Football mid-season report

So we may have been a bit wrong in our preseason UVA football prediction. Like good little children, we’re here to deliver our midseason report, no matter how bad the marks. While we picked the team to be 4-2 at this point, the ‘Hoos actually went 5-1, and are 3-0 in the ACC. In fact, […]

90,000 kids uninsured in Virginia

In 1997, Congress passed the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to provide health insurance for children from families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but are still too poor to pay for private insurance. Ten years later, the bill covers more than 6 million children, with another 9 million still uninsured. To […]

Council makes final step towards MCP

There was something almost impish in the way City Councilor Dave Norris cast his vote to approve an easement for the Meadowcreek Parkway (MCP). In the two or three seconds between the clacks signifying the four other councilors votes and the time his vote registered on the board, Norris seemed to grin at the surprise […]

Anti-choice crowd camps out at clinic

Beginning September 26, various local churches and self-described “pro-life” organizations began gathering at the local Planned Parenthood clinic on Hydraulic Road to pray and voice their objection to abortion as part of a national “40 Days for Life” campaign. They hope to maintain an active presence outside of the building 24 hours a day until […]

Board of Supervisors Race: Focus on Rivanna District: The issues

The Rivanna District is the only Board of Supervisors race featuring two candidates with voting records on county development projects. That keeps Joseph, who is chair of the Planning Commission, from painting herself as an outside reformer, but it also keeps Boyd from calling her too inexperienced, and it makes for more nuanced differences on […]

Lessons on county housing policy

In 2004, Albemarle County adopted an affordable housing policy requiring that any future development make 15 percent of its units available to those with household incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median income. This year, that policy was finally put to the test with the completion of the Avon Park development. Located […]

Pantops landowners ask for move

When the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors took up Clara Belle Wheeler’s land a few weeks ago to consider moving it out of the development area, they also discussed another parcel in the Pantops area—one whose owner wants in to the development area. It was brought to their attention in late August when John C. […]

Urban renewal start of chaos for displaced

During the 1960s, city planners and developers bulldozed hundreds of predominately African-American communities across the nation to make way for freeways, public buildings and private development. Such projects were grouped under the name “urban renewal,” though they displaced thousands of citizens nationwide. Charlottesville’s Vinegar Hill was one of those communities. Maurice Cox, UVA architecture professor […]