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 […]

Feeling the pain: Public servants bear burden of federal shutdown

Almost one month into the federal government shutdown, Charlottesville hasn’t been hit as hard as Northern Virginia, where thousands of government workers are trying to figure out how to pay their mortgages and buy groceries. But there are more than 200 people here being asked to work without a paycheck, and approximately 4,100 households in […]

These hidden spots will keep you cool this summer

By Sashank Sankar There are three types of people during the summer. The first choose to stay within the comforts of air conditioning. The second like to be outdoors, but not too far from civilization, only venturing to swimming pools and local parks. The third have an adventurous streak. And if you fall within that […]

In brief: A lost neighborhood, a plane crash and C-VILLE wins big

Vinegar Hill reimagined The winners of a Bushman Dreyfus Architects and Tom Tom Founders Festival competition to use public spaces to create constructive dialogue and to reimagine Vinegar Hill, the city’s historic and predominantly African-American neighborhood, proposed an 80-foot wall made of layers of metal maps of the lost neighborhood on the west side of […]

Price hike: National park users asked to pay up

About 1.4 million nature enthusiasts from near and far flock to the Shenandoah National Park each year, but they may soon be greeted by a different type of hike than they’re seeking—a price hike. The National Park Service announced plans October 24 to increase entrance fees in 17 of the country’s most visited parks from […]

LIVING Picks: Week of August 23-29

NONPROFIT Splash 4 a Cure 5K Saturday, August 26 Get your sweat on during a 5K and then jump into a pool party, all for the Ishan Gala Foundation, which supports families of children who have cancer. Free-$45, 7:30-11am. ACAC, 200 Four Seasons Drive. 234-4644.   FAMILY National Dog Day Saturday, August 26 Bring on […]

Shenandoah wildfire highlights changing views of the forest

“This is going to be catastrophic.” That was Jeff Koenig’s thought on the second day the fire burned, last April 17, in Shenandoah National Park. Koenig had first laid eyes on the flames the day before, when he pulled his truck up to Two Mile Run Overlook. It was a Saturday afternoon. A fire had […]

Take a hike: Locals share tales from the trails

Early-morning light catches a tinge of red on the edges of the maple leaves. The air is crisp after a cold fall night in early October. Chris Saunders steps onto the Blackrock Summit Trail with the confidence and speed of someone who has been there before. “I’ve hiked it five or six times,” he says. […]

Bear necessities: Sightings in Shenandoah National Park up this year

Although increased bear sightings this year in Shenandoah National Park are causing some visitors to worry, park officials are offering insight into why that’s happening, as the height of black bear activity winds down during the late summer months. Rolf Gubler, a wildlife biologist at the SNP, estimates there have been between 30 and 60 […]