This installment is supported by those who have made a financial contribution to support the program, either through Substack, Patreon, or Venmo. All of it goes to a business called Town Crier Productions, which I formed in order to help me do this work for a very long time. Thanks to all who have provided initial support!
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The seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases in Virginia is now 1,064 as reported by the state Department of Health. On Saturday, VDH reported 1,088 cases, 999 cases on Sunday and 904 this morning. There have been 3,581 fatalities in Virginia, all part of the 225,000 reported nationwide. The seven-day average for positive tests is at 5 percent today, down from 5.1 percent on both Saturday and Sunday.
In the Blue Ridge Health District, the seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases is 31, with 44 reported Saturday, 36 on Sunday, and 14 today. That’s 25 new cases in Albemarle and 34 new cases in Charlottesville. There have been a total of 77 fatalities since March. The seven-day average for positive PCR tests is 2.4 percent in the district. That percentage is 2.7 when all tests are factored in. So far, a total of 96,286 tests have been conducted in the district.
Our area is in the VDH’s Northwest Region. As we begin the week, the trends for the region are fourteen days of decreasing cases and 47 days of decreasing PCR positivity percentage. However, the number of outbreaks have been increasing for nine days. Visit the VDH page to learn more.
On Friday, the VDH unveiled a new dashboard that lists outbreaks in educational settings across the Commonwealth that are reported to the agency. Virginia Health Commissioner Norm Oliver said in a statement that a top priority is to re-open schools. (educational settings dashboard)
“By providing additional information on where outbreaks are occurring we hope to provide a broader picture of the impact of COVID-19 and help communities decide where to place resources to prevent and control outbreaks,” said Dr. Oliver. “Given the changing nature of the pandemic, we felt providing these data at this time poses no risk to public health investigations or to compromising patient anonymity.”
The dashboard will be updated every Friday. So far there are no outbreaks listed from the Blue Ridge Health District. There was an outbreak in September at the Grace Christian School in Staunton that saw a total of 19 cases.
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There will soon be a new name for a project to bring a botanical garden to Charlottesville’s largest park. Jill Trischman-Marks is the executive director of what will stop being called the McIntire Botanical Garden. In 2015, the nonprofit entered into an agreement with the city of Charlottesville to open a botanical garden on about eight acres of land in McIntire Park.
“The city chose us to be a partner because they knew that they weren’t providing the environmental education to the community that the community deserves,” Trischman-Marks said. “After the events of August 2017 we saw a dual mission of a place where we could bring the community together.“
Trischman-Marks said many in the community did not feel welcome with the garden named after Paul Goodloe McIntire, who donated parkland on the condition it be reserved for white people only. She said MBG has lofty aspirations for the space.
“It’s not just a place to study botany,” Trischman-Marks said. “It’s a place to bring people of all ages and backgrounds together and learn about one another, demystify who one another is, and ultimately one of our goals is to heal the community with this safe and neutral greenspace in the heart of Charlottesville.”
Trischman-Marks said MBG has received over 200 potential new names for the organization and will unveil the final answer soon.
“Obviously there were people who felt very strongly that Paul Goodloe McIntire had been very generous to this community and that we got some negative feedback about the idea of changing name,” she said. “[But] the land that has been designated for McIntire Botanical Garden was actually never part of the package of land that Paul Goodloe McIntire donated to the city.”
Trischman-Marks said the organization continues to seek feedback on what people want the garden to be.
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A panel convened to oversee nearly 60 projects to address safety concerns on Interstate 81 met on Friday. The Virginia Department of Transportation studied the entire length of I-81 in 2018 and identified nearly $2 billion in projects. Shannon Valentine is Virginia’s Secretary of Transportation.
“Of the 56 projects identified in the I-81 corridor improvement plan, 40 of them area are already in the six-year planning window, 8 have completed, 32 are in some phase of design, pre-engineering, environmental, or construction,” Valentine said.
The work is being funded through increased truck registration fees, a regional fuel tax, and an increase in the diesel tax that goes into effect on July 1 of next year. Some sections will be widened, in other places there will be additional lanes, and in others curves will be straightened.
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Today in meetings:
The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority meets for the first time and we’ll have audio from that tomorrow
The Albemarle Historic Preservation Committee meets at 4:30 p.m. and will discuss its potential contributions to the Urban Rivanna Corridor Master Plan (meeting info)
The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority meets at 6 p.m. Last week, the City Council approved an agreement governing how $3 million in city funding will be used in the Crescent Halls renovation and the first phase of the South First Street Redevelopment. Tonight the CRHA Board will get an update on that as well as the scope of work for a required financial sustainability plan. (CRHA agendas)
October 26, 2020: New name coming soon for future botanical garden