#1
Chef’s choice
V.34, No. 1 – January 5–11
The first issue of the year was also our most popular, with a mouthwatering cover that featured Chimm Street’s basil stir-fry chicken. The story inside, however, was more than just a picture of scrumptious food—it included delicious descriptions of local chefs’ favorite dishes. Will Ham spoke with staff at Champion Brewing Company, The Ivy Inn, The Pie Chest, and more to discover what they chow down on when they’re not serving customers.
Baker and C-VILLE contributor Chris Martin picked the kale Caesar from Plenty as a favorite, saying, “Della Bennett is a dressing and sauce master, using acid and salinity to create one of the best Caesar salads I’ve had.” Chef Ian Redshaw gave a shout-out to the city’s food trucks, while Jay Pun of Chimm and Thai Cuisine & Noodle House was in love with takeout. Others praised their peers at KITCHENette sandwich shop and Petite MarieBette.
#2
Heartbreak
V.34, No. 46 – November 16–22
On November 13, a shooter opened fire on a bus filled with University of Virginia students who’d just returned to Charlottesville, killing three football players and injuring two others. The violence forced the university into lockdown as police went on a manhunt for the suspect, and emergency personnel tended to victims. Eventually, the student suspected of committing the shooting was located in Henrico County outside Richmond and arrested.
During this active shooter emergency and shelter in place order, students were terrified—including writer Kristin O’Donoghue, who wrote about some of the experiences on UVA Grounds during the police search for the shooter. Two UVA Alert system messages warned of shots fired at two locations, wrote O’Donogue. “The third message urged students to ‘RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.’”
Included in this news feature were three profiles of the young men killed—D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr., and Devin Chandler—as well as interviews with survivors of other mass shootings, who offered their advice and reflections on how to recover and come together after tragedy.
#3
Die, beautiful lanternfly!
V.34, No. 42 – October 19–25
The menacing spotted lanternfly is actually a cute little thing, with red wings and beautiful spots. But the lanternfly is also an invasive species that devours crops, and in Virginia its taste for grapes, apples, and hops threatens local wine, cider, and beer production. The fly first landed in Virginia in 2018, wrote Paul Ting, and was spotted in Albemarle County in July of 2021. Farmers have yet to endure the scourge of the pest, but most say it’s a matter of time until the lanternfly descends on the commonwealth’s crops.
While some winemakers feel that other regions’ strategies for dealing with the bug have helped them better prepare for the insect’s arrival, others fear this is another infestation that will get out of control. According to Grace Monger, Virginia Tech’s associate agriculture and natural resources extension agent for Nelson County, you can help stop the spread by participating in citizen science projects to track the spotted lanternfly, and by checking your vehicles for insects before moving them.
#4
On the other side
V.34, No. 29 – July 20–26
Jesse Crosson spent nearly two decades of his life incarcerated. Now, in his writing and videomaking on TikTok (@second_chancer), he’s sharing that experience with the world. And for C-VILLE, he wrote about what it was like returning to Buckingham Correctional Center to pick up his friend Grahm Masters—one of thousands who became eligible for early release due to the expanded Earned Sentence Credit program, first passed as House Bill 5148 in 2020 and implemented in July.
But Crosson, who was sentenced to 32 years in prison—twice the maximum sentencing guidelines—shortly after his 18th birthday, also railed against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Budget Amendment 19: Just days before individuals were set to be released, it rolled back eligibility for about 8,000 people. “It’s not as if the amendment permanently stopped the release of those who are no longer eligible,” wrote Crosson. “They are still getting out, just not when they were told they would be. When they do get out, they’ll likely be even more skeptical and mistrustful of a system that promised them one thing and then quickly reneged.”
#5
Umma be, Umma be
V.34, No. 31 – August 3–9
The new restaurant Umma’s was on everybody’s tongues this summer, as it served up stellar Japanese and Korean dishes in Charlottesville that shattered preconceived notions of what “authentic” cuisine looks like. For this feature, writer Matt Dhillon spoke with founders and chefs Kelsey Naylor and Anna Gardner about their journey from running a food truck to a brick-and-mortar business.
Umma’s means “mom’s” in Korean—an ode both to the role mothers have played in Naylor’s life as a chef, and a reflection of the homestyle, from-scratch cooking both chefs take pride in. “If we can’t make something the right way, we’re just not going to make it,” says Naylor. One of my personal favorites from Umma’s was the Big Mac Bokkeum-bap, which Dhillon describes as combining “an icon of American pop culture with the traditional rice stir-fry in a hot stone bowl.”
#6
Good enough
V.34, No. 43 – October 26–November 1
In the midterms, Democratic challenger Josh Throneburg took on incumbent Republican Bob Good in a race for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. With the election on November 8, this issue offered readers profiles on both candidates, comparing their platforms and careers. Throneburg, an ordained minister and small business owner, has no political experience and leans slightly more progressive than a typical Democrat. Good, on the other hand, proudly identifies as a “biblical conservative,” and has aligned himself with the fringes of the Republican party during his tenure in Congress. Ultimately, Good went on to defeat Throneburg to keep his seat in VA-5.
#7
Collect ’em all!
V.34, No. 33 – August 17–23
When we asked artist Steve Keene to paint the cover for this issue, we should have known he would send us eight different options. After all, the incredibly prolific painter produces 50 pieces a day. To mark the occasion, we decided to publish three different covers for this edition of C-VILLE, which could be found in different boxes and racks around town.
The feature, by Sarah Sargent, marks the release of Keene’s career retrospective: The Steve Keene Art Book. Over 265 pages, readers are treated to six years worth of materials collected by author Daniel Efram, and hundreds of Keene artworks submitted from around the world. With more than 300,000 of the artist’s paintings out there, everyone seems to own one; so we asked our readers to submit photos of their own beloved Keenes.
#8
High-rise
V.34, No. 27 – July 6–12
Housing costs and rent were both rising this summer, so Katie Kenny took to the pages of C-VILLE to write up an overview of how the city planned to make housing more affordable. How bad has it gotten? Well, Charlottesville’s median gross rent from 2016–2020 was $1,188; during that same time, in notoriously expensive Boston, median gross rent was $1,685. And median home prices have jumped $75,000 in just two years.
To combat ballooning costs, City Council adopted a Comprehensive Plan that addresses land use and zoning, and eases restrictions on housing density while expanding affordable housing options. But problems remain, such as UVA’s ever-expanding student housing, which looms over public housing developments like Westhaven.
#9
Trailblazing
V.34, No. 16 – April 20–26
Though lighting up was expressly prohibited at the High Arts Cannabis Festival at Ix Art Park, jokers, smokers, and midnight tokers alike were welcome to trade small ounces of weed with each other as they met home growers and vendors at the April event. Accompanied by live music and art, the festival was the latest development in Virginia’s slow legalization of marijuana, which is set to be lawful for sale at retail in 2024.
Shea Gibbs wrote about the organization of High Arts, and its framing by Ix Art Park Executive Director Alex Bryant as an “educational [rather] than recreational” experience. “There is so much misinformation,” said Albemarle Cannabis Company’s Joe Kuhn, who was a consultant for the festival. “We just want to bring the conversation to curious folks to learn more about cannabis and get away from the negative connotation.”
#10
Dead ringer
V.34, No. 7 – February 16–22
“I see a dead body at least once a week,” wrote Finn Lynch in the cover story. Lynch’s essay is about their job as a funeral assistant, and features beautifully morbid imagery about dressing a corpse according to the wishes of the deceased’s family. In one instance, a daughter requests that her father be buried with his favorite mint candies in his pockets—a couple sweets for the spectral road ahead.
“My job is hardly ever a pretty one,” wrote Lynch, “and only sometimes a happy one, but the work I do is nevertheless humanizing and loving. It shows me how much people care for one another—love can be stored in little mint candies.”
