America’s culture war is running right through central Virginia’s schools

On September 28, 2021, former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe said something during the second gubernatorial debate that would spark a movement of conservatives in the state: “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” The Hill would later describe McAuliffe’s statement as “deserving of a top listing in the Hall of […]

Listen to this

By Tami Keaveny, CM Turner, and Ella Powell Charlottesville is a city of music fans and aficionados. We have an abundance of sonic riches in the national tours that touch down at our venues, and we’ve built a few careers here as well (looking at you, jam daddy DMB). There’s a lot of talk about […]

Summer internship program gets city kids hands-on with the great outdoors

On the last Monday in July, in the fields behind the Fifth Street Starbucks, a crew of sweaty high school kids is taking a mid-morning break, swigging energy water and snarfing down bags of chips (after working outside all morning, they need the salt). Their blue T-shirts say “Trailblazers.” And that’s what they are—pioneers in […]

A brief history of the two-decade process to replace the Belmont Bridge

On a warm morning in late June, City Manager Sam Sanders presided over the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Belmont Bridge, a $38 million project that for a time served as another chapter in Charlottesville’s resistance to infrastructure for motorized vehicles. “There are many who didn’t believe that this would actually happen,” Sanders said to […]

21 local athletes head to Paris to compete for the gold

The highly anticipated 2024 Paris Olympics kicks off July 26, with opening ceremonies officially starting at 1:30pm eastern daylight time. While the actual competition is an ocean away, Charlottesvillians will see several familiar faces representing Team USA and other countries on their small screens. Equestrian Local equestrian Will Coleman is returning to the games for […]

Louisa’s Twin Oaks commune recovers from devastating 227-acre fire

Deep in the Louisa backwoods, Twin Oaks sits on a dirt road that runs behind the ancient Yanceyville Mill on a 450-acre property unlike any in the area. Dotted by rustic two- and three-story dormitories with names like “Tupelo,” named for a type of tree, “Degania,” after a socialist Zionist kibbutz, and “Zhankoye,” an old […]

An ode to the hotel bar

“What is it,” Luke Barr wonders, “about the hotel bar?” I’m wondering, too, and that’s why I’ve asked Barr, a pro, to vamp about the romance and allure of hotel bars. He’s a former editor at Travel + Leisure magazine and the author of 2018’s Ritz and Escoffier: The Hotelier, The Chef, and the Rise […]

Your Charlottesville summer bucket list

Spoiler alert: Summer’s almost halfway over. But there’s so much more fun to be had! We’ve compiled 24 must-dos for your summer bucket list. Check them off as you go, and use hashtag #cvillesummerbucketlist to share what you’re up to. Pop by the City Market. If you don’t visit the City Market at least one […]

These longstanding businesses are area standard-bearers

In a city like Charlottes­ville, where Thomas Jefferson sneezed his creativity and innovation into practically every brick paver, it’s easy forentrepreneurs to feel buoyed enough to follow a dream. It makes for an ever-changing skyline, with new businesses springing up like wildflowers.  But amid that same skyline there exists a group of businesses that have […]