While the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution marches ahead, no one quite knows yet how the next phases of distribution will work. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released broad new distribution guidelines on Sunday, fleshing out the order in which Americans will get access to COVID vaccines. The new guidelines offer […]
Author Archives: Jessie Higgins
I'm Charlottesville Tomorrow's managing editor and health and safety reporter. If there’s something you think we should be investigating, please email me at jhiggins@cvilletomorrow.org! And you can follow all the work we do by subscribing to our free newsletter! Hablo español, y quiero mantener a la comunidad hispanohablante informada. Si tienes preguntas o información que debo saber, por favor, envíame un correo electrónico a jhiggins@cvilletomorrow.org.
Posted inGovernment and public institutions, Health and safety, Soundboard
Soundboard: A shot in the arm
A shot in the arm Credit: WTJU University of Virginia Medical Center employees have begun to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. In our last episode of 2020, we look back on some of the big stories of year: the pandemic, the election, the racial justice protests this summer. Plus, we’ll talk a little bit about a […]
Posted inHealth and safety, Our neighborhoods
A sudden spike in Charlottesville’s homicides have police urging residents to ‘stay vigilant’
There have been four major shootings in Charlottesville since November — two of which are what police are calling “ambush-style” attacks, where the perpetrators fired dozens of bullets at someone. This sudden rash of shootings — three of which were homicides — is uncharacteristic for a city that’s averaged less than three homicides in a […]
Posted inHealth and safety
UVA Medical Center will begin vaccinating its staff against COVID-19 on Tuesday
The University of Virginia Medical Center expects to receive its first shipment of Pfizer’s newly approved COVID-19 vaccine around noon Tuesday. Medical Center officials say they will begin vaccinating healthcare workers immediately that afternoon. The vaccine received its emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on Friday; the Centers for Disease Control and […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions, Health and safety
Police chief calls for church leaders to ‘apologize or be terminated’ for ‘race baiting’
Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney called for the leaders of a local church who accused officers of racial profiling in October to “apologize or to be terminated,” saying their actions were “race baiting.” The call came during a news conference Thursday in which Brackney played portions of body-worn camera footage that she said refuted allegations […]
Posted inHealth and safety
A city on the top 20 list of American places with highest COVID cases is just 40 miles west of Charlottesville
Editor’s note: As of Tuesday afternoon, Staunton is no longer on the New York Times’ list of localities with the highest rates of COVID-19. It was in the top 20 on that list Monday and had been among the top 100 since at least Thursday.Just 40 miles west of Charlottesville, Staunton on Monday was among the […]
Posted inHealth and safety
Charlottesville could see first doses of COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 15. Here’s what we know about how it will be distributed
The first doses of COVID-19 vaccines are tentatively scheduled to arrive in Charlottesville around Dec. 15. Those initial doses will go to the University of Virginia Medical Center and will be available exclusively to staff who work directly with COVID-19 patients. From there, Charlottesville — like other communities across the country — will have a […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions, How we learn
A century “bathed in an acidic soup” — UVA conservators discuss recovery of Albemarle’s Confederate time capsule
The day Sue Donovan, the conservator for special collections at the University of Virginia, watched Albemarle County unearth its Confederate time capsule from beneath the ‘Johnny Reb’ statue in Court Square, she knew the contents would be damaged. “But I wasn’t prepared for the extent of the damage to the paper-based items,” she said. The […]
Posted inHealth and safety
DWR euthanizes bear spotted in neighborhoods across Charlottesville
A bear seen lingering around Charlottesville the week before Thanksgiving has been killed by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. “I was contacted by one of our conservation police officers, who in turn had been contacted by [the Charlottesville Police Department] concerning a bear they had been tracking for some time, and it was suspected […]
Posted inHealth and safety
With less shelter space and more hotel rooms, PACEM adapts to COVID while planning winter homeless shelter
Every year, a roaming homeless shelter opens for the winter months in the Charlottesville area.The local group PACEM sets up temporary lodgings for a week or two at a time in various churches around the city and Albemarle County. In normal years, the shelter hosts dozens of people every night between November and March.This is […]
