Shortly after the pandemic hit, Mable Christian’s daughter’s work hours were drastically cut. Christian, who has lived with her daughter at Mallside Forest Apartments—a low-income housing complex in Albemarle County—since 2015, has been unable to work for years due to workplace injury, and currently lives on Social Security benefits. The mother and daughter eventually fell […]
Since early May, more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox, a viral disease endemic to countries in West and Central Africa, have been reported across the world, including more than 2,500 in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. As of July 25, 72 cases have been detected in Virginia. While the majority […]
For more than two years, Charlottesville’s Police Civilian Oversight Board has been embroiled in internal disputes over its ordinance and procedures, preventing its appointed members from doing their main job—reviewing the Charlottesville Police Department’s internal investigations. Last Thursday, the board was scheduled to hold its long-awaited first hearing concerning the violent arrest of a man […]
At the beginning of the year, Amy Glover fell behind on rent. After her boyfriend’s employer cut his hours due to the pandemic, he struggled to find another stable job, leaving the couple with just one income for a while. Glover informed the management team at her apartment complex, Spark Charlottesville, of their situation, and […]
Early Saturday morning, several hundred people gathered at Monticello to celebrate Juneteenth, including descendants of the over 400 Black people who were enslaved at the plantation during Thomas Jefferson’s lifetime. The free community event featured insightful and invigorating panel speakers—including renowned filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed, jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, and over […]
For Ashley Reynolds Marshall, the past year has been a whirlwind. A few weeks after she became Charlottesville’s first deputy city manager for racial equity, diversity, and inclusion last May, the city removed its infamous Lee and Jackson monuments, and the Sacajawea, Lewis, and Clark statue. When former city manager Chip Boyles resigned in October—shortly […]
After Charlottesville City Council voted to rezone Hinton Avenue United Methodist Church—the future site of Rachel’s Haven, a 15-unit apartment complex for low-income individuals, adults with developmental disabilities, and people at risk of homelessness—from residential to neighborhood commercial corridor in 2019, nearly three-dozen disgruntled residents filed a petition against the city, demanding a judge overturn […]
Following the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, gun violence spiked across Charlottesville, particularly in the city’s predominantly Black neighborhoods. There were four gun homicides in 2020—a notable uptick from the two homicides in 2019 and one in 2018. By the end of the year, the Charlottesville Police Department had responded to 122 shots-fired incidents. This […]
Holding colorful homemade signs and pictures of bagels, Bodo’s employees—joined by several dozen community members—gathered on the Corner last week, urging the restaurant to allow its staff to unionize. A majority of the workers at the shop’s Corner location have presented signed union cards to management in an effort to improve wages, benefits, and overall […]
Since the Supreme Court ended the national eviction moratorium in August, many Virginians have been able to stay in their homes thanks to the state’s rent relief program. But on May 15, the program will stop accepting new applications due to dwindling funds, leaving struggling renters with few other assistance options. Once the program ends, […]