Episodios

  • Podcast for July 5, 2025: Naturalization ceremony held at Monticello for 74 new citizens; Hundreds protest Ryan’s ouster at UVA

    Podcast for July 5, 2025: Naturalization ceremony held at Monticello for 74 new citizens; Hundreds protest Ryan’s ouster at UVA
    Jul 5 2025
    There are now 364 days to go until the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a historic document that remains relevant as we approach the semiquincentennial. Eight days have passed since the executive branch of the federal government demanded the resignation of University of Virginia President Jim Ryan. There’s a lot happening, and Charlottesville Community Engagement is intended to document as much as possible. I’m Sean Tubbs.In this edition:* Five people were shot in the city’s Fifeville neighborhood late Friday night including two children* A Charlottesville Circuit Court judge has thrown the city’s zoning ordinance out after a legal deadline was not met (learn more) (learn even more)* President Jim Ryan has resigned from the University of Virginia and the path is known for his replacement (learn more) (learn even more)* Former Attorney Ken Cuccinelli continues to serve on the UVA Board of Visitors despite his confirmation being rejected by a Virginia Senate committee, prompting a legal case* Seventy-four new Americans were sworn in as citizens on the morning of July 4 at Monticello (not yet in print)* Hundreds of people were on hand for a protest at UVA just a few hours later to demand steps to prevent the public institution from more federal interference (not yet in print)* Greene Supervisors vote to move forward with smaller water supply (learn more)Thanks for reading Charlottesville Community Engagement ! This post is public so feel free to share it.A note before we beginThis edition should have gone out yesterday as soon as I finished the version for WTJU, but I chose to attend a social event instead. I’m glad I went but do wish I had stayed to complete the work.You will also note that this edition has written versions for three stories including the one about the shooting. I didn’t have a lot of audio to work with this week, and I wanted to document in audio the zoning code and the Ryan resignation. The headlines are sparse because those are slugs. The protest story and the naturalization story will be posted to Information Charlottesville before going out in Monday’s newsletter.No written shout-outs in this one because I want to get this posted, but I’m going to be experimenting as I go.Five people shot in Fifeville Friday nightAn Independence Day celebration in Fifeville turned tragic late Friday night when gunfire erupted, sending five people to the hospital including three children.A series of firework displays had begun after dark across the neighborhood causing many people to be outside to see and hear the explosions.According to an information release from Charlottesville Police Department, officers responded to multiple calls of a shooting on Orangedale around 11:23 p.m. The first officers arrived a couple of minutes later and found five people who had been shot.The victims were a 10-year-old girl, an 11-year-old boy, a 17-year-old male, an 18-year-old female, and a 52-year-old male.“Due to heavy foot and vehicle traffic, emergency medical units were initially unable to access the scene,” reads the release. “Officers and medics worked together to transport the victims on foot and in patrol vehicles, applying pressure to their wounds until additional EMS personnel arrived.”Everyone shot was reported to be in stable condition as of the release sent out at 11:13 a.m. this morning. The Criminal Investigations Division and Forensics Unit are investigating and police want to see video footage.The Fifeville Neighborhood Association is holding a community gathering at 6 p.m. at Abundant Life at 782 Prospect Avenue.Copy for UVA RYAN:Facing pressure from the United States Department of Justice, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan resigned from his position on June 27.The Cavalier Daily reports that the Civil Rights Division under the control of President Donald Trump sent seven letters to UVA between April 11 and June 17 insisting that not enough had been done to demonstrate that programs to encourage and promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion had not been sufficiently dismantled.In a statement, Ryan said he did not want to put federal grant funding at risk to save his job, a job he planned to leave in 2026. So he resigned and Executive Vice President J.J. Davis will serve as acting president.Many groups have condemned the pressure from the federal government including the Faculty Senate. The Virginia Conference of the American Association of University Professors sent a letter on June 30.Later on in the program we’ll have audio from a protest held at the University Avenue side of the Rotunda on July 4.The Board of Visitors had been scheduled to meet on July 1 for a personnel matter but canceled the virtual event before it began. The claim is that the meeting wasn’t needed, but on that same day former Rector Robert Hardie was served with a lawsuit arguing that one of the members of the Board of Visitors continued to sit in the position ...
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    32 m
  • Podcast for June 20, 2025: Several stories from Charlottesville City Council's second meeting in June

    Podcast for June 20, 2025: Several stories from Charlottesville City Council's second meeting in June
    Jun 20 2025

    In this edition:

    * There’s a new vote-counting system in Charlottesville City Council but this past week, Council had to take a series of voice votes because it wasn’t quite ready.

    * City Council briefed on Neighborhood Development Services work plan, forthcoming zoning changes (learn more)

    * City Council gets briefing on Human Rights work in Charlottesville (learn more) (2.75)

    * Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis addresses recent shootings on the Downtown Mall as well as a decision to not use crime analysis software known as Peregrine (learn more)

    * Council takes a series of votes on items that I’ve not yet written for print!

    Shout-out to subscribers!

    On the days when I stop and wonder if what I’m doing has any value, I sit down and write people who have decided to contribute to the business. I thanked over a dozen people yesterday to let them know that their support fuels me. There have been around a thousand people who have done so in the past five years, and I’ve managed to do all of that without any assistance from a marketing staff.

    There are organizations out there that secure grant funds in order to hire people to secure more funding! I just want to cobble together enough of an income to be able to keep going. If I had not been here the past five years doing this work, there are many things that would not have gone reported.

    * I wrote at least 100,000 words on the creation of the Development Code and continue to monitor new projects every single week

    * I am covering Albemarle County’s enthusiastic push for economic development including the purchase of land for a future defense and intelligence sector

    * I track what the University of Virginia is purchasing, what they plan to build, and how they intend to grow

    I dislike selling myself. I’m a self-effacing journalist with leaky self-confidence. I’m fairly certain I am not employable in this community anymore. This is all I got, and I’m hopeful to keep going for a while.

    And thanks to the hundreds of people who believe in my work enough to pay me. One day I am hopeful I can help train more people. I know I’m passionate about this work and hopeful for the future. If you want to learn more about how you can support the work, check out this section on the Information Charlottesville 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
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    33 m
  • Podcast for June 14, 2025: Albemarle Supervisors get briefing on economic development, cost of county services

    Podcast for June 14, 2025: Albemarle Supervisors get briefing on economic development, cost of county services
    Jun 14 2025
    The podcast edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement marks the end of the workweek for the devoted staff at Town Crier Productions and the beginning of the next one. The mission is to write as much as possible and to always strive to capture more. The podcast edition reaches about a tenth of the audience for the written version. From a production standpoint, they’re the same thing - stories about the community that may help you understand some of the shifting dynamics. I’m Sean Tubbs, and I’m glad to be able to bring this information to you.On this edition:* Inaugural director of Manning Institute of Biotechnology shares vision with UVA Board (learn more)* UVA surpasses $6 billion in major fundraising campaign (learn more)* Charlottesville Planning Commission briefed on forthcoming updates to zoning code (learn more)* UVA provides update on construction projects to Charlottesville Planning Commission (learn more)* City parks and recreation put garden plot term limits on hold (learn more)* Albemarle County Supervisors get briefings on the cost of county services as well as economic development (stories come out on Monday)Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Soul-searching SaturdayThere are no shout-outs in the print edition but I’ll take this Saturday afternoon to write up the current state of that form of public announcements. I’ve strived to be transparent with how my company makes revenue.Prior to launching this newsletter on July 13, 2020, I launched a Patreon account for people who wanted to provide seed money for the overall venture. I did not know how I would distribute the work. At the time, my work consisted of a podcast called the Charlottesville Quarantine Report.That went out through Simplecast, and I still pay $15 a month to host the work until I can figure out a more permanent place for it to live. I think it is a valuable archive of a time in history. If you want to hear one, go back and listen to the June 8, 2020 edition which gave an update on what local government was doing.Producing that program made me want to move forward with this newsletter, which was a podcast for almost all of the first 700 editions. These were very short in nature at first but expanded over time as I got used to doing the work.If you look at the print version of the July 13, 2020 edition, there is no shout-out. There are also no pictures. No headlines. It’s literally a radio script. If you take a listen, you’ll hear a shout-out to Rapture. I put that in as a placeholder as I spent some time in public radio and wanted to do something. At the time, the place had reopened under COVID rules and it was where I spent time away from home.In the July 15, 2020 edition, I noted that Mead Oriental Rugs was supporting the show in both the print and the written versions. I’m friends with the owner. There was no money exchanged.In the fourth version, College Inn was a shout-out. One of the owners let me do this and I don’t remember if we had any sort of an arrangement or not. They’re now gone.This continued for those first few weeks with me adding in others here and there, even promoting the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. That’s the site I created in 2005 as an experiment in audio distribution.By the 14th edition of the newsletter, I began to implement something from the Patreon world. For most of the time of the site, if you paid $25 a month through Patreon, you’d get a certain number of “shout-outs” in the newsletter. I began to track these, as there were many people willing to support the work.And so on. Now we’re up to 879 editions of the regular newsletter, and over 315 editions of the Week Ahead newsletter. All produced by one person. However, the business has grown incrementally, and there is now much in the shout-out system that needs to be fixed.I’m hoping to do that over the course of the year. I’m no longer taking any new requests under the old system but I have two paid advertisers who are going to work with me as I begin to put the new system in place. This will be a mixture of message here in Substack, banner ads on Information Charlottesville, as well as mentions in the podcast.The shout-out will continue and the new policy will contain some way of getting public service announcements. There are thousands of you reading this newsletter and I suspect that number will grow as more people learn.Now I need to get going because the next set of stories beckon. Thank you for reading to this point if you did. If you didn’t read to this point, please know I’m waving at you and saying hello anyway.Thanks for reading Charlottesville Community Engagement ! This post is public so feel free to share it. 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/...
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    32 m
  • Podcast for June 7, 2025: City Manager Sanders addresses recent issues; Albemarle Supervisors deny request to fill in the floodplain

    Podcast for June 7, 2025: City Manager Sanders addresses recent issues; Albemarle Supervisors deny request to fill in the floodplain
    Jun 7 2025
    The end of the week at Town Crier Productions means it is time for another audio edition produced in the form of a podcast! Newer readers may not know that for many years, all of these versions went out in sonic form. Will that ever happen again? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Perhaps all effort in the future will go toward a version not unlike Bazooka Joe comics? In any case, I’m Sean Tubbs and it may be time to get on with the show.In this edition:* Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders addresses several issues including FEI, Sanctuary City list, arrest of man who painted crosswalk across Elliott Avenue (learn more)* Sanders reduces contingency spending request after appearing on Sanctuary City list (learn more)* All bids for Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail renovation exceed budget (learn more)* Albemarle County Supervisors deny a request to fill in the floodplain for an industrial building in the Woolen Mills* Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority adopts budget for FY2026, $550 million capital improvement program (learn more)Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.First shout-out: Plant Virginia NativesSpring is here and there’s still time to plan for upgrades to your outdoors. You can take some time to get ready for spring! Check out Plant Virginia Natives!Plant Virginia Natives is part of a partnership with ten regional campaigns for ten different ecosystems across Virginia, from the Northern Piedmont to the Eastern Shore. Take a look at the full map below for the campaign for native species where you are in the Commonwealth. For the Charlottesville area, download a free copy of the handbook: Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Gardens.Plant Northern Piedmont Natives is for anyone who works with native plants, whether you are a property owner, private consultant, landscape designer, nursery operator, conservation group, or local government.Second shout out: Cville Village?Can you drive a neighbor to a doctor’s appointment? Change an overhead lightbulb, plant a flower, walk a dog for someone who is sick, visit someone who is lonely? If so, Cville Village needs you!Cville Village is a local 501c3 nonprofit organization loosely affiliated with a national network of Villages whose goals are to help seniors stay in their own homes as long as possible, and to build connections among them that diminish social isolation. Volunteers do small chores for, and have gatherings of, professors and schoolteachers, nurses and lawyers, aides and housekeepers. Time and chance come to all – a fall, an order not to drive, failing eyesight, a sudden stroke. They assist folks continue living at home, with a little help from their friends.Cville Village volunteers consult software that shows them who has requested a service and where they are located. Volunteers accept only the requests that fit their schedule and their skills.Volunteering for Cville Village can expand your circle of friends and shower you with thanks.To learn more, visit cvillevillage.org or attend one of their monthly Village “meet-ups” and see for yourself. To find out where and when the next meetup is, or to get more information and a volunteer application, email us at info@cvillevillage.org, or call them at (434) 218-3727. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
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    31 m
  • Podcast for May 31, 2025: Free Enterprise Forum holds candidate forums for Jack Jouett District, Charlottesville City Council

    Podcast for May 31, 2025: Free Enterprise Forum holds candidate forums for Jack Jouett District, Charlottesville City Council
    May 31 2025
    Regularity is important in a publication, but there’s a certain uncertainty that comes with material created by Town Crier Productions. The goal is for the podcast editions to come out on Fridays, but there are times when that will shift. The reasons for these occasional deviations are not to be written out, but if you listen to the recording perhaps I will explain more. I’m Sean Tubbs and this is my best attempt at suspense.In this edition:* The Free Enterprise Forum holds a campaign forum for the two candidates for the Jack Jouett District (learn more)* The Free Enterprise Forum also held one for the three people running for two Democratic slots for City Council on the ballot this fall (podcast-only preview!)* The governing body of the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority gets an update and adopts a budget for FY2026 (learn more)* There will be a public hearing before Charlottesville City Council on June 2 for utility rate increases (learn more)* Albemarle County on track to exceed revenue forecast for FY2025 (learn more)Join the dozens of people who have signed up this week! The next edition comes out tomorrow and will give a preview of upcoming government meetings!First shout out: Charlottesville E-bike Lending LibraryIt’s the last day of Charlottesville Bike Month. The rolling topography of the Charlottesville area might keep some people away from choosing cycling as an option to get around. Perhaps an e-bike is in order?That’s where Charlottesville’s eBike Lending Library comes in! E-bikes are a great way to get around the community but there are many brands and styles to choose from. Because many e-bikes are sold online, it can be a challenge to try an e-bike before buying one.The Charlottesville E-bike Lending Library is a free, not-for-profit service working to expand access to e-bikes in the area. They have a small collection of e-bikes that they lend out to community members for up to a week, for free. You can experience your daily commute, go grocery shopping, or even bike your kids to school, and decide whether e-bikes are right for you. Check out this service at https://www.ebikelibrarycville.org!Program announcements for May 31, 2025As I said above, the podcast versions usually come out on Fridays but there are often times that does not happen. There’s a radio version that airs on WTJU at 6 a.m. and it has to be 29 minutes long at least. I’m visiting family this week so things aren’t quite as efficient. I was up until 10 p.m. last night writing and producing the City Council segment and uploading it to YouTube.The written version may go out on Information Charlottesville tomorrow but it will definitely be in the Monday edition of the newsletter. I’m deciding against posting new text content on Saturday because this is usually the day I try not to work if I can help it.But it’s also the day I look at all of the jurisdictions in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District to get ready for the meeting previews I’ll post on Fifth District Community Engagement throughout the week ahead. Later on today I’ll scope out tomorrow’s Week Ahead and possibly will try to start my second story for the next C-Ville Weekly.You may think this doesn’t sound like a day off. But organization is the way I’m able to get all of this work done on a steady basis. And I listen to music throughout the day! Right now, I’m listening to the new Sparks album, MAD! There’s a lot to dislike about these times, but access to music connects me to humanity. It makes me feel like I’m living to hear something new for the first time.I’m really procrastinating now as I wait for the last song on the album to stop. This feels like a very important album and I’ve just heard it for the first time.I have to record the continuity for the podcast. That’s the opening, the shout-outs, and the end piece. I have a template I use each time and I have a whole series of sounds I use as interstitials to break up the segments. All of the segments are produced separately and in an ideal world I’d record the narration before I post them to Charlottesville Community Engagement.Okay the album ended, and I conclude this procrastinatory text by wanting to express my gratitude to my father, Joseph Tubbs, for providing me an example of how to be productive and how to use your passion to fuel your career. It’s his birthday today and I’m about to go celebrate with him and my mother.I leave you with two videos.`Second shout-out: Charlottesville Community BikesIn today’s second subscriber supported shout-out, Charlottesville Community Bikes strives to provide wheels to anyone who needs a ride. That includes:* There’s a Kid’s Bike program for people under the age of 12 (learn more)* Several social services organizations refer people to Charlottesville Community Bikes for access to reliable transportation (learn more)* Keep an eye on their calendar for the next mobile repair clinic (learn more)* There’s also a ...
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    33 m
  • Podcast for May 25, 2025: City Council candidate forum, Sanders explains how he wants to spend $5.4 million from surplus, and an important day at the BZA

    Podcast for May 25, 2025: City Council candidate forum, Sanders explains how he wants to spend $5.4 million from surplus, and an important day at the BZA
    May 25 2025
    Congratulations! You’re about to listen to the latest edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement! All you have to do is hit the play button and you’ll be able to hear several stories about what’s happening in local and regional government. Many of the stories that go out in this newsletter are produced in a manner that allows people to listen, using the voices of people who are in the stories! This is not a new concept, but this is a necessary paragraph to get me to the point where I say I’m Sean Tubbs, and this is what I seem to do.Programming note: This should have gone out on Friday afternoon but there were complications and I decided to produce this on Sunday. The Week Ahead will likely come out on Monday and back to regular programming on Tuesday.In this edition:* Three candidates for two Democratic nominations for City Council address Greenbrier neighborhood (read the story)* Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders provides updates on how FY24 surplus might be spent ahead of June 2 vote (read the story)* Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review denies request to demolish 1301 Wertland Street (learn more)* Charlottesville’s Board of Zoning Appeals upholds an administrative modification for a 24-unit development on Barracks Road (C-Ville Weekly version)First shout-out: Rivanna River Otter MonitoringHave you seen a river otter lately? The Rivanna Conservation Alliance wants to know! The group is conducting a study of the presence of Lontra canadensis. The creatures have been spotted throughout the Rivanna River watershed—in rivers, streams, and even backyard ponds!While they’re best known for their playful antics, river otters are also important indicators of stream health. They depend on clean water, healthy riparian buffers, and abundant prey sources (including fish, amphibians, and benthic macroinvertebrates) for survival. As such, their presence or absence within our waterways can provide valuable insights into the overall health of our rivers and streams.To learn more, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance has launched the Rivanna River Otter Monitoring Project to gather valuable data on river otter populations while encouraging community members to get outside and explore our local waterways. This project aims not only to inspire public appreciation for river otters, but also foster a deeper community connection to our rivers and streams and the diverse wildlife populations they support.To learn more and consider a donation, please visit the Rivanna Conservation Alliance.Second-shout out: Cville VillageCan you drive a neighbor to a doctor’s appointment? Change an overhead lightbulb, plant a flower, walk a dog for someone who is sick, visit someone who is lonely? If so, Cville Village needs you!Cville Village is a local 501c3 nonprofit organization loosely affiliated with a national network of Villages whose goals are to help seniors stay in their own homes as long as possible, and to build connections among them that diminish social isolation. Volunteers do small chores for, and have gatherings of, professors and schoolteachers, nurses and lawyers, aides and housekeepers. Time and chance come to all – a fall, an order not to drive, failing eyesight, a sudden stroke. They assist folks continue living at home, with a little help from their friends.Cville Village volunteers consult software that shows them who has requested a service and where they are located. Volunteers accept only the requests that fit their schedule and their skills.Volunteering for Cville Village can expand your circle of friends and shower you with thanks.To learn more, visit cvillevillage.org or attend one of their monthly Village “meet-ups” and see for yourself. To find out where and when the next meetup is, or to get more information and a volunteer application, email us at info@cvillevillage.org, or call them at (434) 218-3727. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
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    34 m
  • Podcast for May 16, 2025: Leaders of Albemarle, Charlottesville, and UVA talk collaboration and innovation at Tom Tom Festival

    Podcast for May 16, 2025: Leaders of Albemarle, Charlottesville, and UVA talk collaboration and innovation at Tom Tom Festival
    May 16 2025
    Brace yourselves now for another sonic edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement with audio versions of stories that have already gone out in this feed. These podcasts also appear in radio form on WTJU on Saturday morning at 6 a.m. but you can decide when you to listen the podcast. I’m Sean Tubbs, and I could decide to wait to produce it, but then everything would go stale.In this edition:* The executives in charge of Albemarle, Charlottesville, and the University of Virginia talk collaboration and innovation at the Tom Tom Festival (learn more)* City Council votes 3-1 to approve special use permit for commercial lodging at 401 Ridge Street (learn more)* Charlottesville City Council holds first reading on pass-through grant for police technology (learn more)* Charlottesville City Council also votes to approve a new lease for the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial Foundation for their memorial in McIntire Park (story not online yet)First shout-out: Celebrating the community’s other information organizations!There are a lot of stories each week that go out through this newsletter, but no one information outlet can put together the entire picture. That’s why each regular edition ends with a section called Reading Material.Charlottesville is fortunate to have a media landscape that includes the Charlottesville Daily Progress, C-Ville Weekly, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and Cville Right Now, I curate links from these sources because I believe a truly informed community needs multiple perspectives.There’s also the Cavalier Daily, Vinegar Hill Magazine, the Fluvanna Review, the Crozet Gazette, NBC29, CBS19, and other sources. But if you look every day, you’ll find links to articles in national publications, all linked to give you more perspectives on some of the issues of our times.Now more than ever, journalism is needed. To be a citizen of a democracy, you must seek information from multiple sources. Consume only one and you are at risk of becoming a zombie!Second shout-out: Advertise on Information CharlottesvilleLong-time readers may know that most of the stories posted through this newsletter are also posted to Information Charlottesville. Sometimes the stories go there first! Both this newsletter and that website are part of the same information gathering operation, an operation I hope to continue to grow!There are multiple ways to contribute to Town Crier Productions.One new one is to place an advertisement on Information Charlottesville. I’m in the early days of experimenting with visual ways for organizations to get their message across to a growing audience. I’ve not yet put together a media kit, but I’m ready to offer a special for March. What’s the special? More details in the audio version of the podcasts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
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    31 m
  • Podcast for May 9, 2025: Four stories on transportation, one on water, and Council agrees to allow a building on Chancellor Street to come down

    Podcast for May 9, 2025: Four stories on transportation, one on water, and Council agrees to allow a building on Chancellor Street to come down
    May 9 2025
    If you have never heard the podcast edition of the newsletter before, how will you be able to tell if the words I am writing here are actually the words I’m saying to the hundreds of listeners? Don’t you want to hear the way people in these stories sound? Wouldn’t you like to see if the editors left in the many curse words that are uttered during production? Either way, there are both written and sonic versions of Charlottesville Community Engagement and one day there may be a version told entirely through pencil shavings.In this edition:* Charlottesville City Council grants appeal to allow Delta Zeta to demolish 144 Chancellor Street (learn more)* Virginia now requires localities in the same river basin to come up with a regional water supply plan to prepare for drought (learn more)* Council agrees to exercise eminent domain to purchase land for streetscape projects (learn more)* Residents call for Council to take action on speeding on Lankford and Deputy City Manager James Freas provides an update (learn more)* A look back at a presentation in January on the city’s safe streets strategy (learn more)* Albemarle County’s Board of Supervisors adopts a budget for FY2026 after another review of what is in it (podcast listeners get a first listen!)First-shout: Rivanna River Fest this SaturdayWe’re up to that time of year when the Rivanna Conservation Alliance and their partners celebrate our community’s main waterway - the Rivanna River!From 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. there will be all sorts of events at the Rivanna River Company on land now owned by the City of Charlottesville. There will be family-friendly activity tables, free tubing from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m (depending on water levels), and you can sign up for fly-fishing lessons with Orvis.* At 2:30 p.m. you can hear the “Story of Buck Island” from Philip Cobbs* At 3 p.m. the Rockfish Wild Sanctuary will present “Wild Neighbors”* At 3:30 p.m. Horace Scruggs will present the “African American History of the River”* At 4 p.m. there is a guided walk from Steve Gaines, the city’s urban forester* At 5 p.m. there is performance from The Front Porch’s Hometown Choir* There’s a free concert from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. from Mighty JoshuaFor more information and details, visit the Rivanna Conservation Alliance website!Second shout out: When Driving Is Not An Option webinar on May 12A third of people living in the United States do not have a driver’s license and must navigate a mobility system designed almost exclusively for drivers. Does it have to be that way?On Monday May 12th from 6:30 pm to -7:30 pm, Livable Cville will hold a conversation with Anna Zivarts, author of the excellent book When Driving Is Not An Option. Charlottesville City Councilor Natalie Oschrin will also make an appearance.When Driving is Not an Option shines a light on the reality for non-drivers and explains how improving our transportation system with nondrivers in mind will create a better quality of life for everyone. Zivarts is a low-vision mom, disability advocate, and non-driver. In this webinar, she’ll explain how healthier, more climate-friendly communities can be the result of what happened when the needs of involuntary nondrivers are viewed as essential to how we design our transportation systems and our communities.Councilor Oschrin will share about how these ideas apply to the Charlottesville area. There will be an opportunity for Q&A at the end. You can sign up here for this free event. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
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    31 m