Sharon Jones’ childhood home no longer exists. It was in an area of Charlottesville called Gospel Hill, which also no longer exists. “My two brothers and I were born there,” says Jones, who was born in 1962. Around that time the rapidly expanding University of Virginia bought the dozen or so houses in the predominantly […]
Increasingly, jails have become asylums. City and county officials are hoping to change that with a new court docket aimed at diverting people with mental illness from jail by the end of the year. The therapeutic docket follows 18 months of data gathering by the local Evidence-Based Decision-Making Policy Team, which found that 23.1 percent […]
In the center of Charlottesville is a park. A park that, lately, has seen its fair share of blood and spit, pepper spray and violence, tears and prayers. It sits in the city’s northeast quadrant and takes up a square block, sandwiched between First and Second streets to the west and east, Jefferson Street to […]
Neo-Nazis and affordable housing may not seem directly connected, but in the wake of the white supremacist rally on August 12, a new coalition of grassroots activists and nonprofit groups is linking the two in a push for more homes for poorer Charlottesville residents. The Charlottesville Coalition for Low-Income Housing, formed earlier this year, has […]
The bass from the DJ speakers outside hadn’t quieted yet, but the second annual Memorial Day cookout in Tonsler Park had come to a close. Several dozen people made their way past the turntables and into the nearby community center. Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas was ready to talk. Almost exactly a year ago, Thomas […]
City Council is forging ahead with a multi-pronged attempt to stymie the affordable housing crisis in Charlottesville. The moves call for building new affordable housing, while also creating incentives for existing landlords to rent at rates affordable for lower-income families, and developing a city-funded rental assistance program for residents who are most in need. “The […]
A new form of proposed zoning has some in the city on edge, worried that it could be used to force out poorer residents. Nearly 200 people attended an information session last week at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center to learn about form-based code, a different type of zoning ordinance that focuses on a […]
The first thing Steve Rubin heard was not the wailing sirens of a fire truck, but the shouts of his house guest, actor Bob Costley, alerting Rubin his car was on fire. Rubin had expected this—he routinely checked underneath his car for a bomb before going to his teaching job at Louisiana State University New […]
Winter is here, which means daylight is scarce and cold temperatures make most people want to spend a majority of their time indoors. This lack of exposure to sunlight can cause what is classically called “the winter blues,” a mild depression that is clinically referred to as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. Many people treat […]
The entertainment world will never be—or look—the same again. Here, locals share memories of some of the great talents we lost this year. Editor’s note: This list was made before the deaths this week of George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. David Bowie I didn’t really know him. We weren’t friends and I never touched him […]