The latest Charlottesville Community Engagement podcast is out with six stories from this past week. Take a listen at the original Town Crier website (launched in 2005!) www.cvillepodcast.com/2026/04/24/c...

Albemarle Supervisors adopted a budget for FY27 on April 22 after directing staff to reallocate additional funding to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund. infocville.com/2026/04/24/a...

Charlottesville is taking applications for various boards and commissions through May 1. There are currently two vacancies on the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. infocville.com/2026/04/23/c...

Charlottesville is working on a new strategic plan and on Monday, City Manager Sam Sanders provided an update on where things stand to implement the current one. infocville.com/2026/04/23/c...

I truly enjoy writing up the occasional "procurement report" which is another way I keep tabs on what's happening. I report as much as I can in the newsletter because that's what I ask people to pay me to do. infocville.com/2026/04/21/p...

The University of Virginia has been awarded $536,539 to help with food waste reduction and additional composting efforts. Some of the money will be used to buy hot and cold storage for the group UVA Food Assist infocville.com/2026/04/22/u...

The days of me reporting live on election night are over, but I do want to make sure anyone who wants to see the votes come in have access to the primary source. enr.elections.virginia.gov/results/publ...

Today is the first day the Virginia Breeze bus service is taking passengers between Harrisonburg and Virginia Beach. Would you be interested in taking it? infocville.com/2026/03/25/n...

Another Week Ahead preview: Charlottesville City Council has several items on its consent agenda including $823K for five affordable housing projects and $50,000 for a consultant to launch a public arts program. infocville.com/2026/04/19/m...

A story I've written for C-Ville Weekly wrapped up the budget discussion last week. It's not posted online yet, but here's the audio version posted stand-alone to SoundCloud. soundcloud.com/sean-tubbs/a...

Today's newsletter is the Week Ahead which writes up meetings and gives additional context on what will be discussed. First up, the ARB meets tomorrow with two items including rooftop solar guidelines infocville.com/2026/04/19/a...

This week is Dark Sky Week and I didn't expect to be writing a follow-up to this story about elected officials recognizing the event. But there's a Dark Sky angle from a Planning Commission meeting and an easy story to write while watching a match infocville.com/2026/04/10/a...

Tomorrow's radio show will close out with an archive piece from City Council's work session in late March on the low-barrier shelter. I have to trim out three minutes. Using this post to identify what can go. infocville.com/2026/03/27/c...

Big day for Charlottesville Parks and Recreation tomorrow. The recreation pool at Smith Aquatic Center will reopen after weeks of closure due to mechanical failure. And the McIntire Skate Park turns 8 and there will be cake and music. infocville.com/2026/04/17/c...

Sometime last week I reported that the Department of Neighborhood Development Service had enacted first set of zoning changes, new manual. City put out a press release yesterday after Planning Commission asked them to on Tuesday. Here's my story from that meeting. infocville.com/2026/04/17/n...

A burn ban is in place in Albemarle County and Greene County due to dry conditions and the elevated fire risks due to wind gusts. infocville.com/2026/04/17/a...

The UVA Center for Politics has been renovated, expanded, and is no longer accessible from Old Ivy Road. Virginia Guesthouse is open and the conference center is certified. These are two things the Charlottesville Planning Commission learned this week from UVA rep infocville.com/2026/04/16/u...

A site development plans have been filed in Albemarle County for a Sheetz store at Fashion Square Mall at the site of a now-closed Red Lobster restaurant that was built in 2012. The project will need design approval from the Architectural Review Board infocville.com/2026/04/16/s...

A member of the Charlottesville Planning Commission gave a very brief glimpse into a closed-door meeting on transportation planning in the area. A story posted just now as I produce audio version of the newsletter. infocville.com/2026/04/16/a...

Former Charlottesville Deputy City Manager Eden Ratliff left the city a year to take a job in Middletown Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was fired this week according to LevittownNow.com levittownnow.com/2026/04/13/m...

The latest podcast edition of Charlotteville Community Engagement is now posted to the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. There's an overly long story about the shaping of the city budget, a smaller one about Albemarle's and a tribute to the Dark Sky

Supposedly it is "Local News Day" and I'm spending the first part of it making sure newsletter stories are archived to Information Charlottesville. One of them documents another development seeking to replace commercial with more residential. infocville.com/2026/04/03/a...

Governor Spanberger is in the midst of signing legislation from the 2026 General Assembly including one that will allow Charlottesville to tax improvements and land at different rates.

Over the course of three work sessions, Council agreed to support a lower rate increase on the real property tax for 2026. The staff report for tonight's public hearing does not reflect this information. It took me way too long to write this story. infocville.com/2026/04/06/c...

Want to make a public comment to a subcommittee of the Board of Visitors at tomorrow's meeting on tuition? You have an hour from now to sign up. bov.virginia.edu/meetings/apr...

Yes, Virginia, it did take me a month to write up a City Council work session on the Downtown Mall. There is a reason I don't call what I do "news" because that means a lot of relevant stuff wouldn't get reported. infocville.com/2026/04/03/c...

This was in Monday's newsletter but finally posted to Information Charlottesville today as I do audio production. The city had tried to get a contractor late last year, but no one bid first time. Second bid got one proposal, over contract. Third time had three bids and a contract awarded

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors issued a proclamation on Wednesday after staff planted pinwheels at the county's two main buildings. infocville.com/2026/04/03/a...

Friday is story processing day and the first I've posted is from a briefing Albemarle Supervisors received on transportation this past Wednesday. infocville.com/2026/04/03/w...

Let's try something new. Seeking comments for a story. In recent years, Albemarle and Charlottesville both levied a tax on plastic bags. How has it affected your habits?

Recap the last week before this one begins with a podcast posted at an ancient website! www.cvillepodcast.com/2026/03/30/c...

The area library system is seeking young people who want to be considered to be the 2026 Teen Poet Laureate.

As advocates push for Albemarle to spend more on housing, Supervisors have disbursed $4 million for five projects. Details in this article I wrote for C-Ville Weekly.

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation is putting together a new statewide rail plan and they are looking for feedback. Learn more in this brief story: infocville.com/2026/03/25/v...

Sometimes I like to watch bids being opened by the Virginia Department of Transportation. I don't know if anything local is up, but I like to try to figure stuff like that out. You can too via YouTube. They'll be announcing in about 10 to 15 minutes. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCb9...

This is a bit outside of my range, but the Virginia Commission on Local Government will meet in Tangier this week to discuss that community's fiscal stress. Here is a link to the agenda. townhall.virginia.gov/L/GetFile.cf...

This morning I produced a podcast version of my stories on Albemarle and Charlottesville's budget. And posted it just now to the podcast site I created in 2005! www.cvillepodcast.com/2026/03/20/c...

People ask how I keep track of so many things. A deep interest, I suppose. As in, I'm going to watch yesterday's Commonwealth Transportation Board meeting to see what I can learn and what if anything I might report. Want to scoop me? Here's the YouTube link? www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td6b...

The Buildings and Grounds Committee got a look at the latest use of space at the Emmet-Ivy Corridor. The School of Data Science will have an entreneurship building. Also, UVA plans to connect North Grounds to Barracks Road at Millmont Street.

Virginia is set to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative after time away. A quick summary from a couple of weeks ago. infocville.com/2026/03/17/v...

A quick update on the Virginia General Assembly and some of what made it out... and goodness I need better artwork for these posts. infocville.com/2026/03/17/g...

For fun on Saturdays, I do archival work. At the moment that's brought up this story I wrote in the spring of 2021 when the Charlottesville Planning Commission took the first look at the Future Land Use Map. infocville.com/2021/04/13/c...

Albemarle's new Comprehensive Plan will inform the next phase of an ongoing zoning "modernization" intended to make it easier for developers to build housing to meet the county's growing population. infocville.com/2026/03/13/a...

On March 18, Albemarle Supervisors will decide on what tax rates to advertise. On March 4, they heard from members of the public on a variety of issues. infocville.com/2026/03/13/s...

One way I try to be thorough is to periodically review bids put out by localities for firms to provide services. Research this week yielded a small piece of the puzzle about Charlottesville Area Transit's transition to alternative fuel sources. infocville.com/2026/03/11/p...

Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders is recommending a two-cent increase in the real property tax rate to accommodate a FY27 budget that increases spending on transit and covers higher personnel costs due to collective bargaining. Details in this story. infocville.com/2026/03/06/s...

I've resumed posting Fifth District Community Engagement, a newsletter I created when I thought about leaving Charlottesville to move south. In research tonight, I came across my coverage of the final meeting of the Virginia Redistricting Commission in 2021. infocville.com/2021/10/09/v...

In February, the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review took a preliminary look at two projects, including one that would take advantage of a Residential B property to build nine new units. infocville.com/2026/03/05/b...

LCD Acquisitions has submitted a second version of a "major development plan" for a 100-foot tall student housing building proposed for Fifeville. The latest in this report: infocville.com/2026/03/05/n...

The City of Charlottesville's Economic Development Office releases a vacancy report twice a year for some commercial areas in the city. Here's a report about the January 2026 snapshot. infocville.com/2026/03/05/a... If I had capacity, I would maintain my own count and add West Main and Belmont