Eighty percent of Saturdays in this month of November have already occurred if you include the one in which this edition of the Charlottesville Community Engagement podcast is released into the world. At one point, there was a podcast for every newsletter. When you’re done listening to today’s edition, why not go back to 2020? Thanks to paid subscriptions, I’ve been able to develop a body of work over the past four and a half years and have tracked a great deal of information. As we approach the next winter holiday, I will be reflecting on how grateful I am to those who support the work.

Now, let’s get to what’s in here today. Each of the links goes to a story posted on Information Charlottesville, a companion to this newsletter. If you like what you read, why not share it with someone you think might want to know what’s going on?

This week’s sonic stories:

* Albemarle County continues work on the Comprehensive Plan update and will get outside help to review of how efficiently development area is used (learn more)

* The Virginia Public Access Project has put together a more complete picture of turnout in the 2024 elections (learn more)

* Arlington County will appeal a judicial ruling invalidating their program for providing middle missing housing (learn more)

* Charlottesville City Council gets the first of three budget briefings intended to get their initial response to proposed new spending and City Manager Sam Sanders said he will try to recommend a budget without a tax increase (learn more)

Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

First shout-out: Cvillepedia!

Both of today’s shout-outs relate to the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society. Neither of these are paid for in any way. I really want you to know these things, beginning with cvillepedia.

Cvillepedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this first shout for the November 23, 2024 edition seeks to provide a little bit about what I know. I helped create cvillepedia back in the late 2000’s as a way of keeping track of all of the stories being written for the nonprofit news organization I worked for at the time.

Now Cvillepedia is hosted by the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library under the stewardship of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society. There are over 6,500 articles and we need volunteers to help keep it up to date and to capture more of this community’s history, present, and future.

If you want to learn how to do research, learn how to explore historical documents, and want some experience writing, consider becoming a volunteer. To give you a sense of one potential project, Frances Brand painted dozens and dozens of portraits of people in the Charlottesville area. Who were they? What can we learn about where we are now by documenting the stories of everyone from Ruth Klüger Angress to Jay Worrall? More on Brand in the next shout-out?

Questions? Drop me a line! There’s even a Slack channel if you’d like to get involved!

Second shout-out: ACHS taking orders for book profiling local artist Frances Brand

In the next shout-out for the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society: Frances Brand lived from 1901 to 1990 and in her later life she undertook a series of portraits of individuals from Charlottesville and Albemarle County that would become her Gallery of Firsts.

Brand was a U.S. Army major, a civil rights activist, a world traveler, a devoted churchgoer, and an accomplished artist, among other things. Some remember her as a colorful eccentric who loved to dress in purple, while others knew her as a committed and lifelong social activist.

Behind each of Brand’s portraits of these 20th-century pioneers is a special story. To collect some of them, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society has created a book that features 51 portraits from the full collection of currently known Firsts portraits and share some of the compelling stories about those depicted.

ACHS is taking pre-sale orders now for shipping in November. To place your order, visit the ACHS store.

Reading material for #767A

This one is a little different. This morning I’m cleaning up some of my files and opted to go through a document I keep that tracks the state of journalism. These are all from the time when I was launching this work.

* How Can the Press Best Serve a Democratic Society?, Michael Luo, New Yorker, July 11, 2020

* Report for America opens newsroom applications, expands opportunity to hire more journalists, Report for America, July 13, 2020

* How the Decline of Local News Threatens Local Democracy, Michael Hendrix, Manhattan Institute, October 5, 2020

* To save itself, journalism will need to stop preaching to the choir, Lauren Harris, Columbia Journalism Review, July 15, 2020

* The Journalism Creators Program at CUNY teaches participants to launch their own news products, from wherever they are, Hanaa’ Tameez, Nieman Lav, October 27, 2020

* What Happens When a Community Loses Its Newspaper?, Christine Ro, November 11, 2020

How well have I done? Well, I’m still afloat! I am grateful for all of those who are supporting the work. If you’d like to join them, there are many ways to do so. I’m just not as good at figuring out the best way to ask!

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Podcast for November 23, 2024: Albemarle Supervisors on efficiency of county’s development areas, Charlottesville City Council gets a budget briefing and two other stories

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