This version of what’s happened and what’s scheduled comes to you with support from the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. Bringing you sounds of the community since 2005, and hoping to bring more voices forward in the next 15 years. Visit cvillepodcast.com.
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The Virginia Department of Health has reported another 2,015 new cases of COVID-19 this morning. That’s the highest one-day total since the pandemic began but VDH officials said this is the result of a technical error.
“This figure includes information that should have been reported on Wednesday and Thursday of this week as well as the regular numbers for Friday,” VDH communications director Maria Reppas wrote in a release. “Late Thursday, VDH’s Office of Information Management, which helps manage VDH’s COVID-19 databases, identified and rectified the technical issue, which was a system performance configuration.”
There are another 18 deaths statewide for a total of 2,317 to date. The seven day average for positive PCR tests remains at 7.3 percent for a second straight day.
The Thomas Jefferson Health District reports another 49 cases today for a total of 1,894 cases to date. That consists of 19 from Albemarle, 15 from Charlottesville, five from Fluvanna, seven from Louisa, and three from Nelson. No new deaths are reported today. The seven-day average for positive tests is at 5.6 percent today.
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The Albemarle Board of Supervisors has voted unanimously to remove Confederate monuments and markers from the county courthouse grounds. The county will take proposals from groups who want to take possession of the statue, cannon and stack of cannonballs. Ten people asked for the items to be removed at a public hearing. Alex Taurel with the League of Conservation Voters called them monuments to racism.
“The League of Conservation Voters works to protect public lands and parks and make nature accessible for more people in this country, but recent events have highlighted that while parks and public spaces may be accessible for many folks, it doesn’t mean those spaces are safe and inclusive for all,” Taurel said.
The removal was supported by several groups, such as the Charlottesville-Albemarle BAR Association. The General Assembly passed legislation this year allowing localities to remove or contextualize war memorials, paving the way for Confederate statues to be removed across Virginia. Albemarle Resident Ramona Martinez thanked the county for moving fast.
“Removing these statues is not removing history or Southern culture,” Martinez said. “It is an acknowledgment that one group of people does not have claim on land that was never theirs to begin with.”
Supervisor Diantha McKeel voted to remove the statue.
“The at-ready Confederate statue symbolizing the effort to maintain a plantation society, slavery, white supremacy, and the tools of a war fought against the United States should not be co-located with our court facilities,” McKeel said.
McKeel said that after the materials are removed, the community must still work to combat system racism.
Supervisor Ned Gallaway said that many people who wrote him to support keeping the statues accused him of being “politically correct.” However, he said the ability of Albemarle to remove the statue came because people voted and the make-up of the General Assembly changed to one that no longer wanted to defend the statues as war memorials.
“That is something that I see as not politically correct, but democracy in action and the way it’s supposed to work. If you want change, you go to the ballot box, you vote, and you put the folks in who are going to make the changes,” Gallaway said.
Proposals for museums and historical organizations to assume possession of the materials will be accepted through September 5.
The county also announced the hiring of Fentress Architects to design the $45.2 million expansion and consolidation of the city and county’s General District courts in Court Square. That construction is expected to get underway in the spring of 2022.
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The city of Charlottesville is seeking proposals for honorary names for city streets. According to a release, there is a deadline of August 31 to submit applications to honor a roadway after an individual, an organization or entity, or an “event of local significance to Charlottesville.”
“The City Council believes honorary street names further the City’s commitment to create ‘a community of mutual respect’ especially when they recognize the important contributions of African-American community members both past and present in the development of the City of Charlottesville,” reads the release.
Several proposals have been made this summer to honor the Black Lives Matter movement with a street designation. City Council discussed the matter at its meeting Monday night.
“It’s looking like we might want to get a little bit more input since we are getting so many street naming requests at this time to do this correctly and to do this with the most transparency,” said Vice Mayor Sena Magill.
Eleven streets have been given an honorary designation since 2011. A committee will sift through potential additions and make recommendations to Council at its meeting on October 19.
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Today is the first day that a new intrastate bus route will come through Charlottesville on its way between Danville and D.C. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Department is funding the daily service which is called the Piedmont Express. The service follows what the DRPT considers a successful launch of the Virginia Breeze, a route between Blacksburg and DC which is now being called the Valley Flyer. The Piedmont Express will also stop in Altavista, Lynchburg, Amherst, Culpeper, Warrenton, Gainesville, and Dulles Airport. (Virginia Breeze website)
Long lines for library curbside pick-ups may soon abate. The Jefferson Madison Regional Library will extend hours for the service to serve more patrons.
Monday: 1pm-7pm at all branch locations
Tuesday-Saturday: 10am-4pm at Central Library, Crozet Library, Gordon Avenue Library, Northside Library, Nelson Memorial and Louisa County
Tuesday-Saturday: 10am-2pm at Scottsville Library and Greene County Library
Sunday: All branch locations closed
“Library staff are working very hard to provide curbside and drive-up service, and are thrilled to be able to expand that service,” said JMRL Director David Plunkett in a release. “All returned items are quarantined for 72 hours before being put back into circulation, for the safety of staff and the public.”
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A group called Come As You Are Cville will hold a clothes drive Saturday at Forest Hills Park. Anything collected will be donated to homeless members of the community. The event will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. (info on Facebook)
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There are no government meetings that I know about today, but please let me know if I’m incorrect. I can report that the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission meeting last night did not meet due to a lack of a quorum. Many parts of the region were hit by a massive storm earlier in the evening. The meeting will be rescheduled for later this month.
August 7, 2020: Albemarle votes to remove Confederate statue; Charlottesville seeks names for streets