In the final day of the Monument Fund’s lawsuit against the city, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Richard Moore ruled that the plaintiffs won’t be awarded damages, but will receive a to-be-determined amount in attorneys’ fees that’ll be less than the original ask of over $604,000. Early in the three-day trial, the culmination of a case […]
Extensive and lengthy cross-examinations were heard in Charlottesville Circuit Court on Thursday as lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the city to prevent it from removing statues of two Confederate generals broke down why they believe the city owes over $604,000 in attorney fees and litigation costs. The lawsuit was filed by the […]
A judge has ruled that Charlottesville can’t remove the two Confederate statues that stand downtown, saying Wednesday that doing so would be in violation of a Virginia historical preservation law. On the first day of a three-day trial, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Richard Moore issued a permanent injunction that essentially demolished the defendants’ last argument […]
A dispute over the rezoning of a Methodist church that wants to add affordable housing units reached Charlottesville Circuit Court on September 5, when a group of city residents filed a petition for the plan to be thrown out. Thirty-one people, including Belmont/Carlton Neighborhood Association president Kimber Hawkey and Quality Pie owner Tomas Rahal, are […]
Martez Tolbert grew up hustling. “Even as a 3-year-old, I was selling drugs for my uncle and didn’t even know it,” he says. “He was just giving me little backpacks to go up the street.” When he was 11, Tolbert moved with his family from Detroit to Charlottesville, landing in Westhaven. He was raised by […]
Monticello not pleased The website of Ronnie Roberts, independent candidate for Albemarle sheriff, used one of the county’s most iconic images—Monticello—in its background. The only problem is, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns the mountaintop manse, does not allow images of the house to be used for commercial or political purposes. “Monticello does not endorse […]
By Caroline Eastham Cecilia Mills took a class to realize her own racism. “Some white people want to say ‘I don’t see race,’” says Mills. “Well, it’s there. To say you don’t see it doesn’t help fix it.” Mills is one of nearly 40 people who have taken a whiteness meditation-based class series through Common […]
Labor Day has traditionally represented the start of the presidential and congressional election seasons, providing candidates a window of one year and two months during which they campaign, meet with voters, and raise money. With the federal holiday now in the rearview mirror, that season is underway in the 5th District of Virginia. Three (potentially […]
There are more than 50,000 deer-vehicle collisions in Virginia each year. One local scientist has a low-cost solution. May 3, 2013. It’s 7:50 in the morning. A 51-year-old man driving an SUV west on I-64 collides with a deer. The man is unhurt; police notify VDOT that they’ll need to remove the carcass. October […]
Beto shows up—again Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke made a second visit to Charlottesville August 31. O’Rourke, who is trailing in the crowded Dem field, hit Champion Brewing to support former School Board chair Amy Laufer, who is running to unseat state Senator Bryce Reeves. He visited the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center and […]
By Sydney Halleman The waiting room of Whole Woman’s Health mimics that of a spa foyer. A selection of organic herbal teas lies on a back table, amid an array of fitness and mindfulness magazines. On the wall is a quote from Georgia O’Keeffe, in pale purple: “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my […]
Bridging the Belmont gap Replacing the 1962-built Belmont Bridge was first recommended in 2003. Many plans have come and gone, as has at least one design company. In 2012, some, like former city councilor Bob Fenwick, said the bridge’s deterioration was the result of city neglect and could be repaired. At the time, the bridge […]
Julia Lapan’s 3-year-old daughter was excited to take her first gymnastics class at Classics Gymnastics. “She ran onto the floor,”—only to be sent back because she was wearing a T-shirt and shorts. “I bristled at that because she was wearing what the boys were,” says Lapan, who asked that her daughter’s name not be used. […]
The woman collecting signatures to close the Fourth Street Downtown Mall crossing has withdrawn her petition and deleted her Twitter account. “There was so much outcry, so much hatred,” says petitioner Aileen Bartels. Safety was her primary concern, and she wanted people to be able to visit the mall without worrying about cars. Although her […]
Amid complaints from local residents that he hasn’t made himself available to constituents, Congressman Denver Riggleman has scheduled his first in-person town hall meeting for August 28—in Danville. The Republican representative of Virginia’s 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives took office in January, when he published a pledge that said he would “conduct […]
When T. Denise Johnson was growing up in Charlottesville’s Westhaven neighborhood, she was one of the few black kids in her honors classes at school. Decades later, that’s a disparity that hasn’t changed—the city’s public school system has one of the widest racial achievement gaps in the nation. In both Charlottesville and Albemarle County schools, […]
Pearl Outlaw was 9 years old when she found out she was going blind. One of the brightest students in her class, Outlaw shone during discussions but baffled her teachers with surprisingly low test scores. Looking for answers, her parents decided to have her eyes checked—perhaps she needed glasses. And it was true, her eyesight […]
Who’s suing whom In advance of the two-year statute of limitations, a flurry of lawsuits have been filed stemming from the events of August 12, 2017, adding to several that are ongoing. Having a hard time keeping up with who’s a defendant and who’s a plaintiff? Here’s a primer: Sines v. Kessler Ten victims of […]
In John Smith’s 1612 map of Virginia, at the point where the Rivanna River meets the James, he marked Rassawek, the capital of the Monacan Indians. Jump forward 400 years and the site is on another map, this one targeting it as a pump station to quench Zion Crossroads’ thirst. Louisa and Fluvanna counties joined […]
John Clark is a regular on the Downtown Mall, sitting in a beach chair with a tube-feeding machine. He has stomach cancer and says he hates to ask for money, but needs help paying for the medical supplies he needs as a result of having to get all of his nutrition through a tube. Clark’s […]
Forward together It was a full house at First Baptist Church on West Main Street on August 12, as a diverse crowd gathered for an interfaith service. “It fills my heart to see the pews filled like this,” said deacon Don Gathers. “We’ve come together not because of what happened, but in spite of it.” […]
Fifty years ago, man first walked on the moon and a music festival in Woodstock, New York, signaled a generational shift. As iconic as those events are, that’s not what Nelson County remembers about 1969, when the remnants of Hurricane Camille latched onto the mountains the evening of August 19 and dumped around three feet […]
Former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe had a rocky start to his book tour at Washington, D.C., bookstore Politics and Prose on August 1, when survivors of the August 12, 2017, Fourth Street car attack showed up to denounce his account of that weekend. But he found plaudits and praise among fans at the National Press […]