On March 12, the Albemarle County School Board met to vote on changes to its student activities policy, limiting when student groups could host outside speakers, governing how they raised money, and banning groups linked to hate or harassment. Noah Coffin, a Western Albemarle High School senior and president of the school’s conservative Club America, […]
One of the reasons so many of us love this area is that in times of reflection or stress, through every season, the beauty, the wonder, and the solace of nature is freely available to everyone. Or is it? Examining that question has spurred efforts to make natural and recreational sites more accessible to those […]
It’s possible that one day physical newspapers will be retro-cool and resurge as vinyl records have in recent years. Circulations will be up. Advertising will be bountiful. Bill Watterson will start drawing Calvin & Hobbes again. Until then, newspapers have to make money in new ways if they are to persevere in their First Amendment […]
How well do you really know the Downtown Mall? For this week’s cover, C-VILLE turned our cameras toward the bricks and storefronts (and, in some cases, store interiors) of Charlottesville’s most walked stretch, capturing 34 close-up images of details you might pass every day without noticing. It’s part observation test, part love letter to the […]
This story was updated March 27, 2026, to reflect new information. When the axe fell on Stefan Friedman’s restaurants, their sudden closures left staff and patrons surprised. Ace Biscuit & Barbecue, Omakase Obscura, The Wine Guild of Charlottesville, Vitae Spirits Distillery, and Old Metropolitan Hall—the entire once-bountiful table of Friedman’s company, A Moveable Feast—folded or changed […]
After a 20-year love affair, Melanie Schaefer decided to branch out: to copper, brass, and bronze, that is. Silver, she says, has become too pricey for artistic monogamy. “In the last year, the price of the metal that I use has tripled, plus some,” explains Schaefer, a jewelry maker who, until 2026, has worked almost exclusively […]
By now, you’ve likely seen them: videos of people in homes like ours, on streets like ours, sobbing, screaming, or silent. Dragged from their cars, their homes, their lives by masked, anonymous men dressed and armed for war. You’ve seen federal agents shoot and kill unarmed Americans, and witnessed federal officials blame those people for […]
It’s a scene out of a Stanley Kubrick film. You’re blindfolded and led into a room you’ve likely never seen before. A silent usher takes you to a seat where you’ll remain for the next hour with only your ears to guide you. Musicians take up their instruments and begin to play. There is no […]
The Ice Bowl, to be honest, seems like two excellent ideas surrounded by a lot of terrible ones. The excellent ideas: Tossing a disc into a basket for fun, and raising money for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank while you do so. But you’re tossing that disc out in the middle of the woods, […]
Since the University of Virginia held its first classes in 1825, West Main Street has served as an important thoroughfare between town and gown. The buildings and structures constructed along the major roadway between the two spaces since then reflect the changing economies as both Charlottesville and UVA grew. But in the absence of solid […]