At its retreat last month, City Council identified affordable housing as the priority that needed the most attention. The city has $1.4 million set aside for this year, and has committed to spending at least $1 million for the next four years on the issues. Yet at a work session last week, some councilors questioned […]
After postponing discussion last month to give residents another chance to weigh in, City Council agreed at its October 6 meeting to sell two lots on the corner of Ridge Street and Cherry Avenue to Southern Development if the developer meets certain requirements. At the September 15 public hearing, no Fifeville residents spoke, but a […]
Outside the financial limelight, nonprofits, ever vulnerable to the ebb and flow of donor funding, are battening down the hatches for an economic squeeze. As a result, they have less money to spend on fundraising. “Because of budget cuts…nonprofits have to focus their money on serving the community,” says Serena Gruia of Alloy Workshop design […]
After at least a year’s worth of delays, ground has finally been broken on the new condo project at the old Gleason building. Since units have been on sale since at least 2006, what took so long? “It’s had nothing to do with interest,” says J.P. Williamson of developer Octagon Partners. “It’s a difficult […]
Earlier this year, the state approved a new $1.8 billion, 585-megawatt coal-fired power plant in southwestern Wise County, and Dominion Power began construction this summer—yet a coalition of environmentalist groups continues to fight it. Wise Energy for Virginia hopes both to halt the current plant and prevent future ones from being approved. Consequently, the coalition […]
For the first time, the state of Virginia has released standardized numbers about how many students are graduating from high school. The new on-time graduation rate shows how many students who entered the ninth grade actually graduated in four years, accounting for transfers. Best of all, the formula is now the same across the country, […]
Job title: Director of community attention, guiding children and families in need Has worked for the city for: 13 years Resides in: Charlottesville Best of times: Seeing alumni of his program. “It’s great when kids come back years later, and can clearly tell you what a difference the program has made in their life.” Worst […]
Now that the “surge” is “working,” there appears to be a surge of disinterest in (or outright indifference to) the war in Iraq. Well, leave it to The Virginia Quarterly Review—which, as regular readers know, takes flying leaps beyond the usual literary journal parameters—to get the lump back in your throat, and, if you’re so […]
On the right nights, the underprepared bands and overqualified bands share the same small crowds. Roughly a dozen people attended last Tuesday’s gig at The Bridge, and half were the musicians—the four amiable dudes in Alabama’s Baak Gwai, and opening performers Dirt Eater (Max Dreyer) and Jameson Zimmer, members of the defunct local band Love […]
Maria’s husband worked two jobs to help pay rent, to buy food and other necessities. Maria, who prefers not to have her last name printed, says he was working one day in late September, when police approached him. Now, he’s being held at Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville. Maria and their 8-year-old-daughter have not seen […]