Presidential posturing

Since his successful gubernatorial campaign, political commentators have speculated about Gov. Glenn Youngkin running for president. While Youngkin has repeatedly said he will not campaign for the 2024 Republican nomination, a recent ad by the Spirit of Virginia PAC and reported meetings with potential donors has raised questions about whether the governor is truly out […]

Buying out?

At the recent Rivanna River Fest held on privately owned open space that meanders with the waterway, several organizations staffed booths to promote their activities to passersby.   However, two affiliated groups seeking to prevent the development of a 245-unit apartment complex on that property had their own table set up just outside the boundary […]

In brief

City Council forum Five Democratic candidates for Charlottesville City Council convened for two forums ahead of the upcoming primary election. While the general election for City Council is not until November, the winners of the June 20 primary are all but guaranteed seats due to the lack of Republican challengers. The Democratic candidates vying for […]

Power shift

In the fall of 2010, Alexis Zeigler and Debbie Piesen set out to see if they could live independent of fossil fuels. On land just north of Louisa, they started building Living Energy Farm, their vision of a self-sufficient, off-grid community with zero carbon footprint. Last March, the off-grid systems and technology they developed won […]

Change of pace

Come May, there is an annual exodus from Charlottesville of the 23,721 undergrad and grad students who are enrolled at UVA. Some stragglers remain, but summer in the city, especially on the Corner, is quiet in comparison to the fall, winter, and early spring. The emptiness of University Avenue highlights the complex relationship between the […]

Generational investment?

Should Albemarle County supervisors pay a single landowner $58 million for 462 acres of land to help preserve the future of the area’s growing intelligence community? That’s the question for a June 21 public hearing.   “We know this project is a generational investment in our community’s vibrancy,” says J.T. Newberry, Albemarle’s interim director of […]

In brief

Honors of honor Throughout last weekend’s Final Exercises, the University of Virginia honored the victims of November’s fatal shooting. In his opening remarks, President Jim Ryan spoke about how the loss of Devin Chandler, D’Sean Perry, and Lavel Davis Jr. has impacted the university community. However, one of the most powerful tributes was paid by […]

PCOB plans

As the Executive Director of the Police Civilian Oversight Board, Inez M. Gonzalez is working to improve policing and police-civilian relations in Charlottesville.  Since its conception following the deadly 2017 Unite the Right Rally, the PCOB—formerly known as the Police Civilian Review Board—has been a source of contention. While many believe in the board’s goal […]

Pipeline politics

The United States Forest Service has approved passage of the Mountain Valley Pipeline through Jefferson National Forest.  First proposed in 2014, the 304-mile pipeline spans from West Virginia into Virginia, with a possible 75-mile Southgate Extension into North Carolina. While proponents of the MVP argue that the natural gas pipeline is a “critical infrastructure project,” […]

Questioning the zoning

Voting in this year’s Democratic primary has already begun, but the five candidates seeking three nominations for Charlottesville City Council will continue to answer questions at forums between now and primary day, June 20.   That was the case at a May 17 forum put on by the Greenbrier Neighborhood Association, which featured many questions […]