Second chance

Most of us associate TikTok with teenagers doing goofy dances. Charlottesville native Jesse Crosson, though, is using the platform to talk about something far more meaningful—criminal justice reform. Over the past year, Virginia has passed major legislation, like abolishing the death penalty and legalizing marijuana. Crosson, who was released in 2021 after nearly two decades […]

The ‘Dewberry Serenade’

What traits would you like to see in Charlottesville’s next police chief? What seasonal events are you excited to see return? If you had a warning label, what would it say? These are among this year’s C-VILLE Question of the Week. For most people, the answers to those questions would cover a pretty broad range […]

It’s just clickbait

1. Reparations: Virginia bill would require scholarships for descendants of enslaved laborers (February 17) “This is really just the bare minimum that could be done for a community of people who are responsible for these institutions existing,” said Justin Reid of Virginia Humanities in our most-read story of the year.  2. High hopes: A second-generation […]

What a year

By Ben Hitchcock, Brielle Entzminger, and Kristin O’Donoghue The statues came down  In one hot July weekend, four of Charlottesville’s racist old statues were pulled off their pedestals. The infamous downtown depictions of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were the first to go, wheeled out of town after a 5-0 vote from City Council […]

One brick at a time

The charlottesville region continued to grow in 2021, and both Albemarle County and Charlottesville took several steps forward this year to increase the number of housing units and to improve the certainty of getting infrastructure in place to accommodate a bigger population.  “We continue to see robust building activity, with many projects in varying stages […]

In brief: UVA hires new football coach, county split

Lining it up New congressional map would split Albemarle County Virginia’s 2021 redistricting cycle is nearing a close. Last week, the state Supreme Court-appointed map drawers released drafts of the Virginia Congressional, State Senate, and House of Delegate districts that could go into effect next year. In the past, the party in control of the […]

A seat at the table

Since Virginia lifted its decades-old ban on collective bargaining for public sector employees this year, Charlottesville’s firefighters and bus drivers have urged City Council to pass an ordinance allowing city employees to join a union and negotiate their contracts. Over the summer, the city took initial steps toward bargaining, when council adopted a resolution allowing […]

Square one

Charlottesville’s most famous monument made national headlines last week, when City Council voted to hand the statue of Robert E. Lee over to the Jefferson School African American History Center, which will melt it down and reshape the metal into a new piece of art. Across the street, meanwhile, a less conspicuous but no less […]

Blue and orange and green?

By Kristin O’Donoghue What do they want? Divestment. When do they want it? Now. That was the message from UVA students and community members who gathered at the Rotunda December 4 for a rally protesting the university’s investment in the fossil fuel industry. Following remarks from student organizers, the group marched to Madison Hall to […]

Out of office

“Typically, everyone just goes away. They make these agreements and people go away,” says former Charlottesville police chief RaShall Brackney. But she’s not going away. Two months after her controversial termination, Brackney—the city’s first Black woman police chief—filed a string of formal complaints against the city, accusing government leaders of directly retaliating against her efforts […]