Glenn Youngkin’s First Day Glenn Youngkin was sworn in as governor over the weekend, and right away he signed nine executive orders. Number one is entitled “Ending the Use of Inherently Divisive Concepts, Including Critical Race Theory, and Restoring Excellence in K-12 Education in the Commonwealth.” Though educators say that critical race theory, an advanced […]
Glenn Youngkin’s First Day Glenn Youngkin was sworn in as governor over the weekend, and right away he signed nine executive orders. Number one is entitled “Ending the Use of Inherently Divisive Concepts, Including Critical Race Theory, and Restoring Excellence in K-12 Education in the Commonwealth.” Though educators say that critical race theory, an advanced […]
The Charlottesville Police Civilian Review Board was among the key criminal justice reforms put in place following the 2017 Unite the Right rally. More than four years later, the board remains mired in controversy, with conflict between its appointed members and persistent legal questions about its powers hampering the board’s ability to keep law enforcement […]
By Kristin O’Donoghue According to urban historian and cultural critic Davarian L. Baldwin, residents of Charlottesville are living in the shadow of the University of Virginia. Baldwin’s book, In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities are Plundering Our Cities, argues that the powerful expansion of higher education institutions like UVA has created “univercities.” […]
Nearly two years after arriving in Charlottesville, COVID is still here—and it’s more prevalent than ever. On January 10, the Blue Ridge Health District reported 610 new cases, the most in a single day. Before the surge of the last three weeks, the highest single-day case total was 245, in February of 2020. The surge […]
But today I am still just a bill Virginia’s 2022 legislative session kicks off Wednesday, January 12, in Richmond. Each legislative session, lawmakers are allowed to prefile a number of proposed bills before the session starts. Legislative tracker LegiScan shows that 268 bills had been prefiled as of January 10. Republicans, who control the legislature […]
Before the U.S. abolished slavery in 1865, thousands of enslaved Black Americans escaped from Southern plantations and fled to Canada, where slavery was officially banned in 1834. Many used the Underground Railroad—an extensive network of secret routes, safe houses, free and enslaved Black Americans, and white abolitionists—to make the dangerous journey to freedom. The former […]
“To be effective leaders of change, we need two things,” said Councilor Lloyd Snook during last week’s City Council meeting. “We need vision, and we need the ability to build a team to realize that vision.” Snook will now get a chance to lead that team-building effort. At the beginning of last Wednesday’s meeting, City […]
Just over a year ago, the world watched in horror as thousands of rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, spurred by former President Donald Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election. Though activists and watchdog groups had warned law enforcement about the attack for weeks, police failed to adequately prepare for the violent mob. […]
Living here, in the shadow of Monticello, you’ve likely heard of Shadwell, the birthplace of Thomas Jefferson. There’s even an historic marker for it, along 250 East, south of Pantops. But next to the marker, all there is to see is rolling pasture and a herd of not-very-historic-looking Black Angus cattle. Two hundred and sixty […]
In the dark If your power went out during Monday’s snowstorm, you weren’t alone. The storm dumped as much as a foot of snow across central Virginia, and the Virginia Department of Transportation reported that “thousands of fallen trees and downed power lines” led to widespread outages. By mid-afternoon on Monday, more than 31,000 of […]