Seventeen residents of the Little High Street neighborhood filed a suit against City Council July 5, and one of the plaintiffs includes former city councilor Bob Fenwick. The residents object to how City Council approved a special use permit for Jefferson Place apartments at 1011 E. Jefferson St., and call it a “clear violation” of […]
government and courts
Mayor Walker announces city manager out by December
Mayor Nikuyah Walker announced this afternoon that the city will not renew City Manager Maurice Jones’ contract, which ends December 7. She said an earlier separation date could be mutually agreed on. “In the life of any healthy organization, it is important to be able to recognize when change is needed,” Walker said. “Over the […]
Activist-theologian: Kessler protester talks about trespassing arrest
When about 40 protesters gathered at the University of Virginia School of Law library in April to chase off Jason Kessler, one man was arrested—and it wasn’t the one who brought hundreds of torch-wielding white supremacists to Grounds last summer. As Kessler sat doing legal research for his upcoming lawsuits in a room that wasn’t […]
‘Commie killer’ Daniel Borden enters plea, is found guilty
Another man charged with malicious wounding in the August 12 Market Street Parking Garage beatdown of DeAndre Harris has been convicted. Daniel Borden, whose local TV station and newspaper have said he was known for his swastika drawings and Nazi salutes in high school, was 18 years old when he [...]
Bad babysitter: Forest Lakes daycare operator pleads guilty
Kathy Yowell-Rohm spoke softly as she pleaded guilty May 7 to felony cruelty or injury to a child and operating a home daycare without a license after police found 16 children at her Forest Lakes residence last December. One adult is allowed to care for a maximum of four children at a daycare, [...]
‘No more silence:’ Area students demand gun control—again
“Are we next?” That was the question on the minds and T-shirts of several local students who participated in today’s National School Walkout, on the anniversary of the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School that left 15 people dead. More than 100 students from Charlottesville, Albemarle and [...]
County controversy: Farmers say rain tax targets rural areas
A proposed stormwater utility fee in Albemarle that has widely become known as the “rain tax” has caused quite the ruckus. But a similar one in the city continues to go off without a hitch. County farmers say rural areas are unfairly targeted by the potential fee, because it will be calculated [...]
Bellamy subpoenaed in neo-Nazi’s hearing
Last week an attorney defending an alt-right client subpoenaed a reporter as a witness. This week the same lawyer called a city councilor to court to support his motion that Daniel Borden, charged with malicious wounding, cannot get a fair trial in Charlottesville Mike Hallahan represents [...]
Power to the people: Getting off on the hero myth
“Catnip for reporters.” That’s how Metallica fan and Democratic newcomer Danica Roem described her winning campaign in Virginia’s 13th District last November. She is, after all, the transgender woman who defeated the anti-LGBT incumbent Bob Marshall. Nevermind that her platform was all about [...]
Guilty plea, dropped charges for another KKK rally protester Copy
Guilty plea, dropped charges for another KKK rally protester
A woman arrested on three charges, including felony assault of a law enforcement officer at the July 8 KKK rally, has pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor. Jordan Romeo was protesting the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Justice Park when she allegedly assaulted a city cop and City [...]
Doctor’s orders: Physician makes bond, put on house arrest
The Pantops-area doctor arrested last Friday on five felonies related to allegedly raping and sexually assaulting his patients will be released from jail on a $50,000 bond. A mass of friends and family showed in support of Mark Hormuz Dean, the Albemarle Pain Management Associates Clinic [...]
Dirty diapers: Daycare provider will go to grand jury
A local daycare operator who was arrested last month on a felony charge of cruelty and injuries to children after 16 youngsters were found in her Forest Lakes home will go before the grand jury in February. A Juvenile and Domestic Relations court judge ruled January 8 that there was enough [...]
Split decision: Shooter gets bond, alleged assailant doesn’t
Two ponytailed Unite the Right participants represented by the same Blairs, Virginia-based lawyer had different fates in their January 4 bond hearings in Charlottesville Circuit Court. Judge Humes Franklin granted 52-year-old Baltimore resident Richard Preston, an imperial wizard of the [...]
Family closure: Sentence suspended for father who killed son
The former UVA police officer who killed his mentally ill son while defending his family last year won’t serve any additional jail time, an Albemarle County judge ruled December 5. On November 9, 2016, then-84-year-old Donald Short shot his 47-year-old son, Matthew, in the leg and abdomen after [...]
In brief: A city of lawyers, the point of no return and a quote that still stings
Case study Cities are always involved in one sort of minor litigation or another, typically for unpaid taxes, but over the past two years, Charlottesville has been embroiled in a lot of high-profile cases, mostly as a defendant. Having a hard time keeping up? We are, too. Let’s review. Militias [...]
Different story: UVA Law alum re-emerges to explain that racial profiling recant
By Natalie Jacobsen When we last heard from Johnathan Perkins, it was 2011. In the six years since, the University of Virginia School of Law alumnus has reached milestones in his career, and currently works as an associate attorney in Harvard’s Office of the General Counsel. But today he also [...]
Dismissed: Another win for Veronica Fitzhugh
In her most recent court appearance, a judge dropped an assault charge against activist Veronica Fitzhugh after her accuser failed to appear. Alleged victim Jason Turner blamed Fitzhugh for yelling at him and pushing him in Emancipation Park on May 21 as he attempted to take a photo of the [...]
Obstruction cases: Nine dropped, two plead guilty from KKK rally charges
In the never-ending string of court cases stemming from this year’s run-ins with white supremacists and neo-Nazis, 15 people went before a judge October 30 for charges brought against them during the July 8 Ku Klux Klan rally in Justice Park. Approximately 50 members of the Loyal White Knights [...]
Not guilty: A win for Veronica Fitzhugh
Updated Tuesday, October 24 at 3pm with a second story about court appearances on Monday, October 23. Even months prior to August 12, the community was up to its figurative elbows in lawsuits stemming from the emergence of Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler into the local spotlight [...]
2017 Election Guide: Who will come out on top November 7?
Every year is an election year in Virginia, and in anticipation of your trip to the voting booth November 7, we bring you our election guide with overviews of all 19 local and state races as well as candidate profiles. The six City Council contenders weighed in on the current councilors’ [...]
‘Trash bags’ can stay: Statue lawsuit moves forward
In the case of whether the city’s longstanding General Robert E. Lee statue should remain on its feet, a judge ruled October 4 that a lawsuit protecting it can go forward, and the black shrouds temporarily draped over Lee and his buddy, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, can also stay. In [...]
Meme-able Magill: August icon recovers, keeps fighting back
During the August weekend that scarred Charlottesville, one man was in the thick of the major events, and became both a casualty and a meme of resistance to hate. That man was Tyler Magill: a UVA alum, longtime WTJU DJ once known as the Velvet Facilitator and a local fixture in the community. [...]