In brief: City refuses to fire insurrectionist, A12 vigil, and more

City employee concerned about city’s refusal to fire insurrectionist Since interim Charlottesville City Manager Michael Rogers announced this month that the city would not be terminating an employee who participated in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, there’s been community backlash—and the decision has stirred up concern among other city employees.   […]

‘Arbitrary’

In June, when the Virginia General Assembly approved Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s budget amendment reducing the number of people eligible for early release from Virginia prisons through a new expanded earned sentence credit law, prison reform advocates cried foul. About 500 people, who’d been expecting to go home immediately after the law went into effect on […]

Looking back

During the now-infamous tiki torch rally at the University of Virginia, hundreds of white supremacists marched across Grounds on the evening of August 11, 2017. Shouting racist and anti-Semitic chants like “White lives matter” and “Jews will not replace us,” the group later surrounded and attacked student counterprotesters at the Thomas Jefferson statue in front […]

In brief: Monkeypox spreading, school bus driver shortage, and more

Monkeypox a public health emergency The Biden administration has declared the nationwide monkeypox virus outbreak a public health emergency, allowing the federal government to assist states with testing, treatment, and vaccine distribution more quickly. “We’re prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus, and we urge every American to take […]

Playful communication

When I got to Pen Park, the sky was threatening to open up and pour, as it had just hours before. Kara McClurken was keeping a close eye on the rain clouds as she zipped from person to person gathered at the playground. She was eager to get things started before the weather decided otherwise. […]

Listening in

As the catastrophic effects of climate change continue to worsen every year, the City of Charlottes­ville has vowed to reduce its carbon emissions to 45 percent below 2011 levels by 2030, and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Last week, the city hosted a listening session to gather input from the community on its plan to […]

‘The Story of Us’

Photojournalist Eze Amos took thousands of pictures as he navigated the violence and mayhem in downtown Charlottesville on August 12, 2017. Many of his most dramatic images were published in media outlets around the world, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at most of them for years. But “I realized that I’ve been traumatized […]

‘He is very sorrowful’

Less than two weeks before the fifth anniversary of the deadly Unite the Right rally, the City of Charlottesville announced it would not be terminating an employee who participated in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. After former Charlottesville police chief RaShall Brackney accused the city of refusing to discipline the employee—IT […]

In brief: JMRL name change updates, two sisters missing, and more

No new names  Since the Reclaimed Roots Descendants Alliance called on the Jefferson Madison Regional Library to change its name to one that does not honor enslavers, the possibility of a name change has stirred up controversy among local residents. During a lengthy library board of trustees meeting last week, more than a dozen community […]

‘They were waiting for July to come’

Shortly after the pandemic hit, Mable Christian’s daughter’s work hours were drastically cut. Christian, who has lived with her daughter at Mallside Forest Apartments—a low-income housing complex in Albemarle County—since 2015, has been unable to work for years due to workplace injury, and currently lives on Social Security benefits. The mother and daughter eventually fell […]