Welcome home

Several thousand people will be returning home from Virginia prisons over the next two months, due to a new earned sentence credit law that went into effect July 1. While the exact number coming back to the Charlottesville area hasn’t been determined, a new weekly initiative called One Stop Shop hopes to make their landing […]

Kicked out

At the beginning of the year, Amy Glover fell behind on rent. After her boyfriend’s employer cut his hours due to the pandemic, he struggled to find another stable job, leaving the couple with just one income for a while. Glover informed the management team at her apartment complex, Spark Charlottesville, of their situation, and […]

In brief: Rent soars, Khizr Khan honored, and more

Rent prices on the rise  While Charlottesville is seeking ways to make housing more affordable (see p. 12), rent prices keep climbing as pandemic eviction protection and rental assistance programs end.  “Just over the past month, the median rent increased by 2.3 percent. And when we look year over year, rents in Charlottesville are now […]

Sky high 

By Katie Kenny In the past few decades, rising housing costs have forced many families who have lived in Charlottesville for generations to move out of the city. They’ve left for Louisa, Fluvanna, and Greene counties and the City of Waynesboro, localities close enough to commute to Charlottesville but where the cost of living is […]

In brief: JMRL name change, abortion rallies, and more

What’s in a name? A month after the president of a local descendants organization called on the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library to change its name to something more inclusive, library leadership says the effort would be an uphill battle. According to reporting in The Daily Progress, that’s because a 1974 agreement between the five localities—Charlottesville, Albemarle, […]

A lot of controversy

At its June 21 meeting, Charlottesville City Council voted to pay $1.6 million for a 39-spot parking lot at 921 E. Jefferson St. to expand downtown parking capacity. While a new parking lot has been framed as a pressing need for years, some community members claim the decision to purchase the lot is based on […]

Keeping a-breast

Timing is everything, the old saying goes, and the co-creator of a new breast-milk sharing app says she and her business partner didn’t plan the launch of The Drop to coincide with a formula shortage—that’s just how it worked out.  In fact, the idea for an app to connect families with an excess of breast […]

The balance of power

By Maeve Hayden, Tami Keaveny, Eshaan Sarup, and Courteney Stuart Power is defined as “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.” Keeping that in mind, we put together our annual list of the people and organizations that are leading the charge in our community. From […]

In brief: New state budget, JMRL name change, and more

Budget Amendment yays and nays Virginia has a new two-year state budget after the legislature reconvened last week and passed several of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s proposed amendments. Three Democrats defected and voted in favor of an amendment that restricts the number of people eligible for early release under the expanded earned sentence credits. That vote […]