Tossing it around

Bob Good, the 5th Congressional District’s Republican candidate, released a bizarre campaign advertisement this week. In the spot, Good draws on his experience as a wrestling coach—everyone’s favorite kind of authority figure—and shows how he’ll “put liberal ideas in a headlock.” As Good grapples on the mat with his son, the candidate periodically looks up from the tangle of arms and legs to deliver a zinger such as “Government-run health care? I’ll pin that idea.”

Meanwhile, election forecasters at the Cook Political Report are now rating the race a toss-up, something formerly unthinkable in a district Donald Trump won by 11 points in 2016. On Twitter, Cook’s Dave Wasserman called Cameron Webb “perhaps the Dems’ best House candidate anywhere in the country…Webb is a young, telegenic Black doctor w/deep ties in both Charlottesville & Southside.”

Proof positive

Sticky notes in the window of Echols dorm show how students are feeling about quarantine. PC: Julia Hyde

Despite evidence from colleges around the country that inviting students back to campus would lead to coronavirus outbreaks in on-campus housing, UVA’s administration made the decision to bring first-year students back to Grounds. Now, less than three weeks later, there are outbreaks in several dorms.

Last Wednesday, the school announced at least five cases of COVID-19 were found in the wastewater of the Balz-Dobie freshman residence hall. The dorm immediately went into lockdown and all residents were tested Wednesday evening. The tests turned up 15 cases of COVID-19 in a dorm of 188 students, says the university. Students who tested positive have been placed in isolation housing and their close contacts (such as roommates) have been placed in quarantine housing.

Thursday evening, residents of the Lefevre dorm were instructed to undergo mandatory asymptomatic testing after wastewater tests indicated possible infections there, too. That dorm turned up three more positive cases. Then on Friday, the Echols and Kellogg dorms underwent the same routine, and 17 additional cases were confirmed.

“All students with positive tests are doing well,” says UVA in an official statement.

As of Friday, 19 percent of the university’s quarantine rooms were occupied by students and 1 percent of isolation rooms were occupied. Quarantine rooms are for those who have been exposed to COVID-19 and isolation rooms are for students who have tested positive for COVID-19. The school’s coronavirus tracker shows 241 active cases as of Tuesday morning, including students, staff, faculty, and contracted workers.—Amelia Delphos

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Quote of the week

“The issue is that y’all don’t have your facts together. You’re trying to cite me for a [Black Youth Action Committee] event, claiming that it took place in Washington Park and it didn’t.”

—community organizer Zyahna Bryant on the $500 fine the BYAC received for hosting Black Joy Fest, criticizing City Council for not being consistent with enforcing the ban on large gatherings

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In brief

The lost art

Seven paintings by Charlottesville artist Megan Read, worth a total of $12,000, have gone missing. They weren’t stolen in a dramatic art heist, though: FedEx lost track of the packages, which were en route to a gallery in Denver. Read has tried to track the paintings down, and says she thinks they’re stuck in a shipping center in Kernersville, North Carolina, but she hasn’t been able to find anyone who can help her.

Sign of the times

A blunt sign on the door of one of UVA’s historic Lawn rooms has caught the attention of some of the university’s more traditionally minded alumni. “FUCK UVA,” it says, before reminding passersby of the school’s history of slavery and other crimes. The sign prompted Bert Ellis, class of ’75 and CEO of Atlanta’s Ellis Capital, to drive to town and indignantly knock on the Lawn room door, where, according to his own Facebook post, he was given an eye-opening history lesson from the student who lives there.

Name game

After debating the issue late into the night during multiple recent meetings—and getting nowhere—City Council decided on Monday to send proposals for honorary street names to the city’s Historic Resources Committee. Several proposals would honor local Black figures, including activist Wyatt Johnson and enslaved laborer William Henry Martin, while two others suggest honoring UVA men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett.

Cracking down

Just days after a Kenosha police officer shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back, sparking national outrage and protests, City Manager Tarron Richardson decided to crack down on gatherings in Charlottesville—targeting those organized by Black residents.

While Richardson supports the right to “peaceably assemble” amidst the pandemic, he explained in a press release Thursday evening that “obstructing city streets and using parks without the proper permits will no longer be allowed.”

The city also will begin fining organizers for events that happened weeks or months ago. Rob Gray, who helped plan a Juneteenth celebration in Washington Park, received a $500 fine, and the Black Joy Fest and the Reclaim the Park celebration held last month at city parks are currently under review.

In a letter sent to Gray last week, Richardson claimed he had discussed the city’s ordinance on COVID-19 restrictions with him the day before Juneteenth, explaining that the city was not issuing special use permits for events held in public parks, and that gatherings of 50 or more were banned. But Gray refused to cancel his event, and agreed in advance to pay the civil penalty.

Though Richardson didn’t name names, it sure seems like the warning was meant for Black activists Rosia Parker and Katrina Turner, who planned a Friday night march from the city police department to Tonsler Park in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. He threatened to issue them citations for not having a special event permit, but the pair took to the streets anyway, along with 30 or so other protesters.

“They won’t shut me up,” Parker tweeted shortly after the press release came out.

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Quote of the week

“Today, we are marching for criminal justice reform. Today, we are marching to end police brutality. Today, we are marching for the right to be seen as human.”

—Richmond activist Tavorise Marks at the August 28 Commitment March on Washington, held in honor of the 57th anniversary of the original march.

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In brief

FourFiveSignatures

After gathering the required 5,000 signatures, Kanye West has qualified for the November ballot as an independent presidential candidate in Virginia. But the Washington Post reports that some of those signers felt they were hoodwinked into signing in favor of West, and that representatives from the campaign misrepresented how their signatures would be used. It’s unclear how the controversy might affect West’s floundering run.

Tech check

Senator Mark Warner stopped by the new WillowTree offices in Woolen Mills last week to celebrate the completion of the 80,000 square-foot office renovation. Meanwhile, downtown, construction of the CODE building chugs along, with some new COVID-friendly tweaks—to keep ventilation going, the building’s windows will now actually open, a feature that wasn’t initially planned.

Jail cases

Seven inmates total have now tested positive for COVID-19 at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. Pointing to severe outbreaks in nearby correctional facilities, Defund Cville Police sent a letter to the ACRJ demanding the jail ramp up its testing procedures, distribute more hygiene products to inmates, and halt all new admissions to the facility.

Harassment sentence

Daniel McMahon, whose online harassment and racist threats caused activist Don Gathers to suspend his 2019 City Council campaign, has been sentenced for his crimes. The Florida-based man will spend 41 months in federal prison and, upon release, serve a three-year probation during which he won’t be allowed to use the internet without court supervision.