Rolling out the red carpet

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, local shelters have drastically expanded their efforts to house our most vulnerable community members. With support from the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless and People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry, those experiencing homelessness have been able to stay at hotels, where they receive daily meals, case […]

In brief

Slow train comin’ Last month, Governor Ralph Northam signed agreements with CSX railroad and other entities to complete a $3.7 billion investment in passenger rail in Virginia. The agreement will eventually add more train service to and from Charlottesville, but it will be at least a couple of years before passenger rail becomes available.  The […]

Shot out

By Emily Hamilton Early last week, UVA first-year Reese Alpher heard she could get a coronavirus vaccine if she drove two hours south to a community vaccination center in Danville—so she jumped at the chance.  “When I went, the word was that [the shots] were getting thrown out and that there were too many vaccines […]

Guns down

Joy and laughter filled the summery Friday afternoon air, as dozens of children danced in a church parking lot across from the South First Street public housing neighborhood. People later left the dance floor to tour the inside of a rescue truck and pick out new reads from the Free Book Bus, while others waited […]

Speaking up

In 1990, 12 percent of UVA’s students were Black. In the three decades since, that number has fallen, and now hovers around 6 percent. (The school doesn’t represent the state—19 percent of Virginia residents are Black.)    How did the university lose so many Black students? How can it increase Black enrollment? And how can […]

In brief

Mayor’s poem sparks conversation  Last Wednesday morning, Mayor Nikuyah Walker posted a poem on her Facebook and Twitter pages. “Charlottesville: The beautiful-ugly it is. It rapes you, comforts you in its cum stained sheets and tells you to keep its secrets,” the mayor wrote.   The poem grabbed the attention of people in and outside […]

Come visit… please

The Charlottesville area’s tourism-dependent economy has felt the effects of the pandemic. “From Q4 2019 and Q4 2020, Albemarle County lost 44% employment in the Accommodations and Food Services Sectors,” wrote Eric Terry, president of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association, in a recent letter to Roger Johnson, the chair of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention […]

Red tape

As the greater Charlottesville-Albemarle area continues to feel the effects of a housing shortage, a panel of developers argued last week that localities in the area can incentivize new construction through land use reform.  “We intentionally, through our comprehensive plans and our zoning ordinances, limit the supply of land for new homes,” said Charlie Armstrong, […]

You’re fired

Two white Charlottesville police officers who injured two Black civilians in separate incidents are no longer employed by the department, announced Chief RaShall Brackney at a virtual press conference on Friday. One officer, Jeffrey Jaeger, was convicted of assault in December. The other, Joseph Wood, was determined to have breached the department’s internal standards when […]

Sign on

UVA’s Lawn is the school’s historic center. Here, prospective students and donors are wowed; here, a select few fourth-years are chosen to live, as a reward for their hard work on behalf of the institution and its associated clubs. The university would very much like every blade of grass on the Lawn to stay in […]