EPIC forum: When candidates and townspeople meet

New group Equity and Progress in Charlottesville hopes to piggyback on the progressivism sparked by Bernie Sanders’ campaign last year, while elbowing aside the ruling Democratic party’s stranglehold on local government. EPIC is holding forums to ferret out candidates in local races most closely aligned with its goals of adding affordable housing, and stanching gentrification […]

Insurance denied: City footing Lee statue, parking garage legal bills

Since 2016, Charlottesville has faced a larger-than-usual number of high-profile lawsuits, and in at least two cases, its insurance carrier won’t be picking up the tab. And while the carrier hasn’t seen the most recent suit, filed by Albemarle County over the Ragged Mountain Natural Area April 20, that litigation could join the Lee statue […]

In brief: Craftivism, kids gone wild and more

Feed lot Earlier this month, we reported in our Small Bites column about a new food hall concept opening at 5th Street Station. Now we have the rendering to prove it. The Yard, modeled after the Krog Street Market in Atlanta, will be a 10,000-square-foot mixed-use space next to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema with five […]

Now what? City Council votes to remove Lee statue

Last month’s City Council vote on a motion to remove the statue of General Robert E. Lee deadlocked 2-2 and left the chamber in disarray for 30 minutes. The issue was back on the agenda February 6 after Councilor Bob Fenwick announced he was changing his abstention to a vote to remove the statue, and […]

Fenwick says he’ll vote to remove statue

In his second press conference of the week, Councilor Bob Fenwick, who abstained during the heated City Council 2-2 vote to remove Confederate statues last week, said today he’ll vote to move the statue of General Robert E. Lee at the next meeting February 6. “Immediately upon the vote being recorded, I will make a separate motion […]

Council chaos: Audience erupts over Confederate statue vote

Charlottesville’s confrontation with its slave-owning past has resulted in difficult discussions since Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy and Councilor Kristin Szakos called for the removal last March of statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and the renaming of the parks where they reside. At City Council’s January 17 meeting, the debate spiraled out […]

Szakos won’t seek third term on City Council

If it seems like we just finished an election, well, we did, but in Virginia, it’s never not an election year. In Charlottesville, the two seats on City Council currently held by Kristin Szakos and Bob Fenwick are up for grabs, and Szakos says she won’t be seeking another term. “Eight years is a long […]

Space invaders: City promises more parking downtown

Charlottesville officials held a press conference November 15 to announce their latest step in solving the city’s parking crisis. “We hear you and we want to help,” Mayor Mike Signer said before announcing the city’s acquisition of a $2.85 million half-acre parcel currently housing Guadalajara and Lucky 7 and located on the northeast end of […]

City Council adopts gun control resolution

Gun control debate dominated the June 20 Charlottesville City Council meeting as members of opposing sides of the issue cited the Second Amendment—“the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”—and the Declaration of Independence’s inalienable rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that victims of gun violence […]

In brief: Sex trafficking, how to scare politicians and more

Charges filed under new sex trafficking law Quincy Edwards, 33, was indicted on 10 counts June 6 related to human trafficking for threatening and intimidating a victim into prostitution at the Royal Inn Hotel, the first time those charges have been brought in Albemarle. He also was charged with extortion, abduction and use of a […]