In brief: Union rally, FOIA lawsuit, and more

‘Having a voice matters’ Waving colorful homemade posters and blue union authorization cards, several dozen Albemarle County teachers and community members rallied in front of the County Office Building last Thursday evening, urging the county school board to allow school employees to unionize. In late March, the Albemarle Education Association submitted to the board a […]

Race-based bias: Consultants demonstrate racist policing, council says study didn’t go far enough

A report from a private consulting firm has concluded that Charlottesville and Albemarle disproportionately arrest black people, and that race-based disparities exist in the treatment of individuals in otherwise similar situations. The report analyzes adult arrest data from the beginning of 2014 through the end of 2016. During that period, more than half (51.5 percent) of […]

Back to the drawing board: Protest over City Council revisions to CRB proposal

Nearly two years after appointing the initial Police Civilian Review Board, Charlottesville City Council inched closer to making a permanent oversight board a reality at their October 21 meeting, with a first reading of the CRB’s ordinance and bylaws. But members of the initial CRB were not pleased, saying councilors had severely weakened the proposal […]