Van gunfire leads to murder charges
Charlottesville Police have arrested three people and charged them with first degree murder in connection with a shooting that resulted in the death of 29-year-old Shawn Anthony Luck of Palmyra. Around 2:45pm on April 8 in the area of Meade and Fairway avenues, two of three occupants exchanged gunfire inside a white Dodge van that [...]
April 08: Biscuits and wi-fi
Sometime in the mid-19th century, a small village in southern Albemarle County known as Mount Israel took its official name from a leading resident, Roland Bates. By then, the town was already bustling due to its place alongside the commercial thoroughfare that stretched from Staunton to Scottsville. It was called Plank Road because the lush [...]
Cockfighting becomes felony
For the first time in Virginia’s history, the time-honored practice of cockfighting is being elevated to a felony, thanks to legislation that sailed through the General Assembly, and despite the protests of the Virginia Gamefowl Breeders Association (VGBA), an organization based in Blackstone that claims 2,000 members.
Teen pleads guilty for role in shooting, gang beating
Previous coverage: Shooter sentenced to 12 yearsEmotional hearing in AK-47 case Gang member sentenced to four yearsMartinez enflamed dispute that ended with shooting Indio Martinez—the last member of a group of young men responsible for a random shooting a year ago—has had his guilty plea accepted by Judge Edward Hogshire. On March 2, 2007, Martinez [...]
Pudhorodsky arrested, awaits sentencing
After an early March trip to the state capitol on behalf of his “grassroots” lobby group Generation Y, 27-year-old Michael Pudhorodsky is now in Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail awaiting sentencing for a 2006 felony charge of credit card theft and a related misdemeanor for failing to appear last May. Michael Pudhorodsky, who failed to appear in [...]
Land designation altered against owner’s wishes
For the third time in a year, Clara Belle Wheeler has been caught unawares by the county, and she is livid. On Monday, March 17, the Board of Supervisors voted to move Wheeler’s 77 acres from the designated “growth” area to the “rural area,” as part of the Pantops Master Plan, despite her wishes that [...]
Local leaders put in uncomfortable spotlight
For the second straight March, the social advocacy group called IMPACT (Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together) demanded that the city commit funds to affordable housing in front of hundreds of churchgoers, and for the second straight time they received a majority of affirmative responses. Last year’s so-called Nehemiah Action was held at the [...]
The games people play
More feature articles: Baby, you’re a rich manThe false promise of the state lottery Lottery biblesSneaky Pete’s got some tips The Virginia Lottery can be played in so many wonderful ways. At the top of the heap is a little game called Mega Millions, which recently topped out with a $270 million jackpot. “With more [...]
Lottery bibles
More feature articles: Baby, you’re a rich manThe false promise of the state lottery The games people playTake your Pick 3 A school teacher named Chris Menke played the same Pick 3 number every day for a year and won big twice, so I decide to stick with one I’ve already played—fruitlessly so far—4-0-8. Just [...]
Shooter sentenced to 12 years
As lawyers re-created it in Charlottesville Circuit Court a year later, March 2, 2007 was a tragic day for Javier Garcia.
City mulls allowing homeless shelters
After issuing zoning violations to several Charlottesville city homeless shelters that have or threaten to shut down their operations, the city is considering changes to the process that could make it easier for shelters to get special-use permits to operate.
Students tackle Katrina’s damage during spring break
For many UVA students, spring break is typically a time to party like it’s Apocalypse Eve. But for those rare students not in search of a bacchanal, the week-long term is a chance to volunteer.
Homeless shelter cited for improper zoning
Pastor Harold Bare is excited. A couple of Sundays ago, he had a young man and woman stand up in church and announce that they were getting married.
Tax hawks encircle county supes
Just four years ago, Peter Wurzer retired from his position at the Dr. Pepper/7-Up company in Dallas, Texas, and moved to Albemarle to build his dream house. “For the first three years, I was busy with that house,” he says. “When I finally got finished, I said, ‘Let’s take a look at what’s going on,’ [...]
Your tax dollars, at work
Worked for the county for: 12 years Resides in: Lake Monticello in Fluvanna County Job title: Lieutenant in the Albemarle County Sheriff’s office. Responsibilities include overseeing the daily operation of state-mandated tasks—the courts, transports, and civil process divisions of the office. Sprouse makes daily trips to the jail to transport inmates and is on a [...]
Pub crawl ends with knife wound
What was supposed to be just another night out on the town ended with a man’s guts spilling from his side on Water Street, according to the transcript of the city General District Court preliminary hearing for Joseph Ray Wells, Jr., who is charged with felonies for mob assault and malicious wounding. One night last [...]
Double H farmers enter plea deal
Before Jean Rinaldi and Richard Bean could plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of selling uninspected meat, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Enforcement
UVA prof defends domestic government spying
Following the disgrace of Richard Nixon and the debacle of the Vietnam War, a uniform mood swept America that the President had too much power
Gang member sentenced to four years
Carmello “Pee Wee” Martinez walked into Charlottesville Circuit Court in the customary striped prison garb. Martinez, an avowed member of the “Bloods”—of Crips and Bloods gang war renown—was arrested this summer in connection with a shooting. On February 13, he was sentenced to four years in prison for the events that occurred last March when [...]
Stagnating retail project gets new owner
A little more than a year ago, representatives from the still-conceptual Albemarle Place gathered with the city, county and Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) to discuss the Meadow Creek interceptor, the main hub for sewage all along Route 29N.
25 anti-immigrant bills still alive
When this year’s General Assembly kicked off, there were around 120 bills that would have had a negative impact on the state’s immigrant communities as local politicians responded to the national, and in some places local, hysteria over illegal immigration. Many of those bills died in subcommittee, but according to Tim Freilich, legal director of [...]
One day from progress
One day after appearing on CBS’ “60 Minutes” with Katie Couric—one of UVA politics professor Larry Sabato’s first students—Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sat before a whole class of Sabato’s, in a nearly full auditorium at Old Cabell Hall. With only a day to go until Virginia’s primary the New York senator was here to rally the college vote.
Cinder block battle in Belmont
Billy Sites and Anthony Ray Shifflett have known each other since they were kids. Their lives have also intersected in that they both share the same ex-wife, Whitney. And now they have been in court together, after one allegedly threw a cinder block at the other. The following accounts are from testimony at a preliminary [...]
Supes pass rural restrictions despite citizen ire
“Communism and socialism are alive and well in the Board of Supervisors,” shouted Clara Belle Wheeler in the hallway on her way out of the County Office Building from the February 6 Board of Supervisors meeting. Just a few minutes earlier, the newly reconstituted Board—with Democrat Ann Mallek replacing Republican David Wyant—had voted for three [...]
Tracking down the homeless
Once every year, for the last six years, the Thomas Jefferson Coalition Against the Homeless (TJACH) has undertaken a three-day census of the area’s least fortunate, to find out things like how long it’s been since they last had a place to live, or whether they’ve ever felt like they needed mental health services. “HUD [...]
Homeless day shelter still in works
As the story goes, UVA grad and Hollywood director Tom Shadyac returned to the area after years away to film his most recent movie, Evan Almighty. “It was really neat to see how the town had grown, how the Downtown corridor had come alive,” he says. “Then I also became aware that a segment of [...]