UCWVA calls for legislature to restore state employees’ collective bargaining rights 

Organizers across Virginia are again asking the General Assembly to pass legislation that would expand collective bargaining rights to include state employees. While a worker’s right to collectively bargain in Virginia was partially restored in 2021, the bill included a number of limitations and exceptions. State employees, including those employed by public institutions like the […]

Deaf Literature Festival offers stories beyond sound 

Eighty attendees gathered to celebrate Deaf literature at the University of Virginia on February 8. The festival, which started as a student project for fourth-year Molly Rathbun, brought attention not only to the vibrant Deaf literature community, but the importance of accessibility. The festival first took shape last spring, as an independent project under Rathbun’s […]

Charlottesville’s new Development Code turns a year old 

Almost a year has passed since Charlottesville’s new zoning code went into effect and staff in the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services continue to process applications despite a pending lawsuit.  At least 107 different types of plans have been filed since February 19, 2024, when the new system was put in place. This includes […]

Week two of Trump brings more questions than answers for organizations receiving federal funds

Chaos and questions were rampant when the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget released a memo pausing all federal financial assistance programs on January 27. The order was eventually rescinded, but future plans for the funding remain unknown at press time. The funding freeze, the culmination of multiple executive orders issued by President Donald […]

UVA Health stops gender-affirming care for patients under 19

Following an executive order from President Donald Trump and a memo from Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, UVA Health “has suspended all gender-affirming care for patients under 19 years of age … [but] remains committed to being a community of healing, compassion, and respect for all,” according to a statement on its children’s transgender youth […]

Run-on sentence

The sentencing of Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. in connection with the November 13, 2022, shooting on the University of Virginia Grounds has been delayed by more than nine months. Jones pleaded guilty to the murders of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D’Sean Perry and related charges on November 20, 2024. Jones faces a sentence […]

BAR denies sorority’s tear-down request

Charlottesville’s new development code offers a lot of building possibilities for property owners, but the city’s Board of Architectural Review still has plenty of control in areas designated as historic.  The Delta Zeta Housing Corporation paid $195,000 in 1979 for a triangular property on Chancellor Street that included a former hotel and a one-story building. […]

UVA fraternity rush increases, despite termination of five chapters for hazing

By Merrill Hart Formal fraternity recruitment at the University of Virginia concluded on Saturday, January 25. There are 28 chapters in good standing at UVA, but that didn’t stop some Hoos from rushing groups operating outside the Interfraternity Council system. The red-bricked estates lining Rugby Road’s Mad Bowl briefly went silent last spring when the […]

Leslie Pryor appointed as Rio District School Board Representative

The Albemarle County School Board unanimously appointed Leslie Pryor as the Rio Magisterial District representative on January 23, after a public hearing on the candidates. Pryor was one of seven people vying for the seat, which was left vacant following the death of board member Chuck Pace in December 2024. In a release announcing her […]

Uncertainty emerges around $40 million in already-awarded grants

Researchers at the University of Virginia received two $20 million Community Change grants late last year from the Environmental Protection Agency to advance climate research. The grants, part of the Inflation Reduction Act, support climate efforts in Appalachia and Alaska. Funding for the Appalachian team, which includes researchers at both UVA and UVA Wise, will […]