IMPACT places focus on housing and transportation

More than 1,100 organizers with Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together turned out to its annual Nehemiah Action on April 8. This year’s gathering focused on housing and transportation in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Affordable housing is a longtime priority for IMPACT, with efforts dating back to 2016, according to the organization’s website. The […]

A done deal?

Charlottesville’s unionized bus drivers reached their first agreement with the city after City Council passed a groundbreaking ordinance to allow collective bargaining for public sector employees. The focal point of the deal was a substantial wage increase for bus drivers. Charlottesville Area Transit representatives, now members of the Amalgamated Transit Union, negotiated a tiered system […]

Take the bus: Is this public transit’s moment?

Charlottesville is a growing city. We’ve added 5,000 residents since 2010, with another 10,000 in the county. And by 2040, projections from the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service show an additional 6,000 people in Charlottesville and 33,500 in the county (roughly), bringing our total population to more than 196,000. Now imagine if all of […]

Bugs on the bus go ’round and ’round

Former Albemarle School Board member Gary Grant had an appointment at UVA WorkMed Clinic last month and he struck up a conversation with a Charlottesville Area Transit bus driver. As a former school bus driver himself, Grant asked the driver if he was in for a random drug test. It was even worse. The driver […]

As spring blooms, beware of flowers toxic to pets

It’s not yet safe to think that spring has fully sprung, but as the occasional warm days sneak back onto the calendar, it’s hard to resist cracking the windows and cleaning the house in preparation for brighter weather. In my case, that optimistic spirit invariably leads to the purchase of a few houseplants. Ignoring all […]

Thoroughly Vetted: Dogs and cats have an extra eyelid

At a glance, you wouldn’t even know it’s there. Dogs and cats appear to have the same two eyelids that we do. But look closer, especially if you find your pet half asleep, and you might catch a glimpse of their third eyelid. Properly called the nictitans, it’s a pink sheet of tissue that stretches […]