Today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out is for Abundant Life Ministries, “working hard to create a better future for the Charlottesville community.”
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On Friday evening around 5 p.m., the University of Virginia announced they would proceed with plans to begin in-person instruction on September 8, two weeks later than originally planned. That also means that residence halls will open to students at two-thirds capacity, or about 4,400 people.
“We know some will be delighted to hear this news and others will be disappointed,” reads a statement signed by officials including President Jim Ryan. “To be frank, it was a very difficult decision, made in the face of much uncertainty, and with full awareness that future events may force us to change course.”
The statement goes on to explain the decision was made in part because local conditions in Virginia and the Thomas Jefferson Health District have been improving. He also said “thousands of students” have been slowly returning to Charlottesville and UVA to work in labs, the medical and nursing schools, and professional students.
“One thing we have learned from this virus is that you can do everything in your power to plan and prepare, but it still might not be enough, as things can change rapidly,” Ryan and others wrote. “That is why we will continue to monitor conditions closely and, if necessary, will put more restrictions in place, move classes online, and, if need be, send students home.”
As of this morning, the official number of positive cases of UVA faculty, staff, and students is listed on the COVID-19 tracker as 115 since August 17, with 83 of those students. This morning, another three positive cases were reported, with two of those students.
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The Virginia Department of Health has reported an additional 3,002 cases of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth since Friday morning, for a total of 120,494 to date. That includes 1,217 cases reported Saturday, 938 reported Sunday and 847 reported today. The positive test rate increased yesterday to 7.4 percent, up from 6.5 percent a week earlier.
In the Thomas Jefferson Health District, there have been another 103 cases of COVID-19 reported since Friday morning, with 52 reported Saturday, 34 reported Sunday, and 17 reported this morning. The positive rate jumped to 6.7 yesterday, up from 5.6 a week earlier. Today the figure decreased to 6.6 percent.
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The latest report from the people putting together the University of Virginia’s COVID-19 forecasting model states that surges in health districts across the Commonwealth are abating. According to analysis by the UVA Biocomplexity Institute, only one health district, Mount Rogers in far southwest Virginia, is considered to be surging.
The model currently suggests there could be around more 57,000 cases in Virginia by Thanksgiving, or 187,883. Adjustments were recently made to the model to anticipate the effects of seasonal change. (model report)
“With the new modeling approach, the current course predicts that confirmed cases already peaked at 7,358 cases per week during the week ending August 9th,” reads the report. “Anticipated seasonal changes in the Fall due to schools and universities re-opening, changes to workplace attendance, and the impact of weather patterns could lead to a surge beginning around Labor Day.”
The third page of the report talks about the effects schools re-opening could have on transmission in Virginia’s localities.
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Albemarle County has announced the launch of another round of LIFT grants funded by the CARES Act. This time around, county officials are seeking applications from non-profit groups. Applications are not yet opened, but would-be applicants are asked to complete a form to be notified when the window opens. The Community Investment Collaborative will administer the funding.
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A coffeeshop on Elliewood Avenue that has been closed since the pandemic began is reopening today. Grit sent an email to customers Saturday morning to notify of the change and to state that “safety protocols have been implemented” including a continued ban on indoor seating. Grit’s four other stories have been open to take-out and curbside pick-up but the store on the UVA Corner has been closed.
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Two members of a group charged with overseeing urban design in Charlottesville have resigned, including chair Mike Stoneking. Stoneking and architect Fred Wolf have both sent letters to the city stating they now longer want to serve on the PLACE Design Task Force, which was created in 2012. Carrie Rainey, the city's urban design planner, sent a letter to remaining members telling them they could call for a special meeting to appoint new leadership. That meeting will happen on September 10 at the regular time.
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Developer Katurah Roell has submitted new plans for a mixed-use building on Roosevelt Brown Boulevard in Charlottesville. A sign for the SoHo building has been standing on the half-acre property has been standing for several years. Staff in the city's Department of Neighborhood Development Services had approved a site plan for 6 residential units and over 40,000 square feet. The new plan would increase the residential units to 24 and would cut the commercial space to about 11,000 square feet. Both projects are allowed by-right under the zoning, which is a special district created for the Cherry Avenue corridor. In recent years, the city commissioned the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission to create a small area plan for the area to guide future development. City Council has not yet adopted the plan.
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With no end in sight for physical distancing rules and bans on public gatherings, there are no scheduled curtain openings for live theater. However, Live Arts is shifting to an online model that begins with programming this week. Jeremy Duncan Pape is the interim creative director at Live Arts.
“One of our primary focuses is obviously going to be on flexibility and adaptability because there is so much that we don’t know about the state of the word for the next year or so we have a lot of ideas,” Pape said.
This year’s season will be driven by local content. Ann Hunter is the executive director at Live Arts.
“When COVID hit, seems like a lifetime ago, Live Arts had a choice to either hunker down or to forge ahead and we chose the latter. That choice led to the creation of a reimagined forging ahead season,” Hunter said. She added that they are asking patrons to purchase a season pass to help subsidize the cost of programming for those with limited means.
“The goal here is pretty simple, to lower the economic barrier to theater during a time of social, emotional and financial hardship for our neighbors,” Hunter said.
Programming kicks off this weekend when box office manager Daryll Smith interviews writer Jocelyn Nicole Johnson as part of a First Friday event. You can get a preview in the Live Arts Season Reveal which is available on YouTube.
August 31, 2020: UVA moves forward with reopening; Live Arts Forges Ahead with new season