By the time she made her final address as the at-large member of the Albemarle County School Board, Allison Spillman’s self-appointed enemies had been celebrating for more than a week. “GOOD RIDDANCE,” one posted on Facebook August 5, the day Spillman announced her resignation. “[Spillman] supported every woke initiative that came her way—and even used […]
The Greene County Sheriff’s Office did not report dozens of traffic stops it made during its June 23 immigration raids to a public statewide database, in apparent violation of state law. In data it sent to the Virginia State Police, the sheriff’s office detailed 27 traffic stops between 4:50am and 1:30pm that day, out of […]
In the hours before the Albemarle County School Board met on June 11, board member Kate Acuff texted former superintendent Matthew Haas: “Call me when you have a second.” That night, the board would decide whether to ask Haas to resign amid a scandal over an employee accused of sexual misconduct with children. Roughly three […]
When we featured local author Alix E. Harrow on our August 19 cover, we never thought it would follow her to her kids’ bus stop. On August 25, Harrow posted on Bluesky: “one thing i didn’t anticipate about being on the cover of my local paper is that a 5th grader might show up at […]
Lewis Nelson needed some peace in his life. He says he’d “gone through a rough time” after two tours in Iraq with the U.S. Army, and three deployments to Afghanistan as a “federal civilian intelligence officer.” Then he saw—and heard—his first singing bowl. Made of metal or crystal, singing bowls are thought to originally come […]
“I’ve been drawing since around the age of 2,” Jae Johnson says. “Growing up, I had an infatuation with drawing cars. Actually, my aunt still has probably 80 percent of my work from when I was around that age.” Today, Johnson’s moved on to bigger things—literally. You can find his mural art gracing walls around […]
Perspire with pals at the Rivanna River Co.’s Riversong saunas. Participants can book 90-minute schvitz sessions in one of a pair of wood-fired steam rooms. Bathing suits are mandatory for community sweats; post-sauna cold plunges in the nearby river, or snacks at the on-site Tea Room, are optional.
SugarBear Ice Cream is going for a second scoop, adding an Ivy Road shop near U.S. 29 to its flagship Free Bridge-adjacent spot. “While there’s never a perfect time for anything,” says founder Emily Harpster, “life is short, and we think that more ice cream (and fun) in the world is always a good idea.”
Public schools aren’t created equal. Neither is their funding. Charlottesville’s new citywide PTO aims to even out those highs and lows. “Our school parents are just spread pretty thin,” says Emily Harding, a PTO leader at Summit Elementary. Recent redistricting means Summit’s pupils come from newly housing-dense neighborhoods, but the school’s funding hasn’t kept up […]
When summer scorches Charlottesville, the city’s spray grounds provide an excellent antidote to record highs. Located in four public parks, these structures gush, dump, and drizzle H2O to keep kids and their parents cool. Admission is free, everyone’s welcome, and the parks are open every day from 10am to 7pm, from May 16 through September […]