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Episode Notes Virginia's former Director of Education is getting a six-figure severance package after abruptly resigning last week. The Quirk Gallery in downtown Charlottesville features the exhibit "Constant Anomalies" by Suzanna Fields--using unusual painting techniques to capture the beauty of nature. Five longtime locals describe what they love about Charlottesville in the latest issue of Cville Weekly Governor Youngkin has changed the criteria for restoring voting rights to formerly-incarcerated felons, and we're not sure why. Amazon's pause on constructing HQ2 has been paired with layoffs and paused partnerships with Virginia institutions.

Episode Notes The 7th Annual UVA Flute Forum took place this past weekend. A few weeks ago, a man in custody at Central State Hospital was killed. Now seven deputies involved in the incident have been charged with murder. Some Virginia election officials are resigning in the face of threats and harassment--with some counties facing empty offices entirely. Virginia has a State Corporation Commission, but it still has just one member. House Republicans and Senate Democrats cannot agree on how to fill to empty seats. After the Silicon Valley Bank went belly-up earlier this month, the federal government promised to bail out its wealthy account holders. At one time, federal regulations would have prevented this kind of bank failure--but a 2018 law co-sponsored by Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner loosened restrictions on mid-sized banks. A new government report sheds light on a need for clarity on “earned wage access” programs--drawing parallels to the payday loan issues of the last decade.

Episode Notes Governor Glenn Youngkin's education townhall doesn't quite land. PVCC's Higher Education in Prison Program puts on an artistic performance for incarcerated students. Charlottesville's only homeless center for the elderly and seriously ill is closing soon. A new bill in the General Assembly would require age verification for pornographic websites Where does Charlottesville's beer comes from? In a new report, Norfolk turned out to have the fastest acceleration of sea level rise along the east coast.

Episode Notes Virginia's Superintendent of Public Instruction resigned last week after being in the job for a year. What happened? Live Arts has a new show opening this month: CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY | Live Arts Charlottesville city schools wanted to address staffing issues by hiring formerly incarcerated people--but the General Assembly didn't touch the issue. This winter, Charlottesville's homeless center staff is facing double the usual demand--a problem exacerbated by an extra-warm winter and rising inflation. The General Assembly has wrapped its session, but the budget is still in limbo--and so is the state's Cannabis Control Agency. Nuclear advocates are pushing for small, modular nuclear reactors--but there's a lot of questions about how that'd work for Virginia.

Have you ever looked at a map of Charlottesville, surrounded on all sides by Albemarle County, and wondered why Charlottesville and Albemarle are governed completely separately? Maybe you moved here from another state and were surprised to learn that your children would attend a city school rather than a county one. Or maybe you’ve visited northern Virginia and crisscrossed in and out of Fairfax County as you passed through the cities of Falls Church, Alexandria and even the independent city of Fairfax which is surrounded on all sides by the county of Fairfax. The answer is that cities in Virginia are independent cities. There are 41 independent cities in the whole United States and 38 of them are in Virginia. So this week we’re going to talk about what they are, why they exist and what they mean for local governance. First up, we’re going to get the legal perspective from UVA Law Professor Rich Schragger. In the second half of the show we’ll get a boots on the ground perspective from Charlottesville City Councilor, Juandiego Wade.https://www.law.virginia.edu/faculty/profile/rcs4t/1206421

It’s been two weeks since the US supreme court overturned Roe v. Wade and people all over the country have been trying to figure out how to respond to it. In Virginia abortions are still legal during the first and second trimesters. After about seven months, Virginia doctors can perform abortions only if the life of the pregnant person is threatened. But that may well change. Governor Glenn Youngkin responded to the decision by calling on his fellow Republican legislators to push for restrictions on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Here in Charlottesville a number of organizations are working to educate people about the Supreme Court Decision and its local impact on reproductive healthcare. If you have questions we encourage you to look up the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund, Planned Parenthood Charlottesville, Repro Rising Virginia, UVA survivors, Period at UVA or talk to a medical care provider. We’ll have more local coverage as things unfold both here and on our sister podcast, Bold Dominion. Today though, we’re gonna focus on the decision itself. We’re bringing you a teach-in by UVA Law Professor Ann Coughlin and Professor Bonnie Gordon. Sound Justice Lab at UVA https://soundjusticelab.org Planned Parenthood Charlottesville https://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-center/virginia/charlottesville/22901/charlottesville-health-center-2815-90860 Blue Ridge Abortion Fund https://blueridgeabortionfund.org Repro Rising Virginia https://twitter.com/REPRORising_VA

In the past year the national average cost of food according to the Consumer Price Index rose 10%. In this episode our production team canvases Charlottesville grocery stores to find out how much food costs here relative to the national averages. In the second half of the show we talk about how these rapid increases in the cost of food are impacting the Blue Ridge Food Bank and the families they serve. Check out the Consumer Price Index: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/ Learn more about the Blue Ridge Food Bank: https://www.brafb.org