This year, Virginia’s Democrat-led legislature authorized a historic expansion of the Virginia Court of Appeals. The move pushed the number of judges from 11 to 17, and diversified the court significantly: The new crop of judges includes four Black people, four women, two public defenders, and a legal aid attorney. One of those public defenders, […]
Virginia received $4.3 billion in federal relief funds as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan package Congress passed earlier this year. That sounds like lot of dough, but this spring, state agencies had a chance to submit requests for how the money might be spent. Those agencies’ requests totaled $18 billion. The General […]
By Geremia di Maro Charlottesville’s government faces a wide array of big issues: A housing crisis. Ongoing criminal justice system inequities. A bureaucracy that’s had difficulty getting on the same page. This summer, three candidates are competing in the Democratic primary in hopes of securing the party’s nominations to run for two contested seats on […]
By Geremia Di Maro There’s a line outside the City Hall Annex. Volunteers wearing cardboard posters of ballots circle cheerfully. This year, election season started early. In Charlottesville, as of October 26, about 14,500 people have voted—a huge increase from the 3,394 total absentee ballots cast in 2016. Roughly 33,000 ballots have been cast this […]
By Geremia Di Maro As the community searches for answers to the COVID pandemic, both the Commonwealth of Virginia and UVA have rolled out apps designed to suppress the spread of the virus. While state officials are excited about the state app’s ability to track the disease, UVA’s app—which cost a similar amount to develop—merely […]