Congressman Denver Riggleman’s new book, Bigfoot…It’s Complicated, begins with a chapter called “A Discussion on Simian Genitalia.” In other words, Riggleman, who was accused of enjoying “Bigfoot erotica” during his 2018 congressional campaign, is leaning in. Riggleman defeated Democrat Leslie Cockburn in 2018 despite the Bigfoot story, but will leave Washington having served just one […]
denver riggleman
Webb wanes: Democratic candidate comes up short in red district
President-elect Joe Biden swept to an easy victory in Virginia last week, carrying the state with 53.9 percent of the vote to Donald Trump’s 44.2 percent, according to data from the Virginia Department of Elections. In the 5th Congressional District, Democrats weren’t so successful. Dr. Cameron Webb, UVA’s Director of Health Policy and Equity, fell […]
In brief: Bridging forward, testing troubles, and more
Building bridges After nearly two decades of municipal hiccups and mishaps, the city’s plan to replace the Belmont Bridge is finally coming to fruition. On Monday evening, City Council conducted a first reading on an allocation for the project: The state will pay $12.1 million, the federal government will pay $3.2 million, and the city […]
In brief: Protestors push on, police donors exposed, victims speak out, and more
Tenure trouble UVA’s “Great and Good” strategic plan lists “recruiting and retaining excellent and diverse faculty” as a central goal. But this year, two black scholars who have been denied tenure claim the decision process was significantly flawed, possibly due to racial bias. Paul Harris has [...]
Denver’s done: Far-right challenger Bob Good wins 5th District GOP nomination
In his two years in the House of Representatives, Denver Riggleman sided with Donald Trump on 94.5 percent of votes, according to FiveThirtyEight. But that wasn’t conservative enough for central Virginia’s Republican loyalists, who ended Riggleman’s run in Congress after just one term. [...]
In brief: UVA hospital makes amends, a yak on the run, and more
Kinder, gentler health care UVA Health System says it will revamp its financial aid guidelines and sue fewer patients after facing a massive backlash from a Washington Post story about the university’s proclivity to go after nonpaying patients. A Kaiser Health News report revealed that from [...]
Where’s Denver?: Riggleman refutes claims he hasn’t been accessible
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 [...]
In brief: Not the Daughters of Confederacy tour, City Council is back, no confidence in Cumberland, and more
Tour de force For the past couple of years, Jalane Schmidt, UVA professor and activist, and Andrea Douglas, Jefferson School African American Heritage Center director, have been conducting tours of our downtown monuments, providing new context for the Confederate statues that have long [...]
In brief: Censure-ship, walker-ship, sinking ACP ship, and more
Summertime and the sidewalks aren’t easy Walkability is one of Charlottesville’s small-city charms, but sometimes it’s not so easy to get around, particularly if you’re disabled. On July 27 the city listed a dozen sidewalk projects that limit access. And then there are the blockages that aren’t [...]
One way: Wintergreen wants an emergency exit
There’s only one way in and one way out of Wintergreen, where residents and the local fire department have called for a second emergency exit for more than a decade, and where the topography is strikingly similar to that of Gatlinburg, Tennessee—the site of the November 2016 inferno that killed [...]
In brief: Millionaire Hoos, honest haikus, candidate news, and more
Hoos blues You know that feeling you get when you support UVA men’s basketball through the years, and then the team finally wins the NCAA championship for the first time ever, and several players decide a college degree isn’t as valuable as playing in the NBA? While we predict they won’t be in [...]
In brief: Robo designated driver, Thanksgiving casualties, Bigfoot erotica and more
Tony the self-driving shuttle Perrone Robotics cranked up the driverless vehicle heat last week with the awkwardly acronymed Tony—TO Navigate You—which will soon be autonomously tooling around Crozet. In a partnership with Albemarle County and JAUNT—Jefferson Area UNited Transportation, another [...]
What next? 5th District flippers move on to the next race
Three Democratic women in Virginia upset Republicans in House of Representatives races Tuesday–but Leslie Cockburn wasn’t one of them. The investigative journalist and Rappahannock County resident fell short against Republican Denver Riggleman in the 5th district race, despite raising [...]
In brief: Fried chicken, flinging the mud, Long on Nike, and more
County boots Trump chicken Albemarle County said the state of emergency declared for the August 11-12 weekend was still in effect after Indivisible Charlottesville brought an inflatable chicken with a Trump-like coif to its August 28 Flip the 5th demonstration in front of the County Office [...]
In brief: Bigfoot erotica, council infighting (again), white supremacist infighting and more
Bigfoot erotica Fifth District Democratic candidate Leslie Cockburn called opponent Denver Riggleman a devotee of “Bigfoot erotica” because of images of Bigfoot with a black bar over its genitals on Riggleman’s Instagram account. Riggleman, who co-authored a book on the legendary ape-like [...]
In brief: GOP scrambles, council contretemps, stormy waters and more
Riggleman snatches 5th District Republican nomination Five days after Congressman Tom Garrett announced he would not seek re-election to deal with alcoholism, distiller and former gubernatorial candidate Denver Riggleman fended off 10 other candidates in a five-hour marathon meeting June 2 at [...]
In brief: Library shocker, UVA’s $9 million plane and more
Busy as a bookworm Here in the digital age, one relic from our printing-press past is defying obsolescence: the library. The Jefferson-Madison Regional Library saw its busiest year ever in 2016, with its newest Crozet and Northside libraries contributing to the boom, according to director John [...]