Senior Statesmen of Virginia: Public Safety – How Safe is Our Community?

From the very beginning of this website, audio recordings of speeches and panel discussions have been a hallmark. There are hours and hours of recordings from the Senior Statesmen of Virginia.

There’s been a pause in those recordings but starting now I’m hopeful I’ll be able to bring you the audio of future events which touch on all manner of topics about our community.

(left to right) Tim Longo, Sean Reeves, Michael Kochis

On August 9, 2023, the Senior Statesmen of Virginia gathered at Westminster Canterbury on Pantops to ask: How Safe is Our Community?

They invited the police chiefs of the three area jurisdictions to answer that question and other matters related to public safety. In attendance were:

  • Tim Longo, Associate Vice President and Chief of Police at the University of Virginia
  • Sean Reeves, Chief of the Albemarle County Police Departmen
  • Michael Kochis, Chief of the Charlottesville Police Department

The program was moderated by Bob Beard of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia.

Timeline for the audio:

02:00 – Chief Tim Longo speaks first
06:00 – Chief Sean Reeves speaks second
12:30 – Chief Mike Kochis speaks third
18:45 – First question: Can the uptick in crime be attributed to schools being closed in the early days of the COVID pandemic?
23:30 – Second question: What laws would you deploy to reduce guns on the street?
29:15 – Third question: Would Albemarle County follow Charlottesville’s example and create a gun buy-back program?
33:00 – Fourth question: What should I do to protect myself when I am traveling to unsafe areas?
39:00 – Fifth question: Question about landlords of large residential developments requesting police refrain from patroling certain places
46:00 – Sixth question: Is it harder to be a police officer today than before cellphones? l
52:00 – Seventh question: Do any of the police department hers allow ride-alongs?
52:30 – Eighth question: How can the public support the police department and the mental health of officers?
56:30 – Ninth question: Do you ever get involved in computer scams?
58:15 – Tenth question: How can we help you do your job?

Cardinal Corner Episode 9: Choosing the Right Blinds & Shades for Your Home

From Cardinal Corner:

Not sure what blinds and shades are right for your space? Hunter Douglas provides countless options for the rooms you spend the most time in, such as your office, living room, and kitchen. In this episode, Maggie talks with Hunter Douglas specialists Judy Wagoner and Ally Catlett to help you find the right solution.

Listen on:

Episode 5: Kitchen Design Trends and Remodels

From Cardinal Corner:

It is sometimes said that kitchens are the heart of your home. While some use it as a major hub for entertaining, it is more often a gathering place for family and friends alike. Because we spend so much time in this area, it is worthwhile to make it your own. We talked with Dianna Campagna, a Certified Interior Decorator and Kitchen and Bath Designer with over 16 years of experience, to discuss some of the new trends in kitchens and what you can do to increase their value.

Listen on:

Cardinal Corner Episode 2: Recommendations for New Home Construction

From the Cardinal Corner:

To start our first series, we took some time to talk to Matt Utz, our Madison store manager. With an extensive background in home construction and nearly 20 years working with both contractors and homeowners at Cardinal Home Center, Matt has certainly seen it all. This episode dives into some of the most common questions we see from homeowners preparing to build custom homes in the Charlottesville area.

Access this episode:

Cardinal Corner: A podcast produced by the Cardinal Home Center

This website was started in 2005  as an experiment in podcasting. Eighteen years later, that’s what it still very much is. Since Town Crier Productions took the site back over in 2022, there’s not been much printed here. Most of the activity is over on the Charlottesville Community Engagement feed on Substack or on Information Charlottesville.

But there are a lot of podcasts out there and it’s time again to experiment with the concept of this being a network. So, here is a link to an area podcast. I got this from Emmet Aylor of the Cardinal Home Center.

“This podcast, produced by Cardinal Home Center (cardinalhomecenter.com), interviews experts at our stores to get insight on how to tackle your home renovation challenges. We hope to help guide listeners through some projects they’ve been looking to do and introduce our team!”

In the first episode, host Maggie Glass spoke with Michael Freeman, a Benjamin Moore paint salesman at the Crozet location. They talked about some considerations for how to start picking a color, how you can keep your budget down when painting, and how to prepare before you come in to one of our stores.

I can’t provide a play button here, but I can link directly to that episode on the following services.

 

 

Move2Health Equity presents 2021 transportation survey results to City Council

Since reacquiring management of the Charlottesville Podcasting Network, I have resisted posting material here. When I created this site, it was just to experiment with the technology. Thousands of podcasts later, there is a lot here I want to keep as an archive of a certain time.

But I also want to add things, even if those things may just be repurposed content from my other work at Town Crier Productions.  That’s the company I created in 2020 to help me figure out how to make a living covering the world around me as a journalist.

So, I think what I may do for a time is continue to post these and to add a little commentary about the stories where I can. I’m not doing that for this one, nor am I going to repost all of the text. You can read that on Information Charlottesville.

Anyway, here are the first two paragraphs of the story to whet your appetite.

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The current administration of the City of Charlottesville has inherited a city government that has struggled to turn ideas for road and multimodal improvement into completed projects. For instance, the Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded three Smart Scale grants to the city in 2016, but none of them has yet gone to construction. The city saved up millions for a West Main Streetscape project that was canceled last year with the money reprioritized for the renovation of Buford Middle School.

The task of reforming the city’s transportation process has fallen to Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders. Last year, he worked with the Virginia Department of Transportation on a plan to fix the city’s broken process, including the cancellation of a couple other projects. Last year, the city did not submit any applications through the Smart Scale process. That was one concession to VDOT officials who have become impatient with the city’s inability to deliver.