Month: February 2024

Categories
Arts Culture

March galleries

“The Tao of Midlife and Menopause,” Benita Mayo. Image courtesy of New City Arts.

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library 2450 Old Ivy Rd. “Their World As Big As They Made It: Looking Back at the Harlem Renaissance,” plus other permanent exhibitions.

Chroma Projects Inside Vault Virginia, Third St. SE. In the Micro Gallery, “As I Found It: My Mother’s House,” Russell Hart’s selected photographs from his book of the same name. In Vault Virginia’s Great Hall Galleries, “Sculpted Harmony” by Alan Box Levine and “Sabr (Patience)” by Amdane Sanda. Through March.

Crozet Library 2020 Library Ave., Crozet. Ink and watercolor works by Gayle Keaton.

Cunningham Creek Winery 3304 Ruritan Lake Rd. “Branches + Blooms,” contemporary impressions by Amy Jeanguenat and oil paintings by Meghan Cooper. Through April 11.

C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery 118 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. “Happiness Blooms,” mixed-media exhibit from co-op members.

Elmaleh Gallery Campbell Hall, UVA Grounds. “Almost Useful: The Michael Owen Jones Exhibition” explores objects at the edge of utility, curated by Glenn Adamson. JT Bachman’s “Waste Not, Want Not” transforms discarded materials into long-lasting objects and building material prototypes. “Inclusive Narratives: Exploring Equity On The Manifesta Bookshelf,” an interactive exhibit.

The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA 155 Rugby Rd. “Structures,” a selection of 20th- and 21st-century artworks from the museum’s permanent collection, and the Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover.

Grace Estate Winery 5273 Mt. Juliet Farm, Crozet. Works by local landscape artist Anne French. Through March.

Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of UVA 400 Worrell Dr. The Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover.

Lazy Daisy Ceramics 1709 Monticello Rd. Paintings and prints on canvas, paper, and board by Eli Frantzen van Beuren.

Les Yeux du Monde 841 Wolf Trap Rd. The Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover.

McGuffey Art Center 201 Second St. NW. In the Smith Gallery, “Imaginary Realms: A Discourse Between Clay and Pixels.” Ceramics by Jill Averitt and digital animations by Jonah Tobias. Artist talk from 4-5pm on March 9. In the First Floor Galleries, Central Virginia Career Potters. In the Second Floor Galleries, “On a Scale,” mixed-media exhibit from the UVA Art Department.

Northside Library 705 Rio Rd. W. A multimedia exhibit with BozART Fine Arts Collective artists Judi Ely, Katharine Eisaman Maus, and Shirley Paul. “In the Quiet Room,” works by Terry Pratt.

New City Arts 114 Third St. NE. In the Welcome Gallery, “The Tao of Midlife and Menopause,” Benita Mayo’s photographs examining women’s journeys. Through March 28.

The PVCC Gallery V. Earl Dickinson Building, 501 College Dr. “The Power of Plenty” showcases multiple printmaking styles from various artists. Through March.

Quirk Gallery 499 W. Main St. Frankie Slaughter’s “Interplay,” a celebration of the interplay of line, form, and texture, with various mediums, including paint, clay, and textile. Through March.

The Rotunda UVA Grounds. In the Upper West Oval Room, the Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover. Through July 7.

The Ruffin Gallery McIntire Department of Art, UVA Grounds. “Escape Room,” a collection of artists’ works curated by Kim Bobier and Marisa Williamson. Through March 29.

Scottsville Library 330 Bird St., Scottsville. A community exhibit of sunflower paintings.

Second Street Gallery 115 Second St. SE. In the Main Gallery, the Charlottesville Indigenous Art Takeover. In the Dové Gallery, “Tending,” personal drawings by Laura Josephine Snyder in conjunction with a film created in collaboration with photographer Kristen Finn. Through March 22.

Studio Ix 969 Second St. SE. “Loss and the Preponderance of Thoughts,” a selection of drawings and images using repurposed items by Kimberlyn Thomas. Artist talk from 5-6pm on March 28.

Categories
Arts Culture

Overflowing with inspiration

Vocalist Paul Janeway (center front) says the post-COVID era holds new things for St. Paul & the Broken Bones. The band plays at The Jefferson Theater on March 3. Photo by Paige Sara.
By Dave Gil de Rubio

The ancient Greek playwright Euripides said, “To a father growing old, nothing is dearer than a daughter.”

It’s a sentiment Paul Janeway, the namesake of Southern soul outfit St. Paul & the Broken Bones, can relate to. In 2020, fatherhood and the ability to create a musical message for Janeway’s then-unborn child became a major inspiration for Angels in Science Fiction, the fifth and most recent album from this Alabama octet.

When Janeway and his wife learned they were expecting a daughter, the 30-something frontman found himself grappling with a wellspring of creativity amidst a generational pandemic.

“Once the pandemic happened, along with what was going on with George Floyd and all this type of social unrest and big things that were happening, it was spawning a lot of music and inspiration,” he says. “For me, becoming a dad for the first time was about exploring all the anxieties, joys, and clichés that come with it. The record was [coming along] in a being-struck-by-lightning kind of pace where we’d come up with something and the song was written. It was just kind of overflowing.”

A flurry of songwriting occurred in April 2020, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, it wasn’t until September that St. Paul & the Broken Bones was able to hit Sam Phillips Recording studio in Memphis, along with a quick jaunt back to Alabama, and lay down what became the dozen songs that make up Angels in Science Fiction. For Janeway, getting these tunes in the can became a race against the clock because his daughter was due later that month.

What emerged is a complicated collection of songs wrapped in the ambience of quasi-psychedelic neo-soul that subtly conveys Janeway’s feelings of joy, fear, and confusion tied to this major worldview shift that comes with bringing another life into the world. Spirituality is a major driver in these songs, which is unsurprising given how Janeway’s childhood is rooted in a conservative religious upbringing. And while he’s gone down a more secular path not unlike his hero Al Green, the holy spirit is never far away on Angels.

The melancholy title cut opens with Janeway crooning, “I don’t know if God is real, but then I see Him in your eyes / I don’t think I hear his voice, but then I hear your little cry / Angels seem like fiction, but now I’m not so sure,” while the glockenspiel-soaked “Sea Star’’ has its roots in a pastor’s sermon from Janeway’s youth. Elsewhere, the mid-tempo soul groove of “City Federal Building’’ evokes vibes of minor-key Stax/Volt as Janeway sings of crumbling skyscrapers and dead leaves. The album’s most heart-on-your-sleeve moment is the piano and string closer “Marigold,” a tribute named for his daughter that finds Janeway promising, “I don’t want you to be alone / But I gotta go, I’ve got a show.”

While family is at the core of this new record, it’s not the first time Janeway has looked to his family tree for a creative spark. The band’s third album, 2018’s Young Sick Camellia, went from the vocalist wanting to record separate EPs that would serve as the voices of him, his father, and grandfather, to a full-length outing that musically connected the trio of generations with spoken-word conversations between the singer and his grandfather interspersed into the album. In many ways, Angels in Science Fiction is a companion piece to Camellia, despite the two albums sandwiching 2022’s The Alien Coast.

“I think my relationship with family is a complicated thing, as is my relationship with religion,” Janeway says. “Alien Coast is its own separate thing. I think [Angels and Camellia] intertwine a lot and are such a part of what inspires me that it’s still a well. I think there’s definite connective tissue between those two records.”

St. Paul & the Broken Bones is currently on tour in the States, including a stop at The Jefferson Theater on March 3, and presenting a full Angels in Science Fiction production on this run. In the meantime, Janeway feels this latest outing is a creative inflection point for his band. The vocalist went from being a kid whose childhood dream was to become a preacher, and stumbled into a secular gig fronting a soul band, to getting a firmer grip on his creative impulses a decade-plus in.

“I’ve said that with this record, it feels like the end of the book,” Janeway says. “This feels like whatever the band was trying to do, prove or whatever it is, this is the end. Now, we as a band have to reassess: what are we? What do we want to accomplish, and what do we want to do?

“Now that we’re where we’re at, I think it’s really fun. But it does feel like the end of an era for us with this record and I think that’s interesting. People are asking if we’re going to break up and that’s not what I’m saying.”

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News

Wading in

Photo by Eze Amos.

Juandiego Wade never expected to settle down in Charlottesville, let alone be elected mayor.

When Wade met with C-VILLE—in a tiny meeting room in an under-construction City Hall building—on a snowy late January morning, the mayor arrived in a heavy winter coat and hat. He had just finished shoveling snow with a neighbor.

Despite the chilly weather and early hour, the recently elected mayor spoke warmly about his new role. In Charlottesville, the mayor is a member of City Council, and is chosen via a vote by the other councilors. When the votes rolled in on January 2, Wade was unanimously elected.

But the mayor’s job isn’t Wade’s full-time gig—he juggles work as an Albemarle County Social Services Career Center coordinator with being a member of City Council.

Originally from Richmond, Wade grew up in a large household with three sisters, two brothers, a stay-at-home mother, and a father who worked as a public school teacher and minister. All of Wade’s siblings still live in the city.

Growing up in the capital of the commonwealth inspired Wade to pursue a career in urban planning. The construction of Interstate 95 heavily affected his neighborhood when it came through downtown Richmond.

“It’s an expressway right in front of my church,” he says. “It seems like [it] was always impacting communities of color.”

That interest in urban planning is what prompted Wade to move to Norfolk, and later Charlottesville, for school.

“I never had any aspirations of going to UVA, I just didn’t think that it was something that I could do,” says Wade. Despite his hesitation, Wade applied and was accepted to the University of Virginia’s urban and environmental master’s program. It was through this program that Wade met his wife of over 30 years, Claudette Grant, and got involved in the broader Charlottesville community.

“My senior thesis was working with a program through the NAACP. … During that time I was able to meet many of the strong community leaders,” he says. “I learned a lot and did some studies as part of different classes about the community, different neighborhoods, Fifeville and 10th and Page.”

It was these communities and the city’s people that led Wade and Grant to settle down in Charlottesville post-graduation. After commuting into town from Goochland, the couple moved back to the city, and raised their daughter Gabby here.

“We started getting involved in the community and nonprofits and it just grew on us,” he says. “Next thing you know, it’s like, no, we can’t leave this place. We love it. And we were president of this, secretary of that, you know, we just had connected. And we had just made dear friends. … We just couldn’t fathom raising our daughter or being connected anywhere else.”

Wade’s deep involvement with the community through volunteer work and relationships is also what led him to run for public office. Mentoring young Black men who attended Charlottesville City Schools allowed Wade to gain insight into the district’s challenges, and prompted his decision to run in the city’s first school board election in 2006 (prior to that, members were appointed by City Council).

“I had been asked to be on because of my involvement in the community … but I just had no desire to get involved with politics and things like that,” says Wade. But after seven or eight years of mentorship, he changed his mind. “I saw so many things that the city school board should be doing … that is one of the reasons that I decided to run.”

“[Wade] came over and he said, ‘I’m thinking about running for school board and I’d like to know if you’d run with me.’ … I was shocked from a standpoint of being honored that he would think enough of me to ask me,” says Leah Puryear, another longtime public servant. “I said, ‘Well, you know what, there’s some people in the community that may not like me,’ and he said, ‘Well, yeah, there may be some people in the community that may not like me, too. And we’ll just hope that it’s not enough of them to keep us from getting elected.’”

While they didn’t know each other well before campaigning together, their conversation kicked off a decades-long public service career for both Wade and Puryear. Long hours canvassing neighborhoods and knocking on doors quickly turned their work relationship into a friendship.

“When Juan and I were on school board, we decided that we would meet and greet the school buses at different schools, and I went to Burnley Moran not thinking that that’s where Gabby goes to school,” says Puryear. “So I’m standing there to greet the bus. And lo and behold, she gets off the bus, ‘Hi Ms. Leah!’ I’m like, ‘Hi, Gabby!’ And she was starting school. I’m like, ‘Ah, school board’s gonna be great.’”

After almost two decades on the school board with Puryear, Wade was ready for a change. “I knew that after the fourth term in 2020 … it was time for new energy, new ideas, and I was really looking forward to retiring from that aspect of public service.”

Wade says he originally had no interest in running for City Council, but he was once again encouraged by community members.

“People really had been asking me to run. I was like, ‘No … because, like, have you seen those meetings?’ I was ready to kind of step away from that,” says Wade. “But people [were] like, ‘Juan, they need your kind of calm, steady leadership.’”

“That’s when I decided to run for council, because at that point council was just—I’m gonna get technical here—it was a hot mess,” he says. “It’s understandable because … it was the pandemic, it was just a really difficult time.”

Wade was elected to Charlottesville City Council alongside Brian Pinkston in 2021, garnering the highest percentage of the vote.

Though the two men lived in the same neighborhood, they didn’t really get to know each other until they started working together. Now, Wade says Pinkston is one of his most trusted allies, who helped bring a sense of routine back to council meetings. Both councilors hold full-time jobs, and knew it would be difficult to have extended, late-night meetings like the previous council.

“We have to go to work, we can’t go to 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, and then get up at 6 or 7,” says Wade. “And it’s not fair to ask the public staff to be there that long.”

Sometimes late-night meetings still happen, but Wade says he is proud of the stability and consistency they have found over the last few years.

“When I got on council … there was a lot of work to be done,” he says.
Beyond citywide issues, the then-new councilor was concerned about moving to a place of civil rather than personal disagreements between councilors. When the council was able to work together after the 3-2 split election of former Mayor Lloyd Snook, Wade felt they were on the right track.

“I think I had an opportunity when I first got on council to [be mayor], but I knew that I wasn’t ready. I mean, I probably could have done it, but I just wouldn’t have been as effective as I believe Lloyd was,” says Wade. “He was able to transition us through kind of a difficult time, I was able to kind of sit back and learn and see the process. … [When] I was asked to be vice mayor, I said, ‘Yes, I’ll take that on.’”

During this time, Wade also got the opportunity to work with Puryear again, following the resignation of former councilor Sena Magill.

“Every step of the way Juan was there. If you ever are on a committee with him, if you are ever on a nonprofit board with him, there is not one question that you cannot ask him that he will not try to help you with,” says Puryear. “He loves mentoring, particularly students, but I think he likes mentoring adults too, because he’s always willing to help.”

Wade learned the ropes during his time as vice mayor, and he says the biggest changes since being elected mayor are largely ceremonial.

“I understand that I’m the only Black elected official on City Council. … The big change is that I am getting asked to speak a lot at different events,” he says. “I think the biggest transition will be those types of obligations to speak, and to present the city. But I understand that that’s what I’ve signed up for.”

As he settles into his role, Wade is keeping the ball rolling on several key issues impacting Charlottesville. From transportation to the housing crisis, the mayor says he wants to continue engaging with community leaders and promoting public dialogue.

“I’m really excited … to be in this space right now as mayor, as the city is turning the corner, dealing with some really difficult issues,” says Wade. “We’re doing it together now in a very open, respectful dialogue with the public and with one another that, you know, I feel like [City Council] can address any obstacle because we respect and trust one another.”

In his experience working with the mayor, Pinkston says Wade is a community-focused leader.

“He keeps track of so many people and he just serves everywhere he goes. It’s nothing for him to just send me a text on the weekend or just check in on me to see how I’m doing. I know he does that for countless other people as well,” says Pinkston. “He has a huge heart [and] maybe knows the community better than any of us on council, frankly, just in terms of his years of … volunteer work and all the walks that he takes in the city. … Which is absolutely remarkable and essential for the work that we do.”

Though Wade acknowledges the profound impact of the city’s history—particularly August 11 and 12, 2017—on its residents, he is optimistic about Charlottesville’s future.

“People really want to come here and live and raise a family, and I understand why. But I think part of the thing that makes it so special is the diversity of its people,” says Wade. “If we don’t do something, i.e. affordable housing, then it will change in a very short time, and I want to prevent that. … I want Charlottesville to continue to be this wonderful, vibrant place that drew my wife and I here. … As two government workers, we were able to find a house in the city of Charlottesville and pay for it. And I want other families to be able to do that as well.”

Categories
Arts Culture

In fine voice

Photo by Tristan Williams.

Some of Charlottesville’s most talented vocalists take flight at Songbirds & Divas. Ti Ames, Richelle Claiborne (right), and Leslie M. Scott-Jones stir the soul with powerful renditions of songs by Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Jazmine Sullivan, Destiny’s Child, The Marvelettes, and more. The singers perform both solo sets and as a group in a concert to benefit the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.

$35-45, 8pm. Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. jeffschoolheritagecenter.org

Categories
Arts Culture

What’s shakin’

Supplied photo.

It’s impossible to deny the Grateful Dead’s place in the rock music zeitgeist. From Steal Your Face and dancing bears artwork, to concert tape trading and tie-dyed T-shirts, love for the Dead spans multiple generations—all stemming from the reliably mind-blowing live shows the band pumped out over the course of 30 years. John Brackett puts it into words in his new book, Live Dead: The Grateful Dead, Live Recordings, and the Ideology of Liveness. The author discusses his book during a conversation hosted by WTJU’s Nick Rubin.

Free, New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. ndbookshop.com

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News

In brief

Staff photo.

Call for IMPACT

Members of Interfaith Ministries Promoting Action by Congregating Together held a “justice ministry rally” on February 26, calling for city and county leaders to address transit issues and the affordable housing crisis.

Started in 2006, IMPACT is an organizing coalition with members from 27 different area congregations of various faiths. The eve​​nt spotlighted issues with local transit and housing systems, and included testimonials of impacted individuals and suggested solutions.

Housing advocates spoke to the need for more affordable housing in the Charlottesville area, and called on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors to create and consistently fund an affordable housing trust fund with clear regulations.

“The people I’m talking to seem aware, it’s just that action is taking way too long,” said Laura Swift of Crozet United Methodist Church.

Swift also shared her personal experience with housing insecurity and the housing voucher system with the crowd of approximately 250 people. “I would just like people to be aware of how disproportionately it affects people with mental illness, who maybe can’t work full time,” she said.

On the topic of transit, speakers emphasized the importance of a frequent, reliable, and fully staffed public transit system.

“This is not anything new to the people that work in transit, we have been short [staffed] for a very long time,” said Charlottesville Area Transit driver Matthew Ray. “We don’t have the number of drivers necessary to do the routes.”

According to Ray, approximately six new buses have sat idle for months, waiting to be wrapped with the CAT logo and have radios installed.

“I think many people believe that transit doesn’t affect them, because we have a really car-centric community that we’ve built that way deliberately,” said IMPACT Co-president Kelsey Cowger. “People fail to recognize that they are one kind of bad fall away from having to be a bus rider … one epilepsy diagnosis or one financial crisis where their car gets repossessed … or one DUI. There’s a lot of things that can turn people into bus riders, and we’ve got to care about a transit system, even if it’s not something that we use all the time.”

Charlottesville City Councilors Michael Payne and Natalie Oschrin were both in attendance, and committed to bringing forward a budget amendment funding a 70-driver roster for CAT, getting more buses on the road by September, and scheduling a follow-up meeting with IMPACT prior to finalizing the city budget.

While attendees celebrated Payne and Oschrin’s presence at the rally, event leaders expressed frustration at the absence of other local leaders.

“We had a meeting with Juandiego Wade yesterday, and he said he was free but wanted to engage in some self care,” said Cowger. “It was a super frustrating meeting.”

Other members of council opted not to attend due to a misinterpretation of the public meetings law and would not acknowledge the rally in a public notice, according to the IMPACT co-president.

“Public officials need to see the people they represent,” said Cowger.

Frat suspended

An alleged hazing at the University of Virginia has left a student in a coma and put a fraternity under investigation. According to the Jefferson Independent, a student publication, the second-year transfer was intoxicated when he fell down the Kappa Sigma stairs and hit his head. The injury sent him to the hospital, and earned the frat a suspension. Kappa Sigma’s national organization claims it is aware of the incident and will hold any responsible parties accountable, while UVA told The Daily Progress, “We take allegations of hazing seriously and act quickly to investigate them and take disciplinary action if necessary.”

‘Embarrassing’

Rep. Bob Good doesn’t seem to know when he’s not welcome. Good was reportedly kicked out of a Trump-themed Farmville store after a disagreement over whether the congressman was invited to the business’ grand opening. Karen Angulo, owner of the self-styled “MAGA shop,” says the Republican, who represents Virginia’s 5th District, was explicitly told not to come to the event. Good had sent texts to his supporters announcing his arrival, which seemed to coincide with his 5th District Republican challenger John McGuire’s sanctioned appearance at the store. In a video obtained by The Daily Progress, Angulo can be heard telling Good inside the shop to “seriously stop this. This is embarrassing, Bob.”

Shots fired

Charlottesville police responded to two shooting incidents in less than 24 hours on the weekend of February 24. CPD Chief Michael Kochis says a 2am dispute on the Downtown Mall between two people led to a shooting that put one individual in the hospital. The second shooting, on Stewart Circle, had no reported injuries. Kochis says he’s relying on community input to help identify the shooters.

Categories
Arts Culture

Jump shots

Supplied photo.

Seeing is sometimes unbelievable at the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour short film screenings. Take to the mountains, the sea, and uncharted terrain as you ride along with the outdoor action, defying gravity from your seat while enjoying soaring moves and dizzying views. The event benefits the Shenandoah National Park Trust.

$25, times vary. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

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News

Reefer madness

Charlottesville’s Greener Things, and other area licensed medical marijuana dispensaries, hope the legality around retail sales will be sorted out soon. Photo by Tristan Williams.

When Gov. Ralph Northam signed the 2021 Cannabis Control Act into law, retail sales of recreational marijuana were supposed to become legal this year. Yet, without establishing the framework for retail sales in the General Assembly, what was billed as a victory three years ago shifted into quasi-decriminalization. But some lawmakers are aiming to make full legalization a reality, while others are even going further, with legislation aimed at making the budding cannabis industry a fair playing field for retailers that are going up against pharmaceutical giants and billion-dollar corporations looking to be the first ones to sell legal weed in Virginia.

The bills, amended versions of one voted down in the General Assembly last year, are identical—HB 698 (sponsored by Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, in the House of Delegates), and SB 448 (co-sponsored by Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, and Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, in the state Senate)—and fully establish the framework under which licensed Virginia businesses entities could sell and distribute cannabis products. They also outline the means with which the state could control, regulate, and tax recreational marijuana, among other things in the voluminous, 81-page bill. These proposed bills would take effect January 1, 2025, with currently operating medical marijuana businesses allowed to begin applying and receiving licenses as early as July 1, 2024. Also included are adjustments to civil and criminal penalties of illegal possession and cultivation of hemp and marijuana, as well as illegal chemical alterations to cannabis and its derivatives.

HB 698 recently passed the House of Delegates with a 52-48 vote, mostly along party lines. The one outlier was Republican Del. Chris Obenshain, serving Montgomery and parts of Roanoke counties in southwest Virginia.

For shops like Charlottesville’s Greener Things, which has been eagerly waiting for the retail sales infrastructure to be put in place, the ever-changing legal landscape of the state’s cannabis laws makes it a precarious business to be in. Maurice Robinson, general manager of the Downtown Mall store, says it’s been a long three years.

“It has been a frustrating time,” he says. “Hemp regulations are constantly changing, making it difficult for a large [number] of small businesses to stay open in the area.” As a currently licensed and operating medical marijuana dispensary, Greener Things would be among those applying for the early business licenses available this July.

The biggest hurdle on the road to full legalization and retail sales right now appears to be the governor, as Glenn Youngkin has been quoted several times saying he’s not interested in signing legislation that would provide the framework to regulate recreational marijuana.

“What I want us to work on are areas that we can find a meeting of the mind and press forward for the betterment of Virginia,” Youngkin told Richmond’s WRIC-TV in January. The governor has refrained from threatening to veto any particular piece of legislation, however, and has expressed disinterest in repealing the Cannabis Control Act of 2021.

None of these advances in cannabis and hemp legalization should indicate that law enforcement’s watch over the substance has lapsed. In September of last year, Attorney General Jason Miyares spearheaded a multi-jurisdiction raid on several marijuana businesses in southwest Virginia that included nine counties and 29 different state and federal law enforcement organizations. The businesses involved were accused of drug and money laundering offenses, but the search warrants and court documents were sealed for six months, making further information about the investigation difficult to obtain.

It’s why Robinson says his number one priority is staying on top of the laws and remaining compliant.

“Greener Things provides a safe and trustworthy location to purchase safe, third-party tested cannabis products,” Robinson says. “All products are federally legal, and Virgina compliant.”

By the book

Marijuana legalization is still uneven in Virginia. Here’s
what you can and can’t do with your greenery.

Possession: There’s no penalty for personal use at your own home. You can even share it with a friend (21 years or older). However, carrying anything in public beyond 1 ounce and up to 4 ounces could get you a fine of up to $25. Public possession beyond that is a misdemeanor, and over 1 lb. is a felony.

Cultivation: At home, you can grow up to four plants. Just make sure to attach a legible tag, keep it out of view of the public, and away from anyone under 21, or else you’ll incur a civil penalty. More than four plants is a misdemeanor after your first offense, unless you have more than 49 plants, in which case it’s a felony.

Sale/manufacture/trafficking: Anything over an ounce is a felony, with possible punishment of up to life in prison.

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News Real Estate

Build-out

This summer, Virginia Supportive Housing is slated to build 80 units on the site of the former Red Carpet Inn. Piedmont Housing Alliance is expected to build another 60. Staff photo.

For many years, aspirational plans adopted by elected officials have called for Route 29 to become more than just a shopping destination or a way for travelers to pass through the city.

“The Hydraulic Small Area Plan seeks to identify opportunities for a more sustainable mixed-use development pattern that departs from the historic, suburban patterns that dominate the area today,” reads a document endorsed in the summer of 2018 by the Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors.

Since then, property owners have responded by building, or planning to build, new units in close proximity to an eight-lane highway classified by the Virginia Department of Transportation as a “corridor of statewide significance.”

According to Albemarle’s development dashboard, there are 227 apartments under construction in one building at Stonefield, and a site plan for another 112 units approved in another building. Across Route 29, in Charlottesville, the Great Eastern Management Company has filed a site plan for 352 units in a redeveloped Seminole Square Shopping Center.

Less than half a mile to the north are two suburban uses that may soon be converted to a more urban form. Plans have been filed in the City of Charlottesville to redevelop the Hibachi Grill and Supreme Buffet at 1185 Seminole Trl. as a four-story apartment building with 250 apartments. That project will be accessible from both Route 29 and Hillsdale Drive, and will be one of the last developments reviewed under the city’s old zoning.

RMD Properties has filed a rezoning for 1193 Seminole Trl., just across the line in Albemarle. The original proposal submitted last February sought a range between 200 and 290 units, but the number of places to live was reduced to between 50 and 165.

There’s also another 80 units slated to be built by Virginia Supportive Housing at the site of the former Red Carpet Inn, with the Piedmont Housing Alliance expected to build another 60. VSH is hoping to get that project under construction this summer.

At the same time, concerns about whether Route 29 is a safe area for pedestrians are mounting after a 59-year-old-man was struck and killed on February 20. The driver stopped to cooperate with police, but several people took to social media to express concern about a lack of infrastructure.

Some items are on the way, including a pedestrian bridge that will span Route 29 at Zan Road. The final design is still being put together, but the project is fully funded and should be constructed by the fall of 2025, around the same time the VSH project should be complete.

The eight-lane highway won’t be going anywhere any time soon. Other infrastructure in the area built in the last decade, including a grade-separated intersection at Rio Road, were paid for when a 6.2-mile bypass around Albemarle County’s growth area was canceled soon after former governor Terry McAuliffe took office.

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News

Winning streak

The University of Virginia’s women’s swimming and diving team racked up 17 wins while claiming its fifth-straight Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Photo by Jim Daves / UVA Athletics.

Last week, the University of Virginia swimming and diving team traveled to Greensboro, North Carolina, for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. The women’s team returned to Charlottesville with 17 wins, six NCAA records, and a fifth-straight ACC championship title. The conference meet occurred about a month before the women’s Division I NCAA championship—a showdown with college swimming’s highest-performing athletes.

UVA Assistant Coach Tyler Fenwick couldn’t be prouder. “The team just works their tails off and they had big goals,” he says. “And just to be able to see those goals come to fruition this weekend and to be able to see all that hard work pay off—I mean, they performed at a really, really high level. As a coach, that’s fun to see.”

Every NCAA record broken at the meet was by either Alex or Gretchen Walsh. Gretchen, a third-year, grabbed NCAA, U.S. Open, and American records in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, and 100-yard backstroke.

Alex, a fourth year, lowered the 200-yard butterfly NCAA record by 35 hundredths of a second, breaking a record that’s stood for six years. She also, along with her sister, was part of the 200-yard freestyle relay that broke NCAA, U.S. Open, and American records.

“When you have people who are as gifted as [Alex and Gretchen] are, who work hard, that’s a lethal combination,” Fenwick says. “And really what we’ve come to kind of expect is every time they dive in the water, we don’t know what to expect, but we do expect them to be great, and they seem to outdo themselves every time they hit the water.”

A new ACC champion was also born over the weekend, with first-year Cavan Gormsen bringing home wins in the long-distance events—the 500-yard freestyle and 1,650-yard freestyle (dubbed the mile). While she didn’t crack three-time Olympian Katie Ledecky’s NCAA records from 2017, it’s very likely Gormsen will swim the events again next month at the NCAA championship.

But the Walsh sisters and Gormsen weren’t the only ones standing on the victory podium: Final heats were frequently stacked with multiple UVA women. The Hoos went 1-2 in the 50-yard freestyle, and 1-2-3 in the 200-yard breaststroke.

During the meet, the women scored 1,637.5 points, crushing the second-place team (Louisville) by nearly 500 points. According to SwimSwam, this makes the Cavaliers the highest scorers in ACC swimming championship history.

Fenwick is now looking ahead to March 20, when the team hopes to bring home its fourth-straight NCAA championship, something the Cavs have been building up to all year. “This is a team that knows that meet really well,” he says. “And they know what it takes to win at that meet.”