Podcast for June 19, 2024: Juneteenth, Smart Scale, 5th District election results, and UVA panel approves changes to major capital plan

The opening sentences of every single edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement are intended to be a script that opens up a podcast that contains several stories about items happening in order to engage the community of Charlottesville. In recent months, the podcast and the written newsletter are out of production sync but efforts are being made to restore this functionality. I’m Sean Tubbs, and hoping that those who read this and have not yet listened will hit play today. 

In this edition: 

• The primary results are in and the 5th District Republican nomination is too close to call, while Gloria Tinsley Witt wins handily over two fellow Democrats (read the story)

• Albemarle Supervisors commemorated Juneteenth earlier this month with a proclamation (read the story)

• The UVA Buildings and Grounds panel approves the Major Capital Plan, including planning studies for Fifeville properties and another look at a study to get off of coal (read the story)

• The Albemarle Fire Department recommends switching out mulch landscaping for rocks to prevent fire risk (read the story)

• Albemarle Supervisors think the Broadway area should remain available for industrial use (read the story)

• That elected body also endorses eight Smart Scale applications (read the story)

First shout-out: Charlottesville Community Bikes’ Tour de Gluten on June 23

On Sunday, June 23, Charlottesville Community Bikes invites you to come along at noon with dozens of riders for the Tour de Gluten, a no-drop, social bike ride featuring stops at our talented bakery neighbors in Rose Hill/Preston/Downtown!

They have two ticket options:

1. Ticket with Baked Goods: Covers highlighted items (baker's choice!) from each participating bakery. Registration closes one week before the ride so we can place pre-orders for the whole group, which we will pick up when we bike to each bakery.

2. Ride-Only Registration: For those who want to join the bike ride but don't plan to purchase baked goods.

Bakery stops include:

• Althea Bread

• Baker No Bakery (at Grit Coffee downtown)

• Cumbre Coffee & Bakery

• Cou Cou Rachou

• Marie Bette Cafe & Bakery (on Rose Hill Dr.)

Second shout-out: Charlottesville Jazz Society

In today’s second subscriber supported public service announcement, the Charlottesville Jazz Society wants you to know that once a month they hold the Local Jazz Spotlight Series at Miller’s on the Downtown Mall. 

Coming up on Sunday, June 30, the spotlight will shine on the Jamal Milner Trio featuring Daniel Richardson. This takes place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the event is free. Maybe I’ll see you there as I’ve been wanting to go see one of these for months! 

If you can’t wait until then but need to go see some live music, the Charles Owens Quarter will play their 2022 album Golden Moments at the Vault on Thursday, June 20. The event is co-sponsored by the Charlottesville Jazz Society. Tickets 

But that’s just one of many great events coming up that you can learn about on the event calendar at cvillejazz.com. 

Notes for #692A

I wanted to be a public radio journalist and worked hard at a station for many years but there was never a job for me. Over those years, there was also less room in the schedule for me to sell stories as a freelancer. I created the Charlottesville Podcasting Network in 2005 out of frustration that local public radio at the time refused to put content out online.

The experience of going independent back then was exhilarating, but I did not have the reporting chops to do much. When I went to work at Charlottesville Tomorrow, management had no interest in audio except as a way to bring long meetings to people. Yet, every story I produced in my eleven years was written as if it was a public radio story as my primary reporting technique is to harvest audio.

I’m not sure if I’ll get back to every single edition being a podcast, as there are many items that simply don’t sound good. For a while, I would run my voice through a sound filter to read sound-bites, but I’ve stopped doing that as much since stories now also run on WTJU at 6 a.m. on Saturdays.

I’d like to grow the audience for the audio version, and I’ll continue to explore this. All I know is that I want to keep going with this work for a very long time, constantly refining the way I do things and never resting on my laurels. I’m allergic to them, anyway.

As I already did a pitch for paid subscriptions today, as well as the Ting advertisement, I’ll just leave it there with a thank you. And an image of the current snapshot of the spreadsheet that does all the real work of organization. I’m setting up to do this for a very long as there are subscribers willing to pay me to do the work.

A glimpse at how these stories come together