Botanical Fare’s Drag Bingo is a game night like no other. Come ready to play multiple rounds to win merch, gift cards, and more. Hosts Chicki Parm and Cake Pop! (right) serve realness and keep the party rolling, while the café serves up the vegan eats. Take a break between games to watch a dazzling performance from special guest Thea Trickality.
Friday 1/20. $15, 6:30pm. Botanical Plant-Based Fare, 421 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. botanicalfare.com
Mary Alice Hostetter understood the power of words and stories very early on. Her new book, Plain: A Memoir of Mennonite Girlhood, chronicles her journey to define an authentic self amid a rigid religious upbringing in a Mennonite farm family. Over the course of the book, Hostetter leaves behind the fields and fences of her youth, growing beyond the prohibitions of her church, and coming to terms with her sexuality. Hostetter is joined in conversation by author Sharon Harrigan.
Saturday 1/21. Free, 4pm. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. ndbookshop.com
“So, Dashad Cooper. … Who is Dashad Cooper?” Cooper asked, repeating the question back to C-VILLE. Cooper is new to politics and has not had the time to perfect his elevator pitch. But once he found his footing, he was able to explain his motivation for seeking office.
“Dashad Cooper is a native from Charlottesville,” he said proudly, explaining how we went through the local public school system and later chose to attend PVCC so he could stay home and care for his sick father. He has worked for the city for six years, starting as a recreational aide and becoming a social services assistant in 2021.
“Me and my teammates … we’re the front end of everything,” Cooper said, claiming that earlier in the day he risked his life to prevent one of his clients from getting hit by a car.
“These other candidates are definitely doing great work,” Cooper said of his opponents, former mayor David Brown and vice-chair of the Albemarle County School Board Katrina Callsen. “But they’re not at the bottom, really dealing with the people that have issues.”
At 29, Cooper is the youngest candidate in the race for the newly drawn House District 54.
“This city, this district needs a new face. So I’m here to break some barriers and really listen to the people and be transparent and authentic,” he told CVILLE.
“Democrats need to stick together,” he said, noting that he will not campaign negatively against his opponents. Cooper plans to run a grassroots campaign and “be out there in the field.”
“I want to make sure that I go to every area, every street, every house, in every part of this district,” he said. Cooper also plans to continue working full-time while on the campaign trail.
He hasn’t launched a website to outline his platform yet, but Cooper has mentioned some priorities on Twitter. He also discussed policing reforms during his interview with C-VILLE.
“I wouldn’t say defund the police,” Cooper said, “but I will say that they shouldn’t have certain artillery. … They should be more worried about de-escalating situations and providing a prevention program versus hyping it up and only responding when it’s a crisis situation.”
When asked about juvenile justice reform, Cooper answered honestly. “I haven’t read too much about it, I will definitely read into that.”
“I feel like some of these kids do the bare minimum crimes and are hit with hard sentences versus somebody else, a different race, who did that same crime, and gets less time because they have money to hire a lawyer to fight their defense, versus somebody [of] low income having to get a public defender. So we definitely need to go back and revise that too. Just to take a look and see, you know, what are we doing wrong? What can we do right?”
Supporting teachers, who Cooper says are “like a third parent” for many children, is also key to his platform. “I think right now, the teacher shortage is due to the environment that they’re in, and all the scrutiny that they’re getting from the governor, plus their pay, like we have to pay these teachers.”
Cooper also discussed issues in higher education, referencing University of Virginia graduate students who were paid late this month. “It shouldn’t have got to a crisis. This should have been done a long time ago, because students need their money, they have to pay bills.” Cooper plans to host a meeting with UVA President Jim Ryan and the student workers union.
“We have to come up with a plan. So if something like this happens, we have a plan in place in which these kids will get paid no matter what,” he said.
Equal rights for women and the LGBTQ community is an essential part of Cooper’s agenda. “The government should not be diving into what if a man wants to become a woman, and vice versa. If they want to make a decision on their own, they should make that decision. And we should respect it.”
Cooper pledged to protect abortion rights if elected, and also wants to pass a bill to ensure equal pay for women. “We’re gonna create a bill that goes across the board, that whatever title that a man or a woman has, they will get paid the exact same.”
The election will be held this fall, on Tuesday, November 7, and the primary on June 20. Residents of District 54 can find their polling location on elections.virginia.gov.
Ed. note: This story originally misidentified the date for the November election, and incorrectly stated that Dashad Cooper was the only person of color running; these statements have been corrected for this version.
Of all the streets in a changing Charlottesville, Cherry Avenue may be one to watch closely to see how the new Comprehensive Plan might translate into a denser Charlottesville.
While the stretch from Ridge Street to Roosevelt Brown has always seemed ripe for eventual redevelopment, all of the properties from the 1000 block to the Cherry Avenue Christian Church are now colored light brown in the Future Land Use Map for “Middle-Intensity Residential.”
The map’s legend says the idea is to “increase opportunities for housing development including affordable housing along neighborhood corridors, near community amenities, employment centers, and in neighborhoods that are traditionally less affordable.”
Under current rules, most of those lots are restricted to one or two units at most, but that number will increase to eight or more depending on how the new zoning code is written. That process is expected to be completed in the summer, but Neighborhood Development Services Director James Freas said he reserved the right for delay if there are any legal issues.
So far, there has not been a land rush to pick up the properties, but it is worth taking a look at real estate activity in 2022.
On May 4, a company called Copper Fox REI LLC purchased 1210 Cherry Ave. for $185,000, and sold the property to Tribe Property Solutions LLC the same day for $217,000.
On October 5, 2022, Benco LLC purchased 1505 Cherry Ave. for $250,000. Two months later, on December 13, the property was sold to Meade Construction LLC for $250,000. Benco LLC purchased it again the same day for $280,000 before selling it the next day to Laurel Oak Properties LLC for the same price.
In 2022, there were two sales on this part of Cherry Avenue that were not to corporate entities. A property at 1526 Cherry sold on March 10 for $350,000, about 17.71 percent below the assessed value. Another at 1514 Cherry Ave. was purchased for $251,000, which is 12.11 percent below assessment.
The commercial section of Cherry Avenue also had two notable purchases, both to Woodard Properties. With the exception of some properties at the intersection of 7 ½ Street, these lots are all in the Neighborhood Mixed Use Corridor, which calls for “neighborhood-scaled mixed-use areas arranged along corridors that support existing residential districts.”
In August, a company associated with Woodard Properties paid $3.5 million for the former IGA building across from Tonsler Park. In November, another Woodard LLC bought an undeveloped 0.25 acre lot at 716 Cherry Ave. for $150,000.
That continues the company’s significant investment in Fifeville’s commercial strip. In 2021, Woodard purchased both the Cherry Avenue Shopping Center and a nearby vacant lot. In addition, the company has significant holdings between 7 ½ Street and Fifth Street.
The zoning rewrite will also dictate how those lots can be redeveloped when and if Woodard Properties opt to redevelop that land. Last year, the company invested in a new facade for the Cherry Avenue Shopping Center, and installed new lights at the vacant lot. It also recently allowed a public trail to cross its land from Tonsler Park to the Blue Ridge Commons housing development.
Anthony Woodard of Woodard Properties said his company’s goal is to bring “thoughtful development” to Fifeville.
“For over 40 years, we have worked in Fifeville, where 75 percent of our housing portfolio is affordable, and where we also provide land and community support for efforts like the IRC New Roots garden program and the Fifeville Trail,” Woodard said.
After two years of serving on Charlottesville City Council, Sena Magill has resigned.
Magill announced her surprising departure at the end of council’s January 3 meeting. Overcome by tears, she asked Councilor Michael Payne to read her resignation statement on her behalf.
“The needs of my family have changed during my term in office, and in the last few months it has become more and more apparent that I cannot meet the needs effectively of both,” read the statement. “This has not been an easy decision, as there is much I still want to do for this city, but right now I need to focus on my family.”
Magill’s husband Tyler Magill suffered a stroke after he was attacked by white supremacists during the 2017 Unite the Right rally. Though he has largely recovered from his injuries, he still has a small blind spot, memory issues, and PTSD, Sena Magill told C-VILLE in 2020. In November, Magill shared on Twitter that she took her husband to the emergency room, but did not provide additional details.
Since taking office in 2020, Magill, whose last day is January 11, has pushed for mental health care, social services, and housing reforms, among other causes. Her term was set to expire at the end of this year.
The remaining councilors thanked Magill for her contributions and service to the city.
“It’s been so many times with us four gentlemen up here, what we would have missed out on if you didn’t say, ‘Hey guys, what about so and so?’” said Councilor Jaundiego Wade.
“Your voice and perspective will be missed on council,” added Payne.
Mayor Lloyd Snook has expressed that he would like to see another woman replace Magill. “I think we’re better off if we’ve got at least one woman on council,” Snook told NBC29. “That would suggest a preference there, but it’s not a quota.”
Council will hold a public hearing on the candidates on February 6, and plans to appoint a new councilor by February 21. Any eligible city voter can apply for the position. Applications are now open on the city website, and are due by January 30. Magill’s replacement will serve on council until December 31.
Andrea Douglas, executive director of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, was subpoenaed to appear in Charlottesville Circuit Court on January 9 as part of the ongoing lawsuit surrounding the city’s donation of the Robert E. Lee statue to the JSAAHC. However, Douglas never took the stand. Instead, the city filed three motions to dismiss, which were staunchly opposed by plaintiffs Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation and the Ratcliffe Foundation.
The three motions to dismiss the lawsuit—which alleges the city broke the law by donating the statue to a group pledged to dismantling it—were partially upheld, with Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. sustaining a motion to dismiss a supposed FOIA violation.
JSAAHC’s attorney, Christopher Tate of the Flora Pettit law firm, argued for removing four expert witnesses from the deposition, witnesses that plaintiffs believe could speak to the condition of the statue and the terms of its removal. Plaintiffs insisted that the statue’s current condition, which is unknown, is paramount to their complaint. Ultimately, Tate’s request was honored.
Repeatedly, the judge requested both parties settle the matter on the official court date next month.
“I wanna have a hearing,” said Judge Peatross. “We’ll discuss this on February 1st.”
Shots fired
On January 8 at around 1:40 pm, the Charlottesville Police Department responded to a shots fired report on the 400 block of Monticello Road, and discovered two adult men who had been shot in the Fitzgerald’s Tire Co. parking lot. Osvaldo Lopez-Hernandez of Texas was pronounced dead at the scene, while, at press time, the other victim remains in the hospital. Police charged Jose Omar Rivas Sorto of Maryland with felony shooting from a vehicle and arrested him at the scene, and have obtained warrants for the second victim—under the name John Doe—for felony abduction for a pecuniary benefit, among other charges.
New names
The Charlottesville School Board voted 6-1 and 5-2, respectively, to change Venable Elementary School’s name to Trailblazers and Clark Elementary’s to Summit during a January 5 meeting. Trailblazers honors the first Black students to desegregate the city’s white schools, while Summit is a nod to the school’s view of the mountains.
New variant
Health officials urge everyone to get their bivalent COVID booster shot and wear masks where recommended as the new XBB.1.5 variant spreads. The Omicron subvariant—which is more transmissible than others, but so far hasn’t shown to cause more severe symptoms—now makes up nearly three-quarters of new cases in some parts of the country, reports The Washington Post.
Car break-ins
On January 4, multiple cars were broken into near Orangetheory Fitness in the Barracks Road Shopping Center, reports CBS19. Anyone with information regarding these incidents should contact the CPD at 970-3280.
Big bucks
University of Virginia Ph.D. student Lloyd Sy was a “Jeopardy!” winner on January 3 and again the following night, before being defeated by D.C. consultant Patrick Curran during his third night on the popular game show. Sy, who studies English literature, had beat 13-time winner Ray LaLonde. The 28-year-old, a Rockford, Illinois, native, took home $53,578 in winnings.
On January 6, the Virginia Department of Education released a revised proposal of the state’s history and social science standards of learning, after previously proposed standards sparked severe public backlash in November. Critics—including educators, activist groups, parents, and Democratic lawmakers—accused Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration of whitewashing history, perpetuating political bias, and teaching historical inaccuracies.
In response, the state Board of Education delayed its review of the standards, and directed Jillian Balow, Virginia’s superintendent of public education, to correct errors, omissions, and inaccuracies; incorporate public feedback; and prepare a “crosswalk” document comparing the controversial draft to the standards proposed in August, which were based on two years of input from historians, educators, organizations, and representatives of marginalized groups, as well as thousands of public comments. In August and October, Balow asked the board to delay reviewing the 402-page original proposal to allow time to fix mistakes, gain more expert input, and address other concerns with the August proposal.
The newly released proposal includes both “content from earlier drafts” and “new content on events and historical figures previously overlooked in the commonwealth’s history standards,” according to a January 6 VDOE press release.
However, some educators claim the new 68-page standards are simply a “continuation” of the 53-page November proposal, according to Ma’asehyahu Isra-Ul, president of the Virginia Social Studies Leaders Consortium.
The new standards continue the erasure of Indigenous peoples, claims Isra-Ul. For example, in the elementary standards, Columbus Day and Yorktown Victory Day are listed as holidays students will study, but not Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Other holidays celebrated by minority groups—including Kwanzaa and Hanukkah—are also missing from the list. (The standards say that students will not be limited to learning about the listed holidays.)
Since January 6, Isra-Ul, chief lecturer of the Leading By History Collective and an education specialist, says he has received dozens of emails from Virginia educators sharing additional concerns about the new proposal. Some teachers are worried about the substantial amount of information K-3 students are expected to learn within a limited amount of time, while others argue content might be too advanced for certain grade levels.
In November, the VDOE corrected multiple errors within the Youngkin administration’s original proposal, including a reference to Indigenous peoples as “America’s first immigrants,” and the exclusion of Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day from elementary standards. The new standards include several other historical events and terms concerning marginalized groups that were missing from the November proposal, including the Chinese Exclusion Act, Hitler’s “Final Solution,” and the gay rights movement. While the previous proposal said there were several causes for the Civil War, the new one says that “slavery and its expansion was the primary cause of the [issues] that divided the nation and was the catalyst for secession of southern states.”
But some criticisms of the November proposal remain in the new one. Sixth graders are expected to study U.S. immigration policies and the challenges immigrants have faced, while 11th graders must analyze “the effects of changes in immigration” across the country. However, the standards do not explicitly mention the history of the Latino or Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the country. (In response to criticism about excluded content, Balow has said that some subjects will be included in the curriculum framework, which is expected to be publicly released this summer.)
Additionally, Isra-Ul questions who was involved in the drafting of the newly released standards. Critics lambasted the Youngkin administration for working with conservative outsiders on the November proposal, including the Fordham Institute, Hillsdale College, and Reagan education secretary William Bennett.
Following November’s public backlash, the VSSLC, Virginia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and the American Historical Association released their own alternative standards in December. Isra-Ul says the groups reached out to the VDOE, but were not included in the November proposal development process. While working on their alternative proposal—which was completed in a little over a month, to meet the state education board’s timeline—the groups aimed to follow the board’s instructions to Balow, since they “didn’t know what [Balow] was going to do.”
Isra-Ul describes the alternative proposal as a combination of the August and November drafts, with corrected errors and omissions. It specifically includes edits proposed by the state’s African American History Education Commission, which he says were “completely disregarded” in the November proposal. “We used the [August] draft as the center and we found what could be salvaged from the November draft,” he explains.
The three groups urge the state education board to approve their proposal instead of the new standards, pointing to the endorsements they have received from the National Council for Social Studies, Virginia Council for the Social Studies, and Virginia Commission on Civic Education. The Charlottesville School Board has also expressed support for the standards. Virginia Humanities has called on the board to approve the August proposal, but hopes the board will discuss the alternative standards proposed by the three educational groups, too. The groups have not received a response from the board or Balow.
According to the VDOE, public hearings will be scheduled on the newly proposed standards “following acceptance of the draft” by the education board. The board’s next meeting is February 1.
Correction 1/11: Ma’asehyahu Isra-Ul is an education specialist and the chief lecturer of the Leading By History Collective. He is no longer an instructional specialist for Richmond Public Schools.
Executive Chef: Easton Porter Group, eastonporter.com
Culinary training: Hands-on, in restaurants
“When I began my career as a cook during freshman year of college, there were not many work options available in the evening except for restaurants.
“My first job was in a Burlington, Vermont, sushi restaurant where the focus was on quality and instruction through repetition. I was immediately interested in a job where your merit was quickly rewarded. Make a great dish or a mistake? You find out right away. It’s a two-way street of feedback and improvement.
“Even though I arrived with absolutely zero experience, I was taught everything in the chef’s repertoire and then some. The more I studied food, the more I realized how little I actually knew. As the years went on, the reward changed in the form of teaching new cooks.
“Flash forward to today where cooks are matriculating in and out of the kitchen at Pippin Hill, the learning process and challenge continues. You can always get better. Do the hard thing first.“
“Recently, I had the chance to cook at the Homestead Resort (in Hot Springs, Virginia) for the Epicurean Classic dinner. I cooked a fig cappelletti, using figs from the garden at Pippin Hill Farm, with celery root, cured egg yolk, taleggio cheese, sage oil, and pumpkin seeds.
“We have 14 chickens at Pippin Hill, and their eggs are used exclusively for the pasta dough. Since one dozen eggs a day isn’t sufficient for daily restaurant production, we have to be choosy where the eggs end up. This entire dish screams rich—with egg yolks cured for 30 days, to the creamy funk of a taleggio cheese fonduta. Filled pasta is a labor of love, but the end result is worth the effort.”
For our ongoing series Why Do You Cook?, C-VILLE Weekly asks area food and drinks folks what motivates them to clock in every day. If you would like to be considered for this column, please email tami@c-ville.com.
Enjoy a sophisticated afternoon at the opera with The Met Live
in HD screening of Fedora. The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Umberto Giordano’s breathtaking drama is full of arresting arias, magnificent melodies, and charged confrontations. Soprano Sonya Yoncheva stars as Fedora, a 19th-century Russian princess who falls in love with her fiancé’s murderer. Maestro Marco Armiliato conducts, and David McVicar directs the dramatically staged opera, with a fixed set that unfolds to reveal three detailed settings.
Saturday 1/14. $18-25, 12:55pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
The Lua Project blends multiple music styles from different continents and centuries into one cohesive sound. Deeming themselves “cultural pollinators,” the band sings about contemporary themes of family, work, and loss, while drawing on elements of Son Mexicano, Appalachian song forms, Jewish and Eastern European tonalities, baroque melodies, and Scotch-Irish narrative storytelling. The performance accompanies the closing of Michael O. Snyder’s exhibition, “The Mountain Traditions Project,” a collection of photographs and oral histories from the Appalachian region.
Saturday 1/14. $10-12, 7:30pm. PVCC’s V. Earl Dickinson Fine Arts Building, 501 College Dr. pvcc.edu
Stand-up comedian Brian Regan is known for his mirthful routines that tackle mundane, everyday events like how to cook Pop-Tarts, visits to the doctor, and the refrigerator’s meat drawer. Regan embodies his jokes with a big physicality that includes plenty of funny facial expressions, and fills the entire theater. The “comedian’s comedian” hosted his second Netflix special “Brian Regan: On The Rocks” in 2021, and has appeared on a variety of shows, including Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” and Peter Farrelly’s “Loudermilk.”
Sunday 1/15. $59.50, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net