Month: December 2019

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Opinion The Editor's Desk

This week, 12/27

New Year’s is generally a good time to reflect back on the year that’s passed, and we do that in this issue, with a second look at some of our most-read stories and best photos, along with our favorite local recordings and books and the restaurants we said hello and goodbye to.

Books and music feel like a good place to turn to around now, as I’m surely not the only who found 2019, in a word, exhausting. Between the seemingly constant stream of devastating news (climate change disasters, family separations, mass shootings) and the barely-coherent rants and grievances emanating from the White House, just paying attention can feel like an emotional assault.

So I wish for all our readers the same thing I wish for myself this holiday season—a little window of time to gather yourself together, spend time with the people you love, and remember what sustains you.

Happy New Year.

  

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Arts

ARTS Pick: The Wildmans

Neo-traditional string band The Wildmans plays The Prism Coffeehouse series January 3. Publicity photo

Big time traditions: The small town of Floyd, Virginia—its population was 425 in the last census—has become so synonymous with the Appalachian mountain music tradition that visitors often outnumber the residents. The latest to emerge from the robust tiny scene is neo-traditional string band The Wildmans, a fledgling group of top-notch players that includes Aila Wildman on old-time fiddle, Eli Wildman on mandolin, and Victor Furtado on the clawhammer banjo—who’ve all won awards at the Galax Old Fiddler’s Convention, and attend the American Roots Music Program at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Multi-instrumentalist Sean Newman completes the band on upright bass and vocals.

Friday, January 3. $14-17, 7pm. The Prism Coffeehouse at C’ville Coffee, 1301 Harris St. 978-4335.

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Arts

ARTS Pick: The Winter’s Tale

Sir Kenneth Branagh and Dame Judi Dench star in The Winter’s Tale, to be broadcast at The Paramount Theater Friday, January 3. Publicity photo

Kingdom of frenemies: Sir Kenneth Branagh and Dame Judi Dench star in The Winter’s Tale, Shakespeare’s tragicomedy in which King Leontes appears to have everything, but his jealousy sets in motion a series of tragic consequences. Originally broadcast in November 2015, the play is co-directed by Rob Ashford and Branagh, and is being re-screened thanks to its immense popularity.

Friday, January 3. $11-15, 6pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-1333.

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News

Inside a crisis pregnancy center: Women’s health care, with an agenda

Brightly colored fliers for ThriVe Women’s Healthcare, which does not offer most women’s health care services, are on display at the public library.

By Ali Sullivan 

A five-minute trolley ride from UVA Grounds, ThriVe Women’s Healthcare occupies a refurbished, blue and white house on West Main. Judging by its sign, and its marketing materials (there are fliers at the public library, among other spots), ThriVe appears to be a women’s health clinic—one you’d expect to offer a full array of reproductive health services. A Google search for “abortion services Charlottesville” yields a sponsored link from ThriVe among the first results.

But while ThriVe offers free pregnancy tests, STI testing, and ultrasounds to determine “pregnancy viability,” it does not provide birth control, emergency contraception, or abortions. And unlike Planned Parenthood, it also doesn’t offer basic women’s health services, like physicals and cancer screenings. In fact, ThriVe is a crisis pregnancy center, which NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia defines as “facilities that often advertise free services to women facing unintended pregnancies while promoting an anti-choice agenda.” In Virginia, CPCs have outnumbered abortion providers by nearly two to one in recent years, and all share the same goal: dissuading women from abortion care. 

A recent visit to the West Main location began like any other medical appointment, with a patient intake form and medical history questionnaire. But a closer look around the clinic made its differences clear: In addition to cozy touches like lit candles, sofas, and an abundance of tissues and mints, religious pamphlets were everywhere. Once my forms—one of which inquired about my religion and parents’ marital status—were complete, my counselor quickly turned the conversation to Christianity. I left the facility with a ThriVe-branded pamphlet filled with Bible quotes. 

Formerly known as The Pregnancy Centers of Central Virginia, the organization first opened its doors in the city in 1984, and is run by D.J. Carter, an ordained minister from Chatham. It rebranded as ThriVe last year, swapping the blues and grays of its website for neon pink and green, with stock photos of young women and glowing testimonies from “Actual ThriVe Patients.” There’s even an Instagram page. 

“The way that they use language that seems broad and inclusive, and it’s only the very fine print that it’s like ‘this is not medical advice,’ or ‘we do not provide abortion,’ is a purposeful way to draw people in—oftentimes people at a very vulnerable point in their life,” says Sally Williamson, vice-president of the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund. 

A tab on ThriVe’s website features directions to the facility from 18 nearby high schools and universities. 

While the building that houses the West Main location is currently for sale, a ThriVe representative said the center is planning to relocate. It also operates three other locations in Albemarle County, Orange, and Culpeper. 

Virginia state law requires an ultrasound prior to an abortion, and in Orange, ThriVe is the only women’s health clinic with an ultrasound machine. However, that ultrasound may not be used for an abortion referral. 

“We’re starting to see more of these centers like ThriVe that do offer very limited medical services, so perhaps ultrasounds or pregnancy tests or even STI testing, but essentially the goal is the same: to scare and manipulate and drive people away from seeking abortion care,” says Caitlin Blunnie, a board member for the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund. 

In a December 2018 interview on “The Schilling Show,” Carter said ThriVe’s ultrasound services seek to give women “the most truthful information” about their pregnancy: “The ultrasound…is the way that individuals can actually see that thing, that blessing, that we recognize, and for the first time, consider what it would be like to choose life.”

In October, Carter delivered a lecture titled “Abortion & Race: A Personal Story” at UVA’s Center for Christian Study, which featured descriptions of the “abortion industry” as a profit-seeking business. The event was publicized through Facebook and fliers posted around UVA grounds.

“It was on a flier on a bulletin board in Alderman [Library],” said Noah Strike, president of the UVA chapter of Planned Parenthood Generation Action. “I was like ‘Oh this is interesting. Oh, it’s sponsored by ThriVe, that’s not good.’”

Multiple attempts to interview Carter for this article were unsuccessful. 

While ThriVe offers some physician services (a family medicine doctor splits her time among the four locations), many of the thousands of CPCs in the U.S. do not. And that national movement is what concerns Williamson and Blunnie. 

“The very effective lobbying of anti-abortion folks is hand-in-hand with crisis pregnancy centers,” Williamson says. “So it’s not even so much what’s happening in that building; they are part of a network that is working to reduce or eliminate people’s ability to make the right choice for themselves in their family.”

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News

New year, new council: Incoming City Council looks to build houses and trust

Incoming city council Sena Magill

On January 1, three new Charlottesville City Council members will officially begin their terms. Michael Payne, Sena Magill, and Lloyd Snook will join current councilors Heather Hill and Mayor Nikuyah Walker as Wes Bellamy, Mike Signer, and Kathy Galvin ride off into the sunset. 

Magill and Payne say their priorities continue to be the issues that they built their campaigns around—housing reform and environmental policy. 

“Something that I really want to get to work on immediately is climate change,” Payne says. “The city set a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target—carbon neutrality by 2050—but how do we create specific plans within each emission sector, and reach out to nonprofits in the community, to develop specific plans that can actually help accomplish that goal?”

“We need to look at how we are going to be incorporating protecting our environment and continuing our work in affordable housing,” Magill says. 

That’s easier said than done, of course. “Housing is a combination of federal, state, and some local. We don’t have the control over it that people think we do,” Magill says. 

Snook did not respond to resquests to be interviewed for this article.

Incumbent councilor Hill emphasizes that the first challenge facing council is getting everyone on the same page.

“I’m looking at some very foundational things that need to happen for both this council and this administration to be successful,” Hill says. “Alignment among our council is just so critical to any path forward on any other priorities that any of us individually want to pursue.”

“I think that right now, the way we’ve historically operated, nothing gets done,” Hill says. “Truly, some things are never getting done, and a lot of money and resources are being spent on them.”

Hill’s comments come on the heels of a council session that strained interpersonal relations between members. Those disagreements were put on display at a team-building retreat in December 2018, when The Daily Progress reported that the councilors “aired their grievances with each other, the media and the community members who address them at meetings.”

“No one has to be friends with each other, but we have to be committed to working with each other and hearing each others’ perspectives,” Hill says.

Magill says that all her fellow council members are “in it for the same reason.” 

“There is no thought that anyone is using this as a stepping stone to something else. We’re all in this because we live in this community and want to do right by this community,” she says.

The stakes are high. Payne points out that mistrust between councilors exacerbates long-standing issues of trust between city residents and local government. “If we’re consumed by infighting, that only makes it harder for us to take action on affordable housing, climate change, all these issues,” Payne says. 

For Magill, rebuilding the city’s trust in government comes down to openness and honesty. “Try not to make promises you can’t keep. Try to be clear and open with your abilities and what you can and cannot do,” she says.

One of the first tasks council members will face will be electing a mayor and vice-mayor. Walker (who did not respond to a request for comment) has just completed her first two-year term as mayor, but is eligible for another. Before her, Mike Signer served one term, but the three mayors before him each served two. The council members declined to speculate on the 2020 selection process. 

“It’s historically been a pretty opaque process, a lot of behind-the-scenes discussions and negotiations and jockeying,” says former mayor Dave Norris, though Walker’s election two years ago was a notable exception. Of the new councilors, Magill received the most votes in the general election. 

“I think that’s going to be very telling, who the new mayor is,” Norris says. Norris describes Payne and Walker as being “of the progressive, change kind of camp,” and  Hill and Snook as “a little bit more moderate.” 

“And then you have one Sena Magill,” he adds. “It’ll be interesting to see what kind of councilor she’s going to be. The vote on the mayor will be one sign of that.”

The beginning of the new session means that all five councilors who were on the board during the summer of 2017 will have concluded their time on council. 

“We lose a lot of the experience of those councilors, who did sit on the dais during a very difficult time in our community, and I hope they continue to be resources to all of us,” Hill says of the outgoing group. 

The fresh faces in government might help the city move forward, however. “Hopefully, without the baggage, it’s easier to trust that the decisions we’re making are in what we feel is the best interest of the community,” Magill says.

“I don’t think it’s a turning point that changes everything,” Payne says. “It’s important that we don’t fall into a mindset of, ‘Let’s go back to how things were five years ago’…There’s a lot of work to be done. It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight.”

 

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News

Fond (and not so) farewells, statue drama, and more

“The Dell” public basketball courts will be demolished and replaced with the Contemplative Commons by fall 2023. Photo: Skyclad Aerial

Priorities

Weeks after self-appointed Confederate monument defenders began monitoring downtown parks, city police arrested two Charlottesville residents for allegedly vandalizing the Stonewall Jackson statue in Court Square in the wee hours of the morning of December 19. Nic McCarthy-Rivera and former C-VILLE writer Jesse Tobias Beard have been charged with misdemeanor trespassing and felony vandalism.

Murky waters

Don’t let go of that balloon! After four years of research and analysis, the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center has found that balloons—along with plastic bottle caps—are the most frequently found litter items on four of Virginia’s remote beaches. Cigarettes, food wrappers, bottles, bags, and plastic rope also made the list. All pose an extreme danger to marine life.

Out with the old

The current City Council held its final meeting December 16, with Wes Bellamy, Kathy Galvin, and Mike Signer bowing out. “I just want to tell you, in front of everybody else, that you’re amazing. I am stronger in these rooms because of you. And I’m going to miss you,” Mayor Nikuyah Walker told Bellamy. Not everyone earned such a warm send-off: “Mr. Signer, I’m sorry, you failed us horribly as mayor,” said one local citizen during public comment.

Key market economy

Fans of tacos, donuts, and handmade jewelry rejoice—Charlottesville’s popular City Market will be open for a winter session this year. Organizers say that around 40 vendors will be setting up in the Key Recreation Center downtown each Saturday morning from January 11 to March 21.

“We may not be able to recognize it because we’re living in it, but five, ten, fifteen, twenty years from now, the nation—and the world for that matter—will remember this council, these people, and all of us for the change that we brought forth.”

Wes Bellamy, speaking before his final meeting as a member of City Council

 

Farewell, Dell

“The Dell” public basketball courts will be demolished and replaced with the Contemplative Commons by fall 2023. Photo: Skyclad Aerial

The popular public basketball courts on Emmet Street—known as “the Dell,” for their proximity to the pond—are set for demolition.

Earlier this month, UVA announced plans to build a sleek new academic building called the Contemplative Commons, a multi-use space that will house the Contemplative Sciences Center. The new building will occupy the space where the university-owned courts currently sit.

Jack Morris, a computer science master’s student who attended UVA as an undergraduate, says he’s played at all the basketball courts available to students and that the most skilled people play at the Dell.

The courts also serve as a rare intersection between Charlottesville and UVA. “That’s really the only time in my whole four or five years of living in Charlottesville that I’ve gotten to meet a whole bunch of people that are outside the sphere of UVA,” Morris says.

Charlottesville native Jack Ronayne has been playing at the dell his whole life. Ronayne, who did not attend UVA, says the public courts serve an important function for a school that hasn’t always had a smooth relationship with the city. “It’s a nice common space that people of all different walks of life can use,” Ronayne says. “Sports are a great unifier.”

“I just remember going out on hot, humid summer nights and playing some good basketball games with friends,” Ronayne says. “It’s just a cool facility.”

According to the UVA Office of the Architect, the university will build a new bank of three public, outdoor courts adjacent to Memorial Gymnasium, just across Emmet from the current site.

The Contemplative Commons is supposed to be completed by the beginning of the 2023 fall semester. Construction on the new courts is set to begin in late summer 2020.

“The Dell” public basketball courts will be demolished and replaced with the Contemplative Commons by fall 2023.

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Arts

Write here: A year in books from Charlottesville authors

Bruce Holsinger's The Gifted school is just one of many titles Charlottesville-area authors released this year.

It was a prolific year for local authors. Popular favorites like Rita Mae Brown, John Grisham, and Ann Beattie added new titles to their extensive catalogs. Several UVA professors published in-depth explorations of their expertise—from tracing the history of Jefferson’s university, to defining the basis of a scientific claim, to analyzing politics’ impact on the cigarette. Poetry collections explored relationships and the natural world, memoirs shared stories of loss and change, and dramatic novels offered timely plots about privilege and saving ecosystems. Here are some of the books we enjoyed.—Cortney Phillips Meriwether

Non-fiction

Laurance Wieder, Poetry History Music Art

Containing 23 essays from the last 25 years of publishing, this collection explores Homer, Lady Murasaki, Orhan Pamuk, Evliya Çelebi, William Blake, John Milton, and more.

Alan Taylor, Thomas Jefferson’s Education

From the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at UVA comes an absorbing study of the origins of Jefferson’s university.

James C. Zimring, What Science Is and How It Really Works

Written for a general audience, this book seeks to define science and answer key questions, such as: What is the basis of scientific claims? And how much confidence should we put in them?

 

Gregory Orr, The Blessing

Newly re-released, this memoir begins with the hunting accident where a young Orr accidentally shoots and kills his brother. Told in sparse, short chapters, this poetic exploration is a testament to the power of art.

Jerry Ratcliffe and Chris Graham, Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship

From the stunning first round defeat in 2018 to the program’s first national title in 2019, this book traces Tony Bennett and his team’s path to victory.

Ahmed al-Rahim, The Creation of Philosophical Tradition

From a professor of Islamic Studies at UVA comes a detailed history of the Avicennan tradition from the 11th to 14th century.

Charlotte Matthews, Comes With Furniture and People

This memoir tells the story of a daughter who watches her mother struggle with depression—and what happens to her after she loses her mother to leukemia and faces a breast cancer diagnosis of her own.

Chris Register, Conversations With US: Great Lakes States

The first installment in an eight-part series, this book follows a cycling journalist across the Great Lakes states as he seeks to “uncover the truth about our shared hopes, challenges, and potential.”

Njelle W. Hamilton, Phonographic Memories: Popular Music and the Contemporary Caribbean Novel

Analyzing the narrative and thematic influence of Caribbean music on the Caribbean novel, this book explores the cultural and national impact of these “musical fictions.”

Sarah Milov, The Cigarette: A Political History

Sharing the “untold political story of the most controversial consumer product,” this book chronicles the rise and fall of tobacco’s popularity.

Fiction

Rita Mae Brown, Scarlet Fever

The 12th book in the “Sister Jane” series, this murder mystery set in the Blue Ridge Mountains pays homage to fox hunting and the traditions of Virginia horse country.

John Grisham, The Guardians

Quincy Miller has spent 22 years in prison for a murder he maintains he didn’t commit. His last hope to prove his innocence is a nonprofit organization called Guardian Ministries, run by lawyer and minister Cullen Post.

Bruce Holsinger, The Gifted School

Following the drama between a group of friends and parents after an exclusive school for gifted children opens in their community, this novel explores ambition, privilege, and the ripple effect that choices can have.

R. Barber Anderson, The Sunken Forest

This ecological thriller tells the story of an extraordinary forest, a billionaire trying to exploit its natural resources, and the hero who risks it all to protect it.

Christopher Tilghman, Thomas and Beal in the Midi

In 1892, an interracial couple escapes post- Reconstruction America to a new life, first in Paris and then as winemakers in the Languedoc countryside.

Ann Beattie, A Wonderful Stroke of Luck

Beginning at a boarding school in New Hampshire, this novel follows the effects of a complicated relationship between a gifted student and a problematic teacher.

Poetry

Laurance Wieder, After Adam: The Books of Moses

Told in prose and verse, this genre-bending book begins with the creation of humans and ends with the death of Moses.

Brian Teare, Doomstead Days

A collection of site-specific poems documenting rivers, cities, forests, oil spills, mountains, and apocalyptic visions.

Gillian Conoley, A Little More Red Sun on the Human: New & Selected Poems

Using narrative, lyric, and fragmented forms, this collection explores democracy, metaphysics, motherhood, gender, and race.

Mariflo Stephens, Dream Straw

Stephens’ poetry deals with relationships, family, death, and identity.

Gregory Orr, The Last Love Poem I Will Ever Write

A lyrical collection of grief, love, and the power of language.

Charles Wright, Oblivion Banjo

A collection of selected work from the Pulitzer Prize winner and former poet laureate of the United States.

Irène Mathieu, Grand Marronage

Examining the lives of Creole women of color, this collection explores themes of community, identity, and liberation.

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News

Photo finish

In March, the long-anticipated $2 million skate park officially opened in McIntire Park. Photo: Tristan Williams

From a new skate park to a vineyard pup, here are a few images that capture the year that was.

(Click photos to enlarge).

 

In May, we wondered if the city’s ubiquitous electric scooters were a handy transit alternative or a public nuisance. Photo: Eze Amos

 

In June, Will Brockenbrough explained how his historic Woodson’s Mill has helped restore a crucial link in Virginia’s grain economy. Photo: John Robinson

 

Photo: Morgan Saylor

In July, the sweltering weather sent us running to La Flor Michoacana for more popsicle flavors than you could shake a stick at.

 

In September, these boots were made for walking—straight to the annual Cville Pride Festival at the Sprint Pavilion. Photo: Eze Amos

 

In September, Emma, the resident pooch at Muse Vineyards, made it clear that a dog’s life is a very good thing. Photo: Zack Wajsgras

 

In November, a photo essay by Zack Wajsgras  took an up-close look at our local hip-hop scene.

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News

Our back pages: What you read this year

UVA’s historic basketball win was, not suprisingly, our most picked-up print issue of the year. Kyle Guy jumped for joy when the team won its first national championship by defeating Texas Tech 85-77, in an overtime thriller. Photo: Jerry Holt

We looked back on the year and (with the help of Google Analytics) our most-read stories online. The takeaway? Our readers care about marijuana, Confederate statues, and food—with a side of basketball victory.

Here’s a rundown of our most-popular stories from 2019:

1. Pipe dreams: Virginia moves (slowly) towards marijuana reform

This piece, by longtime freelancer Shea Gibbs, was far and away our most popular online story of the year, even though the print version lost out on the cover to Virginia’s basketball victory (see above).

It charted our state’s halting steps toward marijuana legalization, along with the potential medical, legal, and economic benefits. Though Virginia has legalized CBD and THCA (elements of marijuana that are not psychoactive) and approved other low-THC products for medical use, it lags behind many other states in legalizing medical marijuana and de-criminalizing recreational use, let alone fully legalizing pot as nine states have now done.

As the story noted, a Republican-led state legislature ensured most bills taking steps toward legalization never made it out of committee, but with a blue State Senate and House of Delegates taking over in January, along with a Democratic governor, all that could change next year.

“If we elect a Democratic majority, I think you are looking at a clear, distinct possibility marijuana will be part of a new Virginia economy, along with clean energy,” Kathy Galvin told us back in April. Fingers crossed.

2. Permanent injunction: Judge says Confederate statues are here to stay

3. The plaintiffs: Who’s who in the fight to keep Confederate monuments

Needless to say, those McIntire-endowed statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson have been roiling the lives of Charlottesvillians for years, and that continued in 2019.

In March, then-C-VILLE news editor Lisa Provence wrote “The Plaintiffs,” a straightforward cover story about the 13 people and groups who had decided to sue the city of Charlottesville to prevent it from removing its Confederate monuments. One of those plaintiffs, Edward Dickinson Tayloe II, then sued Provence and this newspaper for writing about his family’s history as one of the largest slave-holding dynasties in Virginia. He also sued UVA associate professor Jalane Schmidt for observations she made in the story.

In what’s commonly known as “the Streisand effect,” the lawsuit brought renewed scrutiny to Tayloe, with in-depth stories in The Daily Beast, The Washington Post, and other national outlets. In October, Tayloe’s defamation lawsuit was dismissed in Albemarle Circuit Court, which found the defamation claims had no legal basis.

Associate prof Jalane Schmidt and former C-VILLE news editor Lisa Provence outside the courthouse after the defamation lawsuit against them was dismissed.

Tayloe had better luck with his lawsuit against the city: In September, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Richard Moore ruled that our 1920s-era Confederate statues are protected by a ‘50s-era state law forbidding the removal of war memorials. He issued a permanent injunction preventing the statues from being moved, nullifying City Council’s unanimous vote.

As with marijuana legalization, however, things could look different when the Dems take control of the Virginia legislature: Like David Toscano before her, Delegate-elect Sally Hudson has said she plans to introduce a bill to change the monuments law, and this time, it might actually get out of committee.

 

4. New bud in town: Is hemp flower legal? 

Staff photo.

Several shops in town sell hemp flowers, which look and smell very much like plain old (still illegal) marijuana—and at least one resident found himself hassled by local cops who couldn’t tell the difference. While industrial hemp is legal in Virginia, as are CBD products, the status of hemp flowers seems to fall into a gray zone. In any event, they contain extremely low levels of THC, so while they may or may not have beneficial health effects, they definitely won’t get you high.   

5. 10 hot new restaurants: A diverse collection of upstarts drives a local dining boom

For the summer issue of our glossy quarterly Knife & Fork, we asked The Charlottesville 29 food blogger Simon Davidson to take a measure of the city’s new places to eat. What he found was an ethnic smorgasboard that included fast-casual Greek (Cava), Thai and “southeast Asian street food” (Chimm), Tibetan fare (Druknya House), and Spanish/Mexican-influenced fine cooking (Little Star). Quirky Peloton Station—a haven of inventive sandwiches, salads, and craft brews on tap—also made the list, as did the swanky Prime 109, which our readers voted Best Steakhouse in the annual Best of C-VILLE poll. “While our area’s restaurants scene has long punched above its weight, the latest additions remind us that even in the best food communities, there’s always room to grow,” Davidson wrote.

 

6. Why are Charlottesville cops still driving this car?

Earlier this year, one of our reporters was shocked to see a gray Dodge Challenger, the same type of car that was used to kill Heather Heyer and injure dozens of others on August 12, 2017, with a Charlottesville Police Department logo. The car also featured decals of the “thin blue line” flag, a flag that was carried by some Unite the Right attendees that day.

We weren’t the only ones to be disturbed by the department’s tone-deaf taste in vehicles—local community activist Rosia Parker had raised the issue at a City Council meeting, but received no response. In answer to C-VILLE’s inquiries, the department said the car had been designed and purchased well before August 2017. But just this month, after receiving a FOIA request for the purchase records, the city revealed that the Challenger had actually been purchased five months after the tragedy.

Asked to explain this discrepency, police spokesman Tyler Hawn called it “a misunderstanding.” While not apologizing, the city has removed the car from its fleet. “This is clearly a reminder for many of the Summer of Hate and the attack,” said City Manager Tarron Richardson, who made the decision with Chief Rashall Brackney. “We believe removing it from our fleet is in the best interests of the community.”   

7. Testing the waters: Wilson Craig bets on canned cocktails as the next big thing

Photo: Amy and Jackson Smith

To say we were surprised by the popularity of this story would be unfair to Wilson Craig, who launched Virginia’s first canned-cocktail brand in a city seemingly saturated by craft beer, local wine, and fancy cocktails. The early success of Waterbird Spirits showed that the region’s thirst for alcoholic beverages extends to portable drinks infused with potato vodka–the brand debuted with four-packs of Moscow Mules and Vodka Soda & Limes in 12-ounce cans. Craig got an insider boost from a family friend, Delegate David Toscano, who introduced and ushered rapid passage of a statutory amendment that made it legal in Virginia to produce a “low-alcohol beverage cooler” using a distilled spirit. But it’s the entrepreneur’s hustle that has really made Waterbird take flight. Craig says he will soon expand distribution to other states, introduce three more types of canned drinks, and start selling Waterbird in bottles.

8. Milli Coffee Roasters founder dies at 34

Many in Charlottesville were stunned and saddened by the sudden death of Nick Leichtentritt, a beloved figure in the local food community who had left a corporate job to open Milli Coffee Roasters in 2012 and, later, Sicily Rose. In May, we were pleased to report that Milli Joe would be reopening, under the direction of longtime customer John Borgquist and Leichtentritt’s younger sister, Sophia.

9. Windfall blowback: UVA donation spurs backlash

Photo: Eze Amos

Hedge fund manager (and UVA alum) Jaffray Woodriff made headlines with his record-setting $120 million donation to the university, to establish a School of Data Science. But with great power (Woodriff is also reshaping the west end of the Downtown Mall with his Center for Developing Entrepreneurs, and gave $12.5 million to the university for a new squash center) comes great scrutiny, and many raised concerns about the focus of Woodriff’s contributions in a city dealing with an affordable housing crisis.

These concerns were later echoed by none other than Bloomberg News, but many local readers were outraged that we had reported on criticism of the donation. “We’re just a about ready to stop reading C-VILLE because of stories like this,” one Facebook commenter wrote.     

10. The Power Issue: Our annual look at C’ville’s movers and shakers

Our annual list was a mix of old standbys (we’re looking at you, Coran Capshaw), new faces (developers Jeff Levien and Ivy Naté), and a lot of groups, from “Rich guys” to Charlottesville Twitter.

The Hate-Free Schools Coalition was recognized for its grassroots campaign to have Confederate symbols banned from Albemarle County’s public schools (it succeeded after more than a year of determined protest and a number of arrests). And the Counties, Cities and Towns Subcommittee of the Virginia General Assembly also made the list, revealing how “six state legislators you’ve probably never heard of” had the power to block legislation that would give Charlottesville local control over its own monuments.

Of Mayor Nikuyah Walker, we wrote: “While some wish she’d stop trash-talking the town in national media outlets (meanwhile refusing multiple interview requests from C-VILLE), Walker is keen to point out the ugly history and lingering inequities that exist beneath Charlottesville’s lovely façade.”

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Arts

Good looks: Movies that moved us in 2019

Film critic Kristofer Jenson share his top 10 of 2019. Top-tier work could be found at all levels, from megaplexes to arthouses and even on demand.

This year was an embarrassment of riches when it comes to quality filmmaking. Long-established directors were firing on all cylinders, while new talents were upping their game. Top-tier work could be found at all levels, from megaplexes to arthouses and even on demand.

So, while these are my picks for the best of 2019, they are not the only great films of the year. If your list is different, we’d love to see it!

  1. The Nightingale

  2. Parasite

  3. Little Women

  4. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood

  5. Uncut Gems

  6. Us

  7. The Farewell

  8. The Irishman

  9. Midsommar

10. In Fabric

Please note that The Nightingale is one of the most harrowing, disturbing films I’ve ever seen. This is recognition, not recommendation. If you consider yourself a movie-lover in the sense that you enjoy a night out at the pictures, this is not that. If you’re a believer in the power of cinema to explore the most essential problems of humanity, including our most ugly, violent, and vicious tendencies and the systems we create to enshrine those vices (colonialism, private property, human servitude, and slavery), then you have to recognize The Nightingale as an unmitigated masterpiece.

After assembling this list, I was struck by the prevalence of sophomore features. Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, Jordan Peele’s Us, Ari Aster’s Midsommar, and Lulu Wang’s The Farewell are all the second full-length films for their respective directors. It’s a fascinating trend; the follow-up is usually where the wunderkind stumbles, but not only do these films succeed on their own terms, they each show a singular and uncompromised vision for what are sure to be long, rewarding careers behind the camera.

For the more established directors, we saw a tendency toward reflection and self-examination. Many of Martin Scorsese’s films feature characters on a collision course with one of two outcomes: death or regret. The Irishman works as a coda to the excitement of Goodfellas; in the latter, Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) never lost the gleam in his eye from a life of crime; he simply acted out of self-preservation and wishes he could still live his old life. Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), on the other hand, outlasts and outsmarts everyone, but can you consider yourself a successful criminal if the end of your life is spent wishing for repentance?

Quentin Tarantino, similarly, digs deeper on his prototypical hero in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. Long an admirer of 1960s and ’70s pop culture, his dive into the making of Hollywood mythology questions what it means to be that archetype. Is it all great clothes, tough attitudes, and excellent soundtracks? How much of it is fed by toxicity, and how complicit are we in overlooking the dirty deeds of those we admire? Fun, funny, and endearing in its own right, it’s also his most thoughtful film yet.

With more space we could examine our remaining three films: Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, the Safdies’ Uncut Gems, and Peter Strickland’s In Fabric, but let’s summarize it this way: producers, please finance any films these people want to make. Audiences, please see any film of theirs that gets produced.