July 3, 2025: Charlottesville will process building permits, but all zoning reviews are on hold

Plus: A factory in Albemarle County will lay off 87 people later this year

What is journalism and who gets to practice it? What is the history of this profession, and what is its future? It’s July 3, 2025, and this edition begins with a note that today is the 258th anniversary of the first publication of Adresseavisen, a newspaper still in publication in Trondheim, Norway. When the forces of Adolf Hitler occupied that country in 1941, they dismissed all of the editorial leadership. They would be reappointed four years later when the forces of facism were defeated. There’s a lot to learn from history. I’m Sean Tubbs, and I’m documenting what I can for the future.

In today’s installment:

• Outgoing University of Virginia President Jim Ryan will go on sabbatical once he leaves office and then eventually return as a faculty member

• Charlottesville clarifies that building permits will be accepted and processed following the voidance of the city’s zoning code earlier this week

• The Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism and WHRO report that there have been instances when Flock footage captured by local agencies has been shared with federal immigration enforcement

• There’s a temporary detour for Charlottesville Area Transit’s trolley-style bus

• Emerson Automated Solutions will pay off 87 people from its Albemarle County factory at the end of the year.

First-shout: Friends of JMRL Seeking Donations for Fall Sale

Twice a year, the Friends of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library organize a week-long sale of books and other items to raise money for the regional library system. This past spring, the group raised over $168,000!

They want to use this shout-out to give a big thank you to all the donors and customers who made the record breaking Spring 2025 sale possible. The funds will support JMRL programs, library materials, reading programs and more! That includes the Books Behind Bars program. Volunteers find and ship books to Virginia inmates at no cost to the inmates.

Now it’s time to get ready for the next sale in the fall. You can help by dropping off books at the Gordon Avenue Library. But not only books: DVDs, CDs, LPs, puzzles, games, sheet music and ephemera! For more details and hours of operation, visit the Friends of the JMRL Library website. The group is also looking for volunteers and could always use new members!

Ryan will stay on UVA faculty after being forced out as president

The federal government’s ouster of University of Virginia President Jim Ryan will be complete on July 11 according to an update sent to the UVA community late Wednesday evening.

“After his departure, Ryan will begin a sabbatical before returning to UVA as a full professor in the School of Law and the School of Education and Human Development,” said Deputy Spokesperson Bethanie Glover.

Ryan announced his resignation on June 26 following an ultimatum from the United States Department of Justice that he had not sufficiently dismantled Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.

The Board of Visitors also issued a sentence thanking them for Ryan for his service. The group was to have met yesterday in a virtual meeting but the event was abruptly cancelled.

“The board will conduct a nationwide search for UVA’s next leader and will seek input from stakeholders across the UVA community,” the statement continues.

Jennifer ‘J.J.’ Wagner Davis, the current Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, will serve in the position on an interim basis.

Charlottesville accepting building permit applications

The cleanup from the voidance of Charlottesville’s zoning code continues with a clarifying announcement from the city today.

“The City continues to accept all building permit applications, including trade permits,” reads an email sent out at 10:39 a.m. this morning. “Applications that do not involve zoning remain under active review.”

In January 2024, a group of Charlottesville property owners filed suit against the City Council for adopting a new development code that increased density across the city. They argued that the city failed to carry out state code and regulations related to coordination of zoning and provision of infrastructure. A trial date was set for late June 2026.

Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell granted a motion of default judgment on June 30 because a law firm hired by the city failed to submit a response. The city took two days to issue a response but said they would present more information as it comes to light.

“For applications that do involve zoning, we are carefully assessing how best to proceed in light of the recent court decision and are holding them in queue while we await further legal and procedural clarity,” the announcement continues.

One of the plaintiffs who did not want to be identified said in an email that he wants a new zoning code that can be achieved but the city did not provide adequate study.

“Many in the community have asked and never received a VDOT traffic impact study as required by law,” they said. “I wish that the merits of the case were addressed, but the City's lapse denied that from occurring.”

Charlie Armstrong, vice president of Southern Development, said the lawsuit will slow the construction of new housing desired by many residents. He wants Council to reenact the zoning immediately.

“Then, immediately start a process to conduct any studies the lawsuit was demanding, with the anticipation that having those VDOT studies resolves the lawsuit,” Armstrong said.

City Council’s agenda for the July 7 meeting has been posted but there are so far no items related to the zoning code. I’ll have details on what will be discussed in the next Week Ahead.

Report: Flock cameras in Virginia have been used for immigration enforcement

Surveillance data captured by the Flock camera network is not supposed to be shared with federal authorities for the purposes of immigration enforcement, but the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism and WHRO report that at least five Virginia localities have done so anyway.

In a report released today, the Flock network has been used for at least 50 immigration-related searches over a ten-month period according to a search of logs.

The Charlottesville Police Department installed ten cameras across the city last year.

In June, Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis told Council that data would no longer be shared with external public safety agencies out of a concern that footage would be used for this purpose. Kochis said some Virginia localities have agreed to cooperate with the federal government in a program known as 287(g).

“There are 13 of them in Virginia,” Kochis said. “Some of them are near here. And so because of that and the possibility that they could be doing enforcement with Flock if they have access to it, we have also shut off to all local jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

In February, Chief Kochis had shared specific examples with Council of crimes that he claimed had been solved using Flock.

To learn more about the use of Flock cameras take a look at the lengthy report here.

In February, Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 47 directing state police and corrections officers to cooperate with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement removal operations and requested Virginia localities do so as well.

Yesterday, Youngkin defended the practice as reported by Markus Schmidt in the Virginia Mercury.

Second shout out: Rivanna River Otter Monitoring

Have 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.

Temporary detour for Charlottesville Area Transit trolley-style bus

Charlottesville Area Transit has operated one route with a bus made out to look like an old-style trolley, a route that was farefree before the entire system stopped taking payment in the early days of the pandemic.

Today CAT announced that the free trolley will take a detour until further notice.

“South 1st at Midway Manor is currently closed,” reads an email sent out at 11:49 a,m. “The Trolley is detoured via McIntire to Market Street until further notice.”

There’s no explanation in the announcement for why the road is closed

Last year, CAT announced a public dashboard to help track the agency’s operations. According to the “performance trend” view, ridership on the free trolley reached an average of 771 weekly boardings in April, up from 525 over the same month in 2024.

The busiest route is the 7 that travels from U.S. 29 in Albemarle County to downtown via the Downtown Transit Station. This route had average daily boardings of 1,339 in April 2025, up from 1,171 in April 2024.

The least used route is the 1 that traveled between Piedmont Virginia Community College and downtown Charlottesville. This had an average daily boarding of 97 in April 2024 compared to 130 a year later.

There is no service on Sunday and there has been no recent update to Council on when that might occur. I lost a recording of last week’s Regional Transit Partnership but I’ll go back and listen.

View the CAT Performance Dashboard here

Emerson to lay off 87 at Albemarle factory

A company with a factory in Albemarle County has told federal and state officials that 87 people will lose their jobs by the end of the year.

On June 26, Emerson Automated Solutions filed a notice with the federal Department of Labor and the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement that it intends to layoff the workers.

The required notice is known as a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification and is intended to provide assistance to affected employees. (see the list)

Kroger notified the system of the closure of its store on June 20, 2025, indicating 81 workers would lose their job. The UFCW Local 400 has asked people to sign a petition asking for the company to reverse the decision.

Emerson Automated Solutions builds equipment that assist with the automation of manufacturing. Learn more about the closure in this article by Josh Janney in Virginia Business.

Reading material:

• Crozet Democrat announces candidacy for 5th Congressional District, Kate Neuchterlein, WVIR 29 News, July 1, 2025

• The first Democrat to declare for a House seat from Virginia's Fifth Congressional District, Sandy Hausman, Radio IQ, July 2, 2025

• Virginia increases funding for agricultural conservation projects aimed at Chesapeake Bay cleanup, Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury, July 3, 2025

#891 happens to be the one you are just about to finish

Today began in a rough fashion. I ate something last night and there were arguments about it. I also sleep differently in the summer. I also work every day. So I really did not want to do anything today.

The thing is, that’s not how this works. I agreed to live this life like this because this is what I feel I was supposed to do. Journalism is the way I process the world, and if I didn’t have this newsletter I’d likely still be doing something to capture things around me.

I had expected to not work as much as this week, but that’s not how this works. Two epochal events have taken place in the last week, and I go into the trance of reporting.

There are so many stories I could write. In every direction I see something. I had hoped to write another water supply story but I’ll likely do that later on this evening or tomorrow morning so I’ll have enough to fill the radio show. That might not happen, though, because I plan to cover a protest at UVA tomorrow and I’m thinking it might be useful to interview people. In fact, I’m going to test out the equipment shortly.

Anyway, I better get to that.

I do want to say that today’s edition happened because I discovered a new band. Well, new to me. I don’t know anything them at all except to say that this kind of music is the right sort of thing to help me write and research.