Law school enrollment dropping nationwide, and UVA Law is no exception
Law school applications and enrollment numbers are dropping at UVA, and tuition, in response, continues to rise. Faced with the prospect of paying off a six figure loan tab in a brutal job market, students are re-evaluating whether or not a law degree is still a worthy investment, and experts expect nearly a dozen schools around the country [...]
City makes Section 3 position permanent with eye to moving redevelopment forward
City Council voted unanimously last week to permanently fund its Section 3 coordinator, a previously temporary position that bridges the gap between the city and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Despite differing opinions on where the money should come from, city officials agree that the position—currently held by Tierra Howard—is essential for the Housing [...]
Immigrant story: IRC relocates hundreds of refugees to Charlottesville each year
Like hundreds of others in Charlottesville’s refugee community, Patrick Bagaza and his wife came to the U.S. to escape violence, political turmoil, and persecution in their home country. By many measures, life is better here, but uprooting his family has been painful. “Everybody thinks American life is easy, but it’s completely the opposite,” said Bagaza. [...]
Boyd calls on Dumler to step down in wake of plea deal
Albemarle County Supervisor Chris Dumler pled guilty to misdemeanor sexual battery last Thursday, in a bargain with prosecutors that lessened his felony charge to a misdemeanor. After his October arrest for forcible sodomy—a felony punishable by five years to life in prison—the 27-year-old Democrat promised to offer a “vigorous defense.” Albemarle County voters looking forward [...]
Dumler pleads guilty to misdemeanor sexual battery
In a speedy hearing this morning in Albemarle County Circuit Court, Supervisor Christopher Dumler, charged with one count of forcible sodomy, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of sexual battery, a misdemeanor. Shortly after the 27-year-old Scottsville Democrat was arrested last October, he announced that he planned to plead not guilty to the felony charges, [...]
Literacy Volunteers embrace new home with an expanded mission
Maria Rodriguez, a 25-year-old au pair from Panama, found herself wondering what the heck she was doing here when she arrived in Charlottesville last spring. She knew nobody, and with an English language background limited to written words and no verbal skills, she had to constantly ask her host family to repeat themselves. She felt [...]
Second accuser comes forward in Dumler sex case
Albemarle County Supervisor Christopher Dumler, the 27-year-old Scottsville Democrat who will appear in court this Thursday for a preliminary hearing on a forcible sodomy charge brought against him last October, may be facing a similar charge from a second woman. According to a Friday report from CBS19, newly filed court documents reveal a second alleged [...]
Annual conservation easement numbers dropped in 2012, but PEC has high hopes for this year
Each year, the Piedmont Environmental Council tracks and totals the amount of land put into conservation in the region, and while 2012’s year-end numbers were low, the organization says renewed incentives for easement donation could mean it will see an uptick in the amount of land set aside in the coming year. According to PEC, [...]
New state regulations could put one of two local abortion clinics out of business
The future of one of Charlottesville’s two clinics offering abortions is in the hands of state politicians, and pro-choice activists and medical professionals across the commonwealth are up in arms. Governor McDonnell quietly signed a bill last month that cracks down on building codes in abortion clinics. The piece of legislation was passed in the [...]
Mainstreaming mental health: Inside Charlottesville’s Free Clinic’s study on integrated care
John Davis never pictured himself going to the Charlottesville Free Clinic, much less to regularly meet with a therapist. Mental health patients have to conquer society’s stigma and the negative connotations surrounding treatment, and until Davis found himself uninsured and spilling his guts to the Charlottesville Free Clinic’s licensed social worker, he said he never [...]
Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards spread community awareness
Self-proclaimed tree hugger Martha Orton said she’s had an interest in learning about trees and forest health since her son told her, while on a reforestation trip to India, that “trees all look different when you know their names.” A retired social worker, Orton enrolled in the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards’ 14-week training class in [...]
City Council steers public redevelopment money to nonprofits
Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority officials weren’t surprised when the city reallocated $400,000 of their redevelopment funds to local nonprofits last week. A cash-strapped agency with a revolving door of leadership for over a decade, the housing authority is unable to use the money this year, and both sides agreed that other organizations with housing [...]
Jefferson School reopens as cultural community center
The new Jefferson School City Center officially opened its doors to the public on Monday, January 7, kicking off a costly and hopeful experiment to preserve local history and provide services for underserved communities close to Downtown. After a year-and-a-half of renovations, the center is offering an African American heritage center and other cultural, multi-generational [...]
UVA’s two-week January Term offers everything from sculpting to wine history
Most college students use the first half of January to hit the slopes or loaf around the house in sweatpants, blissfully unburdened by academia. But for about 900 UVA students, both on Grounds and abroad, the weeks leading up to spring semester are for intellectual experimentation. This is UVA’s ninth year offering January Term, a [...]
Ellie Kates is on a mission to improve Rwanda’s jewelry-making industry
If someone had told Charlottesville native Ellie Kates 10 years ago that before age 30 she’d be living in Rwanda running an international jewelry business, she likely would have smiled and said, “You’re probably right.” For the 29-year-old artist and entrepreneur, traveling, creating, and helping others has become a way of life. Kates is co-founder [...]
Green happenings: Charlottesville environmental news and events
Each week, C-VILLE’s Green Scene page takes a look at local environmental news. The section’s bulletin board has information on local green events and keeps you up to date on statewide happenings. Got an event or a tip you’d like to see here and in the paper? Write us at news@c-ville.com. Teddy trek: Bundle the kids and [...]
Anti-discrimination ordinance on its way; fate of Human Rights Commission still unclear
A human rights commission may be on the horizon for Charlottesville, but exactly how it will function and address local discrimination is still up in the air. The Human Rights Task Force, a volunteer group created to conduct a study and determine whether or not the city needs a permanent commission to handle discrimination issues, [...]
Rivanna watershed snapshot shows progress, room for improvement
The Rivanna River was recognized in 2000 as a “national treasure,” and local organizations want the waterway to maintain its value. The Rivanna River Basin Commission (RRBC)—a regional organization representing Charlottesville and Albemarle, Fluvanna, and Green counties, that recommends programs for enhancement of the river and its watershed—recently released the 2012 Rivanna Watershed Snapshot to [...]
Hawes Spencer, founder and editor of The Hook, announces his plans to move on
Hawes Spencer, the 48-year-old journalist who’s been covering weekly Charlottesville news for 23 years, has resigned from his post as editor-in-chief of The Hook, effective January 1. Spencer has also agreed to sell his ownership stake back to the Charlottesville Publishing Group, which owns The Hook’s parent company, Better Publications, and C-VILLE Weekly’s parent company [...]
Neighbors complain about traffic patterns near Stonefield
Most shoppers and movie-goers in town are thrilled to have easy access to Trader Joe’s and the Regal Stadium 14. But new traffic patterns around the massive shopping center—which still hasn’t opened entirely—are causing backups and accidents. Residents and business owners who frequent the area for reasons besides a jar of sunflower seed butter or [...]
SACS examines UVA’s governance in wake of Sullivan controversy
Nearly six months after UVA’s Board of Visitors caused an uproar among students and faculty for ousting President Teresa Sullivan, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges has issued a warning to the University about its governing practices. The UVA community and its accrediting organization agree that, despite the Board’s decision to [...]
UVA strategic planning forum focuses on University’s future, warning from SACS
Wednesday evening, about 100 students, professors, and community members gathered in Newcomb Hall to discuss the future of UVA. The forum came a few days after a notice from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) stating that the University had been put on warning for one year. The SACSOC, the [...]
Monticello Bird Club sponsors local teams for national Christmas Bird Count
On December 16, dozens of local conservationists and bird lovers will spread out across the Charlottesville area, armed with binoculars, cameras, and bird guides. Camped out under trees or near creeks, they’ll spend anywhere from a few morning hours to the entire day watching and listening for nearby birds, collecting information to later give the [...]
The search for Dashad “Sage” Smith continues
The last time Charlottesville resident Dashad “Sage” Smith talked to his family was Tuesday, November 20, two days before he was supposed to visit his mother’s house in Louisa and surprise his younger sisters for Thanksgiving. He never showed. That weekend, the Huffington Post ran an article about the black gay transgender 19-year-old from Central [...]
Zach Buckner thinks Relay Foods’ online grocery model is ready for the national stage
Zach Buckner was on his hands and knees in the crawlspace under his house with a tool belt and the wrong type of screws in his hands when the original idea for Relay Foods was born in 2007. He’d already made several trips to Lowe’s that weekend, and had no desire to make another hour-long [...]
In a crowded field of grocery options, loyalty goes a long way
From Feast! to Food Lion, Charlottesville is home to dozens of grocery stores, and recent months have brought more to the already crowded field of options for shoppers. The city is packed with small urban markets, specialty shops, and big box stores. Trendy chain Trader Joe’s arrived with great fanfare last month, and two new [...]
Experts and locals weigh in on the arrest of Boy Scout leader David Brian Watkins
The arrest of a former Keswick Boy Scout leader last week for forcible sodomy of a young boy has brought a national scandal over sexual misconduct in the organization to Charlottesville. Albemarle County Police arrested David Brian Watkins, 49, on November 28, charging him with assaulting a boy in his Scout troop, Troop 1028, in [...]