On the rise: Police chief calls on community to take action against gun violence

Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney held a press conference Thursday afternoon to address what the department is calling an “unprecedented” rise in gun violence in the city. There have been eight incidents since November 5, a period that caps off a year in which police responded to 122 reports of shots being fired. There were […]

In brief: Vaccines for the frontline, Wade for City Council, and more

Vaccine scene Charlottesville Fire Department Captain Lance Blakey was the first to receive a coronavirus vaccine at the Blue Ridge Health District’s new vaccination facility in the Kmart parking lot last week. The city continues to move through phase 1A of vaccinations, which includes doctors, nurses, EMTs, pharmacists, social workers, and other frontline health care […]

‘A waste of lives’: Charlottesville commonwealth’s attorney candidate hopes to fight mass incarceration

Last month, Charlottesville public defender Ray Szwabowski announced his campaign for commonwealth’s attorney. Current Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania was elected in 2017 and has not announced if he’s running for re-election. If Platania runs, the two will face off in a Democratic primary in June, a year after a summer in which nationwide protests once […]

On a roll: Health department begins vaccinating non-hospital health care workers

The local vaccine rollout process continues. About a month after the first coronavirus vaccines were shipped to hospitals across the country, Charlottesville’s frontline health care employees who work outside of hospitals are now getting vaccinated. On Monday, the Blue Ridge Health District (formerly known as the Thomas Jefferson Health District) began offering the first dose […]

In brief: Carter joins race, Dewberry gets sued, and more

Jump in The 2021 race for the governor’s mansion in Virginia got a little more complicated last week, when northern Virginia Delegate Lee Carter declared his candidacy for the office. In his campaign announcement, Carter emphasized economic stratification as the driving force of discontent in the commonwealth. “[Virginia] is not divided between red and blue. […]

In brief: Hope for the holidays

Holiday hope COVID-19, like the Grinch, has threatened to stop Christmas. But Dr. Alvin Edwards, senior pastor at Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church, says, “We decided early on we weren’t going to let this crisis drive us, we were going to make it work.” Jonathan Spivey, Mt. Zion’s minister of music worship, agreed. Back […]

A shot in the arm: Vaccine distribution begins for local hospital workers

Last Tuesday, UVA hospital’s ICU director Taison Bell became one of the first people in Charlottesville to receive the newly approved coronavirus vaccine. It was a moment of “mixed emotions,” says Bell, who has worked with COVID patients throughout the crisis. “It was definitely a good feeling to finally have something that can potentially protect […]

If you build it: Despite pandemic, land use projects moved forward in 2020

In a year where many of us followed guidelines to stay at home, the skies of downtown Charlottesville were marked by cranes building new spaces for the 21st century. In their shadow, projects to provide more affordable units moved through the bureaucratic process required to keep them below-market. Before the clock strikes 2021, let’s look […]