This week we have an update on COVID-19 in the Charlottesville area. We talk about hospital preparedness, the economic pain many are feeling, and how the schools are helping students keep up with their education.

This week on Soundboard we cover the issue that has changed all of our lives in some way the past two weeks: the novel coronavirus. Elliot at Charlottesville Tomorrow gives us an update on how the virus has impacted the health and economic security of people in our community. Plus we talk to Dr. Leigh-Ann J. Webb, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Virginia about how the health system prepares for a crisis like this one.

This week we cover the primary candidates running to represent the Fifth District in congress. Many of the candidates live right here in the Charlottesville Albemarle area. Plus a conversation with Matthew Slaats about what theater can illuminate about local democracy.

Starting on Sunday, March 1st Charlottesville celebrates Liberation and Freedom Days for the fourth year. The week’s events commemorate the beginning of emancipation in Charlottesville after the city surrendered to the Union Cavalry on March 3, 1865. Find out more at https://jeffschoolheritagecenter.org/events/liberation/.

How should we teach our kids about slavery? And at what ages? A conversation about a Black History Month poster that was taken down this week at Cale Elementary School. Plus we talk to UVA Professor Lisa Speidel and Micah Jones about their new book called The Edge of Sex. It’s an anthology of people’s experiences learning about and coming to terms with sexuality.

Some Albemarle residents are worried that a new development might worsen the traffic congestion on their commute. But traffic experts say more housing might actually be part of the traffic solution. Plus a conversation about whiteness and how to be an ally of the local racial justice movement.

Governor Northam is pushing for a huge increase in funding for early childhood education programs. Billy Jean Louis and Elliot Robinson give us the local perspective. Plus “The Corner” music scene past and present.

New Charlottesville City School Board member, Lashundra Bryson Morsberger, plans to focus on inequities in the school system. Plus a conversation with Erin Tucker, Executive Director of On Own Own Charlottesville, a peer support recovery center that provides free support to people struggling with a mental health challenge.

A lot of people are burdened by the cost of housing in the Charlottesville area. Area Median Income is one of the tools that helps sort out which remedies are most effective for people of different income levels. Plus decades of what UVA students wrote in Alderman Library, all over its walls.

Charlottesville Soundboard - A podcast about news, arts and equity in Charlottesville. We’re back with Charlottesville Tomorrow to give you an overview of the Charlottesville Area Transit system. Public transportation is essential for many community members to get to work, school, healthcare and food. It’s also one of the ways the city hopes to meet its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Stay tuned for a conversation with the new director of the University of Virginia Press.