While Albemarle County Public Schools plans to selectively open its doors this fall to a small group of students with special needs or limited internet access, Charlottesville City Schools will be entirely virtual. The slightly different plans could create wildly different learning experiences for some of the area’s more vulnerable children. “I am actually happy […]
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
UVa’s First Amendment Clinic will help Charlottesville Tomorrow fight for Albemarle public records
Attorneys at the University of Virginia’s First Amendment Clinic will represent Charlottesville Tomorrow in an effort to obtain public records from Albemarle County Public Schools. Charlottesville Tomorrow on July 15 requested public documents from the school division regarding its reopening plans. Those requests have yet to be filled, though state law requires public bodies to […]
Posted inHealth and safety, How we learn
Questions remain about busing plans as schools consider reopening
As area schools draw nearer to deciding if they will bring students back to school this fall, the details of how they will handle student bussing remain unclear. Parents and bus drivers alike fear it will be a challenge to create the kind of physical distancing necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus on school […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions, Soundboard
Soundboard: Delayed Freedom of Information in Albemarle & Environmental Racism
Related Article: Albemarle ‘extended indefinitely’ deadline to respond to public records requests Delayed Freedom of Information in Albemarle & Environmental Racism Credit: WTJU The Freedom of Information Act is one of the primary tools that we as citizens have to hold our governments accountable. This week, we meet Jessie Higgins, the newest reporter at Charlottesville […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Man who says he was wrongfully convicted of murder freed after 24 years in prison
Rojai Fentress was 15 when, as he waited in a line with his mother to register for school, two police officers arrested him on a charge of murder.The Richmond teen was baffled.“I just thought this would be over soon, because I didn’t know what they were talking about,” Fentress said.That was 1996. A year later, […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Albemarle ‘extended indefinitely’ deadline to respond to public records requests
Albemarle County says it is no longer obligated to respond to public records requests within a given timeline. The Board of Supervisors “extended indefinitely” the state-mandated deadlines for responding to Freedom of Information Act requests in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The move is alarming to watchdog groups that advocate for open government. “They are […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions, How we learn
The Supreme Court stopped Trump from ending DACA, but local immigrants say they’re still not safe
In the days after the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump cannot abolish the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Monse Monroy-Florez began frantically searching for information. The Charlottesville teen hoped the ruling meant that she could finally apply for the program that allows people like her — who were brought to the United […]
Posted inGovernment and public institutions, Health and safety
Snook: Police Department a ‘black box;’ council can’t discuss ‘defunding’ until more known about structure, budget
As activists call for police department defunding, Charlottesville city leaders say they don’t have enough information about the Charlottesville Police Department’s structure or budget to even begin having that conversation here. “My problem as a councilor right now is that the police department is kind of like a black box to us,” Councilor Lloyd Snook […]
Posted inHealth and safety, How we learn, Work/Life
UVa. announces plans for fall semester
*This is a developing story and the website will be updated. Rising fourth-year student Rohan Taneja is a computer science major with many of his courses being lectures or large sizes —two types of classes that will be held online, rather than in-person, this coming semester at the University of Virginia. On Wednesday, UVA made […]
Posted inHealth and safety
Los Latinos representan el 25 por ciento de todos los casos de COVID-19 en el área de Charlottesville
Unas semanas después de llegar la pandemia del coronavirus, Nelly empezó a sentir que no podía respirar. Read this story in English. La emigrante de México, quien vive en Charlottesville, empezaba a entrar en pánico y llamó un doctor que conocía. “Le dije que estaba sintiendo esto” dijo Nelly. “El me dijo, primero tranquilícese, todo […]
