Podcast for June 13, 2026: Albemarle transportation, future buildings at UVA, and a few more stories

On June 13, 1895, a two-seat vehicle driven by Émile Levassor crossed the finish line in Paris 48 hours and 48 minutes after leaving that city in the world’s first automobile race. The journey took contestants on a 1,178 kilometer course to Bordeaux and back and Levassor arrived six hours before the runner-up. However, the rules called for a four-seater and both were ineligible for victory. What sort of race is Charlottesville Community Engagement documenting? I’m Sean Tubbs, and we can only know through the stories.In this edition:* Kellie Brown is stepping down as Charlottesville’s director of Neighborhood Development Services (read the story)* Area officials report from recent Chamber trip to Chapel Hill (read the story)* Albemarle Supervisors presented with first transportation priority list in a few years (read the story)* Albemarle Supervisors allow building to remain within stream buffer (read the story on C-Ville Weekly)* UVA Provost: Record number of applications for Class of 2030 (read the story)* Only two buildings left to be programmed at UVA’s Emmet-Ivy Corridor (read the story)* Buildings and Grounds Committee gets details on UVA’s next heat plant (read the story)Thanks for reading Charlottesville Community Engagement ! This post is public so feel free to share it.First shout-out: Plant Virginia NativesSummertime means that the invasive vines are winning the battle at my house but one day I will attain the skills to make my garden something more palatable and less like it’s an exterior shot in the Walking Dead.I often look longingly at the Plant Virginia Natives to inspire my dreams of a tidy yard. Plant Virginia Natives is part of a partnership with ten regional campaigns for ten different ecosystems across Virginia, from the Northern Piedmont to the Eastern Shore.Take a look at the full map below for the campaign for native species where you are in the Commonwealth. For the Charlottesville area, download a free copy of the handbook: Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and GardenSecond shout-out: Celebrating the community’s other information organizations!There are a lot of stories each week that go out through this newsletter, but no one information outlet can put together the entire picture. That’s why each regular edition ends with a section called Reading Material.Charlottesville is fortunate to have a media landscape that includes the Charlottesville Daily Progress, C-Ville Weekly, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and Cville Right Now, I curate links from these sources because I believe a truly informed community needs multiple perspectives.There’s also the Cavalier Daily, Vinegar Hill Magazine, the Fluvanna Review, the Crozet Gazette, NBC29, CBS19, and other sources. But if you look every day, you’ll find links to articles in national publications, all linked to give you more perspectives on some of the issues of our times.Now more than ever, journalism is needed. To be a citizen of a democracy, you must seek information from multiple sources. Consume only one and you are at risk of becoming a zombie!#1069-A ends with a Town Crier Productions backstorySaturday podcast editions mark the end of one work week and the beginning of another. As soon as “publish” is hit I’ll get to work on the next set of stories. Paid subscribers and other contributors have been keeping this newsletter afloat for nearly six years now.The first edition on July 13, 2026 is a lot different from where the newsletter is now. The original idea was for the newsletter to be a five to ten minute podcast each day. My career began as an intern for WVTF Public Radio back in January 1995. That’s where I learned to write copy for broadcast, and learned to write quickly.But there weren’t really a lot of jobs in public radio and unsettling experiences in New Hampshire in 1996 caused me to lose interest. It took living outside the country for a year to want to come back and want to get back to this career.I’ve been in Charlottesville now for nearly 24 years moving here for a job in public radio but I was not a good fit for the organization that hired me. I went back to freelancing but that wasn’t enough to make a living so I worked at Court Square Tavern and created a business to try to figure out if I could make money off of podcasting.I couldn’t, but the Charlottesville Podcasting Network was an experiment in trying to use audio to get information out in different ways. By 2007 I had to take a steady job and for eleven years I learned about this community in my time at Charlottesville Tomorrow.And now I’ve just concluded a week in which I published five morning newsletters each day. I don’t think I could go back to afternoon publication anymore because the benefits of the switch become more clear each day.For now, though, I really want to hit send so I can get on with the day. There are a lot of stories to dig into today. I’m grateful for paid subscribers, sponsors, and donors for their belief in the work I’m doing. In so many ways, I’m still that 21-year-old kid in Roanoke in awe that I got to write stories about local government. I believe in what I do and appreciate you reading to the last line. 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