Police chief fired

Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney is on the outs—City Manager Chip Boyles terminated her contract last Wednesday evening. Brackney, the first Black woman to hold the job, had been at the head of the department since June 2018.  A recent survey of police officers indicated that the rank-and-file had lost trust in Brackney, but other […]

Early returns

Last week, city and county public schools welcomed students back for five-days-a-week, in-person instruction for the first time since March 2020. Both districts have already reported COVID-19 cases among students, but say they still feel confident in their health and safety precautions.  After the first day of classes, two city schools students reported symptoms, and […]

Music to your mouth

Walk into Soul Food Joint and the first thing that hits you is the smell—tangy, greasy goodness fills the air. The menu features all the classic soul food favorites, from fried chicken to pulled pork to mac and cheese. And if the food didn’t tip you off, the decor screams “I’ve got soul:” A photo […]

Mas appeal

Those smoked tomatoes! If you’re a Charlottesville foodie, you know the ones. The Tomates Asados at Mas Tapas in Belmont are transcendent—warm, zesty, rich, drenched in salty oil. Mas has far more complicated items on its broad tapas menu, but no matter what else you order, the tomatoes are always a highlight. Hearing Mas’ head […]

Firearm fracas

A collection of 100 or so area gun lovers gathered on the lawn of the Albemarle County Office Building last Wednesday afternoon to register their opposition to a proposed ordinance that would ban firearms on county-owned property, like parks and City Hall.  At a meeting after the rally, the county ultimately decided to hold off on […]

Carried away

On Saturday afternoon, just hours after the Confederate statues in downtown Charlottesville were removed, the city’s contractors also took down the statue of Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea from the intersection of Ridge and Main streets. Local activists and descendants of Sacagawea had long called for the statue’s removal. It portrays Lewis and Clark standing tall, […]

On origin stories

“Origin stories matter, for individuals, groups of people, and for nations,” writes Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed in her new book, On Juneteenth. “They inform our sense of self; telling us what kind of people we believe we are, what kind of nation we believe we live in.”  Gordon-Reed, a Texas native and Harvard Law […]

Freedom celebration

“Nearly every colored man, woman and child in Richmond, and the surrounding territory, took part in or viewed the big emancipation parade yesterday,” reads an article published in the April 4, 1905, edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “The crowd was orderly and was the subject of favorable comments from all who saw the line as […]

Mack attack

Former governor Terry McAuliffe secured the Democratic party’s 2021 gubernatorial nomination in a landslide victory on Tuesday. McAuliffe won 62 percent of primary votes, finishing 40 points ahead of his closest challenger. The longtime Dem politico will run against Republican Glenn Youngkin in the fall for a chance to reclaim the office he held from […]

Courting reform

Here’s one number to cut right to the heart of Tuesday’s Democratic primary for Charlottesville commonwealth’s attorney: 19. That’s how many times Joe Platania’s office says it has prosecuted felony simple possession of hard drugs as a standalone charge in the last two years.      Platania says that the statistic proves his office isn’t […]