After a dozen years of planning, VDOT has awarded Nelson County $750,000 to begin restoring what was once the world’s greatest railroad engineering effort: The Claudius Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel. “When it was built, it was the longest tunnel in the nation, and the longest mountain tunnel in the world,” said Allen Hale, a Nelson […]
The Tom Tom Founder’s Festival is headed back to school. Paul Beyer is getting ready to launch the second annual Tomtoberfest, the smaller autumn sister of the spring music and innovation showcase he created in 2012 in the image of Austin’s SXSW. This year’s fall fest runs Wednesday through Saturday, and doubles down on a concept Beyer, a developer and […]
For the first time since 2006, the Democratic candidates for City Council face two Republicans in a race for two empty seats. This year’s Democratic candidates are Vice Mayor Kristin Szakos—who’s running for a second term and is the only candidate with prior experience as an elected official —and local construction contractor Bob Fenwick, who […]
It’s been seven months since city officials unveiled designs of two different replacement concepts for the Belmont Bridge, and the project’s start date is still nowhere in sight. A report presented by city staff last week revealed that building an underpass would cost nearly twice as much as the $15 million quoted by local design […]
Our regular Education Beat reporting is the result of a partnership with the nonprofit community news platform Charlottesville Tomorrow, which covers growth, development, public education, and local politics. Albemarle County Public Schools announced last week that the division has been reviewing its policy of reporting class rankings to college admissions offices. The review is the […]
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. The Piedmont Group of the Sierra Club is hosting sponsoring a forum for the […]
Saturday, September 21 is recognized the world over as the International Day of Peace. It’s also the day a longtime local activist group dedicated to that very pursuit is celebrating a major milestone. The Charlottesville Center of Peace and Justice marks its 30th birthday Saturday night with a 5 p.m. birthday party-cum-peace potluck at Westminster […]
Culinary Arts Students Develop Craft, Open up Career Paths at the Jefferson School City Center Can you name twelve ways to cook an egg? The students in Chef Eric Breckoff’s Principles of Culinary Arts I class can. “They’re off to a good start,” said Breckoff, explaining that the students are deep into the fundamentals after […]
Early this year, Ryan DeRose started bugging my editor, Giles Morris, about a story in The New York Times. Like us, the founder of the local digital agency Vibethink had been dazzled by Snow Fall, a multimedia interactive feature on a deadly 2012 Oregon avalanche that won the Times a Pulitzer this year. What Snow […]
Teri Kent runs Charlottesville’s Better World Betty, a non-profit organization and online resource for locals looking to shrink their impact on the environment. Every month, Betty —Kent’s ’50s-housewife-meets-earth-goddess alter ego—answers the most burning eco-questions from our readers about energy use, water, waste and recycling, transportation, and green buying. Q: Can I recycle orange juice and […]