Anthony Hopkins stars as Nicholas Winton in One Life, a lesser-known true story about rescuing children from the Holocaust. Bleecker Street Media.
Director James Hawes’ One Life does justice to the moving, true story of modest World War II hero Nicholas Winton, a London stockbroker who rescued hundreds of children from the Nazis.
Based on the book, If It’s Not Impossible… The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton, by his daughter Barbara, the film is deeply compelling, even for viewers familiar with the details, and Anthony Hopkins gives an excellent, low-key performance as the elderly Winton.
One Life opens in 1987, and finds Nicholas cleaning out his cluttered office and contemplating the disposition of a special pre-war scrapbook. He flashbacks to the months prior to the Nazi invasion of Poland, when a younger Winton (Johnny Flynn) spearheaded an effort to help endangered children in Czechoslovakia—many of them Jewish—escape the Nazis.
Initially met with indifference, Winton and his mother, Babi (Helena Bonham-Carter), navigate choppy bureaucratic waters in England, and the Nazis’ ever-tightening hold on Europe, to place kids with British foster families. Ultimately, their efforts saved 669 children from concentration camps.
For the next four decades, Winton seldom spoke of his herculean efforts. Then he appeared as a guest on the British TV series “That’s Life,” where—in an extraordinary television moment—he was reunited with dozens of the people he had saved.
One Life will undoubtedly draw comparisons to Schindler’s List, but it differs significantly in scope and tone. Filmed in about six weeks on a modest budget, it concisely dramatizes Winton’s crusade. Rated PG in America, the film doesn’t sugarcoat its story, but also isn’t particularly graphic. Hawes seldom shows the Nazis themselves on screen, but their presence is disturbingly and effectively felt throughout the European sequences. The story’s intense moments are told in closeups of human faces: desperate children in refugee camps or the expressions of Winton and his colleagues as they try to save those kids.
A major reason One Life is so winning is its Capraesque faith in the nobility of decent everyday people. As young Winton and his team plot their rescue mission, they envision an “army of the ordinary” aiding them, which they find in British foster parents and others who guide the youngsters to safety. Stories like this on film are hard to pull off without becoming dully maudlin, which One Life manages to dodge.
The cast is first-rate led by Hopkins, Bonham-Carter, and strong supporting actors including Lena Olin and Jonathan Pryce. As the younger Winton, Flynn seems to have studied Hopkins’ earlier movies to get his mannerisms down, but avoids slipping into a caricatured impersonation. Zac Nicholson’s cinematography and Lucia Zucchetti’s editing is tight, sharp, and straightforward. Production design by Christina Moore, and costume work by Joanna Eatwell are also very good. That the film was made relatively quickly and inexpensively makes it all the more impressive.
Inspiring true-life stories can easily get saccharine, but One Life is an unpretentious and well-told film. It’s also a stark reminder that youngsters in refugee camps aren’t a thing of the past. We need fewer movies about flying people in capes and more about real superheroes like Nicholas Winton.
Charlottesville resident Sara Stovall says she was stunned in 2017, when she
found out health insurance for her family of four would cost nearly $3,000 a month with Optima. Photo by Eze Amos.
For nearly three years, the Department of Justice has investigated whether Sentara made false claims for $665 million in Affordable Care Act subsidies when it jacked its rates 266 percent in Charlottesville in 2017, making them the highest in the country.
In November, the DOJ took the unusual step of petitioning a federal judge to order Sentara, parent company of the now-renamed Optima Health and Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital, to comply with its civil investigative demands. Judge Elizabeth Dillon ruled in favor of the government March 8.
During a December 19 hearing, Sentara lawyer Preston Pugh said the DOJ was attempting to “drum up public scandal” with its petition, according to a transcript of the proceeding. He asked that the courtroom be sealed and documents that had been temporarily sealed be permanently restricted, claiming the company would suffer “reputational damage.”
Laura Day Taylor, chief of the civil division for the Western District of Virginia, said Sentara’s motion “to close the courtroom and litigate this matter in secrecy is extraordinary, and according to the government’s research, it is also unprecedented.”
Judge Dillon agreed and kept the courtroom open, and in her order, unsealed most documents, including the petition itself.
Taylor said the government’s investigation was “under the False Claims Act into whether Sentara illegally took two-thirds of a billion dollars in taxpayer money.”
Sentara says the rates were okayed by state and federal regulators.
In response to the government’s civil investigative demands, Sentara had provided thousands of documents. But the DOJ realized it hadn’t received all relevant documents during a June 28, 2023, meeting, when Sentara put undisclosed documents in a PowerPoint presentation, according to the petition.
Those documents showed more involvement from then-CEO Howard Kern, and the DOJ wanted to interview Kern and previously interviewed execs—former Optima CEO Michael Dudley and chief actuary James Juillerat—in light of the new information. Sentara balked, according to the petition.
Sara Stovall is a Charlottesville resident who was stunned in 2017 when she learned health insurance for her family would cost nearly $3,000 a month with Optima, the only Affordable Care Act insurer available in this area at that time. She co-founded Charlottesville for Reasonable Health Insurance and was in court December 19.
She hadn’t realized Sentara’s top exec Kern was so involved in setting the Optima rates. “It’s disappointing because we were assured the rates were done at arm’s length from the parent company,” she says.
A now-unsealed document reveals Kern briefed Sentara’s board in August 2017 about the 82 percent average rate increase in Virginia, and he warned that “there could be a fair amount of scrutiny about the rate increase in local media coverage.”
“Sentara has provided more than 27,000 documents and approximately 70 hours of interviews from seven former and current employees to date in response to the DOJ’s inquiry,” says Sentara spokesperson Mike Kafka. “This recent ruling on procedural matters will help clarify the process moving forward. As it has for nearly three years, Sentara will continue to operate in good faith and looks forward to a resolution of this matter.”
Dillon ordered Sentara execs Dudley and Juillerat to provide additional testimony within 60 days.
In other Sentara news, the company is seeking a contract worth billions of dollars to manage Florida’s Medicaid program, according to The Capitolist. The state will award the contract by the end of this month.
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine participated in a roundtable with students at the Thomas Jefferson Adult Career Education division of Piedmont Virginia Community College on March 25. Photo from Office of U.S. Senator Tim Kaine.
Learning experience
Sen. Tim Kaine visited the Thomas Jefferson Adult Career Education division of Piedmont Virginia Community College on March 25.
Located at Ix Art Park, TJACE works with adult learners to build education, language, and career skills. Classes through the center are free, ranging from English for Speakers of Other Languages courses to entrepreneurship classes for advanced and native English speakers.
Kaine’s tour of the PVCC Adult Career Education department was prompted by the senator’s work on the Jumpstart Our Business By Supporting Students and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity acts.
“Part of WIOA is to fund this program to help students who are in the United States who may have come from another country who speak another language to gain English fluency and get a GED and then get jobs. And we’re working on that bill right now,” said Kaine to a classroom of students. “I wanted to come today, because I felt like if I saw the classrooms here, and talk to the teachers, talk to the students, I can help persuade my colleagues.”
During his visit, Kaine spoke to students in several classes, including an elementary-level English course.
“You see these students who haven’t been here very long. And … see them go up in front of the board, and they’ve got a U.S. senator there, and they’ve got cameras there,” said Kaine. “It’s hard to learn a new language, but the teachers make it open and fun, and they take away the nervousness or anxiety. You can see the students were tackling this with some real competence.”
Several students told the senator about the challenges of immigration and settling into life in the United States. From an Uzbek oncologist, to Afghan refugees and Ukrainians in the country on humanitarian parole, PVCC Adult Career Education learners come from a wide variety of backgrounds. One common experience, though, is restrictions on working based on visa and immigration status.
“I think we need to make it easier for people to get work visas here, and certainly people who are here lawfully—as you are under an H4 visa,” said Kaine. “We should make it easier to work because every employer that I talk to tells me they’re having a hard time hiring people, the unemployment rate is very low.”
At the end of his visit, Kaine participated in a roundtable discussion with PVCC leaders and students from the center. All emphasized the needs for additional resources and further funding, something the senator echoed his support for.
“The fact that they have to turn students away, new Americans who are excited to get language skills, and then get jobs … we should want folks that have skills in the job,” said Kaine. “I feel like no matter what the lineup, whoever’s president, whoever’s got the majority in either house, JOBS is moving forward, because [of] the low unemployment rate. … WIOA can be a little bit more difficult. Some of WIOA involves provisions dealing with organized labor that Democrats tend to like and Republicans not.”
Homicide investigation
Albemarle County police are investigating a suspected homicide and suicide that occurred last weekend. Robert Shifflett contacted the department on Friday, March 22, to report his wife, Kristie, as missing. The investigation turned from a missing person’s case to a potential homicide after Kristie’s car was reported abandoned and police talked with Shifflett again on Saturday. Shifflett was found dead from a suspected suicide at Rockgate Cemetery on Sunday, March 24; the suspected remains of Kristie Shifflett were discovered in a makeshift grave later the same day. ACPD asks anyone with information to call 296-5808, or make an anonymous report through Crime Stoppers.
Principal of the matter
Charlottesville City Schools announced that Justin Malone has been named the new principal of Charlottesville High School. Malone, who takes the reins on July 1, previously worked as an assistant principal at CHS from 2013 to 2017, and is currently the principal of Jackson-Via Elementary School.
Burnout
The Albemarle County Department of Fire Rescue responded to 19 fire-related calls after an outbreak of wildfires across the region on March 20. Large-scale fires at Taylors Gap, Blackberry Hill, and Piney Mountain burned over 400 acres of land, and led to evacuation orders and a declaration of local emergency. All three fires are now 100 percent contained, and Albemarle County remains under a burn ban until April 30.
Our We Are C-VILLE issue returns this year with another set of letters from some of our most insightful community members. In celebration of this little town surrounded by mountains, we asked those in politics, government, nonprofits, and even meteorology to tell us what they love about Charlottesville.—Richard DiCicco
Supplied photo
Thanks for asking me to write a love letter to Charlottesville. My relationship with Charlottesville is long and somewhat complicated. After my parents divorced when I was a child, my father moved to Charlottesville. He lived here from the late 1960s until his death in 2012. When I was a kid, Charlottesville was a little foreign, because I didn’t have much contact with my father. My main connection then was due to my grandmother’s frequent surgeries and hospitalizations at UVA Hospital. I remember seeing children playing together outside in the various neighborhoods, which were so different from my home in rural Bath County.
Years later, as a young legislator and a son who was working to develop a relationship with his father, I would stop in Charlottesville to visit my dad when he worked at Brown Toyota, and later for meetings or ball games or to see my friend, Emily Couric, after she was elected to the state Senate.
When Emily passed away after a tenacious battle with pancreatic cancer, I had the opportunity to run for the state Senate. In the years since, I have gotten to know Charlottesville pretty well. The city is made up of so many vibrant neighborhoods, and there are always community events and happenings. I am not much for parades, but I have come to enjoy the Dogwood Festival parade because of the beauty of Charlottesville in the springtime. The blooming dogwoods and smiling faces along the parade route are so much fun.
Like most people, I have taken to the restaurant scene. Whether it is visiting with neighbors at Belmont Pub & Pizza, getting a quick bite to eat on the Downtown Mall during the work day, or trying out a new eatery, the food in Charlottesville is something I love. Anybody who knows me knows that I also love music. Being in Charlottesville has given me the opportunity to see so much more live music than ever before. There are good shows multiple nights a week at a variety of venues. One of my favorite places is The Local on Monday nights, when they have an open-mic night for songwriters. I have heard so many creative voices and good music at that event, and I also have made a lot of good friends. I am constantly amazed at the level of talent and the skilled musicianship that exists in this small corner of the world.
There are issues here like there are anywhere that we need to work through. We have to build a community where everyone can thrive. We have to build a multi-modal transportation system and ensure there is affordable housing for all who choose to live and work here. Charlottesville is a work in progress and we have a lot of work to do, but I like the direction it is going and am proud of so much it already has to offer.
Creigh Deeds Virginia State Senator
Photo by Eze Amos
My Beloved Charlottesville,
As I sit down to write this letter, my heart is overflowing with gratitude and admiration for this remarkable city and the opportunity to serve this community. Charlottesville, you are more than just a place; you are a community, a home, and a beacon of resilience and strength. From your charming streets to your rolling hills, you captivate me with your grace and history, reminding me of the strength found in unity and diversity.
Communities don’t just happen; they are the result of intentional actions, shared values, and a commitment to building connections with one another. It takes effort, understanding, and a willingness to listen and learn from one another to create a strong and vibrant community. At times the debates, and conversations may be spirited, but each and every time I walk away feeling better about our future.
Charlottesville, you are more than just a city to me. You are a home, a sanctuary, and a source of endless inspiration. Thank you for being a place where dreams are born, and where love knows no bounds. I am forever grateful to be a part of your story, and for the opportunity to earn your trust.
With warmest regards, Michael Kochis Charlottesville Chief of Police
Photo by Jen Fariello
Dear Charlottesville,
This past year has shown me how lucky I am to call you home.
On August 1, 2023, one of my best friends lost her 18-year-old son, Aidan, to cancer.
As a baseball player, one of Aidan’s last wishes was to have lights installed at the Pen Park baseball field where he started playing with Central Little League.
Since teaming up with CLL and City Parks & Rec to make this happen, your support for Aidan’s Lights has been phenomenal. From baseball families to folks who confess not knowing much about baseball, the offers of “what can we do” has poured in. The love people have showered on Aidan’s family has been inspiring and heartwarming.
I have called you home since 1990, and I have enjoyed serving you as Clerk of Court since 2012. I thought I could not love you more, but your support of Aidan’s Lights has shown me that I can, in fact, love you more.
With gratitude & love, Llezelle A. Dugger Charlottesville Clerk of Court
Photo by Nina Chappell
Over the past year, during my school board campaign, I jokingly called myself the “reluctant politician.” I never intended to make headlines or break fundraising records. I was, and am, just fighting for the kids in our community—kids like my trans daughter or neurodivergent son and thousands of others. I fight because I care about kids, and as the campaign wore on, it became abundantly clear that the thing I love most about Charlottesville (and Albemarle County!) is that this community cares about kids, too.
Charlottesville is the place where my daughter felt safe and loved enough to come out as transgender in seventh grade, where our community of friends, neighbors, teachers, and strangers welcomed her with open, loving arms.
Charlottesville is the place where my son with intellectual and emotional disabilities found inclusion and peace, where he could attend summer camp for the very first time at Camp Hope and just be a kid.
Charlottesville is a community that shows up for LGBTQ+, minority, disabled, and all kids and loves them—hard.
During my campaign, I met thousands of people around Charlottesville, and I saw day in and day out that this community is accepting and progressive. It’s a place where you can fight for the rights of ALL kids and not just be screaming into the wind. Charlottesville is a place that is made up of people who care and who are willing to fight right alongside you so that every child, regardless of their past or path, can know love and be successful.
Allison Spillman At-Large Representative, Albemarle County School Board
Photo by Eze Amos
Of all the places one could end up in life, I admit Charlottesville was never on my radar, pun intended. To be fair, I wasn’t sure where I would end up. You see, television is a very nomadic business. A few years here, a few years there, one usually works their way up the ladder to hit a career peak at a bigger market. My path turned out different. MUCH different.
A liquidation of my first newsroom in western Pennsylvania in late November 2007 began a search for the second stop on my television “tour de employment.” Where to next? I was fortunate to start in a decent-sized media market, but eight years of frigid, dreary, five-month-long western Pennsylvania winters were enough. I wanted a much brighter environment. I wanted to go someplace where I didn’t have to leave town every weekend to find things to do.
At the same time, I was at a place in my life where a long-term commitment to a city just wasn’t in the plans. I wanted a place where I could work two or three years, sharpen my skills, and then move on to a new city to continue my career. I spent the first 30 years of my life in Pennsylvania; I wanted nothing more than to get out and live in as many places as possible.
Two fellow Penn Staters helped me score an interview for the open chief meteorologist job at CBS19 in December 2007. Now, I’m not much for signs, but there is something perhaps beyond coincidental that both times I drove from Pennsylvania to Charlottesville for the job interviews, the clouds ended at the Virginia border and the sun came out. Eventually I was offered the job and accepted it and began on-air at CBS19 in January 2008, nearly broke and ready for the new environment in what seemed like a cool place to live. But again, only for a few years. It was a big world and I wanted to get out and live it.
Sixteen years, two months, a wife, a house, a few cats, at least 50,000 weathercasts, and several dozen Brazos Tacos later (Philly Style on flour, for the win), you’ve really done something to me, Charlottesville. I didn’t come here and expect to fall in love with you. We were only supposed to be a short-term deal, but along the way I discovered you were exactly what I was looking for. Your four distinct seasons are top-notch, your food and beverage scene unbelievable, your residents welcoming and friendly, and your list of things to do limitless.
I came here as an outsider with zero expectations and no long-term vision of staying, but time has proven otherwise. Not only did you embrace me and welcome me, Charlottesville, you ended up being a wonderful fit. You also taught me that sometimes thinking smaller can lead to much bigger things in life. For that, I will always be grateful.
Travis Koshko Chief Meteorologist, CBS19 / FOX Virginia / ABC Virginia
Supplied photo
I had to sit with this one for a while. Not because I don’t love Charlottesville (and not in a trite “I Love Cville” way), because I do. It took time, however, to figure out the most honest and authentic way to express that love.
What I realized is one of the best ways to demonstrate your love for something is to hold it accountable to being the best that it can be. That’s what our closest friends and partners do for us. We’re tough on kids because we believe they can be great. We should do the same for our institutions. If you really love something, you’ll resist the gravitational pull of sycophantism and speak truth to power with the goal of growth and positive evolution.
I grew up in Charlottesville. I went to Jackson- Via and rode my bike to Wayside and spent countless hours at the Fry’s Spring’s snack bar. I also got on a bus to Venable for the “QUEST” program and had access to myriad opportunities many of my peers who look like me didn’t.
Living here as an adult comes with an eerie familiarity. We haven’t made much progress on issues of equity. We’ve built big houses, convened countless committees and task forces, and, despite rapid economic improvement, haven’t moved the poverty rate hardly at all. I’m not naïve enough to think I have all the answers, but what I do want is to be part of solutions.
I love Charlottesville enough to work to try and make it better tomorrow than it is today.
Price Thomas Executive Director, City of Promise
Photo by Eze Amos
Charlottesville. Why do I love you? I can think of a few reasons. I chose you out of anywhere else in the world—that’s pretty indicative alone of my feelings for you. When I’m speaking in this letter to you and about you, I’m going to use “we,” because I am part of you, you are home, and we are a community who works and fights together.
Let’s get straight to the point. Charlottesville, we consistently punch above our weight class. We’re not afraid of surpassing our peers and hanging with the big boys. Budget size doesn’t matter. We get things done. We make the changes we wish to see. This is what makes us different and impressive.
Fear. Fear is not a word I would ever use to describe us. We are a leader. And we are willing to go where most people would be afraid to go.
I chose to join you in 2021. Both personally and professionally, I was attracted to your commitment to affordable housing, relief for elderly and veteran households, commitment to climate action, prioritization of equity, the bold overhaul to zoning, the opportunity to change the narrative in a post-2017 Charlottesville, the true engagement of our public, and of course, your beauty—where one can truly fall in love and stay in love with nature.
Charlottesville, you are a place where I can be authentically me. I’m the most me I’ve ever been now that I’m here. I speak my piece. I’m not scared. And you always keep me curious. You never know what’s coming next.
Thank you, Charlottesville. It is my pleasure to serve you.
If you know banjo, you know Tony Trischka (right). As one of the most influential pickers of the last 50 years, Trischka has followers throughout the bluegrass genre, from Béla Fleck to Steve Martin and Billy Strings. His latest project involves transcribing rare and unreleased Earl Scruggs’ recordings for a touring show he’s named EarlJam, during which Trischka tells Scruggs’ musical life story from childhood to the legendary three-finger player’s final years.
$5-50, 7:30pm. The Front Porch, 221 E Water St. thefrontporch.org.
UVA women’s swim and dive team celebrated its fourth consecutive national championship win on March 23. Photo by Jamie Holt/UVA Athletics.
The University of Virginia women’s swim and dive team brought home the NCAA Division 1 championship title for the fourth year in a row. UVA is now part of a small list of Division 1 women’s swim teams that have won more than three consecutive NCAA championships, joining the University of Texas and Stanford University.
There were ups and downs (mostly ups) for the Cavaliers last week. They won the first event of the meet, but touched fourth in the 800-yard freestyle relay. This meant the Hoos stood in second place at the end of day one—but that didn’t last for long. Gretchen Walsh took three individual NCAA titles, and also considerably lowered the NCAA record in each of the swims. Alex Walsh also took gold in all three of her individual events, and Jasmine Nocentini touched first in the 100-yard breaststroke. After the fourth-place finish on the first day, UVA won every relay during the meet, ending with a gold in the 400-yard freestyle relay on night four. The team ended the meet in first place, nearly 87 points ahead of second-place finisher Texas.
Before 2020, UVA women’s swimming was not nearly the powerhouse we know today. In 2019, the Cavs finished the NCAA championship meet in sixth place (268.5 points behind the first-place team), with no records. Now, UVA owns 11 of 19 possible records in NCAA D1 women’s swimming. But the team didn’t stumble across these accolades solely by luck—the Hoos stepped up their game during practice and increased their efficiency as they swam to the top of the rankings.
During her first year swimming at UVA, Cavan Gormsen was immersed in a new training program, which she says is very different from what she did in high school. One difference is the use of a statistical analysis program the team does in partnership with a professor at the university. This more scientific use of numbers in swim training helps swimmers learn how to improve their technique and get the most out of their stroke. “There’s been a big difference,” she says. “I’m going fast times, but in a more efficient way where I’m conserving more energy.”
Professor Ken Ono began working with UVA’s swim team in 2019. Although a statistics prof helping out a Division 1 swim coach might sound like a joke set up, Ono’s work on the pool deck provides helpful feedback and analysis that swimmers and coaches can look at together. “What I do is not big data. I’m not doing machine learning, training for the average. I’m literally constructing a digital twin of everyone I test,” Ono says.
This creation of a “digital twin” is done by attaching an accelerometer and force sensor to the swimmer and using an underwater camera to capture data. This data includes information like moments of deceleration, and the force sensor measures the amount of force generated by a swimmer’s movements. “I look at the video trying to figure out what is causing [deceleration],” Ono says. “I write reports, I pass that along to the coaches, and the coaches keep an eye on that and help the athletes remove some of those sources.”
One swimmer who substantially improved over the past few years is Kate Douglass, who, since joining the team in 2019, has become an Olympic medalist, world champion, and NCAA and American record holder. Douglass was a statistics major in college, and is continuing this academic pursuit in graduate school while training with the team. She doesn’t typically do any statistical analysis like this in the classroom—she is more interested in number theory—and says she is working on an independent study with Ono, but unrelated to swimming.
Even if it isn’t her academic interest, Douglass has benefited from Ono’s analysis methods. “It definitely was super helpful to kind of pinpoint exact areas in a race or a stroke that [wasn’t] efficient, and figure out how to make it more efficient so that you decelerate less or get more out of each stroke.”
Douglass started her career at UVA as primarily a sprinter, but Ono says he quickly recognized that she would be a strong breaststroker. “I remember telling [Coach] Todd [DeSorbo], ‘I know she’s gonna score a ton of points for you in relays and sprint, but she’s really the most gifted’—and I still maintain that—‘in 200 breaststroke,’” he says.
Douglass now holds both the American and NCAA records in the 200 breaststroke, and has medaled in the event at multiple world championship meets. Some consider her a favorite to make the Olympic team in this event.
“Making everything that I do more efficient is gonna make me better. And I’ve specifically seen that in my breaststroke this year especially. We’ve kind of just been working on making my stroke and my kick as efficient as possible to be able to get more out of each stroke,” Douglass says. “And I’ve already seen, I feel like, a huge improvement in my 200 breaststroke this year because of that work.”
DeSorbo speaks to the impact of Ono’s use of statistical analysis to help DeSorbo and the swimmers; it’s effective and has contributed to the team’s ascension to the top of the NCAA, but it isn’t everything—maybe 10 or 20 percent of the cause. “I think it has contributed to the success of the program, to certain individuals within the program,” he says. “But I think that without a lot of the other 80 percent of what goes on in our program, none of it would happen.”
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charlottesville recently bought the former Ronnie’s Auto Service in Fifeville, making the nonprofit the owner of the entire 300 block of Ninth Street. Supplied photo.
A nonprofit group that provides a place to stay for families of young patients at the University of Virginia Medical Center has made a significant property purchase in Fifeville.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charlottesville purchased a one-time auto repair garage at 316 Ninth St. SW for $700,000. The March 15 acquisition of the former Ronnie’s Auto Service means the charity now owns the entire 300 block of Ninth Street, blocks away from UVA Children’s hospital.
“RMHC-C’ville continues to be at full capacity and turn families away daily due to no available rooms,” says Alisa Powell, the organization’s recently named chief executive officer. “The purchase of this property will enable us to one day provide additional services to families whose children receive critical medical care from UVA Health.”
The local Ronald McDonald House provides between 800 and 1,000 family stays each year for those who need just one night, or those who will be in town for many months.
The four area properties now owned by Ronald McDonald House are within the scope of the Cherry Avenue Small Area Plan adopted in March 2021, which describes all but the main house at the top of the hill as “susceptible for redevelopment.”
The new purchase signals the nonprofit is willing to invest to guarantee it can provide services well into the future. The sales price is over double the 2024 assessment of $319,400 for the 0.11 acre parcel that is now zoned Commercial Mixed Use 3. As of now, the city’s assessor classifies this as a valid sale, meaning it will count toward reassessment in 2025.
The purchase comes just months after the University of Virginia bought the Oak Lawn estate for $3.5 million. Earlier this year, UVA sent out a request for firms interested in helping plan the transition of the existing building and site into a child-care facility.
UVA is also a close neighbor of the Ronald McDonald House. In August 2016, the university paid $8.73 million for 2.63 acres on Grove and King streets on the other side of Roosevelt Brown Boulevard. A March 2023 draft of the UVA master plan anticipates the land as a “redevelopment zone” that could one day include housing.
Another close neighbor is a 0.56 acre undeveloped property between UVA’s land and the Ronald McDonald House. A previous development had received site plan approval in 2015 for a mixed-use building, but the project never found enough tenants to proceed. The site plan is valid through June 24, 2026, but anyone developing the site must post bonds related to public improvements and erosion and sediment control.
So far, there are no plans filed for the Ronald McDonald House properties.
Directed by Ti Ames and set in 1963 at the beginning of the civil rights movement, Fireflies (above), the second part of Donja R. Love’s trilogy, delves into the lives of Reverend Charles Emmanuel Grace and his wife, Olivia. The couple, whose marriage is in trouble, wrangles with secret queer love, infidelity, and alcohol abuse in a story of endurance and empowerment that reaffirms that we all need and deserve love.
$24-27, times vary. Live Arts Theater, 123 E. Water St. livearts.org.
We first heard The Zombies in 1964 when the hit single “She’s Not There” crossed the pond from UK pop charts and gave the group some stateside bona fides. The band, featuring founding keyboardist Rod Argent and lead singer Colin Blunstone, is still delivering its hits on stage, including “Time of the Season” (What’s your name? / Who’s your daddy?), and pressed a new record, Different Game, in 2023.
$39.50-64.50, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St. Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com.
Festival Friday is a fest within a fest, with area shops staying open late to spotlight the Virginia Festival of the Book. The evening’s events include readings, tastings, comic-book signings, a bookmaking workshop, and a poetry critique circle. Stop in at trans-owned antifascist bookstore The Beautiful Idea to hear writer, musician, radio host, and all around badass Erin O’Hare (above) discuss her zine series “Under The Table And Screaming.” In each of O’Hare’s five volumes, she peers through the doors of local venues to offer a unique perspective on Charlottesville’s homegrown music scene.
