Good morning and welcome to the July 27, 2024 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Today is the National Day of the Cowboy, something officially sanctioned by the General Assembly in 2015. Nothing in this edition pertains to that, but somehow this ended up in the show notes anyway.

In this edition:

* Habitat for Humanity will make a counter-offer of at least $7 million to purchase the Carlton Mobile Home Park in Charlottesville

* The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission agrees to pursue another round of funding for rural housing presentation

* The Albemarle Planning Commission recommends approval of a rezoning for up to 165 units at 1193 Seminole Trail just north of the Charlottesville border

* Elected bodies in both Albemarle and Charlottesville are briefed on changes to the budget process that funds nonprofit agencies who provide services to help humans in need

* New legislation now allows some appointed bodies in Virginia to meet virtually more often

* The TJDPC also receives additional funding from Virginia for broadband expansion

* A local store that specializes in the creative reuse of art supplies joins a regional collective to promote the practice

Show notes for CCE-710A

If you listen carefully, this is the show that went out on WTJU this morning at 6 a.m. Ordinarily I would swap out the introduction, but I really want to take a break from audio production after yesterday. Sometimes this will happen.

This is the 19th edition of the podcast that has aired on WTJU and since that time I’ve made a lot of changes to my process. But this is not one of the days I want to write about it extensively as there’s other things I want to do today.

So, thanks for listening if you did, and if you didn’t, I recommend it. My career had an early start in public radio and I opted to go a different route and here we are.

Now it is time to get to work on the new set of stories!

This being a leap year, July 18 is the 200th day of the year. Will knowing that piece of information have any effect on how this day flows for you? Is there any significance to this being the 707th edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement? If so, can it be found by listening to endless covers of the song Seven and Seven Is? I’m Sean Tubbs, and while that’s unlikely I’m going to keep trying.

In today’s installment:

* Charlottesville City Council is briefed on work toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions including a new dashboard to keep track of progress

* The Albemarle County Economic Development Authority endorses a request to increase the pay scale for federal employees in the Charlottesville Metropolitan area

* Albemarle County has issued a request for proposals for a firm to change the traffic layout of The Square in Crozet and provide other improvements

Yesterday my copy of Tuesday’s Charlottesville Daily Progress arrived via mail and it was a thrill to smell the paper and to remember my early days as a journalist. Though I was never an employee, I had stories appear for nine years from 2009 to 2018 and I’m glad to have been part of the first rough draft of history.

I am grateful there are many sources of information about what happens in this community and glad I’ve got enough paying subscribers myself to keep me practicing my brand of journalism here at Charlottesville Community Engagement. I’m Sean Tubbs, making sure you check out the ‘reading material’ at the bottom of every edition.

In today’s installment:

* Charlottesville Area Transit starts off the new year with new resources

* A work group has created by-laws for a future Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transit Authority

* Charlottesville is seeking people to join boards and commissions and applications are due July 31

Today marks the 79th anniversary of the first ever detonation of a nuclear bomb with the Trinity test in New Mexico as part of the Manhattan Project. Just a few weeks later, the United States would use one of these in combat to end the Second World War. The devices kept getting tested, though, and over 200,000 American soldiers took part in those that happened aboveground. Their participation was a secret until years later.

In 2015, the General Assembly passed a resolution marking July 16 as National Atomic Veterans Day. I’m Sean Tubbs, and this is today’s edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement.

In this edition:

* The Virginia Department of Transportation is planning on putting lights on a section of I-64 at Afton Mountain

* Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders reviews his first year in office

* Albemarle County planning staff have made changes to the way the Comprehensive Plan is being revised and the Planning Commission got a briefing last week

What’s in a number? Other numbers, usually. Seven hundred is seven times a hundred, or a hundred and forty fives, thirty-five twenties, twenty-eight twenty-fives, and many other rational combinations. This particular 700 is the one for Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter that seeks to be rational in its approach to presenting information that may sometimes be irrational.

In this edition:

* A trauma expert at the UVA Health System offers fireworks safety tips on this dry Fourth

* Fluvanna Supervisors agree to support a marker in Columbia commemorating the farewell journey of General Lafayette in 1824

* Nelson County will receive $2.5 million from the Virginia Department of Transportation for sidewalk improvements on Front Street in Lovingston

* Three Virginia transportation projects are among recipients of federal RAISE grants but a local bridge project did not make the cut