November 22, 2025

Podcast for November 22, 2025: A transit story, one on Charlottesville's budget, and three from Albemarle County including an economic development update

32 minutes

Written editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement often begin with a historical anecdote to mark the day and tie stories to a greater sense of the world. But what about this newsletter’s history?

* The first November 22 edition came out in 2021 as you can see and hear here.

* The November 22 version from 2023 was the only one made that week. Go look!

* Last year? November 22 rounded out a full week of newsletters!

This edition is a podcast version where 92.3 percent of the material has already gone out in print form but now the stories can be heard as if you were listening to public radio.

What’s in this edition?

* Albemarle’s Economic Development Authority gets an update on AstraZeneca’s investment at Rivanna Futures (learn more)

* Officials celebrate one transportation project while another gets underway

* Jaunt CEO Mike Murphy briefs Charlottesville City Council (learn more)

* With one quarter down, Charlottesville currently projected for $921K surplus for FY2026 (learn more)

* Albemarle Supervisors take a look at the five-year financial plan as budget planning accelerates for fiscal year 2027 (learn more)

Sponsorship demonstration: Westwind Flowers

Fall is in full bloom at Westwind Flowers! With the crisp autumn air settling in, they’re celebrating the season with fresh, local blooms perfect for every occasion.

And as the holidays approach, let Westwind Flowers bring local beauty to your celebrations. Dress up your Thanksgiving table with seasonal blooms, gift your host or hostess with a gorgeous indoor plant, or join us for one of our Holiday Wreath Workshops on November 29th or December 6th. Create your own festive wreath, from the base to the finishing touch, with expert guidance and fresh, locally grown greenery.

Westwind Flowers offers sustainably grown, thoughtfully curated cut flowers, perfectly suited to the season and the special moments in your life. They believe the blooms in your vase should be just as fresh, and just as local, as the food on your table. Visit their website to learn more!

Thoughts at the end of #960-A

This is the first podcast edition in two weeks. The reason there was none last week? Last Saturday I published a text edition instead based on differing accounts of the forced resignation of University of Virginia President Jim Ryan.

For a while I was posting these on Mondays, but the gravity of my workflow means they come out best on Saturday mornings. I’ve been an audio producer for most of my journalism career dating back to 1995 and an internship at WVTF Public Radio. Recording audio is how I’ve always conducted interviews, though I've not done that for a while.

I would like to do so, though. Since beginning this newsletter in the summer of 2020, I’ve mostly relied on harvesting government meetings and information releases. For me that is efficient approach because it can be much more time consuming to process those interviews and turn them into finished pieces. The nature of my business plan is to be as prolific as possible.

I’m a journalist first. Being a business person ranks lower, though I’ve added a lot of over the past five and a half years. I’m excited to look ahead to 2026 and trying out some new things as I can. Maybe I’ll finally finish that media kit! Let me know if you want to see a preview.

For now it is time to finish this up and move on with the day. Below is an image from one of the stories this week.

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

...more

View all episodes

By Town Crier Productions

4.3

99 ratings