In 2004, Charlottesville’s tree canopy covered 50 percent of the city. In 2018, it covered just 40 percent of the city—meaning the city has lost one-fifth of its total tree cover. Eleven of Charlottesville’s 18 neighborhoods—including North Downtown, Woolen Mills, Belmont, Martha Jefferson, and Fifeville—now have below 40 percent canopy cover, according to the city […]
For nearly a century, Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee statue—erected during the Jim Crow era, in the heyday of the Ku Klux Klan—towered above the park at the city’s center, signaling to Black residents that they were not wanted downtown. After years of court battles and a deadly white supremacist rally, the city removed the racist […]
For years, some Albemarle County residents have lacked adequate access to high-speed internet. CenturyLink customers continue to experience broadband and telephone outages, sometimes lasting for days or even weeks. And for many residents, CenturyLink is their only option. But for some, better internet and phone service is on the way. Thanks to the 2021 Virginia […]
For decades, local governments were prohibited from allowing their employees to unionize in Virginia. Since the General Assembly lifted this ban last year, Charlottesville’s firefighters, bus drivers, and teachers have urged City Council to pass an ordinance allowing collective bargaining for city employees. Though the councilors adopted a resolution last summer allowing former city manager […]
Virginia’s Republican-controlled House has killed a bill that would have allowed marijuana sales to begin ahead of schedule. The Democrat-controlled Senate passed the bill last month, but some advocates criticized elements of the legislation. Virginia legalized marijuana in 2021, but the laws surrounding the drug are hazy. While everyone 21 and over can legally possess […]
After being released from prison, Hines Washington started a moving business—Hines’s Family Movers. As his business grew, Washington needed office space, but he couldn’t afford it. And, as a recently incarcerated individual, he found it difficult to secure a loan. Washington turned to the Fountain Fund, a local nonprofit dedicated to giving low-interest consumer, vehicle, […]
In January, the highly contagious omicron variant brought coronavirus cases to an all-time high in the Charlottesville area. The Blue Ridge Health District reported over 11,000 new cases and nearly 200 hospitalizations—the largest surge since the pandemic started in February 2020. Over the past few weeks, cases and hospitalizations have significantly declined. On February 13, […]
After protests over police brutality rocked the nation in the summer of 2020, both Charlottesville and Albemarle ended their school resource officer programs. The districts replaced the officers with care and safety assistants, unarmed adults tasked with building relationships with students, monitoring hallways, de-escalating conflicts, addressing mental health concerns, assisting with security issues, and upholding […]
For nearly two years, the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail has been hit hard by the pandemic. While the virus shakes up life outside the jail’s walls, those incarcerated at ACRJ have reported poor COVID containment procedures and unhygienic living conditions. Now, with the highly-contagious omicron variant spreading across the country, coronavirus cases have reached an all-time […]
Between about 1944 and 1953, Mable Wall Jones was a major figure in the lives of Emily Abel and Margaret Nelson. In addition to cooking and cleaning for their family, Jones cared for the sisters and their three siblings at their home in New York. Until one day, she left. “We didn’t know much about […]