Local real estate market (mostly) tracks national trends

Charlottesville area homes are selling at higher prices on average this year than they were in 2023, but they’re sitting on the market longer, and total sales are down. That roughly matches what’s happening nationwide, but there’s a key difference, according to local realtor Paul McArtor. “Charlottesville is so tied to the university, government, and […]

Local homewood firm branches out, stays true to its roots

The HeartPine Company made its name crafting custom products from stuff a lot of people would throw away. It’s that commitment to finding beauty that has allowed the firm to thrive for 25 years. “I think there are two or three things that make it different,” says Debra Kirschnick, who directs the company’s sales and […]

Albemarle High senior helps make repurposing breakthrough

Local high school student Vidya Ambati has potentially saved pharmaceutical researchers several years and billions of dollars in the fight against arthritis, and the breakthrough comes with at least one major side effect: a $50,000 college scholarship. Ambati, along with 19 other gifted high school students nationwide, was named a 2024 Davidson Fellow in late […]

Guitar guru comes to C’ville fresh from Grammy nod

Blues rocker Samantha Fish says she “didn’t know what [she] was doing” when she made Girls With Guitars alongside Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde in 2011. The same might be said of the albums’ producers, who probably should’ve known better by then. When Wynonna Judd released her hit song of the same name in 1994, […]

Local funny (business) man’s comedy evolves

A few years ago, Abhishek Kulkarni was just a guy getting a business degree who dabbled in comedy. Now, he’s a local open mic mainstay who’s learned to work a crowd. “Initially, I was writing a lot of new content for the U.S. audience, so I would go like three weeks of telling the same […]

The CHS Urban Farming program has come of age

After more than a decade of helping high schoolers learn the ins and outs of planting and plowing, Charlottesville High School Urban Farming has gone commercial. The successful program, launched in 2013, isn’t changing its focus on the intersection of agriculture and entrepreneurship. But it is upping the ante by selling its wares. While the […]