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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
Since South Africa reported the omicron variant to the World Health Organization on November 24, this new form of coronavirus has been detected in at least 38 countries. At press time, omicron had not yet been identified in Virginia, but several dozen cases have been reported in at least 17 states, including Maryland, New Jersey, […]
Marc Woolley was introduced as Charlottesville’s interim city manager on November 5. During a virtual press conference that day, the former Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, bureaucrat claimed he was used to “high-stress environments” and was not fazed by Charlottesville’s recent high-profile departures. “I’ve been doing this for many, many years, and I’ve been in almost […]