medical problems like that. And often while those people have been vaccinated, they’re often not boosted.” In the Blue Ridge Health District there are another 470 new cases today and the percent positivity is at 29 percent. These are among the highest numbers of the pandemic so far, and the sustained effort can be a struggle for health care workers. Wendy Horton is the chief executive officer of UVA Health.“We are two years in and people are exhausted and I think from time to time we saw glimmers of hope that we may be seeing the end of the tunnel and it’s more intense at least for those of us in Charlottesville than it has ever been,” Horton said. “People are tired. They’re really trying the best to serve our patients and our community and at the same time personally impacted this time around.” This morning, the Bodo’s trio of bagel shops announced they will now offer food on a take-out only basis. Northam touts final achievements, including awards to local housing nonprofitsAs the hours of his government tick away, Governor Ralph Northam continues to make announcements including the award of $8.2 million dollars in projects to reduce homelessness. Northam directed the funding to come from the Virginia Housing Trust Fund to go toward about 100 projects across the Commonwealth. They include $220,387 to the Valley Community Services Board for a project called Rapid Re-Housing Youth and $150,000 for Miriam’s House Community First program in the Bedford area. Read the rest in the full press release.In all, Northam has issued over a dozen announcements of activities in his final week including a wind energy partnership with Denmark, land acquisition for the Chickahominy Tribe,  $267 million investment in a paperboard recycling plant in Chesapeake, and $60 million in affordable and special needs housing loans.On that latter matter, Piedmont Housing Alliance will receive $3.4 million for 70 units at Southwood Apartments. Virginia Supportive Housing received $2.5 million for 80 units at the Premier Circle project and $2.4 million for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority for the second phase of the South Street redevelopment. Over in Waynesboro, the South River Development Corporation got $2 million for the redevelopment of the Brandon Hotel for senior units. (read the release)Northam also announced that the Commonwealth of Virginia has signed an agreement with Norfolk Southern to expand passenger service to Christiansburg as part of the Western Rail Initiative. Earlier this week the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority approved the deal which will see the state purchasing 28 miles of right of way between Salem and Christiansburg. The announcement also states that a second train will be added to the Northeast Regional service between Roanoke and Boston sometime later this year. No specific date is mentioned. Second shout-outToday’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 http://campalbemarleva.org/donate. Legislative update: Kay Coles James asked about rights’ restoration We’re on Day 3 of the General Assembly, and as the morning began, not one of the 1,919 bills has been rejected. That’s mostly because committees are just meeting, organizing, and interviewing members of the Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin’s cabinet. That included Fauquier County Sheriff Bob Mosier, who was interviewed by the House Public Safety Committee this morning. That included this question from Delegate Angelia Williams Graves (D-90)Graves:“What is your position with regards to bias training? Is it something that you support or is it something that you don’t feel is necessary?”Mosier:“Oh no, we have it. It’s part of our program. Remember I talked about accreditation a few moments ago? That’s part of it. These are all things that are doable if we can pull the resources together to properly train people, right, for accreditation, and salaries, and all of different things things, then we can get a better law enforcement officer across the board. That’s absolutely part of the program.” You can watch the full meeting at this link.Later in the morning, the House Privileges and Elections Committee interviewed Kay Cole James, Youngkin’s nominee for Secretary of the Commonwealth. That person has many tasks including finding people to be appointed to the hundreds and hundreds of slots for Boards, Commissions, and Councils. The position also oversees clemency petitions and the restoration of civil rights. “When I look at that office, the first thing I think about is that the Secretary of the Commonwealth with its constituent services is the portal for many Virginians to bring before the Governor their concerns, their complaints, their anxieties, or something they want to just have an audience or to hear,” James said. James has served as the director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in the first term of President George W. Bush, an experience she cited in her testimony to the House Privileges and Elections Committee.  James said she looked forward to other duties that come with the office.“Very often what gets overlooked and is an important part of this particular job as well is looking at restoration of rights and pardons and I want you to know that both on a very personal level and a professional level that is very important to me,” James said.Many of the questions from Delegates followed up on that point. In response to one, James said the key is to find employers who are willing to hire those reentering society. Delegate Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-72) asked James how the new administration would change the past eight years of policy. “We’ve had two Governors in a row who have really kind of accelerated rights restoration and done more than previous Governors and I wonder if the plan of this administration is to continue on that path?” VanValkenburg asked. “I want to make it clear its not about numbers, it’s about people,” James said. “And every single request that comes into that office will be given great consideration.”VanValkenburg asked James for her position on bills calling for a Constitutional Amendment to allow restoration of rights to be automatic. In the House of Delegares, there are both HJ9 and HJ28, each filed by a member of a different party. “I don’t want to opine on the legislation,” James said. “I have not seen it. I don’t know what it is. I will operate well within the confines of the law of whatever it is that you in the General Assembly along with the Governor decide,” James said. And at the end of this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, there are 1,925 bills pending and none of them have yet failed. Bound to happen, very soon. Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

‘Tis the day before Christmas, and all through the town, there may or may not be stirring. I don’t know. I’m not there and away for a family holiday. But there’s too much information to not put out an installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, no matter where I am. The “I” in that last sentence is Sean Tubbs, who conveniently happens to be me. He and I are the co-hosts in this and every installment of the program. Thanks for listening. On today’s program: It’s unfortunately beginning to look a lot like an omicron Christmas, with this season’s COVID surge on track to surpass last year’sDanville City Council adopts a one-cent sales tax increase to pay for school renovationsMore new bills are filed for the next General Assembly including…In today’s shout-out, a shout-out to the shouters-of out! I want to thank all of the individuals and entities that have supported this newsletter and podcast through a $25 a month Patreon contribution or through some other combination of support. Thanks to the Charlottesville Jazz Society, Code for Charlottesville, LEAP, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance, Lonnie Murray and his penchant for native plants, WTJU, the Albemarle-Charlottesville Historical Society, the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards, Cville 350, Piedmont Master Gardeners, and of course, the Valley Research Center. More in 2022Pandemic updateOn the day before Christmas, the Virginia Department of Health reports its second highest total of new COVID cases since the pandemic began with 8,756 cases. The percent positivity rate has increased to 11.3 percent. In the Blue Ridge Health District, there are 170 new cases and another four deaths have been reported since Wednesday. Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System, is not surprised by the surge.“Importantly what we’re also seeing in certain parts of the state like Alexandria and Arlington, they’re seeing their highest ever one-day totals,”For Alexandria, that meant 316 cases reported on Thursday and 310 cases reported today. Arlington set a one-day total today with 592, surpassing yesterday’s previous one-day record at 359. Richmond also set a one day of 346 today. Rural communities across Virginia are not yet seeing the same spike. “We’re seeing a rapid ascent in terms of total number of cases,” said Dr. Sifri. “This is being seen around the country in a lot of different locations and I think that we should anticipate that we’re going to continue to see this rapid rise, this sort of steep wall of COVID and it appears to be driven by Omicron across most of the state.” Dr. Sifri said researchers are learning more about the variant every day but it appears that cases are not translating into increased hospitalizations, but only time will tell if the size of the wave will still overpower Virginia’s hospitals. He added the UVA Health System had already been recovering from a slight surge from the Delta variant. “I think one of the biggest questions that sort of remains is how well does vaccination and then booster vaccination protect against Omicron,” Dr. Sifri said. “We are learning in the early reports that the two-dose mRNA vaccine does not provide as much protection as we’d like to see. Probably only around 40 percent based on some U.K. early estimates. And then a booster does improve that to around 70 or 75 percent depending on the type of vaccine that you received. Again, those are early data from the United Kingdom. It would be nice and important to see what does that mean here in the United States.”Dr. Sifri strongly recommends everyone get a booster given the unknowns. As of Thursday, 67.2 percent of the total Virginia population is fully vaccinated, but only 1.8 million have received a booster or a third dose. According to the Virginia Department of Health, unvaccinated individuals develop COVID at a rate of 4.1 times of fully vaccinated people, based on data through December 18. “In terms of what we see with people that are hospitalized it is still by and large still to this date people who have not been vaccinated,” Dr. Sifri said. “That is the largest portion of people that are hospitalized with COVID. When we’re taking care of a patient, when they’re in front us we really don’t know if it’s due to Delta or Omicron. We only can collect that information as its reported through our public health agencies.”Dr. Sifri said the situation with Omicron is still fast-moving and more information is needed to tell a complete picture. He said anyone who had COVID before vaccines became available is still potentially vulnerable. “Omicron is different enough that we are concerned that protection is incomplete and we certainly know from other variants and prior studies that the level of protection after so-called natural infection is not as robust as that that is afforded by a vaccination,” Dr. Sifri said.To get a booster or a vaccine, visit vaccinate.virginia.gov. Danville adopts sales-tax increaseIn the upcoming session of the Virginia General Assembly, the city of Charlottesville will seek permission to hold a referendum on a one-cent sales tax increase. That’s the path Danville took in 2020 when they and several other Southside communities petitioned the 2020 General Assembly to the list of “qualifying localities” that could have such a ballot initiative. In November, Danville citizens voted 7,515 to 4,921 in favor of levying the tax.On Tuesday, the seven-member Danville City Council voted unanimously to levy the tax, which will expire at the end of May of 2041. Vice Mayor Gary Miller had this observation before the vote. G.W. is George Washington High School. “Today I had a patient in and her daughter was a proud member of the 1965 GW Women’s Championship basketball team, the last time they won the state championship,” Miller said. “She said she was dismayed. She’d been to GW, that’s where she graduated, and she said how dismal the schools was and she didn’t think it was conducive to learning. And I was just happy to assure her that with the passage of this referendum and the sales tax, that school’s going to look like a different school in just few years and you wouldn’t be able to recognize it.”So far, there’s no pre-filed legislation for Charlottesville to be added to the list of qualifying localities. New 2022 General Assembly billsSeveral new bills were filed on Wednesday. Senator Travis Hackworth (R-Richlands) has introduced a bill eliminating a requirement that local school boards adopt policies regarding the treatment of transgendered students. (SB20)Senator Mamie Locke (D-Hampton) has filed a bill calling for a Constitutional amendment granting the right for people convicted of felons to be able to vote upon release. (SB21)Locke also filed legislation to increase the membership of the American Revolution 250 Commission add four legislators to total of 26 people. (SB22)Another bill from Locke would allow cities with African American cemeteries to be added to the list of entities that can receive state funds to care for them (SB23)Locke’s fourth bill submitted on 12/22 would extend the expiration date of the Eviction Diversion Program one year to July 1, 2024. (SB24)Senator Frank Ruff (R-Clarksville) introduced a bill relating to the cigarette tax that counties can now levy. Businesses that have existing inventory purchased before imposition of the tax could pay the tax without having it stamped or metered. (SB25)Ruff’s second bill would remove a sunset date for a sales tax exemption for the sale of gold, silver, and platinum bullion, as well as legal tender coins. (SB26)Ruff’s third bill would expand the availability of the Neighborhood Assistance Program and the Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credit program (SB27)Chickahominy PipelineThe state agency that regulates the power generation and the transmission of fuel has ruled that an entity that wants to build an 83-mile natural gas pipeline across several Central Virginia is a public utility. That means the Chickahominy Pipeline must be approved by the State Corporation Commission. The company that wants to build it argued they were merely transporting the gas and not selling it. “The Commission agreed that the pipeline company will own and operate a facility through which natural gas will be sold and used for the purpose of heat, light or power,” reads a press release. “Thus, a certificate of public convenience and necessity is required before constructing facilities for use in public utility service.”According to the release, Chickahominy Pipeline intends to connect with an existing natural gas pipeline. Read the full order here.This is Charlottesville Community Engagement and I want to continue the mixed-up holiday by giving thanks to the Piedmont Environmental Council for their support of the Week Ahead newsletter. For 71 weeks now, PEC has sponsored the creation of each Sunday’s look at what’s coming up in local government. I also want to give thanks to Ting for their matching of Substack payments. Creating a community newsletter that seeks to cover as much ground as this one takes a lot of work, and I’m grateful to everyone’s support. Now, let’s get back to the show! Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

This is not the final Saturday of 2021, but this is the final Saturday edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement for this two thousandth and twenty-first year of the common era. There’s been nothing common about this year, or any other, for that matter. This newsletter and podcast seeks to point out items of note, though it’s up to you to decide if there’s a tune. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.This newsletter and podcast is supported by readers and listeners. Sign up for a regular update on what’s happening in the community, and decide later whether to pay! On today’s show:An update on the pandemic including a recommendation related to the Johnson and Johnson vaccineAn Albemarle Supervisor has concerns about the MPO hiring a consultant to craft a strategic plan Albemarle is considering three software platformsThe Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society explains its Race and Sports initiative and how it advances the study of the era of school desegregation In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out:Algorithms know how to put songs and artists together based on genre or beats per minute. But only people can make connections that engage your mind and warm your heart. The music on WTJU 91.1 FM is chosen by dozens and dozens of volunteer hosts -- music lovers like you who live right here in the Charlottesville area. Listener donations keep WTJU alive and thriving. In this era of algorithm-driven everything, go against the grain. Support freeform community radio on WTJU. Consider a donation at wtju.net/donate.Pandemic updateOn Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control endorsed a recommendation that individuals should receive the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine over the Johnson and Johnson shot. Both Moderna and Pfizer use messenger RNA. Still, the CDC recommends any vaccine in the face of another surge of cases nationally and internationally. (CDC release)“In general, the mRNA vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna should be used in preference over Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System.”Dr. Sifri said the new preference is due to new information that shows the possibility of higher rates of blood clotting than was previously known. “Still, it is a rare event but they are higher and it led to the change in stance,” Dr. Sifri said. The Blue Ridge Health District announced Friday that the Johnson and Johnson shot will only be offered a first dose but boosters will no longer be provided at community-based vaccination events or in mobile vaccination clinics. They will still be available at the community vaccination center at Seminole Square while supplies last. Dr. Sifri said those who have had the booster of the Johnson and Johnson should monitor for any symptoms of blood clots such as shortage of breath. He said UVA Health is recommending those who have not had the J&J booster select either the Moderna or Pfizer when they go in for a booster. Two-thirds of Virginians have now received enough doses to be considered fully vaccinated, or 5.7 million people. So far, only 1.7 million of Virginians have had a booster or third dose. “This is the time now to get your booster,” Dr. Sifri said. “The time for getting boosters to prepare yourself for the holiday season is starting to run out. It takes a little bit of time for that booster to take effect and to boost your immune system to encounter what it may encounter along the way.” As of yesterday, the seven-day average for vaccines administered is at 42,631 shots a day. The seven-day average for new cases was 2,760 a day and the percent positivity is 8.6 percent. The next set of numbers in Virginia will come out on Monday. Dr. Sifri said he expects the surge to continue.“We are anticipating that we’re going to see more cases and I think the likelihood that’s going to translate into more hospitalizations and deaths,” Dr. Sifri said. “We’re starting to see modeling information from the CDC that is warning of that possibility so we are concerned about that. That’s similar to what we saw last year as well.”The difference this year is a supply of vaccines. To inquire about vaccination opportunities at the UVA Health System, call 434-297-4829. You can also visit the Virginia Department of Health site at vaccinate.virginia.gov. Albemarle County softwareAlbemarle County’s procurement office has identified that the firm Granicus will be awarded a sole-source contract for a community engagement platform unless other vendors come forward. In a notice dated December 17, procurement officials state that Granicus “is the only source practically available” and the platform Bang the Table is mentioned. Their website lists it as “a platform to listen, inform, measure, and build community” and also has a helpful online assistant known as Eddie the Engager. Other vendors have until December 28 or the contract will be awarded. In similar procurement notices, Yardi Systems has a sole source award for the Breeze Premier platform for property management and that closing date is December 27. Lexis Nexis Systems has a sole source award that closes on Monday for the Accurint Virtual Crime Center which is touted as a way for law enforcement to obtain “a comprehensive view of people’s identities.”New transportation personnelTwo new faces joined the virtual table at the December 7 meeting of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Policy Board. The federally-mandated body consists of two Albemarle Supervisors, two Charlottesville City Councilors, and the head of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Culpeper District. That’s now Sean Nelson, who became District Engineer in mid-October replacing John Lynch. “I’m glad to be a part of this team here,” Nelson said. “I look forward to continuing to keep things going the way John Lynch did and just hold the steering wheel and carry us in to the future. I appreciate being here and plan to be an active participant.” Ted Rieck is the new director of Jaunt after a period running a similar agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “Really happy to be here in Charlottesville,” Rieck said. “As you all know, this is great community and a great part of the country. I look forward to hopefully being a contributor and a partner to all of you as we development transportation and transit in the area.”MPO Strategic Plan?Staffing shortages at the Thomas Jefferson Planning District have meant some delays in work that transportation staff had expected to work on. Director of Planning and Transportation Sandy Shackleford said planners are focused on what has to be done. “We are preparing for things like our long-range transportation plan and that we’re going to be able to do a good job with that,” Shackleford said. “It does mean that there are some projects that we just haven’t been able to pursue for right now like focusing on how we can better integrate climate action initiatives into our long-range transportation plan process.”Shackleford said another item that will be delayed will be the creation of a strategic plan for the MPO. She suggested additional funding could be placed in an existing item would outsource that work rto a consultant. That idea drew the concern of Albemarle Supervisor Ann Mallek. “This makes me very nervous that we’re going to turn over something as particular and local as our strategic planning to some consultant who probably has no familiarity with us at all,” Mallek said. TJPDC Director Christine Jacobs said the plan already had been to spend $25,000 on a consultant to do the plan, but no firms responded at that price. The new idea is to increase that amount by using funds that have not gone to pay a TJPDC staff member. Shackleford said no other MPO in Virginia has a strategic plan. Mallek suggested waiting until the local elected bodies are sat and select new MPO members. The MPO Policy Board will next discuss the matter in January. Julia Montieth, a land use planner at the University of Virginia’s Office of the Architect, said the pandemic has delayed creation on a master plan called the Grounds Plan. “We ended up putting the project on hold until post-COVID or post-better understanding of COVID,” Monteith said. “But one of the things that we did during that year was we did some enabling projects in-house that we felt we were capable of doing to inform the plan. That lowered our fees once we got to hiring the consultants.” Take a look at the 2008 Grounds Plan here You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement. Time for a second Patreon-fueled shout-out:Winter is here, and now is the time to think about keeping your family warm through the cold Virginia months. Make sure you are getting the most out of your home with help from your local energy nonprofit, LEAP. LEAP wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round, and offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society’s Race and Sports projectThe Brown vs. Board of Education ruling in 1954 led to the eventual desegregation of public schools. For many schools created for Black students, that ended an era for beloved institutions. That’s the case with Charlottesville and Jackson P. Burley High School. Dr. Shelley Murphy is the chair of the board of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Historical Society, which has been working on collecting more oral histories as part of a project called Race & Sports: The Desegregation of Central Virginia Public High School Athletics.“Our goal is to collect 50 to 60 interviews from those in our local communities who were young students at that time, many of whom were in the athletics who desegregated the first teams at Lane and Albemarle high schools and some of whom went on to the University of Virginia to play teams there.”Murphy and others presented their work on November 28 to as part of the Sunday Sit-In series put on by AARP Virginia. You can watch the event on their YouTube page. Former City Councilor and historian George Gilliam is one of the participants in the project. He provided some historical context. “So in 1954 in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, the United States Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional,” Gilliam said. “That put Virginians into a box because Virginians had adopted a state constitution in 1902 that provided ‘white and colored children shall not be taught in the same school.’” Virginia resisted the directive even after a reaffirmation in 1955 that ordered desegregation happen with “all deliberate speed.” “And after two years, some Charlottesville residents got frustrated and finally brought suit against the Charlottesville School Board seeking admittance of Black children to all-white schools,” Gilliam said. “The Virginia General Assembly then sprung into action enacting a package of laws providing that among other things that any school that desegregates, whether voluntarily or pursuant to court order, is to be seized by the Governor and closed.”Gilliam said this era is known as Massive Resistance because the state government refused to comply with the law. He said in the fall of 1958, the state closed Lane High School when it appeared some Black students would be admitted. The Massive Resistance laws were determined to be unconstitutional.“In 1959 the parties reached a compromise,” Gilliam said. “The schools agreed to ease Black students into the previously all-white student bodies achieving full desegregation but not until the fall of 1967.”For this period, Jackson P. Burley High School remained open for several years while the transition took place. This is where athletics come in. “Charlottesville’s Lane High for white students and Burley High for Black students both had championship football teams,” Gilliam said. “The high school for white students had a 53-game streak during which they were undefeated. And Burley, the high school for Black students had an entire season where they were not only undefeated and untied, they were not even scored upon!”Gilliam said the legacy of the Burley Bears was threatened with the order to desegregate. UVA historian Phyllis Leffler said telling that story is crucial to understanding many of the dynamics of the time in a way that transcends the legal framework. “The Race and Sports inserts the voices of those who lived through a critical time in our local and national history,” Leffler said. “Those voices of Black and white athletes and what they went through are in danger of being lost. So many of the people we would have liked to speak with are no longer with us so it is imperative to document this period now with those who have stories to tell.”Leffler said a common assumption is that sports was seen as a way to bring the community together, but some of the stories paint a different picture. “We are still living the consequences of racial inequities that go back 400 years,” Leffler said. “This project will hopefully help bring our divided communities together by honestly looking at the costs and benefits of desegregation.”Late last year, Jackson P. Burley High School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

There are two weeks until the next eve, but aren’t we always on the eve of something? Time never stands still, and neither does information. Data, facts, and anecdotes all swarm around at blistering speed, but it is possible to stand on the shore of the raging river and take stock, build a camp, and plan for the future. That’s kind of the point of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast that is also always on the move. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. On today’s edition:The consumer price index rises with the increasing cost of energy leading the wayThe corporate owner of the Daily Progress outright rejects a takeover bid from a hedge fundThe UVA Buildings and Grounds Committee contemplates a new building name The city-manager-who-wasn’t takes a job in PennsyvlaniaUVA health officials provide information on the variant Omicron and urge continued vigilance and mask-wearingIn today’s shout-out, a shout-out for shout-outs! If you’re interested in getting information out in this spot, consider supporting Town Crier Productions by making a $25 contribution through Patreon! That gets you or your nonprofit organization four shout-outs a month! These can be for a non-profit, an event, or just a message you want to get out to the word! There are a few guidelines, but this is a great way to support this newsletter and podcast, and to get some eyes and ears on something you want to shout out. Contact me for more information, or just sign up at Patreon.com to learn more! Omicron updateIn another sign Virginia is experiencing another surge in COVID cases, the seven-day average for positive test results is 8.1 percent today, up from 7.2 percent a week ago. Today the Virginia Department of Health reports another 2,848 cases today for a total of 994,069 confirmed cases. The total number of COVID cases in Virginia will likely cross one million total cases over the weekend. “It’s nothing sort of tragic to think about those numbers particularly when you think about the number of hospitalizations and deaths, and the families that have been impacted by the life lost due to that when we have a tool box of tools that can be used and employed to prevent that,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System. Today the Blue Ridge Health District reports 61 news cases and an additional fatality. The percent positivity in the district has increased to 8.6 percent. That figure was 6 percent a week ago. Yesterday, the Virginia Department of Health identified the first case of the Omicron variant somewhere in their Northwest region. The strain was first announced globally on Thanksgiving Day.“We know that it’s spread across and around much of the globe,” Dr. Sifri said. “All continents have cases of COVID except for Antartica and that it’s in nearly 60 countries last I saw.” Dr. Sifri said it’s still too early for sure, but for now it appears that Omicron may not be as cause severe cases of the disease despite news it may spread more easily. “I think that’s still very early data and something we need to take with a grain of salt,” Dr. Sifri said. Dr. Sifri said that early reports are that vaccines appear to have a level of protection against the Omicron strain, but it is diminished and not as robust. “The open questions are does that laboratory data really bear out in the real world, so that’s information that we need,” Dr. Sifri said. “The other question that’s too soon to answer is exactly how long that protection lasts.” Scientists are also studying the possibility that Omicron is more transmissible but that’s another open question until more data comes in. Dr. Sifri called the current wave in Virginia a resurgence of the Delta virus and is likely caused by more indoor gatherings. “So get vaccinated and importantly now, get boosted,” Dr. Sifri said. “We just talked about how the booster is for Omicron but really the booster is also very important for Delta. Remember that your antibody response and your ability to stave off infection after being vaccinated against Delta wears off.” Dr. Sifri said mask-wearing remains an essential tool in public settings to slow the spread. He also recommend people who feel ill should get tested as should people who are going to be heading to a family gathering for Christmas. As 2022 approaches, a new governor will take over in Virginia who may have a different position on masks and vaccines. There continue to be some people who called the entire thing a hoax. “I don’t hear from many of those people except when I’m taking care of them in the hospital and it’s usually in the past tense,” Dr. Sifri said. “‘I did not believe COVID was a big deal. I did not think COVID was a risk for me.’ And those are the people I see in the intensive care unit that are are struggling to survive COVID infection.”The next COVID numbers from the Virginia Department of Health will be out on Monday morning. Inflation upThe Consumer Price Index increased 0.8 percent in November, continuing a yearly trend towards higher costs across the country. Overall, inflation is up 6.8 percent over November 2020 before seasonal adjustments. Energy costs were up 3.5 percent with gasoline rising 6.1 percent. Food costs were up but at a much lower rate of 0.7 percent for food. According to a release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, November’s annual increase of 6.8 percent matches October’s increase, and that had been the largest 12-month rise since June 1982. The energy index increased 33.3 percent over the past 12 months and the gasoline index increased 58.1 percent over the last year. That’s the largest increase since April 1980. The average price for natural gas has increased 25.1 percent over November 2020 and electricity has risen 6.5 percent over the same period.At the same time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that the average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.4 percent from October to November. That figure is down 1.9 percent year to year. According to a report released yesterday on the Work Experience of the Population, 26.4 million Americans experienced unemployment in 2020, up sharply from 12.9 million in 2019. Woolley hired (in PA)Never-to-be interim Charlottesville City Manager Marc Woolley has taken a job as the deputy executive director of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. That’s according to an article on Bloomberg Law. Woolley cited an unwillingness to face the city’s problems under an interim title. He told the publication that he would constantly be looking for another position in the face of pressure. Last Friday, Charlottesville’s procurement department issued a request for proposals to hire a firm to conduct administrative services on an interim basis. “The services… shall be provided by an individual who is either employed by or under contract with the Successful Offeror and who is approved by City Council,” reads the request for proposals. That bid process closes on December 14. The city issued an addendum to the RFP this morning in response to questions. Woolley would have made an annual salary of $209,102.40 and would have had a $500 a month allowance for a vehicle. We know now that there is one deputy city manager position vacant and several other departments are currently led by an existing employee in an “acting” capacity such as the city’s communications director and the head of information technology. The police chief position will not be filled until the firm is hired to provide interim city manager services. We’re also waiting to see what briefs will be filed in response to former City Manager Tarron Richardson’s federal civil rights lawsuit against Charlottesville City Council and others. (read the story)In today’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement: The Charlottesville Jazz Society at cvillejazz.org is dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and perpetuation of all that  jazz, and there’s no time like now to find a time to get out and watch people love to play. The Charlottesville Jazz Society keeps a running list of what’s coming up at cvillejazz.org. Sign up for their newsletter today. Lee says no to AldenThe owner of the Charlottesville Daily Progress and many of Virginia’s other newspapers is rejecting a takeover bid by a hedge fund. Alden Global Capital announced in mid-November that it would purchase shares of Lee Enterprises at $24. Lee Enterprises responded initially responded by invoking shareholder protections. Yesterday they issued a press release stating the price was too low. “After careful consideration with its financial and legal advisors, Lee’s Board determined that Alden’s proposal grossly undervalues Lee and is not in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders,” reads a news release.In a second release yesterday, Lee Enterprise reported revenue growth in their fiscal fourth quarter.  Contemplative Sciences Center namedThe governing body of the University of Virginia met this week, as did its various subcommittees. The Buildings and Grounds Committee had a light agenda that included recommendation to approve the name of a new building. Colette Sheehy is the Senior Vice President for Operations and State Government at UVA. “We’re recommending Contemplative Commons as the name for the building that will house the Contemplative Sciences Center,” Sheehy said. The building will be built on Emmet Street between the pond at the Dell and the buildings that house the Curry School of Education. The Contemplative Sciences Center’s mission is to “advance the study of human flourishing at all levels of education” according to its website. “This building is designed as a hub for academic, co-curricular and extracurricular activities, interdisciplinary collaboration and research, and engagement between UVA and the Charlottesville community,” Sheehy said. The Centers’ construction is funded in part by a $40 million gift in 2016 from Paul Tudor Jones and Sonia Klein Jones. The couple was also instrumental in the center’s founding in 2012. The committee also approved site guidelines and the concept for the expansion of the UVA Encompass Rehabilitation Hospital at Fontaine Research Park. The project will add 16,400 square feet and renovate 50,000 square feet of the existing hospital. I’ll have more from the Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting in an upcoming installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Friday’s come and go, but this one hasn’t yet. There’s still time to write out a few things about what’s been happening in and around Charlottesville in recent days. But we’d be better quick because the world we live upon will not stop turning.  Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported newsletter and podcast. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.On today’s show:Charlottesville hires two department heads and one from Albemarle gets a promotionAlbemarle’s Supervisors are briefed on the county’s stream health initiativeA campaign finance update for City Council and the Board of SupervisorsAn update on COVID-19 in VirginiaSome development news, a familiar new owner for Wintergreen, and USDA grantIn today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out, WTJU 91.1 FM invites you to tune in next week for the annual Classical Marathon. It’s a round-the-clock celebration of classical music, specially programmed for your listening pleasure. Throughout the week there will be special guests, including Oratorio Society director Michael Slon; UVA professor I-Jen Fang; Charlottesville Symphony conductor Ben Rous; early music scholar David McCormick; and more. Visit wtju.net to learn more and to make a contribution. COVID updateA small surge of COVID-19 is under way in Virginia, with a seven-day positive test rating of 7.2 percent. That’s up from 5.9 percent on November 24. The Virginia Department of Health reports another 2,598 cases today, with the seven-day average increasing to 1,836 new cases a day. Sixty-five point four percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated and there is a seven-day average of 28,534 shots administered. Over 1.3 million Virginians have had a booster or third dose.In the Blue Ridge Health District, there are 67 new cases reported today, and the percent positivity is 6.7 percent. There are now confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in the United States. Dr. Amy Mathers is an associate professor of medicine and pathology in the University of Virginia Health system. She’s part of statewide efforts to sequence the various variants. “We’re contributing about 250 to 300 sequences a week,” Dr. Mathers said. “But we can only sequence what tests positive by PCR.” That means the rapid antigen tests do not collect the same biological information required for gene sequencing, which could limit efforts to identify the spread of the new variant. In the meantime, Dr. Costi Sifri urges calm while research is conducted. “There’s more that we don’t know about the Omicron variant than we do know about the Omicron variant,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at UVA Health. “What we do know is that its a variant that carries a lot of mutations. More than 30 in the spike protein as well as 20 or more additional mutations spread across the genome.” Dr. Sifri said some of these mutations relate to greater transmissibility and infection rates, but the emergence of Omicron is not unexpected. He said time will tell the impact on public health. “It’s not surprising that we’re seeing it around the world at this point, in more than two dozen countries,” Dr. Sifri said. “What is the efficacy of vaccines against the omicron variant? We really don’t know right now. We have heard of breakthrough infections but of course we’ve heard about breakthrough infections with Delta as well.” Dr. Sifri said it appears vaccinations will continue to provide benefits and more information and time will help test that assumption. He said in the meantime the best thing to do is get vaccinated and to continue to practice mitigation strategies. “We are seeing an increase in cases and it’s important since we were just talking about Omicron to understand that right now, 99.9 percent of cases are due to the Delta variant,” Dr. Sifri said. “What we have been seeing this fall and now heading into the holiday is Dela.”The major difference between this holiday season and last year is the widespread availability of vaccines. Dr. Mathers urged anyone who is ill to take precautions. “If you’re symptomatic, get tested,” Dr. Mathers said. “The only way we’re going to see emergence of new virus is to get tested. So following up exposure or symptoms with testing is an additional way to help limit the spread of this virus.Dr. Sifri said people who do get tested should limit contact with others until the result comes back. “Don’t go to work, don’t go to school, don’t go to holiday parties,” Dr. Sifri said. “If you’ve gotten tested, wait for your test result before you go out into the community.” New Charlottesville personnel Charlottesville has hired two people to serve as department heads. Arthur Dana Kasler will serve as the new director of Parks and Recreation and Stacey Smalls will be the new director of Public Works. Both positions have been open since September and were filled despite the transition at the city manager position when Chip Boyles resigned in October. Kasler comes to Charlottesville after serving as the director of Parks and Recreation in Louisville where he oversaw over 14,000 acres of parks, natural areas, and other services. According to a profile on Linkedin, he’s held that position since April 2019. Prior to starting work in Louisville, he was parks and recreation director in Parkland, Florida. According to the Lane Report, he’s also worked in Pittsburgh, Ponte Verde Beach in Florida, Kingsland, Georgia, and Athens, Ohio. Kasler takes over a position in Charlottesville in which he may oversee creation of a  new master plan for recreational programs in the city. Stacey Smalls recently worked as director of the Wastewater Collection Division in the public works department in Fairfax County. Smalls has been in that position since February 2016. Prior to that, she served in similar capacities for the U.S. Air Force, including serving as deputy public works officer for the Joint Base at Pearl Harbor. She’ll oversee a public works in Charlottesville that took on responsibility for transportation design from the Department of Neighborhood Development Services during the administration of former City Manager Tarron Richardson. Both Kasler and Smalls will start work on December 20. They join Deputy City Managers Ashley Marshall and Sam Sanders, as well as NDS director Jim Freas, as relative newcomers to municipal government in Charlottesville. Albemarle personnel, development infoIn other personnel news, this week Albemarle County announced that planning director Charles Rapp will be promoted to Deputy Director of Community Development, succeeding Amelia McCulley who is retiring from the county after more than 38 years of service. Rapp began work in Albemarle in March 2020 after serving as director of planning and community development for the Town of Culpeper. A search for a new planning director is underway. Rapp’s immediate boss is Jodie Filardo, the director of Community Development Department. She’s been in that position since September 2019. This week, the Community Development Department sent out a notice for two site plans of note. One is to construct a 1,300 square foot addition at the North Garden Fire Department. Earlier this year, Supervisors approved a budget that includes five full-time staff at the station to be there during the daytime to improve response times in the southern portion of Albemarle County. In the second, the owners of Stonefield have put forth a site plan for a seven-story 112-unit apartment building in what’s known as Block C2-1. You may also know this as the intersection of Bond Street and District Avenue, two of the public streets created as part of the initial development of Stonefield. Republican House Majority confirmedThe Associated Press is reporting that a recount in Virginia’s 85th House District has reaffirmed a narrow victory by Republican Karen Greenhalgh over Democrat Alex Askew. The certified election results recorded a 127-vote majority for Greenhalgh. A panel of three judges oversaw the recount and found this morning that the certified results stand. A recount is still underway in the 91st district. That gives Republicans at least 51 seats in the next General Assembly. In the 91st District, Republican A.C. Cordoza has a 94-vote lead over Democrat Martha Mugler, though there is an independent candidate in that race. Incoming speaker of the House Todd Gilbert (R-15) issued a statement welcoming Greenhalgh to the Republican caucus. Campaign finance The final campaign finance reports are in this year’s elections, covering a period from October 22 to November 25. City Councilor-elect Brian Pinkston raised an additional $3,325 during that time, and spent $8,938.04, leaving a balance of $1,227.76. He’s also repaid himself $7,231.24 in loans. In all, Pinkston raised $115,095.77 in the campaign. (report)Fellow City Councilor-elect Juandiego Wade raised $5,265 during the final period and spent $2,702.86, resulting in a balance of unspent funds of $17,728. In all, Wade raised $101,806.45 during the campaign. (report)In Albemarle County, Samuel Miller District Supervisor-elect Jim Andrews raised an additional $250, spent $2,015.74, and ended the campaign with a balance of $17,515.74. In all, Andrews raised $38,366.77 during the campaign. (report)Jack Jouett District Supervisor Diantha McKeel raised $250, spent $1,783.07, and her end-of-year bank balance is $20,652.76. McKeel began the year with $14,971 on hand and raised $19,127.99 during the 2021 campaign. (report)Rio District Supervisor Ned Gallaway has not yet filed a report for this cycle and missed the deadline. In the first three weeks of October raised an additional $3 and spent nothing. He began 2021 with a balance of $7,293.28, raised $10,150, and had a balance of $14,806.40. All three Supervisors ran in uncontested races. In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out: The Rivanna Conservation Alliance is looking for a few good volunteers for a couple of upcoming events. On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the RCA will team up with the James River Association to plant trees along the Rivanna River and Town Branch in the Dunlora neighborhood to serve as a riparian buffer. In all, they’re hoping to put in 9 acres of trees. On Sunday, the Rivanna Greenbelt Marathon takes place, and the Rivanna Conservation Alliance is the beneficiary! They’re looking for people to help put on the race. Learn more about both events and the organization at rivannariver.org. Wintergreen ownerThe resort company that has been running Wintergreen now owns the Nelson County property. Pacific Group Resorts of Utah had been leasing Wintergreen since 2015 but finalized acquisition from EPR Properties in October. “PGRI now owns the real estate, lifts, and snowmaking systems at the [resort] in addition to the operating equipment which it previously owned through its operating subsidiaries,” reads the release. Pacific Group Resorts also owns several other ski areas, including the Ragged Mountain resort in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Albemarle stream healthVirginia and many of its localities are responsible for taking steps to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. That includes Albemarle County, which is in the midst of an initiative to create policies to encourage, incentivize, or mandate the installation of vegetated buffers on the many tributaries of the James River. The Board of Supervisors was updated on the Stream Health Initiative on December 1. (materials)Kim Biassioli is the Natural Resources Manager in Albemarle County. She said the initiative is intended to advance the goals of the Climate Action Plan, the Biodiversity Action Plan, and the Comprehensive Plan itself. “Of course the focus of our work here today is on water quality and stream-health, but in protecting stream health and water quality, we’re likely to be providing so many other benefits for climate, for scenic value, for wildlife, for public health, and so on,” Biassioli said. This past summer, Supervisors asked staff to come up with more information about what it would take to fully adopt the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, which gives localities more options to enforce and require stream buffers. Albemarle is not within the Tidewater region as defined by the Act. “We found that full adoption is an extremely resource and time intensive option relative to the anticipated benefits that we feel might be received,” Biassioli said. The first proposal under consideration would reintroduce a requirement that property owners retain buffers by creating a stream overlay district. “And I say reintroduce because this language which was originally modeled after the original language in the Bay Act was in our water protection ordinance prior to 2013 but currently retention of stream buffers is required during a land disturbing activity,” Biassioli said. Biassiloi said this would not require property owners to expand existing buffers if they are not to the requirement established. The zoning overlay would establish a list of existing uses allowed in the buffer areas. Other ideas under consideration include a program to fund riparian buffers, more oversight of septic fields, and greater incentives for installing Best Management Practices for mitigating the effect of agriculture on the watershed. USDA climate change grantsFinally today, Virginia will receive $778,000 in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture from the Rural Energy for America program. According to the USDA website, this initiative “provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements.”Recipients are:Waverly RB SPE LLC  - $500,000 (4th House District)Zion Crossroads Recycling Park LLC - $139,671 (5th House District)Twin Oaks North LLC - $52,225 (6th House District)Railside Industries LLC - $21,424 (6th House District)Mill Quarter Plantation Inc - $64,680 (7th House District)Thanks to Resilient Virginia for pointing this out!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Txs Health con Carol Schoihet, Miguel Sifri y Jorge Ortiz. 30 de noviembre del 2021. by TXS Plus

Let’s begin today with a Patreon-fueled shout-out. Charlottesville 350 is the local chapter of a national organization that seeks to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Charlottesville 350 uses online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions to oppose new coal, oil and gas projects, and build 100% clean energy solutions that work for all. To learn more about their most active campaigns, including a petition drive to the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/cville350                                                                                                                  On today’s program:The CDC has approved booster shots for all adult AmericansThe city fills one position while another became vacant The Virginia Supreme Court appoints two Special Masters to complete the redistricting process Members of the Crozet Community Advisory Committee debrief after Supervisors adopt a master planCOVID updateAs the week ended, the percent positivity creeped up slightly to 5.8 percent as reported by the Virginia Department of Health and the seven day average rose to 1,518. Nearly a million Virginians have received a third dose or a booster shot. The seven day average for doses administered a day was 40,389 on Friday. Also on Friday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of the Moderna and Pfizer booster shots for all adults, and the Centers for Disease Control followed suit later in the day. Dr. Costi Sifri is director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System, and he said this means anyone who completed their two-dose cycle of Pfizer and Moderna can now get a booster dose. “We’re at a point right now where that is going to start including a fair number of people,” Dr. Sifri said. “It’s clear that boosters are really beneficial in boosting up the number of antibodies.”Dr. Sifri said there are an increasing number of “breakthrough-cases” in people who were vaccinated over six months ago. Some of these cases have resulted in hospitalizations and Dr. Sifri recommended those at higher risk should schedule their booster. “I really strongly encourage those people to get a booster especially as we head into the holiday season and as we are starting to see increasing rates of COVID in the nation as well as our community,” Dr. Sifri said. Dr. Sifri said others should consider getting the third dose, especially if they want to avoid contracting COVID. “There hasn’t been much of a rush,” Dr. Sifri said. “Right now we understand that about 16 percent of people in our health district who are eligible for a booster vaccine has received one.”Dr. Reid Adams is the Chief Medical Officer at UVA Health. His recommendation is a little more sharp.“I think the time is now,” Dr. Adams said. “We have gotten to a lower rate in Virginia but it’s certainly not low enough. If you look around the country, particularly in the midwest and the upper plains, we’re really seeing a surge so ideally folks would get their booster now before that happens here.” People who want to schedule a booster dose or get vaccinated for the first time can do so at vaccinate.virginia.gov. There are plenty of appointments and shots.“We have not seen long waits for booster doses here at the medical center,” Dr. Sifri said. “Those are available. In addition there is the availability of getting booster vaccines through local pharmacies and the Blue Ridge Health District.”Since November 6, over 4,674 children between the ages of 5 and 11 have been vaccinated, or around 25 percent of the eligible population. Sage Smith disappearanceToday marks nine years since Sage Smith disappeared, having last been seen in the 500 block of West Main Street. The Charlottesville Police Department put out a release this morning stating they are still seeking the whereabouts of Erik McFadden, calling him a critical person of interest in the case. The two had been expected to meet the night of November 20, 2012, but Smith has not been heard from since. McFadden is believed to have left town rather than speak to the police. “Smith was a beloved family member and friend to many in the Charlottesville and LGBTQ+ communities,” the release reads. “Although [nne] years have passed, CPD is hopeful with the help of the media and continued public interest, we can finally solve this case and bring closure to a family and community that continues to experience anguish.” A missing persons report was filed for McFadden in June 2019 but multiple leads have not turned up any further developments. For more information, take a look at the release. Charlottesville personnel updateThe city has hired a Minority Business Development Coordinator. Ajoni Wynn-Floyd will take the position within the city’s Economic Development Department. The Minority Business Program was created in 2018 to assist qualified businesses with one-on-one business consulting, start-up assistance, and help registering to be vendors for state and local government. “The program is focused on increasing the number of minority- and woman-owned businesses that are registered vendors with the City and to encourage more City spending with such businesses,” reads the intake form on the city’s website.Wynn-Floyd has worked with the Latino Student Alliance and the Diversity Awareness Program board. Earlier this month, the city’s Tree Commission learned of the resignation of Mike Ronayne, the city’s urban forester. He served in the position for five years. The position has not yet been advertised on the Charlottesville jobs board as of Friday afternoon.  At that November 2 meeting, Tree Commission chair Brian Menard said the city must demonstrate support for urban forestry.“We need to have more resources, not just financially, but we need more resources in terms of hands that can do this work and support this work,” Menard said. “We recognize that this has not been an ordinary 18 months but even before then it was clear that there’s just a lot that’s put on one person,” Menard said. Map-drawers selectedThe Virginia Supreme Court has appointed two special masters to complete the process of redistricting maps for the General Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives. Sean P. Trende and Bernard F. Grofman are the selected candidates. “Though each was nominated by legislative leaders of a particular political party, the Nominees… shall serve as officers of the Court in a quasi-judicial capacity,” reads the appointment order made Friday.The pair will work on a single map and have 30 days to complete their work. According to the order, Trende and Grofman must resolve differences in good-faith and are not permitted to consult with anyone except for designated staff at the Supreme Court and the Virginia Division of Legislative Services. They are directed to take into account the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Voting Rights Act. “In short, the Court expects to receive from its Special Masters redistricting maps that have been drafted using factors that are fully compliant with constitutional and statutory law applied in an apolitical and nonpartisan manner,” reads the order. Trende was nominated by Republicans and is a senior elections analyst with Real Clear Politics. Grofman is a political science professor at the University of California at Irvine. Read more at the Virginia Mercury.In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out, Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit codeforcville.org to learn about those projects. Crozet updateA month has passed since the Albemarle Board of Supervisors adopted an update of the Crozet Master Plan, with some land use aspects included over the wishes of some members of the Crozet Community Advisory Committee. For a good summary of what happened on October 20, read Allison Wrabel’s story in the October 21 Daily Progress. Or Lisa Martin’s story in the November 5 Crozet Gazette.On November 10, the Crozet CAC had the opportunity to talk about the plan. Chair Allie Pesch didn’t have anything prepared, and neither had Planning Manager Rachel Falkenstein. The Albemarle Planning Commission had recommended removing the Middle Density Residential designation from a portion of downtown Crozet, but there were four votes on the Board of Supervisors to move forward. White Hall District Supervisor Ann Mallek ended up voting with that majority on the eventual 5 to 1 vote in support of the plan’s update.“I should have done it differently,” Mallek said. “I should have made the motion I was going to make that adopted the Planning Commission’s route and if that had been voted down we would have been much more clear to the membership in the community what was going on.”  Meetings in Albemarle are still virtual due to the pandemic and Mallek said the logistics of getting that motion moved forward were difficult to accomplish over Zoom. She acknowledged that many landowners in Crozet are concerned about the increased density. Many CAC members thought their concerns were too easily dismissed.“I found a fair amount of pretty serious community input ignored at points and I feel that ever since the state abolished the ability to negotiate proffers, developers kind of trump most of the decisions,” said Brian Day.Day referred to legislation in 2016 that rendered invalid an Albemarle policy that required a cash payment from developers for every new unit authorized by a rezoning. Proffers are still legal if they are deemed reasonable and contribute to the direct impact of a development. However, the 2016 legislation ushered a cooling off point where localities were hesitant to even discuss the issue. This past week, for instance, representatives of Greystar Development said they would pay a proportional amount toward upgrades on Old Ivy Road. Michael Monaco, a new member of the CAC, said he felt public input had to be broadened in range. He said Crozet needs more housing and more entry-level jobs so young people can stay.“I think any process that is guided mostly by homeowners is going to be guided mostly by the financial interests of homeowners, consciously or not,” Monaco said. “Any attempt to counter that would be wise.” Kostas Alibertis is on his second term on the CAC. “I think the struggle and the challenge that we had here was the vision of the county versus the vision of the community and I think we’ll always have that unless there is some delineation of where those lines are, and I think that’s what led to all of this frustration,” Alibertis said. Shawn Bird said the process was hurt by a lack of in-person community engagement meetings due to the pandemic.“If you remember those meetings we had at the high school, I thought there was really strong turn out, I thought there were people energized by the process, we had a certain momentum behind it,” Bird said. “I saw new people coming out to those things and then COVID hit and we all had to jump on our computers and it just changed the whole dynamic.”During the process, the CAC took votes indicating a majority were not in favor of the middle density residential category. Those votes are not binding and are only symbolic, but Bird defended the practice as well a 2017 survey (as published in the Crozet Gazette),“I think the powers that be need to know was this issue 13 to 2, or 8 to 7, by the CCAC?” Bird said. “I think you need to quantify to some degree where the citizens fall on particular issues. In my mind, that’s what makes a survey much more powerful to some degree than anecdotal one-offs by people who have the time to jump on these cools and may have the loudest voices.”Allie Pesch said the master plan update was revision and not a rewrite. She said an analysis of the update should look at whether existing goals are being met.“We’ve wanted to increase affordable housing for a while and the solution seemed to be just to increase density and not really look at how that has or hasn’t worked in the existing plan,” Pesch said. Marc McKenney is in his first term on the CAC and he said many are concerned that Albemarle has not made the investments to support that density. “There’s been massive growth in Crozet in the past two decades,” McKenney said. “Population went from 2,200 in 2000, to 5,500 in 2010, to 9,500 or 9,200 a decade later. (TRIM) If we cannot show citizens what’s actually been delivered from an infrastructure perspective, I guarantee you there will be a complete loss in faith by citizens to the county that they have their best interest in providing sidewalks, and road repairs, and bridges.”Some of the current projects in the planning process are:$1.5 million in improvement to the Square anticipated to be completed in May 2023 (page 26 here), $21.25 million expansion of Crozet Elementary School expected to be completed in August 2022 (page 28 here)Sidewalk improvements on U.S. 250 West from Cory Farms to Cloverlawn (page 44)A revenue-sharing application was submitted to the Virginia Department of Transportation on October 1 to complete Eastern Avenue across Lickinghole Creek to Cory Farms Road (Albemarle transportation priority #8)Improvements at Crozet Avenue and U.S. 250 West are being considered for Smart Scale recommendations in 2022 (Albemarle transportation priority #21) The adoption of the Crozet Master Plan happened just before the first phase of the county’s Comprehensive Plan review got underway. A public kickoff meeting will take place in January. Supervisor Mallek urged members of the CAC to become engaged in that process to ensure that Crozet’s voice can be heard.“While people may feel discouraged about particular outcomes in our process, we all need to be keeping our eyes on this other prize going forward because from natural resource planning to historic preservation to climate change to all slews of things, that is the core book that the Board and the staff refer to and this is our chance to make sure that our local words are maintained,” Mallek said. One of the items to be discussed during the Comp Plan review will be the county’s growth management policy. Thanks to Ting for their support in helping this program be produced each day. Today the newsletter ends with a limerick from friend of the show Bekah Saxon honoring Ting for their commitment to match your initial payment to a paid Substack subscription!There once was a reporter named SeanWho needed a check to go onWith money from TingHe could make his words singAnd keep Charlottesville moving alongSpecial announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

We continue with the words of the Bet HaLevi, in his MaAmar Ahavat Yisrael: דִּכְמוֹ דְּאַהֲבָה הָוֵי כְּלַל כָּל הַתּוֹרָה כְּמוֹ כֵן גַּם הַשִּׂנְאָה הוּא מָבוֹא וְשַׁעַר לְכָל הָעֲבֵרוֹת הַחֲמוּרוֹת שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה Just like loving your friend is the klal of the whole Torah ( as it says V'Ahavta L'Re'echa Kamocha, ze Klal Gadol b'Torah - if you wanted to teach a convert the whole Torah on one foot it would be Love your friend like you love yourself ) , so too is the opposite/ Sina, hating your friend is the path and the gate to all the very severe sins in the Torah. In other words, everything has a flip side. The is a Klal Gadol for the good and a Klal Gadol for the bad. If you had to take all the sins of the Torah and teach them on one foot, it would be that hating will bring one to all sins. In his sefer Ahavat Yisrael (chapter 2), the Chafetz Chaim says that the reason Sinat Hinam/ baseless hatred is so stringent is because it's the cause for so many other sins. It causes machloket/arguments, lashon hara, gossip, teasing, embarrassment, slander and even murder. He quotes the Sifri that says that the rule that one sin causes another, and cites a pasuk in Devarim which introduces murder with hate, where the Midrash explains that the murder doesn't just happen by itself though natural events. Rather, the sin of hate creates a tumah , a negative energy, or a contamination, due to that sin, and that, in turn, causes the next sin. It's not just on a natural level, but on a super natural level. We saw this with Kayin and Hevel. It started with hatred and it came to murder. The final words here by the Chafetz Chaim are: This is the rule- All the difficulties that we are going through in the world, their beginning and their root, is Sinat Hinam. It might not be It , but it caused every thing. It's the underlying cause, which is why it's so severe.

In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out, are you a patron of the James Madison Regional Library system who suffers from a plague of library fines? If so, for the next week you can pay off your balance with a food donation that will go to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. To participate in the Food for Fines program, bring a non-perishable item to the front desk and get a dollar off. Do note this does not apply to missing or damaged items. Patrons who are in better standing than me are also welcome to donate an item or many items. For more information, visit jmrl.org. Visit here for a list of the most wanted itemsOn today’s show: A look at several upcoming developments in Albemarle County including the second phase for Southwood and a three-story self storage building in Crozet  More than 83 percent of adult Virginians are fully vaccinatedThe Village of Rivanna Community Advisory Committee debriefs after a rezoning vote did not go the way members wantedGreyhound has a new owner, and Virginia launches bus service from far Southwest Virginia to the nation’s capital On Friday, Governor Ralph Northam announced that 83 percent of the adult population in Virginia is now fully vaccinated. Also on Friday, the Virginia Department of Health reported the percent positivity dropped to 5.3 percent, on a day when the seven-day average for new cases is 1,328. But there are hotspots emerging across the country. Vermont is experiencing its worst surge yet, with a record 595 cases on Thursday and 505 cases on Friday according to the website VTDigger.Dr. Costi Sifri, director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System, said colder parts of the country are beginning to see the increase. “Just as we’re entering the cold and flu season, we’re also entering the season where we may see increased transmission of COVID just because we’re going into the winter months,” Dr. Sifri said. Dr. Sifri said COVID still represents a significant risk and he recommended people continue to wear masks in indoor public spaces. Thanksgiving is less than two weeks and Dr. Sifri emphasized caution.“One thing I’d want to emphasize is the importance of boosters for people who are vulnerable,” Dr. Sifri said. In the Blue Ridge Health District, ten percent of children between 5 and 11 have been vaccinated during the first week a reduced Pfizer dose has been available.The Virginia Supreme Court has rejected three Republican nominees to serve as Special Masters in the next phase of the redistricting process. In October, a 16-member redistricting commission failed to reach consensus on maps for legislative districts for both the General Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives. Senate Democratic Leader Richard Saslaw petitioned the Court to disqualify the three Republican nominees, claiming conflicts of interest due to their previous work on creating maps.The Virginia Supreme Court agreed.“The Court intends to appoint Special Masters who are qualified and do not have a conflict of interest,” reads a November 12 letter from Chief Justice Donald Lemons. “Although the Special Master candidates are to be nominated by legislative leaders of a particular party, the nominees… will serve as Officers of the Court in a quasi-judicial capacity.”Justice Lemons said that nominees must not consult with political parties once they have been appointed. One of the Republican nominees, Thomas M. Bryan, had been hired by the Republican Party of Virginia as a consultant on using 2020 U.S. Census data for redistricting. That information had not been disclosed in the nominating materials. Republicans have until Monday at 5 p.m. to submit three new names, and Democrats are being asked to submit one more name due to a potential issue with one of their three nominees. For more information, visit the Supreme Court’s website. The national bus company Greyhound has been purchased by a German firm called FlixMobility. They operate a service called Flixbus which operates in 36 countries in addition to the United States. Greyhound serves 2,400 stops across the country, and has a ridership of 16 million passengers. “Buses as a sustainable and accessible alternative are now more important than ever,” reads an October 21, 2021 press release.  “Fluctuations in the cost of gas, the recent escalation of car prices, and climate change concerns have increased the interest of many consumers in finding alternatives to individual car usage.” For $46 million cash and $32 million in future payments, Flixmobility will now own the Greyhound name and the bus fleet, but not any real estate or stops. Flixbus has been running buses in U.S. since 2018. Meanwhile, on Monday the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation will launch the Highland Rhythms service between Bristol and Washington D.C. This is the fourth Virginia Breeze intrastate route to be funded by the state agency, which will be operated by Megabus. A ceremony was held this morning at the Birthplace of Country Music in Bristol (read more in the Bristol Herald-Courier)Time now to take a look at recent land use applications in Albemarle County.First, a site development plan has been submitted for a new Chipotle restaurant to be located in Hollymead Town Center. Before the pandemic, there would be site plan review meetings for the public to comment, but those have not been held. However, the Albemarle officials are looking to begin to resume the public process. “These projects are ‘by-right’, which means that if the proposed plans meet the minimum requirements of the County’s zoning, site plan, or subdivision ordinances, they must be approved,” reads the notice for this application. (take a look)A TGI Friday’s Restaurant used to operate on the site and the existing building will be replaced and a drive-through window will be installed in the new building. Another site plan has been filed for a three-story self-storage facility at the intersection of Brownsville Road, Route 240, and Rockfish Gap Turnpike (U.S. 250).  The zoning on the site is Highway Commercial and a gas station used to operate on the site. That building and a couple of others will be removed to make way for the structure. (take a look)Southwood Phase 2In October, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville filed the second phase of their rezoning for the redevelopment of the Southwood Mobile Home Park. The rezoning would amend the first phase to add 93.32 acres from R-2 to the Neighborhood Model District. “Phase 2 is planned within the project's existing mobile home park where development will occur in phases so as to limit the impact to the existing residents,” reads the narrative. “The resident planners who designed and wrote the Code of Development for Phase I has provided input in this next phase that the form, density, and uses established with Phase I should continue into Phase 2.”This phase of redevelopment would include up to 1,000 housing units in a mix of single-family houses, duplexes, townhomes, and apartment buildings. There would also be another 60,000 square feet of non-residential space. (read the Code of Development)Several blocks in phase one are under construction. *You’re listening to Charlottesville Community Engagement, and time now for another subscriber-supported public service announcement. Are you using too many chemicals in your yard and garden? Would you like to learn more about alternatives? The Piedmont Master Gardeners will a free online information session on the topic Monday November 15 at 3 p.m.  Participants will learn how to keep their landscapes safe and healthy using Integrated Pest Management. The Center at Belvedere will host the session, which carries the name “Why and How to Reduce Chemical Use in your Yard and Garden.” Learn more and register at thecentercville.org.  Albemarle County staff have begun work on the update of the Comprehensive Plan with a public kick-off expected sometime in January. A major aspect of the current plan is a growth management policy which designates specific areas for density. This plan was last updated in 2015 and since then Supervisors have adopted several other policies, such as the Housing Albemarle plan.“To accommodate this growth, the County will need to add approximately 11,750 new units to our housing stock over the next 20 years,” reads Objective 1 of the plan, which was adopted by Supervisors in July. “The county must support the development of an additional 2,719 units to fully accommodate projected household growth through 2040.” One of the growth areas is the Village of Rivanna and their Community Advisory Committee met on November 8. Most of its members are not happy with the Board of Supervisors 4-2 vote in October for a rezoning from rural area to R-1 for an 80-unit single-family neighborhood called Breezy Hill. (staff report) (Village of Rivanna Master Plan) (watch the meeting)Dennis Odinov is the group’s chair. “We all know how it turned out and we may be disappointed but what are lessons learned?” Odinov said. “Are there any lessons learned from this?” Members of the group thanked Supervisor Donna Price for her against the rezoning. Price was joined by Supervisor Ann Mallek. Southern Development had initially requested 200 units, but scaled back due to community opposition. The Village of Rivanna Master Plan designated the land as Neighborhood Density Residential, and a map describes that as up to three dwelling units per acre. Members of the CAC maintained the plan only allows one dwelling unit per acre. Neal Means said pressure from the group helped get the number to 80 but he does not have a positive view of Southern Development. “It just goes to show you that the developers really don’t care about the master plan at all and the arguments they made much later about it should be one unit per gross acre and not net, is just an argument,” Means said. “They’re going to try to get as much as they can any time they want, no matter what the master plan says.”Gross density is a simple calculation of the number of units divided by the size of the land. Net density subtracts from the size of the land the square footage that would be used for infrastructure or open space. In the case of Breezy Hill, the gross density was 1 unit per acre, but the net density was 1.4 per acres. To Means, that means the system is broken. “I don’t think the county’s master planning process is functioning well,” Means said. “I think it’s dysfunctional and it needs to be revisited.” Ultimately, elected officials make their decisions based on interpretation of master plans. Odinov said the current version of the plan was not clear enough to state the wishes of the community. “We have no language in the master plan that says one unit per acre, net,” Odinov said “We don’t say it in the verbiage.” The master plan also states that no new developments should be approved until specific transportation projects are built on U.S. 250. However such a directive is not permissible under Virginia law. In Virginia, localities cannot specifically ask for infrastructure to be built in exchange for a rezoning, but developers can volunteer to pay for projects in something called a proffer. “I thought it was a slap in the face,” said Paula Pagonakis. “I took it as a slap in the face when the developer said he could not provide any proffers because he would not get enough profit out of the project. I don’t know how much impact that had on the vote by the Supervisors but I felt a bit insulted.”In Charlottesville, Southern Development has agreed to contribute nearly $3 million upfront for the creation of a sidewalk on Stribling Avenue, a 170 units project on about 12 acres. If Council approves the rezoning, Southern Development will be paid back through the incremental revenue generated.Supervisor Donna Price voted against the rezoning but said the community pressure to reduce Breezy Hill’s scope resulted in a more palatable project. “Did we achieve everything?” Price asked. “No. But we came out I think a whole better strategically than if it had been at 160 or 130.”Price said she supported increased density in Crozet and voted for the 332-unit RST Residences near Forest Lakes. “Highly dense, but it is also right on a six-lane highway up there,” Price said. “I’ve tried to maintain a consistency of if you get to the periphery of development areas it should be less developed and as you move more toward the center of development it should be  more highly developed and more dense.” An update of the Village of Master Plan is not currently scheduled, according to county planner Tori Kanellopoulos. “It would need to be on the Community Development work program and we do have the Comprehensive Plan update that just started,” Kanellopoulos said. “That will take up a significant amount of resources.”I’ll have a report from the Crozet Community Advisory Committee in an upcoming edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP? The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

We continue discussing the negativity of Sinat Hinam/Baseless Hatred. Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein, in his sefer on Torah VDaat says, “ Hatred is the opposite of God's entire will in creation. God created the world Tov Umetiv/ to be Good and to give good to others. The whole creation is founded on hesed , as it says, Olam Hesed Y'Baneh God created the world Boreh Nefeshot Rabot God created many creatures V'Hesronam and their lackings Why did He create lackings ? In order to fulfill their lackings Sinat Hinam is the total antithesis of God's Middot , which are kindness, compassion and mercy. When a person has Sinat hinam, he is very far from the p ositive Mitzvah of Ubo Tidbak /Connect to Him. The Sifri says that this Mitzvah is to connect to God's Middot. “Just as God is merciful, you be merciful , Just as God is compassionate, you be compassionate.” Conversely, if you are far from connecting to God, you have no connection to God, and you are not fulfilling God's will in creation. That is why Sinat Hinam is worse than the most serious of sins. Sinat hinam is the total opposite of what God created the world for. A person hs to realize that his whole reason for being is to try to emulate God, to try to be like God. But when a person has Sina , that is the antithesis of being like God. To end on a positive note, we'll share beautiful story about Rav Yehezkiel Abramsky, a great Gadol , that shows what it means to be like God . Rav Abramsky was once on his way to Bet Midrash and he saw a child crying. He stopped to ask why, and the boy told the Rabbi that it was because his friends had teased him that his pants were too short. Rab Abramsky took off his glasses, leaned in closer to look at the boy's pants, and replied that his pants were not too short. They were beautiful. He then spoke to the boy for a few minutes and calmed him down, until the boy's tears dried. Later that day, the boy excitedly told his father that he had spoken with Rav Abramsky. When the father saw Rav Abramsky in shul, he asked if indeed the Rav had spoken to son, and about what. Rav Abramsky said he spoke to the boy about his pants, and explained that it says about God, In the future He will erase tears from all faces. “ So that's the way of God,” he told the father, “ and I want to be like God, therefore, I came to erase the tears from your son's face. ” That is what it means to be like God, and when you are like God, you connect to God Sinat Hinam is the total opposite. Therefore, we want to stay far away from it.

Let’s begin today with a Patreon-fueled shout-out! Charlottesville 350 is the local chapter of a national organization that seeks to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Charlottesville 350 uses online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions to oppose new coal, oil and gas projects, and build 100% clean energy solutions that work for all. To learn more about their most active campaigns, including a petition drive to the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/cville350Should Amtraks’s Northeast Regional train make a stop in Bedford? The Charlottesville-Albemarle tourism bureau gets an update on hotel happeningsResidents of the Barracks / Rugby neighborhood will go without water on MondayMonday begins a nearly two-week total shut down of Emmet Street at Ivy Road Vaccinations are coming for children between 5 and 11 If you live in the Barracks / Rugby neighborhood in Charlottesville, be ready for a planned water outage on Monday. A contractor will be working on water infrastructure between Barracks Road and Preston Avenue. City crews will place door hangers on properties that will be affected. The shutdown will be between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.  (learn more)Monday also marks the beginning of a two-week shut down of Emmet Street at Ivy Road for the installation of a massive piece of stormwater infrastructure. Sunday is the second Halloween of the pandemic, but local health officials aren’t concerned that a return to trick-or-treating will see return of another surge.“It’s really important to recognize and understand that the outdoors in always safer than indoors and so those outdoor activities are really fantastic,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System. Dr. Sifri said people probably don’t have to disinfect any received treats, but recommended frequent hand washing. He also recommended having children avoid large indoor gatherings and wear masks indoors. Yesterday the Food and Drug Administration Approval approved the Pfizer vaccines for people between 5 and 11. More details on that roll-out will be rolled out next week. “Logistics are being worked out but there’s going to be emphasis of trying to make sure the vaccines that are offered are going to be in places that are child-friendly,” Dr. Sifri said. On Friday, the Virginia Department of Health reported a seven-day average of 1,431 new cases a day and a seven-day percent positivity rate of 5.8 percent. On October 1, that last figure was 8.8 percent. Virginia has also recorded 1,101 COVID deaths in October today. The next new metrics won’t be available until Monday morning. Tourism is one of the region’s largest industries, and the pandemic has shown just how important the sector is to the municipal bottom line. Russ Cronberg has been general manager of the Boar’s Head Resort for the past five years.  He gave a presentation on October 25 to the Board of Directors of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau. The CACVB markets the region as a tourism destination and is funded by a portion of the transient lodging tax. “We have 3,891 hotel rooms roughly give or take a room or two in our market currently,” Cronberg said. “Our annual occupancy is around 65 percent.”Cronberg said most hotels need between 50 percent and 60 percent occupancy in order to break even, so an average of 65 percent is a sign of health.  He said in a given year, over 1.8 million people stay in hotel rooms in the area.“That is not timeshares, that’s not bed and breakfasts, it’s not our AirBnB’s,” Cronberg said. “That’s strictly just our hotel community.” In the year before the pandemic, Cronberg said hotels brought in nearly $14 million in revenue for Albemarle and around $9 million in Charlottesville. The sector is still slowly rebounding after a time when most travel stopped for a while, and the hotel industry lost millions. “Thankfully for many of the grant programs and other government funding that has helped, city funding, we’ve only lost two hotels to permanent closure but actually we have a couple more than are going to reopen,” Cronberg said. The labor shortage is affecting all sectors, including hospitality. Cronberg said the Boar’s Head over 90 job openings in September, forcing the resort to limit the number of guests. He acknowledged that low wages are part of the problem.“One thing that I’m proud of that has come out of this is that it really has opened the eyes of ownership and maybe operators to really speed up the increases in our industry,” Cronberg said. “And I think it’s a really good thing to get back to more equitable wages.”Cronberg said when he began at Boar’s Head in 2016, housekeepers were getting $8.50 an hour. That’s now been increased to $17 an hour. But to keep that going, the economy still has to make it through the pandemic.“The current COVID environment has continued to provide [difficulties] to navigate, but we in the hotel industry have continued to remain flexible with the priority of security and safety of our team as well as our guests,” Cronberg said.Cronberg said the Charlottesville will have to compete with other destinations around Virginia. “In order to do that, I really think and speaking with operators and other GMs and other hotel owners, we really have to look at the CACVB funding model. It’s not just giving the funding and saying thank you, here you go, but measuring those successes and making sure the thing we are doing are driving occupancy to our area, are driving tourism dollars into the arts and into the historical communities.” Later in the meeting, the CACVB discussed the possibility of changing the representation on the Board of Directors to include more representatives from the industry. Such a move would have to be approved by Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. Read more about that story in Allison Wrabel’s October 25, 2021 article in the Daily Progress. You’re listening to Charlottesville Community Engagement and time for a second Patreon-fueled shout-out! The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign, an initiative that wants you to grow native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. The leaves have started to fall as autumn set in, and as they do, this is a good time to begin planning for the spring. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water.  Start at the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page and tell them Lonnie Murray sent you!(Want a shout-out? Check out Patreon to learn more!)*At the same time the CACVB seeks to compete with other areas within driving distance, another community along the Amtrak line between Roanoke and Washington wants in on the action as well. A group in Bedford has been lobbying for a stop on the service. This past week, officials with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation reviewed a study on whether that’s feasible and what it would cost. Emily Stock is the manager of rail planning at DRPT. “Our focus is the movement of people and goods throughout the Commonwealth and our primary areas of activity are rail, public transportation, and commuter services,” Stock said.The DRPT began funding regional service in Virginia in the late 2000’s, and the Northeast Regional Service between Lynchburg and Washington’s Union Station began in the fall of 2009. In 2014, DRPT reached agreement with Norfolk Southern to extend passenger service to Roanoke. At that time, the Bedford / Franklin Regional Rail Initiative launched. The Town of Bedford hired a consultant to produce a report in 2016, and the DRPT studied whether there would be enough ridership to support a stop. On October 25, Stock presented the latest report. (watch)“Fast forward to now and we’ve had a few years now under our belt of Roanoke service which has been very helpful to us in projecting potential ridership for Bedford also,” Stock said. But before ridership is considered, the station has to be located on a section of a track within certain parameters. “Norfolk Southern, the host freight railroad, does not allow adjacent high level platforms to their main line tracks,” Stock said. A stop in Bedford would likely be a “caretaker” station and located downtown. Two sites have seen the most study, including the site of a former train depot near the Courthouse. Stock said what would be needed. “A platform with a canopy,” Stock said. “A station building. We’d need enough room for that. Also room for parking, for rental cars, for auto and taxi pick-up drop off.” The courthouse site was dropped from consideration because an at-grade vehicular crossing would have to have been closed to address safety concerns. The alternative is located about a mile west outside of downtown Bedford. “Our cost to construct here would be almost $11 million in 2025 construction dollars and that includes a 40 percent contingency which is standard for this level of design,” Stock said. One consideration while looking at potential ridership is how close Roanoke and Lynchburg are to Bedford. One forecast has found the stop would have 25,400 ons and offs per years, but some of that would take away from nearby stations. The net new riders to the system would be 10,500 per year generated by the Bedford station. The good news for proponents of a Bedford station is that the freight hauler that owns the lines do not have technical objectives. “What we found Norfolk Southern was that they did not see any new material delay for Norfolk Southern operations as a result of a stop in Bedford which is very good news,” Stock said. The report is due to the General Assembly by November 15. Next steps will include federal review under the National Environmental Policy Act and working with the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority on a grant application for the federal funding. “Other good news is that we do expect to start an Amtrak Thruwaybus as a first step,” Stock said. “You may recall that for Roanoke there was a Thruway bus that was operating before any rail service went to Roanoke.”That Thruway service is expected to begin next spring, though a location for the stop has not yet been determined. This service will eventually be extended to Christiansburg, where work is underway to design a passenger rail station to serve the New River Valley. Thanks again for reading!Now, what about supporting the program? Town Crier Productions is open seven days a week to keep up to date with all manner of items. This is the 269th installment of this program, not counting the Week Ahead newsletters. Research is underway to bring even more information to you and the rest of the community.To cover the cost, I need funding. Subscribing through Substack is one way to support this newsletter. Another is to donate through Patreon. There are nearly 100 people who contribute through Patreon each month, making up a good portion of the revenue that supports my ability focus solely on this work. Please visit the site to learn more, and please ask me questions. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out, are you interested in picking up some new fibrous friends? On Saturday, the Jefferson Madison Regional Library invites you to Gordon Avenue for a front porch plant swap. Bring a healthy plant or a cutting on October 23 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and exchange it for another in an event that also includes a selection of plant-related library resources, including plant care cards with QR codes to help your new friend develop deep roots. That’s the Front Porch Plant Swap at the Gordon Avenue branch of the library. Visit jmrl.org to learn more. On today’s show:A company that wants to take a shot at a male contraceptive gets a shot of fundingBoosters are authorized for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson VaccineRegional updates from the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission including information about broadband expansion Ground is broken for the School of Data Science at the University of Virginia It’s been a few days since a newsletter, so let’s catch up first on today’s COVID numbers. The September surge is now in the past with new case numbers continuing to decline in Virginia. The seven-day average is currently 1,688 new cases a day. Compare that to 3,486 a day as registered on September 22. The seven day percent positivity has declined to 6.5 percent. In the Blue Ridge Health District there are another 50 new cases reported today.  The percent positivity is 5.5 percent. Though numbers are currently on a downward trend, that may not remain the case. “We’re all hopeful that we’re on the back side of this Delta wave right now,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia. “I think we also do recognize that we’re heading into colder drier times right now and that we’re going into to respiratory virus season, the so-called cold and flu season, and cold, flu, and maybe COVID season.”Dr. Sifri said people need to continue to keep their guard up against community spread by continuing to wear masks, to wash hands, and all of the preventative measures that have been recommended over the course of the pandemic. This week, the Centers for Disease Control cleared the way for booster shots of the Modern and the Johnson and Johnson vaccines. The Moderna third dose is for people over the age of 65 and those with underlying health conditions.“For Moderna it’s similar to the Pfizer dose, it would be a third dose,” Dr. Sifri said. “For both the Pfizer and the Moderna, the booster eligibility is six months after the completion of your primary series, that initial two dose series. There is a difference in the dose for the booster dose for the Moderna vaccine. It’s a half dose compared to what was used for the primary series.”The Johnson and Johnson booster is a second dose that Dr. Sifri said will be available for anyone over the age of 18, regardless of underlying health conditions. “I can tell you here at UVA and I’m sure at the Blue Ridge Health District as well and local pharmacies, we are gearing up to provide those vaccines through local resources,” Dr. Sifri said. A Charlottesville-based company that wants to bring a male contraceptive to market recently announced the securing of $10.7 million in new capital financing. Contraline will use the funding to begin a human trial of ADAM™ , a hydrogel implant. “The ADAM hydrogel is injected into the vas deferens through a quick and minimally invasive outpatient procedure, where it’s designed to block the flow of sperm,” reads a press release making the announcement. The trial will take place in Melbourne, Australia and has been sanctioned by the Human Research Ethics Committee there. The press releases states this is the first human trial for a male contraceptive in a couple of decades. (Hat tip to the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council!)Ground has been broken for construction of the new School of Data Science at the University of Virginia. According to UVA Today, officials marked the occasion with a ceremony Thursday. The new building is within the 14 acre Emmet / Ivy corridor, which will also include a hotel and conference center as well as other uses that have not yet been announced. The school is being funded in part through a $120 million gift to UVA from the Quantitative Foundation and Merrill and Jaffrey Woodriff. Charlottesville 350 is the local chapter of a national organization that seeks to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Charlottesville 350 uses online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions to oppose new coal, oil and gas projects, and build 100% clean energy solutions that work for all. To learn more about their most active campaigns, including a petition drive to the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/cville350This week, Governor Ralph Northam’s press office sent out a message announcing that Virginia’s government and the private sector have teamed up on over $2 billion in investments in broadband. The goal is to have the state on track to have universal broadband access by 2024.  The work is coordinated through the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative, or VATI. The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission has made one of 57 applications from across Virginia for $943 million in available funding in the latest round of VATI funding, Those applications will leverage $1.15 billion in private funding. The program is run by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. “These applications are all posted online so other services providers are able to see those applications to see what the projected service areas to be covered are and if they believe that they already have service or provide the opportunity for service in a particular area, then they can indicate they want to challenge the application or that portion of the application,” said David Blount, deputy director and legislative liaison at the TJPDC. Challenges are due October 24. The TJPDC’s application is part of the Regional Internet Service Expansion project, or RISE. The private aspect is Firefly Fiber Broadband, Dominion, and several electric cooperatives. The public aspect includes thirteen counties as far south as Campbell County south of Lynchburg. (read the application)TJPDC’s request is for $85.9 million for a $307.8 million project. Localities have put up $35.3 million in local matching funds. “The application proposes putting 4,300 miles of fiber either in the air or underground passing over 40,000 total locations,” Blount said. Blount said TJPDC’s role would be to administer the project. He made his comments at the October 4, 2021 meeting of the TJPDC’s Board of Commissioners. At the same meeting, Dale Herring of the Greene Board of Supervisors reported that short-term rentals are no longer allowed in that county’s residential districts. “Unfortunately or fortunately depending on which side of the fence you are on, that was voted down after about three years,” Herring said. “It turned out that a lot of investors were beginning to buy properties in R-1 zoning and that definitely created an issue for the homeowners in those areas.” The TJPDC meetings always include a roundtable where representatives from the different localities are able to give updates on what’s happening. Tommy Barlow is on the Louisa County Board of Supervisors. “It looks like to me that every meeting we are dealing with mid-year appropriations that weren’t expected such as Sheriff’s Department raises to keep up with other counties,” Barlow said. “We just lost our deputy county administrator so we’re looking to hire another one.”Employment was also on the mind of Albemarle Supervisor Donna Price, who said a thorough review of compensation will soon get underway. “We are facing loss of some critical people primarily because of compensation packages from other governmental entities that are extremely difficult for us to match,” Price said. “I would just as one Supervisor speaking anticipate that we’re going to have to put some more money into our labor expenses in the county in order to avoid losing some of our better people.” Tony O’Brien is on the Fluvanna Board of Supervisors. He agreed that the cost of paying people to do government work is increasing.“Because Louisa raised their pay rate for the Sheriff’s office, Fluvanna had to follow in turn, too,” O’Brien said. “Obviously Sheriff’s compensation and deputy’s compensation is an issue for many many counties as recruitment is increasingly difficult.” O’Brien suggested a regional compensation study be conducted. As part of her report, TJPDC Executive Director Christine Jacobs reminded the board that City Council has extended its local COVID emergency due to a high number of cases. “How that affects us here is that we will continue to hold our public bodies, partnerships, and commissions virtually to ensure that we are keeping it as safe as possible for people,” Jacobs said. The chair of the TJPDC is Jesse Rutherford of Nelson County. Rutherford said Nelson is considering a recreation center and a business park, among other things. He also had this news. “I’m excited to announce Lovingston is getting its brewery here soon after our vote on Tuesday,” Rutherford said. According to the Lynchburg News Advance, supervisors voted unanimously on October 12 for a special use permit for the Outback Brew House to operate at the site of a former church on U.S. 29. Rutherford told the News Advance that this may begin to alleviate pressure on Route 151, which has seen multiple alcohol related businesses spring up over the years. Outback Brew House will be a microbrewery. Special announcement! Today’s the third day of a new promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out:Fall is just around the corner, but the summer heat is sticking around a bit longer. Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round! LEAP offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents, so, 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 Public Schools hires Royal Gurley as the next superintendentAlbemarle’s Board of Supervisors discusses legislative priorities for the next General Assembly session An update on the pandemic There are 4,070 cases of COVID-19 in Virginia reported today by the Virginia Department of Health. Since Wednesday, there have been 361 new cases reported in the Blue Ridge Health District. Tomorrow the University of Virginia men’s football team will play and attendees will be required to wear masks in any indoor spaces, though outdoor use is strongly recommended. (UVA update)“People who are not vaccinated are also required to wear masks outside on UVA property so there’s not a process of checking who is vaccinated or not,” said Dr. Costi Sifri, director of hospital epidemiology at UVA Health. “The delta variant can cause breakthrough infections so in this setting with 30,000, 40,000 people in close proximity to one another, wearing a mask during the game is advised.”Dr. Sifri said the delta variant is fueling the recent spike in cases and modeling data indicates that infections will continue to rise. “What’s more difficult to tell, I think, is when is the surge going to occur, and at what level, but I think it’s clear we’re on the upsurge right now,” Dr. Sifri said. Virginia has now administered more than 10 million doses of vaccine, and 57 percent of the total population has been fully vaccinated and 68.1 percent of adults are fully vaccinated. Yet, the increase in cases has caused UVA to go back to higher mitigation measures.“Back to universal masking, decreasing visitors and other folks in the institution to try to minimize the virus coming in and out,” said Dr. Reid Adams, the chief medical officer at the University of Virginia. “I think probably the biggest difference is the mask recommendation rather than a mandate throughout the Commonwealth. That’s probably the biggest different from the prior part of the pandemic.”Another change is that public schools are in session five days a week with attendance by anyone who chooses to be back for in-person instruction. For now. Amherst County Public Schools are closed until at least September 13 due to a high number of positive tests at a community-wide testing event held this past Tuesday. In their first action item at their September 2, 2021 meeting, the Charlottesville School Board filled an important leadership position. James Bryant is the body’s vice chair. “Madam Chair, I would like to make a motion to move for the acceptance of the appointment or Dr. Royal A. Gurley Jr. for Superintendent of Charlottesville Schools,” Bryant said. Gurley will take the reins on October 4 as he finishes up his time as assistant superintendent for academic services in Dinwiddie County southwest of Petersburg. (press release)“Leading Charlottesville City Schools is not something that I take lightly,” Gurley told the Board after signing his four-year contract. “I believe as Superintendent I must continue to create opportunities for our students and help them to reach their fullest potential.”Gurley succeeds Rosa Atkins, who retired at the end of May after fifteen years in the position. Later this month, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors will take up a rezoning for 332 housing units off U.S. 29 in Hollymead. In June, the Planning Commission voted six to one to recommend approval of the RST Residences project. That advisory body appeared not ready to make that recommendation in March when they saw a slightly larger version. (listen to March 5 podcast) Last week, one member of the Board of Supervisors met with the Forest Lakes Community Association, a homeowners group whose Board of Directors have opposed the project. “I listened to their concerns regarding development that is coming up and it was a good opportunity to meet with a lot of the residents and I really appreciated that,” said Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley of the Rivanna District. The proposal states that 75 percent of the units will be within the county’s affordability guidelines. To learn more about the Planning Commission’s action, read Allison Wrabel’s coverage in the Daily Progress. The item goes to the Board of Supervisors on September 15. Now time for the second Patreon-fueled shout-out:What’s your perfect holiday weekend in Charlottesville? Hanging with friends outside... Great live music... Maybe breaking a Guinness world record? Then mark your calendar for WTJU 91.1 FM's Freefall Music Festival -- Saturday, September 4 starting at 3 p.m. at IX Art Park. Live performances by Zuzu's Hot Five, Susie and the Pistols, and Good Dog Nigel. There will be an attempt to form the world's largest human music note at 7:30 p.m. Plus, a hot dog and veggie dog cookout for our whole community. Find out more at wtju.net. With only four months left in the year, the 2022 General Assembly session looms large and localities across the Commonwealth are putting together their legislative wish lists. Albemarle County will meet with area legislators in November with the hopes of enticing each to carry bills for changes in state law. (read list of 2021 legislative positions)One request has the title “Enable Civil Penalties in Lieu of Criminal Punishment.” “The purpose was to decriminalize a lot of the actions that are prohibited under the code,” said county attorney Greg Kamptner. Many of these actions relate to zoning violations and would convert them to civil infractions rather than criminal ones. Some supervisors were concerned that frequent violators are still able to be held accountable. (sample legislation) “I just want to make sure we’re not doing anything that makes it more difficult to deal with the so-called frequent fliers,” said Supervisor Diantha McKeel of the Jack Jouett District. “I recognize that there are not that many of them, but the ones that we have have just really consumed an enormous number of staff time.”Zoning administrator Bart Svoboda said if the change was made, the county would be able to request higher fines for repeated violations. “There may be some additional tools in the toolbox as we apply this to other sections of the county code,” Svoboda said. Another legislative priority is to change law to require inspections and building standards for structures built for events and operations on agricultural properties.“The buildings under current law do not have to meet the minimum requirements of the building code,” Kamptner said. Kamptner said the agricultural community and the Farm Bureau would need to be involved in order for the legislation to have a chance of passing.Supervisor Ann Mallek of the White Hall district said buildings where events are held should at the least be required to have features like panic bars in case of emergencies. She hoped to get support from her colleagues to move the legislation forward. “If people want to put a tractor or livestock in some building, that’s different than having 300 people there,” Mallek said. Another legislative idea is to expand an already approved law that allows photo-speed monitoring cameras to be used in school crossing zones and highway work zones. (HB1442 from 2020)“The idea would be to expand the enabling authority to allow localities to decide whether they want to place these devices on rural roads,” Kamptner said. LaPisto-Kirtley said police struggle to enforce speeding on two-lane roads in the rural area. “I think long stretches of the rural roads where there it is virtually impossible for the police to ticket someone because if they do stop someone on a two-lane road it’s going to cause a mile-long back up,” LaPisto-Kirtley said. Supervisor Diantha McKeel suggested the legislation be tailored for specific roads rather than a blanket provision. She also said Albemarle has yet to implement the authority it currently has. “Our police department is still looking at that,” McKeel said. “They’re going to have to come back to us to let us know if they think they can even do that.”Kamptner said the 2020 bill that gave enabling authority for cameras at work and school zones had originally included residential areas, but that was removed in order for it to pass.“The concern that we have in our county are the crashes and the number of deaths which would indicate high speed so if we were to pursue these devices in locations at above 35 miles per hour that would take us out of the traditional residential areas,” Kamptner said. Supervisors also discussed legislation to allow a portion of recordation tax to be set aside for affordable housing initiatives. They opted to not pursue legislation, but to instead find out whether they can take that step without additional enabling authority. A final vote on the 2022 legislative agenda will be held in October. Thanks for reading! If you found this useful, please share widely on social media so we can continue to keep growing the audience. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Conversa com a pesquisadora Isadora Sinay (USP) sobre a obra do escritor Philip Roth. -- Isadora Sinay possui graduação em Cinema pela FAAP, é mestre em Ciências da Religião pela PUC-SP e doutora em literatura judaica pela Universidade de São Paulo. O título da tese de Isadora é O Holocausto na obra de Philip Roth. -- Este episódio é fruto de uma parceria entre o Afinidades e o clube do livro Sifriá, da União do Judaísmo Reformista. -- Ficha técnica: Entrevistador(es): Juliana de Albuquerque Edição: Juliana de Albuquerque Música: Três Rios Identidade Visual (logo AE): Andrea Camargo -- #literatura #judaísmo #cultura #livros #sociedade

In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out is for the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign, an initiative that wants you to grow native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water.  Start at the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page and tell them Lonnie Murray sent you! On today’s show: Charlottesville Area Transit makes some route adjustments and some examples of the “partnership” in the Jefferson Area Regional Transit Partnership An epidemiologist at the University of Virginiaexplains key differences between the current pandemic surge and the winter surge The Free Enterprise Forum releases its annual report on local government spending trendsThe number of new COVID cases in Virginia has exceeded 3,000 for each of the past four days, with 3,518 reported by the Virginia Department of Health. The percent positivity is 10, which means one out of every ten tests is coming back as a confirmed case. There have been 254 reported COVID deaths since July 27. The VDH updated a dashboard today that tracks cases by vaccination status. Due to a variety of factors, this is a difficult one to update every day. Here are two conclusions listed on the site:“Between January 17, 2021 and August 21, 2021, unvaccinated people developed COVID-19 at a rate 13.3 times higher than fully vaccinated people and 2.6 times higher than fully vaccinated people,” reads the section below “rates by vaccination status.” “As of August 21, 2021, 4,767,990 Virginians have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” reads one under “vaccine breakthrough cases.” “ Of these people, 0.2 percent have developed COVID-19, 0.009 percent have been hospitalized, and 0.0017 percent have died.” Dr. Costi Sifri is the director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia. He told members of the press today that the term “breakthrough case” is a bit misleading in a time when the delta variant is so prevalent. “Some of us are concerned by the word breakthrough suggesting that it is a vaccine failure and most of these infections that have occured are not failures,” Dr. Sifri said. “Most of these infections that occurred after vaccinations really are not failures. People have received the vaccine and the vaccine has done its job. It’s kept people out of the hospital. It’s kept them from serious consequences of COVID.” The seven-day average for new cases now is where it was in early December as the winter surge hit. Let’s hear one interchange between UVA Health public information officer Eric Swensen and Dr. Sifri. Eric Swensen:“The number of new cases is now in the 3000’s which is roughly about where they were sort of shortly after Thanksgiving of last year. So the question is really, what’s different if anything between now and then and should we be concerned that case count has risen back to where it was?”Dr. Costi Sifri:“There is one huge difference and that is that we now have an effective vaccine and we did not have one in November that was being used and distributed. Our vaccination started December 15 and nationwide it started that week. So what we’re seeing right now is almost entirely preventable. That is the big difference and the frustration.” Eric Swensen:“Should people be avoiding crowds at this time until those third doses are more widely available for people. For some context, Liberty University is on a campus-wide quarantine through  September 10. What are your thoughts on people being out and being out in crowds?” (LU page on their temporary mitigation period)Dr. Costi Sifri:“This gets into sort of the gray areas and challenges I think with COVID that are often individually based. Part of the calculation is whether you are vaccinated or not vaccinated. What is the nature of the event? Is the crowd 40 people out on a mountaintop or 500 people in an indoor arena? And what is your level of risk tolerance? The risk tolerance may not only be you but it may be the people that you live with. The kids that are home, loved ones, family members. I think that is a very specific answer. I think again if we’re vaccinated, that’s very effective. If you’re in a situation with crowds, wearing a mask is easy to do. You should be doing it if you’re indoors in the state right now where we have substantial or high levels of COVID transmission in nearly every county of the state.”More on the pandemic as we move forward. A regional pro-business group that takes a close look at local governments in the region has released its annual report on spending habits. The Free Enterprise Forum’s Choices and Decisions report is a Local Government Spending Index that compares municipal expenditures in Charlottesville as well the counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson. “The analysis seeks to develop and track over time an objective metric to capture the spending trend in each locality and determine if this trend can be correlated to other trends occurring within the locality,” reads the report. One metric generated is per-capita operational spending, and Charlottesville ranks highest with a 2020 figure of $4,975.75 per resident. Albemarle is next at $3,398.44, followed by Nelson at $3,090.44, Louisa County at $3,026.44, Greene at $2,804.17, and Fluvanna at $2,559.43. The index is modeled after the Consumer Price Index, a metric used by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics to measure the cost of goods and services over time. The Free Enterprise Forum uses data from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Auditor of Public Accounts. Review the whole report on their website. There’s also a spreadsheet with all of the data. *If you’re interested in becoming directly involved in Charlottesville government, the city is looking for applicants to many boards and commissions, ranging from the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Authority to the Youth Council. If you’re interested in transportation, there are vacancies on bodies like the Jaunt Board of Directors and the Citizen’s Transportation Advisory Committee. For housing, there’s the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority or the Community Development Block Grant Task Force. Either way, if you’re interested in experience, even applying for these positions is a good way to get involved. Visit charlottesville.gov to learn more. (release)You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement. 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 the Code for Charlottesville website to learn more, including details on projects that are under way. Before we get to a quick review of the Regional Transit Authority, two small pieces of Charlottesville Area Transit news. First, the free trolley-style bus that runs between downtown and the University of Virginia will return to traveling down McCormick Road through the heart of UVA Grounds. Second, additional service will be added to Route 9 during peak hours. That route currently travels between the University of Virginia Hospital, the Piedmont Family YMCA, Charlottesville High School, and downtown Charlottesville. CAT Director Garland Williams said the move is being made in the short-term to help with the start of the school year. “Because we know there was going to be potentially some high schoolers that were going to use our service, we added additional service during the peak periods of time on Route 9,” Williams told the Regional Transit Partnership on Thursday. According to the last seven years of ridership data, Route 9 is one of the least traveled of all of the current CAT routes whereas the trolley-style bus route has consistently had the highest ridership. The current Route 9 will change its configuration if Council agrees to the route alterations that have been under public review this year. Under its new alignment, Route 9 will travel between downtown and Fashion Square Mall via the Piedmont Family YMCA in McIntire Park. Other routes will serve the UVA Hospital. Review all of the changes here. One of the people who will take a final vote on the proposed transit changes is City Councilor Lloyd Snook. He became vice chair of the Jefferson Area Regional Transit Partnership on Thursday and explained why he was interested in serving on that advisory body.“My main interest in transit has been that I am convinced that Charlottesville is needing a transition from being a suburban-thinking town to being a city-thinking city and transit is an important part of that,” Snook said. “It’s also an important part of an affordable housing strategy and a city planning strategy.”Another member of the Regional Transit Authority is the interim executive director of Jaunt, Karen Davis.“I’m pleased to let you know that ridership is coming right back and this is trending up and our services are back to full service in all areas,” Davis said. “Despite the driver shortage that we’re seeing.”Davis said that includes the Crozet Connect service, which had been running on a limited schedule due to the pandemic. Another of the partners is the University of Virginia Transit Service, who joined as a voting member of the advisory body. Davis said the two transit providers recently got together for discussions. “They got picked up in a Jaunt bus, brought to our home base, and we had three hours of meeting where we were brainstorming, where we made connections, and from here we have committed to meeting regularly and setting some priorities,” Davis said. One example of a current conflict that might be resolved is that Jaunt vehicles cannot directly pick up or drop off passengers who are headed to the Emily Couric Cancer Center. One place Jaunt buses can go is the Center at Belvedere, where Davis recently met with Director Peter Thompson. The Center is a non-voting member of the Regional Transit Partnership will also be served by Charlottesville Area Transit’s Route 11 when the service changes are made. Now back to that driver shortage. There are several area transit agencies and each of them need more people to work behind the wheel.“I was just taking steps to put a recruitment bonus in place only to realize that both CAT and UTS have totally offered much bigger bonuses so I have to address that program line,” Davis said.Davis said she is retaining her existing drivers, and only one that she knows of has gone to work for CAT. CAT is paying a $2,400 bonus for new drivers who work for at least nine months as well as existing drivers. New and existing UTS drivers will get a $2,500 bonus.“It’s going to be a $1,000 payout right away for our standing staff and $1,000 for new staff, and then after two full semesters of driving, the rest of the bonus,” said Becca White is the director of UVA’s Parking and Transportation. White said she has been tracking closely the number of faculty and staff who have opted to pay for spaces as the pandemic continues. “As we know, transit and parking are tied together very closely so we’ve been watching that uptake of parking permits because that’s oftentimes an indication of how many people are back in the office and what potential riders we have for CAT or Jaunt or Afton Express,” White said. “On August 1, about 55 percent to 60 percent of the academic employees had purchased their permits as compared to pre-COVID. Just in the last three weeks that number has now increased to 85 percent.”White said ridership on health employee shuttle routes have increased as the semester approaches. The academic routes that serve Central Grounds have increased to 10,000 passengers a day. Before COVID, that number was around 15,000.“And all of that service is in the last mile,” White said. “Every bit of it.” U-Heights is an apartment complex on Ivy Road in Albemarle County that is no longer served by University Transit Service. However, there is a large immigrant and refugee population. White has worked with management at U-Heights to provide mobility for residents who are no longer served by fixed-route transit. The theme of collaboration continued. The Regional Transit Partnership is staffed by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. Garland Williams is the director of CAT. “On the third of September, TDJPC staff will be over for a visit,” Williams said. “I want to kind of introduce them to my team and get them the lay of the land.”That will include a look at capital projects that CAT will pursue. A major purchase in recent years has been automatic passenger counters that will help provide more accurate ridership counts. Williams said these have been installed on all buses and the data is being validated. But what about those route changes?“We are in the final processes of getting the approvals,” Williams said. “The last piece that we have to do which we will hopefully be able to kick off next Friday is to get a consultant on board to finish up the required Title VI review from the changes based on the feedback we got from the community. Once that is done it has to go to Council and we’ll also share that information with Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.” Title VI refers to the Civil Rights Act, which requires a public process before making changes on routes paid for with federal funds. That means there is no set date for when the forthcoming changes will be made. That will require installation of new bus stops at places that currently do not have them, as well as removal of the stops that will be discontinued. A reason for the delay has been to address the driver shortage. CAT is down 22 drivers and pupil transportation for city school is down 20. More from the Regional Transit Partnership in an upcoming newsletter. Thank you for reading! Next up is the Week Ahead newsletter on Sunday, followed by another attempt to get one of these CCE newsletters done each weekday. Each week I get a little more efficient, which means I can bring you more information. And it’s all thanks to those of you who have contributed financially. I have taken my previous experience as a freelance journalist and created a one-person newsroom. Rather than give a set of links today, I just wish you a happy 239! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe