The inside headline for last week’s cover story, “City missteps,” is inadvertently misleading, as it implies that the story contains more criticisms than questions about the city’s Downtown Mall rebricking project. The inside headline should have been the same one that appeared on the cover, “City misstep?”
Seven Oaks sells—finally
After nearly seven years on the market, Seven Oaks, the Greenwood estate owned by Dave Matthews Band manager, MusicToday founder and real estate tycoon Coran Capshaw sold October 31 for $5.5 million. The 100-acre historic estate was listed for $12.5 million when it went on the market in 2008.
Wes Bellamy makes another bid for City Council
Wes Bellamy lost to Bob Fenwick in the 2013 Democratic primary for Charlottesville City Council by five votes—a frustratingly small margin, he said. But now, as the 28-year-old teacher and youth mentor launches his second bid for a Council seat, he’s glad he didn’t win last time around. A lot
Hearings set: Accused Rugby Avenue slayer Gene Washington in court
The man accused of killing a mother and daughter in their Rugby Avenue home before torching it was in court February 19 for a preliminary hearing for the murder of Robin Aldridge. Gene Everett Washington, 30, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Robin, 58, and her
Data dive: Tracking untapped business tax revenue in Charlottesville
Earlier this month, news outlets around the state picked up a story about a local government data crusader who hit on a potential treasure trove of untapped municipal tax revenue. Waldo Jaquith, who founded the nonprofit U.S. Open Data, had paid for access to the State Corporation Commission’s
Richmond rundown Legislators find common ground as session winds down
The 2015 General Assembly session is in its final sprint, with talk of both houses agreeing to a budget and voting on it one day before the session ends February 27—a nearly unprecedented rapprochement. Contributing to the speedy resolution was taking Medicaid expansion off the table, despite
Dominion proposes alternative pipeline routes through Nelson
Dominion has announced that it is exploring several alternative routes for its planned Atlantic Coast Pipeline through Nelson County. The 550-mile natural gas pipeline, which the company hopes to have online by the end of 2018, would be routed through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina,
Documentary screening aims to get people talking about race
How do you get teens to talk about race in a way that prompts action and meaningful change? That’s a central question posed in the 2013 documentary “I’m Not Racist…Am I?,” which follows 12 New York City teenagers from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds as they go through a
The giving spree: The General Assembly swallows a bitter pill
Let us set the scene for you. As the Virginia General Assembly heads into the home stretch of its winter session, it has one currently incarcerated delegate legislating while on work release, another recent delegate serving a nine-and-a-half-year prison sentence for bribery and extortion and a
Will a new administration grant Robert Davis clemency, despite his confession?
Twelve years ago this week, firefighters found Nola Charles and her toddler son William dead inside their burning Crozet home. Someone had duct taped Charles to her bed before stabbing her and slitting her throat. Three-year-old William had died of smoke inhalation. Three teens were convicted
Mike Signer’s bid: City Council candidate talks platform, public safety
Mike Signer grew up in Arlington, but Charlottesville tugged on him from an early age. The 42-year-old Fifeville resident and father of two spent summers here as an elementary school student in the ’70s, taking enrichment courses at UVA. “I remember vividly falling in love with the city back
Landes announces he’ll run for 11th term
Republican Delegate Steve Landes has announced his plan to run for an 11th term. Landes represents Virginia’s 25th House district, which includes part of Albemarle County as well as localities in the Shenandoah Valley. “It has been an honor and privilege to serve the citizens of the 25th
Midwestern investment firm buys Wintergreen
A Missouri real estate investment trust, EPR Properties, has picked up Wintergreen Resort for an undisclosed price, it announced last week. Coal and resort baron Jim Justice, who bought Wintergreen for $16.5 million in June 2012, poured millions into infrastructure before putting the Nelson ski
Watered-down DNA bills pass in VA House and Senate
Accused Hannah Graham-murderer Jesse Matthew, who was convicted of trespassing in 2010, inspired three bills in the General Assembly to add misdemeanors to the crimes for which DNA samples are collected. However, the versions that passed would not have prevented Matthew from crossing paths with
Dark cloud: No charges filed in Psychic Catherine raid
Last summer a phalanx of cop cars lined up at Psychic Readings by Catherine on U.S. 29 and closed one lane of traffic. The Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement led the June 14 search warrant execution, removed four cars, and left a lot of locals wondering what
Richmond roundup: Civil rights legends honored in Richmond
When the Supreme Court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, Charlottesville residents Eugene and Lorraine Williams could not have imagined the General Assembly that supported segregation would one day give them a standing ovation. Yet that’s what happened February 6, when the highly
After a 48-year wait, what will be impact of John Warner Parkway?
When Charlottesville City Manager Maurice Jones began the ceremony to mark the opening of the final segment of the John W. Warner Parkway and the intersection that ties the road to the city’s downtown last Thursday, February 5, he couldn’t help driving home just how long locals had been waiting
Mandatory reporting bills targeting campus sexual assault scrutinized
There was one big trending topic heading into this year’s state legislative session, thanks largely to events that unfolded in Charlottesville. The death of UVA second-year Hannah Graham, allegedly at the hands of a man who left two Virginia schools under suspicion of sexual assault, and the
Jesse Matthew indicted on murder charge in Hannah Graham case
Jesse Matthew, the man charged in the abduction last fall of UVA student Hannah Graham, has been indicted for Graham’s murder, Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford announced at a press conference February 10. Matthew was indicted February 2 on first-degree murder, abduction
The Airbnb question: City struggles to regulate short-term lodging industry
Unregulated short-term lodging is a booming business in Charlottesville, but as more and more locals rent out rooms and houses to guests on sites like Airbnb, city officials are increasingly anxious to get rules on the books and find a way to make hosts pony up for required taxes and fees.
Anticipation: Local author predicted another Harper Lee book
Charlottesville writer Charles Shields was not surprised to learn that more than 50 years after the publication of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, To Kill a Mockingbird, a second novel has been discovered and will be published this summer. “I knew of its existence,” said Shields, who