Bea LaPisto Kirtley joins Board of Supervisors race

Standing on a stepstool behind a podium marked by her campaign sign, a former Bradbury, California, city councilor of 20 years was the second person to announce her run for the Rivanna District seat on the Board of Supervisors. Bea LaPisto Kirtley said addressing the “critical lack of broadband coverage” in Albemarle will be a […]

Hingeley runs: Veteran defender wants prosecutor job

Dozens of people, many from the legal community, braved the chill January 23 to stand in front of Albemarle Circuit Court, where Jim Hingeley, founder of the Charlottesville Albemarle Public Defender Office, announced his campaign for Albemarle commonwealth’s attorney. “It’s time for criminal justice reform in Albemarle County,” said Hingeley, 71. He said he wants […]

Short-staffed: Emergency Communications Center faces its own emergency

The center that handles all of the city, county, and university’s 911 calls is severely understaffed, and now it’s calling for help. “At this point, it’s basically an emergency,” says Taylor Ashley, a supervisor at the Emergency Communications Center. “It’s difficult because we have almost no time off work…If you’re not on call, then you’re […]

In brief: Killed bills, uneasy homage, big checks and more

Dead or alive The General Assembly has been in session two weeks, and it is whittling down the more than 2,000 bills legislators filed. Here are some bills that have survived so far—and others that were DOA. Alive An in-state tuition bill for undocumented students made it out of the Senate Education Committee January 8 […]

Jerrod Smith announces Board of Supervisors run

“We all begin with a dream,” said Albemarle native Jerrod Smith at the start of his January 18 campaign announcement. He’s hoping to snag the Rivanna District seat on the Board of Supervisors with a campaign called the “dream infrastructure.” And it starts with finding new solutions to an age-old issue in Albemarle: lack of […]

Feeling the pain: Public servants bear burden of federal shutdown

Almost one month into the federal government shutdown, Charlottesville hasn’t been hit as hard as Northern Virginia, where thousands of government workers are trying to figure out how to pay their mortgages and buy groceries. But there are more than 200 people here being asked to work without a paycheck, and approximately 4,100 households in […]

Snook announces run for council

Around 100 of Charlottesville’s Democratic establishment packed Bashir’s January 15 for defense attorney Lloyd Snook’s launch into the race for City Council. Snook cited “dysfunction at the top” of city government as the impetus for joining the race. “There are things that are going on in the city that I want to be a part […]

400 years: Will this year’s General Assembly make history?

Nothing puts a spring in the step of legislators heading to Richmond to do the people’s business like the fact that it’s an election year, and all 140 members of the General Assembly are up for reelection. Oh, and it’s the 400th year since the colonies’ first legislative body, the House of Burgesses, met in […]