Starlight memories: Bus service folds with coming of Megabus
Oliver Kuttner saw a need. In the early part of this century, it wasn’t easy to get from Charlottesville to New York. Amtrak did not have daily service—and with connections, a plane ride could take almost as long as driving. So real estate/light car developer Kuttner partnered with David New. They gutted a Trailways bus, […]
‘Grace and dignity’: Former UVA president Robert O’Neil remembered as constitutional icon
It’s no surprise that Robert O’Neil, the University of Virginia’s sixth president, who died September 30, leaves behind an accomplished life, particularly in constitutional law. But what friends keep mentioning is his generosity, kindness, and concern for others—something that was reflected in his efforts to open the university to more diversity during his term in […]
Riot acts: FBI arrests four white supremacists identified by journalists after August 12 violence
The photo shows a pale, skinny young man in a white shirt and dark sunglasses, face contorted and veins in his head and neck popping as he appears to throttle a dark-haired woman. They are standing in front of the parking lot of the First United Methodist Church on Second Street NE in Charlottesville. It’s […]
New venture: Riverbend dips into public housing
Music and real estate mogul Coran Capshaw’s Riverbend Development, known for 5th Street Station, the Flats, and City Walk, among many other projects, is now aligning itself in a different direction: a partnership with Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority to build new public housing for residents of the crumbling Crescent Halls. Riverbend and the nonprofit […]
Too broad: Judge dismisses August 11 charge against CVS shopper
A judge today said the city’s lengthy list of prohibited items on the Downtown Mall over the August 12 anniversary weekend swept “far too broadly,” and he dismissed a charge against a disabled veterans activist for possession of razor blades that were purchased August 11 at CVS. John Miska, 64, bought two cases of Arizona […]
Foy fired: Longtime WINA morning host given the boot
Regular listeners to WINA’s “Morning News” may have noticed the absence this week of co-host and producer Jane Foy, but they were not given a reason why. Foy, who had been on vacation and was coming back to work Tuesday, only learned in a phone call the night before that she was no longer […]
Suspended licenses: Lawsuit back in federal court
It’s not just bad driving that has caused nearly 1 million Virginians’ licenses to be suspended. Failure to pay court costs—often unrelated to being behind the wheel at all—has put indigent citizens in a downward spiral of debt, unemployment, and incarceration, according to a civil suit filed by the Legal Aid Justice Center two years […]
Hurricane expert: Jerry Stenger’s Florence predictions
When there’s a weather disaster in the forecast, Jerry Stenger is on everyone’s speed dial. We didn’t catch up with the director of the State Climatology Office at UVA until yesterday afternoon, and even though Hurricane Florence has shifted south, here are his predictions for the storm—and tips on what to eat. “For us, the […]
Shoegate: Miller Center of controversy
The usually staid UVA institution devoted to the study of the U.S. presidency has recently found itself mired in controversy, first with the hiring of Trump administrator Marc Short, and then with the August 31 resignation of Miller Center board member Fred Scott—and the revelation of resignations of two other unnamed board members because of […]
Shooter sentenced: KKK imperial wizard gets four years
At the first felony sentencing from last year’s violent Unite the Right rally, a judge on August 21 ordered a Maryland Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan leader to serve four years in prison for firing a gun at flamethrower-wielding Corey Long after an unlawful assembly had been declared. Richard Wilson Preston, […]
In brief: Professor sentenced, county crowdsourcing, Anthem’s return and more
Korte sentenced to 12 months With a handful of UVA colleagues sitting in the courtroom, film studies professor Walter Korte, 74, was sentenced to five years in prison with all but 12 months suspended after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography. Korte was busted in August 2016 when he was spotted […]
Malice factor: Judge denies Huguely habeas petition
Just days before UVA graduation in 2010, Charlottesville—and the Washington, D.C., area—reeled with the news that fourth-year lacrosse player Yeardley Love was found dead in her apartment and her former boyfriend, George Huguely, had been charged with first-degree murder. After a two-week jury trial in 2012, Huguely was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to […]
Council listens: Citizens unhappy about heavy police presence, downtown lockdown
In sharp contrast to an August 13 press conference, in which 18 officials representing public safety agencies thanked and congratulated each other for a job well done over the August 12 anniversary weekend, city councilors heard a different assessment the next night. Around three dozen citizens at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center voiced […]
The final first: Heather Heyer’s mother channels her grief
The first anniversary of a loved one’s death is always difficult. On August 12, Susan Bro took flowers to Fourth Street, where her daughter was murdered. “It’s tough,” she says. “This is the last of the firsts. After this, it’s all a repeat.” A year ago at Heather Heyer’s funeral, Bro said, “They tried to […]
‘Martial law’: Officials say 1,000 cops necessary, searches ‘consensual’
The August 12 weekend passed with no loss of life or serious injury, but many Charlottesville residents were not reassured by the show of police force and the restrictions on pedestrian access to the Downtown Mall that were announced a couple of days before they went into effect. The Virginia State Police provided 700 officers, […]
Anniversary weekend ends peacefully, with sad remembrances
A year after white supremacists and neo-Nazis marched with torches through UVA and violent clashes in the streets left one woman dead and dozens injured, it was with some trepidation that locals commemorated August 11 and 12. The weekend ended without serious injury and with a handful of arrests on misdemeanor charges. By late Sunday […]
Gun-carrying vet arrested for scraper blades
John Miska frequently shops on the Downtown Mall, especially when CVS has two-for-one sales on cases of Arizona iced tea. Today, he ran afoul of the city’s list of prohibited items after he made his purchases, and was arrested for possessing the single edge blades he bought for his ice scraper. Miska, 64, says he […]
Attorneys slam downtown mall pedestrian restrictions
At the August 6 City Council meeting, public safety officials outlined precautions for the upcoming August 12 anniversary, including street closures and the shutdown of public pools. It wasn’t until two days later that the city announced pedestrian access to the eight-block or so Downtown Mall would be limited to two entry points. Civil rights […]
Pilgrims’ report: What they brought back from civil rights pilgrimage
A month ago, around 100 locals set off on two buses to Montgomery, Alabama, carrying soil from the site where John Henry James was lynched in 1898 in Albemarle County. On August 5, nearly 200 people gathered at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center to hear the pilgrims’ report back to the community about […]
No. 9: New UVA president ready to question and listen
Jim Ryan, the University of Virginia’s ninth president, took office August 1 and immediately began to re-introduce himself to the university where he was both a graduate of the School of Law and served on the law school’s faculty. Ryan, 51, became a YouTube sensation when a commencement speech he gave at Harvard School […]
Builder fined in elevator shaft fatality
Early July 25, Albemarle police responded to an industrial accident at Yancey Lumber in Crozet, where employee Floriberta Macedo-Diaz, 46, of Waynesboro, died of her injuries. Macedo-Diaz isn’t the only workplace fatality in the region. In June, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry finished its investigation into a job-related death last fall, and fined […]
Mike Murphy named interim city manager
After more than a week of heated exchanges between city councilors and Mayor Nikuyah Walker over the hiring of an interim city manager, there was 10 minutes of public notice before a 3-0 vote in closed session at 1:15pm resulted in Assistant City Manager Mike Murphy taking the job effective 5pm today, just hours before […]
Truce: City and Mark Brown settle parking garage dispute
Two years ago, before Nazis came to Charlottesville in 2017, the big story was the contretemps between Mark Brown, co-owner of the Water Street Parking Garage, and then-mayor Mike Signer and the city. The escalating parking wars led to suits and countersuits, panicked meetings of downtown business owners, threats of closing the garage and of […]
Bugs on the bus go ’round and ’round
Former Albemarle School Board member Gary Grant had an appointment at UVA WorkMed Clinic last month and he struck up a conversation with a Charlottesville Area Transit bus driver. As a former school bus driver himself, Grant asked the driver if he was in for a random drug test. It was even worse. The driver […]
Permit-less: Kessler withdraws motion for August 11-12 rallies
After plaintiff Jason Kessler showed up 45 minutes late to federal court for his own motion to order Charlottesville to grant him a permit to hold an event the weekend of August 12, it took the judge about two seconds to grant Kessler’s attorney’s request to withdraw the motion. “He’s not going to hold a […]
And stay out: Cantwell pleads guilty, banned from Virginia for five years
Chris Cantwell, aka the Crying Nazi, came to Charlottesville a year ago to chant “Jews will not replace us” while marching through UVA Grounds. As the self-proclaimed racist shock jock was booted from Virginia July 20, he hurled a final invective at local media outside the Albemarle Circuit Court when he refused to comment to […]
Etched in memory: Pilgrimage to Montgomery honors local lynching victim
A pilgrimage is a spiritual journey that, with its elements of symbolism, ritual and enlightenment, seems almost medieval in the 21st century. The symbolic reason approximately 100 Charlottesvillians boarded buses July 8 for a six-day civil rights pilgrimage was to commemorate the 1898 lynching of John Henry James, which was virtually unknown until about two years […]