July 5, 2024: Alleged murder-suicide under investigation in Charlottesville; an update on Albemarle County's Comprehensive Plan
Plus: An overview of the transition in power underway in the United Kingdom after yesterday's General Election
July 5 is Independence Day Plus One and it is likely that many people reading these words will not have done so today and perhaps may have done so at a later time. It is not likely possible anyone is reading this before July 5, but these days it seems anything that can happen.
This is Charlottesville Community Engagement for this particular day. I’m Sean Tubbs for this particular newsletter.
In today’s installment:
The Charlottesville Police Department reports a potential murder-suicide in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood
A national organization provides a look at how fatalities from traffic crashes has increased by nearly 25 percent over the past ten years
A new Virginia law places restrictions on utility disconnections in extreme weather
The Albemarle County Planning Commission got a very brief update on the Comprehensive Plan in late June
There’s a new Prime Minister in the United Kingdom as a General Election sees a new Labour government for the first time in 14 years
First-shout: Five Things ReLeaf Cville Has Done This Year
In today’s first subscriber-supported shout-out: ReLeaf Cville seeks to help restore the amount of the city that’s covered by trees. This year they’ve done five things they want people to know about:
The Virginia Department of Forestry awarded a $190K grant to preserve mature trees in neighborhoods with low tree cover, targeting Fifeville
Another grant helped with the planting of almost 130 trees in the Rose Hill neighborhood
This summer will be the third in a row they’ll partner with the Rivanna Conservation Alliance to train young people to help with outreach efforts to plant trees in the Woolen Mills neighborhood
They partnered with the Van Yahres Tree Company to provide volunteer work on Arbor Day to check in with recently planted trees in the 10th and Page neighborhood
They appeared on VPM in late June to discuss their work to date (read the report)
Charlottesville Police investigating potential murder-suicide attempt
A woman is dead and a man is seriously injured following a reported murder-suicide attempt that recently took place.
Yesterday, officers with the Charlottesville Police Department were asked to perform a welfare check at 301 Monte Vista Avenue in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood by a family member. When they arrived at 1:30 p.m. they located 81-year-old Brenda Lois Lambert who had been killed by gunfire.
They also found 85-year-old James Marvin Shea Jr. who was still alive but wounded by gunfire.
“Further investigation revealed evidence indicating this incident was a planned suicide by the married couple,” reads a press release sent out this morning.
Shea was taken to the UVA Hospital where he is reported to be in stable condition. The report notes no other details will be released at this time due to the sensitive nature of the incident.
Traffic fatalities up 24 percent in Virginia over past ten years
We are in the middle of a holiday weekend when many people are traveling on Virginia’s highways and other roads. This week, a national nonprofit that focuses on traffic safety produced a report that takes a snapshot of recent trends.
“America faces a roadway safety crisis, with motorist, motorcyclist, pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities in 2023 at a level significantly higher than a decade ago,” reads the conclusion of a report from TRIP, which does not seem to function as a working acronym.
The TRIP report points out that fatalities from motor vehicle accidents in Virginia increased over the past ten years with 740 reported in 2013 compared to 915 in 2023. The data comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
That 24 percent increase in Virginia matched the nationwide trend. There were 32,893 deaths in motor vehicle crashes in 2013, a figure that rose to 40,990 in 2023.
“The number and rate of U.S. traffic fatalities increased dramatically in 2020 and 2021, as driver behavior and travel patterns changed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020,” reads a press release created for Virginia information outlets. “However, following the sharp increase during the pandemic, U.S. fatalities have fallen in 2022 and 2023.”
In Virginia, however, there were 1,008 traffic deaths in 2022, the highest year on record so far.
These figures include pedestrians and cyclists killed in collisions with motor vehicles. In fact, fatalities among non-motorized transport made up 21 percent of all U.S. traffic fatalities in 2023.
For more details, read the full report.
New law to curtail utility shut-offs during extreme weather
Today is another day of extreme heat in Virginia and the mid-Atlantic and a new law is in place to protect Virginians who are not able to pay their electric bill.
HB906 introduced by Delegate Irene Shin (D-8) and SB480 introduced by Senator Lachrese Aird (D-13) prohibit electric companies from disconnecting customers for non-payment when temperatures are below 32°F or above 92°F.
Additionally, the bill prevents disconnections from being made on Fridays, weekends, or state holidays to give residents additional time to make a payment. Disconnections also could not occur during a state of emergency declared by the Virginia Governor.
“Passage of the Emergency Utilities Protection Act ensures that essential utility services remain a right, not a privilege, during the moments when they are needed most,” Delegate Shin is quoted in a press release put out by the Virginia Poverty Law Center.
Shin’s bill originally passed the House on a 76 to 24 margin whereas Aird’s bill passed the Senate on unanimous vote. After Governor Glenn Youngkin made a recommended change to the bill, the House of Delegates passed the bill 89 to 11.
The legislation covers all utilities regulated by the State Corporation Commission so this includes water, wastewater, and natural gas.
The bill also establishes that disconnections cannot happen until customers are in arrears for 45 days or more.
“After each missed payment, the utility shall provide notice pursuant to subsection B and make contact with the customer and offer bill payment assistance, arrange a payment plan, or provide information to the customer for other bill payment assistance or energy savings programs,” reads a section of the bill that has now become law.
Second shout-out: Camp Albemarle
Today’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for over sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”
Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Are you looking to escape and reconnect with nature? Consider holding an event where the natural beauty of the grounds will provide a venue to suit your needs. Visit their website to view the gallery and learn more!
AC44 work slowed down in late FY24, PC to get an update on July 9
What is the future of Albemarle County? There are many answers to such a broad question, but for the purposes of planning, county staff have been embarked on an update of the Comprehensive Plan since early 2022 in a process known as AC44.
Two of four phases have been completed so far, but there appears to be a pause as we learn from Planning Commissioner Karen Firehock at the end of the Planning Commission’s meeting on June 25. She’s a member of the Historic Preservation Committee, a group that has had difficult meeting quorum but met on June 24.
“We’ve kind of delayed on the Comprehensive Plan work because there’s an overarching slowdown in terms of staff getting organized with the actions and trying to get that sorted before basic subcommittees like the Historic Preservation Committee wrestle with things so they kind of paused that,” Firehock said.
The website for AC44 still lists spring as the time for a kick-off for phase 3 which is to create action steps that come from the public input in phase 2. Phase 2 was about establishing goals and objectives.
Planning Director Michael Barnes said there will be an update at the next Planning Commission meeting on July 9.
“We have a PowerPoint presentation that is almost finished,” Barnes said. “I will be bringing it to you… after much delay, at our first meeting in July.”
Firehock asked if there would be anything substantive in the update, or if was just a snapshot of where the county is in the process.
“Our intent is to put together a really good draft based on the outline that we’re going to present to you at our next meeting and then we’ll come back with a really solid first draft of the document and then work our way through it,” Barnes said. “That way you’ll have a little more context.”
According to the website, Phase 3 will prioritize action steps and continue to refine the “planning toolkits” and a good place to learn about that may be my most recent AC44 story from November 2023.
Want to know what Phase 2 was all about? Take a look at the most recent video on the AC44 website:
New government forms in the United Kingdom as Labour claims landslide victory
One of the purposes of Charlottesville Community Engagement is to point out how government works in other places. While this is not a core function of the newsletter, it does help me think through processes here.
For instance, I learned a lot from the trip to Champaign-Urbana where one single transit system covers the entire community that houses the University of Illinois. (read that story)
Recently I wrote up the results from the Arlington County Democratic Primary where ranked-choice voting was used to select a nominee. (read that story)
Last night, I spent over five hours listening to election returns come in from the United Kingdom in a general election that was called on May 24 by the person who was Prime Minister at the time. Britain operates under a parliamentary system with a chief executive chosen by a political party and selected to form a government if there’s a majority of votes.
At the last election in December 2019, the Conservative party won 365 votes under Boris Johnson, enough to form a majority in the 650-seat House of Commons. Johnson would later resign after a series of scandals to be replaced by fellow Conservative Liz Truss.
This happened without an election.
Truss only spent 50 days in office after a confidence crisis that caused her to resign in October 2022. She was replaced by Rishi Sunak, a Member of Parliament who Conservatives elected as Leader.
This happened without an election.
Sunak had until the end of this year to call an election but chose to go with July 4.
As counting of the 650 constituencies took place on the morning of July 5, Sunak’s risk did not pay off and the Labour Party has won 409 seats as of publication time with six constituencies not yet declared. The Conservative Party lost 246 seats and has a total of 119.
Third parties are more prevalent in parliamentary democracies and the Liberal Democrat party gained 60 seats to have a total of 71. The Liberal Democrats entered into a coalition government with the Conservative Party in 2010 when no parties had a majority of seats. That lasted for five years until May 2015.
In 2024, the Labour Party now has its first clear majority since the 2005 election when Tony Blair led the party to a third victory, albeit one where they lost 48 seats but retained a majority. Sir Keir Starma has been the leader of the Labour Party since April 2020, replacing Jeremy Corbyn who failed in two general elections.
In contrast to the United States where a new President does not take over for two and a half months, the transition in the United Kingdom is immediate. Sunak visited King Charles III earlier today, followed by a visit from Starma at which he was appointed Prime Minister.
“I have just returned from Buckingham Palace where I have accepted an invitation from His Majesty the King to form the next government of this great nation,” Starma said.
Starma thanked Sunak for his service and for his achievement being the first British-Asian to serve as Prime Minister.
“Now our country has voted decisively for change, for national renewal, and a return of politics to public service,” Starma said. “Public service is a privilege and your government should treat every single person in this country with respect.
Less than 24 hours after the voting ended, Prime Minister Starma is in the midst of filling out his Cabinet. The new Parliament will meet on July 9 to elect a Speaker of the House of Commons and the opening of Parliament will be on July 17. That includes the King’s Speech, the first time King Charles III has presided over the peaceful transition of power.
The Scottish National Party lost 39 seats and now has a total of nine. A new center-right Reform Party headed by Nigel Farage picked up four seats but came second in many constituencies.
In election news here, U.S. Representative Bob Good has requested a recount in the June 18 Republican Primary that he lost to State Senator John McGuire. McGuire campaigned that Good was not enough of a loyalist to former President Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party in the 2024 presidential election.
Watch Starma’s first speech as Prime Minister:
Reading material for July 5, 2024
White supremacists ordered to pay $2M for role in Charlottesville’s Unite the Right rally, Maggie Glass, WVIR NBC29, July 2, 2024
Virginia’s Electoral Board certifies John McGuire’s primary victory over Rep. Bob Good; Good to seek recount, Leila Mitchell, WDBJ-7, July 2, 2024
Why the suit to void a council primary in Lynchburg matters across Virginia, Dwayne Yancey, July 3, 2024 (commentary)
Virginia’s budget with raises for teachers, state employees goes into effect, Dean Mirshahi, WRIC-TV, July 3, 2024
A conservative leading the pro-Trump Project 2025 suggests there will be a new American Revolution, AP News, Ali Swenson, July 3, 2024
Density opponents argue in court that city didn’t follow state rules, Sean Tubbs, C-Ville Weekly, July 3, 2024
Edition #701 is in the digital books
I was not going to do one of these today, but every day I wake up and begin to work even if I don’t have a deadline. I take this work seriously and it is not a public relations line for me to say this is a calling. I am first generation American to parents born in the United Kingdom, and my entire career is about me coming to terms with feeling like I’m not from either place but still part of both.
At one point I wanted to move to the United Kingdom, but that did not occur because life happens. I have not been over since September 2019 and I’m not sure when I’ll go back because four years ago I decided to invest my life in this work, documenting what happens in the place where I have spent well over a third of my life now. This country is where am supposed to be, and I plan to continue my life and career here.
I am able to make a living because enough people want to know more about this community and this country, the same way I do. I’m not doing this to set an agenda, or to settle a score, or to extract money from subscribers. I am alive and I am a writer.
I’m doing this because it’s what I’m supposed to do, and here I am, doing what I can to bring people information.
Thank you to paid subscribers. For those who are not yet, you may know the deal by now. Ting will match your initial subscription. In return, I tell you that Ting can help you with your high speed Internet needs. If service is available in your area and you sign up for service, enter the promo code COMMUNITY and you will get:
Free installation
A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
