Monday, August 3, 2026: Right-of-way acquisition resumes for Stribling Avenue sidewalk in Charlottesville
Plus: Virginians go to the polls for primary races tomorrow
Today’s sponsor: Big builds, small repairs, and everything in between, Nola Builds does it all
The TRS-80 is one of the first desktop microcomputers and became staples in public schools at a time when the way people received information was very different. You could buy one of the first ones for just under $600 after the Tandy Corporation announced the product on August 3, 1977. How many times has the world changed since then? Charlottesville Community Engagement has lost track but perhaps a TRS-80 can help keep the tally.
In this edition:
The early voting period for Virginia’s Congressional primaries is over and the primary is set for tomorrow
The Albemarle Economic Development Authority agrees to invest $20,000 to help area wineries learn more sustainable pruning practices
Charlottesville’s Public Works Department resumes work on securing easements and land for Stribling Avenue sidewalk project
A correction to start:
The most recent Week Ahead made a reference to the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Housing Authority, an entity that does not exist. Instead, the City Council will consider additional funds for the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail. I regret the error.
A sponsored message: Panorama Natural Burial
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Whether you are planning ahead, navigating a recent loss, or are just curious about natural burial, we welcome the conversation. We host regular tours and community events throughout the year. At Panorama we are building new ways of understanding death, land, ecology, ritual, memory, and community. We believe that building community around death care helps us all to live fuller lives. We are open to the public daily 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Come visit!
Congressional primaries are held tomorrow across Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia usually holds primary elections in June, but voters will go to the polls tomorrow to select Congressional candidates for the November 3 contest.
This is the second election held all across Virginia this year. Democrats in the General Assembly voted to hold a referendum on April 21 on a Constitutional amendment to redraw
Congressional boundaries to counter redistricting efforts in other parts of the United States of America. The new map would have created ten districts that heavily favored Democrats.
Before the special election, the General Assembly moved the primary to August 4 to give time for candidates to prepare for the ballot.
Though the Constitutional amendment passed with a narrow majority, a divided Virginia Supreme Court dismissed the results on May 8 on a 4-3 ruling.
The early voting period began on June 18, a day earlier due to the Juneteenth holiday.
As of August 2, 97,147 ballots have been cast in the Democratic primary and 67,457 voters have participated in the Republican primary. That compares with 120,137 and 77,262 respectively through two days before the June 2024 primary. The data comes from the Virginia Department of Elections as presented by the Virginia Public Access Project.
Looking at the numbers for the 5th District, participation is up in the Democratic primary with 17,982 votes cast through August 2 compared to 13,005 in the same period in 2024.
Three candidates are on the ballot. They are Suzanne K. Krzyzanowski of Lynchburg Tom Perriello of Charlottesville, and Rob Tracinski of Louisa County.
Perriello, a one-term Congressman originally elected in 2008, has raised $2,140,401 through July 15 compared to $54,102 for Tracinski and $16,897 for Krzyzanowski.
Participation is down in the Fifth District Republican primary with 13,063 votes cast through August 2 compared to 14,510 for the comparable period in 2024.
Two candidates are on the ballot. Incumbent John McGuire faces a challenge from Melanie Lucero. McGuire has raised $1,735,141 through July 15 compared to $88,297 from Lucero.
Two independent candidates on the November 3 ballot are Cooke Costa Harvey and Chris Register.
Curious about where to vote? Visit the Virginia Department of Elections.
Albemarle EDA to support classes to assist wine industry learn new techniques after difficult spring
In the early hours of Tuesday, April 21, the temperature as recorded at the Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Airport hung below freezing for several hours. The cold snap as well as two others in the month caused significant damage to newly-budded grapes.
“That major frost caused some significant vineyard damage to our winery customers,” said Ashley Hernandorena, Business Development Manager in Albemarle County’s Office of Economic Development. “It is making this year’s pruning critical to protect the long term vine health and productivity of the sector.”
On July 21, 2026, representatives from the Monticello Wine Trail appeared before the Albemarle Economic Development Authority to ask for $20,000 to hire pruning experts Simonit & Sirch to teach staff at area wineries what to do to repair vines at a three-day intensive workshop this December.
Corry Craighill of Septenary Winery said the instruction would not just be about education but a workforce investment.
“So no matter how much those big or small wineries invested in site selection or frost protection measures, pruning is something that we all need to do every single year,” Craighill said. “And with the freeze event that happened in April, we’re looking at decision making that is not going to affect just 2027, but 2027, 28, 29, 30 for the next 30 plus years.”
Craighill said efforts need to be made to repair the damage to what she called one of the worst frost events ever. Sometimes vines can take up to five years to bear fruit. This year, she lost all of her crop.
“Not only did we lose 100 percent of our crop in some areas in our vineyard, we lost 30 percent of our permanent structure due to the freeze,” Craigill said. “And what that means actually is the vine will crack. And when it cracks, it damages the lymphatic system of the structure and it will die off or the entire system will die off.”
The Virginia wine industry brings in $1.73 billion a year according to Tracey Love, the executive director of the Monticello Wine Trail. Members of her organization are responsible for about 30 percent of that number.
“We’re the largest vineyard growing area in the state and have the largest population of wineries driving people here not only for wine experience, but for restaurants and lodging and all sorts of tourism and activities,” Love said. “We have 40 plus wineries and $48.5 million in local tourism tax revenue.”
The specific classes to be taught by Simonit & Sirch are intended for Virginia’s humid climate which can lead to something called trunk disease. One class would be taught in English and the other in Spanish.
Love said a survey revealed wineries would pay up to $200 total for each class but it costs $1,000 for each. They sought help from the EDA to help subsidize the instruction so each winery could send a representative.
“It benefits the entire region,” Love said. “Because if you have 32 people that now know how to prune this way, then they can teach.”
Craighill said the class is intended to teach methods that are different from the way pruning has been done.
“They’re not afraid to let the vine grow up and up enough as long as they’re keeping their cuts as small as possible,” Craighill said. “They would teach the way to make a correct cut in order to limit the trunk limit in order to make the plant the most efficient at closing itself off from trunk disease. So looking at the long term and also improving the efficiency of the plant for the current year’s growth.”
Emily Kilroy, Albemarle’s Economic Development Director, said the request was brought to the EDA due to the Economic Development Strategic Plan. The EDA Board of Directors voted unanimously to proceed.
First shout-out: Experience WTJU through their mobile app!
WTJU is pleased to announce our brand new mobile app! You can download a version from either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Here are the links to both:
The WTJU app is the place to tune in and listen live to WTJU, WXTJ, and Charlottesville Classical. Aside from the live stream, listen to archived shows, view recent songs, playlists, and program schedules, check out videos of live performances, stay up-to-date on WTJU’s most recent news and articles, and more!
Live chat with your favorite hosts, share stories with your friends, and tune into your community all in the palm of your hand.
Work to resume Stribling Avenue including a potential scope change in one section
A major theme in the city’s core planning documents is a vision of a city where people can safely move around without driving a car or other motorized vehicle.
“The City will place an emphasis on enhancing networks and safety for walking, riding bicycles, and public transportation,” reads one of the guiding principles of the Comprehensive Plan adopted in November 2021.
There is planning and there is implementation.
When Southern Development sought a rezoning of 12 acres of undeveloped land on Stribling Avenue, the original idea was to build 68 duplexes. The preliminary idea went before the Charlottesville Planning Commission on August 27, 2019.
“The PC is concerned with traffic, but indicated they believe the site should be denser than R-2 if the developer could help with infrastructure on Stribling,” reads the minutes.
There is no sidewalk on Stribling Avenue and the street has one of the most rural characters in the city.
Southern Development returned with a plan for 170 units and Council agreed to a rezoning on April 18, 2022 as well as a funding agreement where the company would provide a $2.9 million loan to begin work on a project.
“The City should upgrade this existing public street, and add sidewalk improvements to Stribling
Avenue,” reads the staff report for the rezoning. “It has been estimated that the cost of establishing sidewalk along Stribling Avenue will be at least $2.9 million, but possibly up to $4.0 million.”
Charlottesville worked with the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association to identify an alternative and the project’s estimate climbed to $5.5 million as I reported in August 2024. The most recent update on the city’s Transportation and Mobility website had a total of $6,184,378 as of November 2025.
In May, members of the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association became aware that an aspect of the project paused due to right-of-way negotiations. Council learned at the May 18 meeting that some property owners were asking for large sums for small easements and a decision was made to wait until the beginning of the fiscal year to start again.
City Manager Sam Sanders’ written report for tonight’s City Council meeting states that acquisition is continuing. There also may be changes to the alternative to reduce the project project.
“Public Works is also reevaluating the section beyond Huntley Avenue to identify a simpler, lower-cost approach that reduces impacts to nearby properties while improving pedestrian safety,” reads the report. “The alternative being considered would use targeted sidewalk improvements, existing roadway space, one-way traffic in selected areas, new striping, traffic-calming measures, and focused intersection improvements instead of constructing a continuous sidewalk along the entire corridor.”
Stay tuned.
Articles by other journalists you are encouraged to read next:
Planners call for rewrite of rural development policies, Heather Michon, Fluvanna Review, July 30, 2026
New Fluvanna Action Fund to boost community groups, Mike Feazel, Fluvanna Review, July 30, 2026
Virginia senators request special session to act on ’deeply alarming’ groundwater report, Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury, July 31, 2026
#1100 is the first of several binary editions
Three stories today. I wrote the wine story on Saturday and hope to have another story from the July Economic Development Authority meeting tomorrow or later in the week. The other two were written this morning.
I have little memory of all of the redistricting stories I wrote. Do other people forget what happened? I’m glad to write things down in a spreadsheet to help me keep track.
I thought the Stribling story would take about three minutes but I always go back and review source materials to make sure I got it right. I would like to spend more time on it now, but I want to get to work on the next set of stories.
It’s too early on a Monday to write text intended to get new people to do a paid subscription, though I have to do so anyway. It would be nice to get a few new ones this week.
Paid subscriptions cover the cost of me doing this. It has been a difficult summer financially for various reasons but I’ve not slowed down production of stories that might not otherwise be written. I am committed to doing this work as long as enough revenue comes in to cover my expenses. I have work to do to diversify!
In any case, here’s a Primus concert for anyone interested.