Amtrak train and garbage truck crash in Crozet
An Amtrak train carrying GOP congressmen bound for the The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia hit a garbage truck at Lanetown Road in Crozet around 11:20am today. One person is reported dead, according to NBC29, and UVA says three people have been transported to its hospital, one in critical condition. Amtrak says two passengers and […]
Locals hire attorney, challenge Optima premiums
After Charlottesville earned the dubious distinction of having the most expensive health insurance premiums in the country, some of the area residents who couldn’t afford to pay $3,000 a month formed Charlottesville for Reasonable Health Insurance and retained a lawyer who’s made a career out of keeping insurance companies honest. Washington, D.C., attorney Jay Angoff […]
Kessler perjury trial will remain in Albemarle
Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler was in Albemarle Circuit Court today with a one-inch-thick motion to move his March 20 perjury trial out of this area, claiming the dozens of news stories included in the motion “demonized” him and made it impossible to get a fair trial here. His attorney, Mike Hallahan, argued that […]
UPDATE: Auction postponed for Waterhouse condos
The foreclosure auction of four Waterhouse condos scheduled for Monday, January 29, was canceled, and trustees for the sale are mum about why. Isak Howell is named as a substitute trustee on the legal notice that ran in the Daily Progress, but the phone number listed is for a Roanoke law firm that says he […]
The Charlottesville 5: More petitions to remove city councilors
It’s extraordinarily hard to remove an elected official from office in Virginia, especially if she hasn’t been convicted of smoking pot, sexual battery or a hate crime, the offenses spelled out in state code. Nonetheless, for the second time in a year, petitioners are trying to remove a city councilor—or in this case, three city […]
Climate change: All quiet on the council front
The second City Council meeting of the new year on January 16 was markedly different from council meetings of the past year: no interruptions, no yelling and no profanities, behavior that suspended 2018’s first meeting two weeks ago. Newly elected Vice-Mayor Heather Hill ran the meeting in the absence of Mayor Nikuyah Walker, who was […]
Kessler harassment charge dropped
A charge against white-rights provocateur Jason Kessler for posting online the address of activist Emily Gorcenski was dismissed January 18. “The victim brought information to us that made her believe Mr. Kessler was not the person who posted information about her,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina Antony. She said the case remains under investigation. Outside […]
Dire straits: Business association wants $250,000 for mall recovery
The Downtown Mall is not faring well, at least according to the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville, which wants the city to pump up the maintenance and provide DBAC with $250,000 for advertising, staff, rent and holiday lighting. Business in the entire city of Charlottesville dropped $14 million—nearly 12 percent—in September, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber […]
And many happy returns
Indivisible Charlottesville threw an early retirement party January 11 for Republican Congressman Tom Garrett, who has not been popular with many of his Democratic constituents here. Ken Horne had a card for Garrett that listed the top five reasons he should retire, including the prediction that he would be fired anyway in this year’s midterm […]
Charges dropped for mask-wearing protesters at KKK rally
Three people charged with wearing a mask at the July 8 KKK rally in Justice Park were in Charlottesville General District Court today, where the prosecution dismissed their felony charges because tear gas used by police could have been a factor in why they covered their faces. Diego Trujillo, from Charlottesville, Sarah Barner from Waynesboro […]
Shifting ground: What to expect in this year’s General Assembly session
If you thought 2017 was a year like no other, well, 2018 will likely continue to ride the tide of the unprecedented, at least according to what we’ve seen in the new year’s first week. The General Assembly begins its session January 10 with a tsunami shift from last year’s seemingly unbreachable 66-34 GOP majority. […]
Tuel Jewelers owner dies
Frances Elizabeth Gibson Loose, who bought Tuel Jewelers in 1975 and who worked in the store for 65 years, passed away January 5 at age 86. She was a familiar sight on the Downtown Mall, always professionally dressed for work, even in recent years, when her daughter Mary Loose DeViney pushed her to the store […]
Independent Nikuyah Walker elected first black female mayor
The first meeting of the new City Council January 2 went into uncharted territory with formerly behind-the-scenes decisions—the new mayor and vice mayor—made publicly, and for some on the dais, uncomfortably. New councilors Nikuyah Walker and Heather Hill were elected mayor and vice mayor, respectively, while the airing of the grievances allowed some rebukes […]
Fast track: Faculty and students want in on Alderman renovation planning
UVA has long desired a makeover of its 1937 research library, and with General Assembly funding for the $160 million project likely in 2018, plans are surging ahead—leaving some faculty and students uneasy about whether Alderman’s 2.5 million book collection will make it back to the library once renovations are complete. And while plans are […]
Crying fowl: New YMCA threatens birds, says teen advocate
On the treadmill at the Brooks Family YMCA, it almost feels like you’re outside running, thanks to an expanse of glass looking into the woods of McIntire Park. And that expanse of glass has taken out a tufted titmouse, a dark-eyed junco, a hermit thrush, a cedar waxwing and a white-throated sparrow, according to Charlottesville […]
Unfriended: Garrett staffer calls cops on constituent
Craig DuBose likes to let his 5th District congressman know how he feels about issues, and he regularly posts comments on Tom Garrett’s Facebook page—until he discovered he’d been blocked December 7. DuBose says he called Garrett’s Washington office the next day, and was transferred to communications director Matt Missen, who told him he’d violated […]
Morbidity rates: Optima’s health insurance premium calculations challenged
In November, Sara Stovall was grappling with a health insurance premium that had skyrocketed from $940 a month to $3,000 for her family of four in the Charlottesville market, which found itself with the highest rates in the country. Now Stovall says she has a better idea of why this area’s rates are so […]
August 12 shooter and Market Street Garage attackers go to grand jury
Three out-of-towners who were charged following the August 12 Unite the Right rally were in court December 14 for preliminary hearings, where a judge determined there was probable cause to seek grand jury indictments. Baltimore resident and Confederate White Knights of the KKK imperial wizard Richard Preston, 52, is charged with shooting a firearm within […]
Abrupt exit: Chief’s retirement, Pleasants’ fill-in raises questions
After initially refusing to confirm reports that Charlottesville police Chief Al Thomas had resigned and was packing his office on Monday and would be out of the building by 5pm, the city issued a release Monday afternoon that said Thomas would be retiring, effective immediately. The hasty departure raised questions at the December 18 City […]
Updated: Chief Thomas out, retirement effective immediately
After initially refusing to confirm reports that Chief Al Thomas had resigned and was packing his office on Monday and would be out of the building by 5pm, the city issued a release that says Thomas is retiring effective immediately. Thomas, who previously was police chief in Lexington, was the first African-American hired to head Charlottesville’s […]
Charge upgraded: First-degree murder, nine felonies from August 12 certified to grand jury
The scene December 14 at Charlottesville Circuit Court was like a flashback to August 12. A heavy police presence closed High Street outside the courthouse and barricades kept protesters from the man many consider the perp of the day’s fatal finale, Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler. Inside the courtroom, more than 20 victims […]
Public record: The community reacts to the Heaphy report
Following the tragic climax of Charlottesville’s summer of hate on August 12, City Manager Maurice Jones ordered an independent review of the city’s handling of the July 8 KKK rally and the Unite the Right rally that left Heather Heyer dead and dozens injured when a neo-Nazi plowed into a crowd on Fourth Street. He […]
Still relevant?: WVPT and WHTJ public television stations merge, say declining revenues not a factor
For years, two out-of-town public television stations fought to claim status as Charlottesville’s “local” PBS station. Now they both can say that. Harrisonburg’s WVPT is being consolidated into Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation, the parent company of Richmond-based WHTJ, and the merger will offer local viewers two additional stations. Instead of duplicate offerings of “Nova” or […]
Epic fail: Heaphy investigation finds plenty of blame
Since the August 12 Unite the Right rally that left three people dead, Charlottesville residents have asked where the police were that day and why Fourth Street was open so that a neo-Nazi from Ohio could plow into a group of counterprotesters, injuring dozens and killing Heather Heyer. The release of former U.S. attorney […]
Latest chapter: New lease for New Dominion
New Dominion Bookshop owner Carol Troxell’s sudden death in January sent shock waves through Charlottesville’s literary community—and left some wondering what would become of the downtown institution. Established in 1924, one of the oldest businesses on the mall is now in the hands of a new generation. Charlottesville native Julia Kudravetz signed the papers November […]
Radical care: Doctors ditch health insurance
Maura McLaughlin still remembers the day in January 2015 she heard about a revolutionary way to practice medicine—like doctors used to do decades ago. Now she spends as much time as she needs with patients, who can come see her as often as they like at a reasonable cost. A key component: She doesn’t take […]
Korte’s plea: Judge rebuffs offer, sends child porn case to another judge
Without expounding on why, Albemarle Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Higgins rejected a plea agreement from a former UVA professor and the prosecution November 14, and said the matter will be heard by a different judge. Walter Korte, 74, who had a long and distinguished career at the University of Virginia as a film expert, faced […]