Should arts nonprofits have to buy their way onto local tourism site?

“Can your organization really afford to NOT have a high profile presence on VisitCharlottesville, particularly if your competitor does?” That was the sales pitch in an e-mail sent last month to Jody Kielbasa, director of the Charlottesville Film Festival, by an Arizona company called Destination Travel, a contractor hired to push ads on the website […]

Education Beat: School funding commission predicts $2 to $4 million shortfall

The Blue Ribbon Commission—a 13-member citizen panel charged with tackling the city schools’ funding woes —predicted a $2 to $4 million funding gap last week during its final report to Charlottesville’s City Council and school board. The report features near- and long-term “action alternatives” local officials could adopt to stem the division’s recent budget shortfalls. […]

What’s happening in Charlottesville-Albemarle the week of February 3?

Each week, the news team takes a look at upcoming meetings and events in Charlottesville and Albemarle we think you should know about. Consider it a look into our datebook, and be sure to share newsworthy happenings in the comments section. Albemarle County’s Architectural Review Board meets from 1-3pm Monday, February 3 in Room 241 […]

Gerrymandered in Albemarle: Why does my delegate live 70 miles away?

In early January, Delegate Steve Landes drove from his home in Weyers Cave to Crozet, about 38 miles away, to meet with his constituents in the 25th District who live in Albemarle County. The first three questions he received in the town hall meeting were about redistricting reform. In the past two national elections and […]

What’s Happening at the Jefferson School City Center?

Martha Jefferson Starr Hill Center Kicks off Baby Basics Moms Club On Tuesday evening, Martha Jefferson’s Starr Hill Center filled with the spicy scent of kabobs from Vinegar Hill Cafe and the sounds of chatter and laughter as moms-to-be and other community members attended the center’s kickoff for Baby Basics Moms’ Club. Martha Jefferson’s Starr […]

New survey shows more than half of locals want the Bypass—so what’s next?

Since last November’s elections removed from state and local office some of the biggest champions of the proposed Western Bypass, the decades-long debate over whether to build the 6.2-mile, $244 million road around Charlottesville has been in a holding pattern. Albemarle County has seated new anti-Bypass appointees on the area’s Metropolitan Planning Organization, which could […]