Schock denied bond; prosecutors allege Web contact with minors

A city elementary school teacher arrested on child pornography charges on February 10 will remain behind bars unless a forensic psychologist can determine that he poses no risk to himself or others if released on bond, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Jay Swett ruled in the second of two back-to-back bond hearings Wednesday. More details of […]

Arthouse theater with bar and restaurant to replace Downtown Regal

Regal Cinema’s movie theater monopoly in Charlottesville has ended, and the new kid on the block is planning to serve up something sure to have local cinephiles salivating: a Downtown theater that offers upscale food and cocktails along with indie film fare. William S. Banowsky, Jr., owner of Violet Crown Cinema in Austin, is partnering […]

Nelson’s Alberene Soapstone partners with Canadian industry giant

What do the walls of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, the window sills of New York City’s Rockefeller Center, and Martha Stewart’s kitchen counter have in common? They were all carved out of the ground 25 miles southwest of Charlottesville. Now Alberene, the Schuyler soapstone company whose quarries produced those and countless other pieces over the last […]

Should arts nonprofits have to buy their way onto local tourism site?

“Can your organization really afford to NOT have a high profile presence on VisitCharlottesville, particularly if your competitor does?” That was the sales pitch in an e-mail sent last month to Jody Kielbasa, director of the Charlottesville Film Festival, by an Arizona company called Destination Travel, a contractor hired to push ads on the website […]

New survey shows more than half of locals want the Bypass—so what’s next?

Since last November’s elections removed from state and local office some of the biggest champions of the proposed Western Bypass, the decades-long debate over whether to build the 6.2-mile, $244 million road around Charlottesville has been in a holding pattern. Albemarle County has seated new anti-Bypass appointees on the area’s Metropolitan Planning Organization, which could […]

Health issue 2014: Local docs on the controversy over breast cancer screening

This story is part of our 2014 health issue, which also includes articles on concussions in young athletes, rhabdomyolysis, and gluten intolerance. Just over four years ago, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force—an independent, federally funded panel of physicians—rocked the cancer community when it changed its breast cancer screening guidelines, recommending that women get mammograms […]

Going clear: Albemarle’s complex, costly quandary over stormwater management

Albemarle County’s draft water protection ordinance, quietly submitted to the State Department of Environmental Quality last week and set to become local law after brief public review in June, is a long-awaited road map to implementing federal- and state-mandated reductions in pollution from stormwater. Within its 47 pages are rules that will impact development in […]

Landmark’s last stand? More security, structural reports called for

For a brief moment last week, it looked like the towering unfinished shell of what was to be the Landmark Hotel was doomed to be reduced to rubble, as the Charlottesville Planning Commission declared the structure blighted and debated demolition as a fix: Should the city, as former commission chair Genevieve Keller suggested, “un-Landmark the Landmark”? […]

Embezzler sentenced, fatal fire, CAT app, “Dumler” bill: News briefs

Hollymead embezzler sentenced The county woman who pleaded guilty in October to embezzling more than $73,000 from the Hollymead Citizens Association will serve 15 days in jail for her crime, according to reports from NBC29 and The Daily Progress. The rest of her five-year sentence was suspended. Patricia Cuthbert, who served as the treasurer of […]

Recycling news: Albemarle balks at privatizing trash service—again

Albemarle County threw out a plan to privatize trash and recycling disposal last week in the wake of fierce opposition from residents, revving up the argument over who should handle solid waste in the region—the county or private contractors. A proposal agreed upon by the previous Board of Supervisors to quit funneling money to the […]