Plenty of priors for murder suspect's father

Two days after Michael Stuart Pritchett and William Douglas Gentry, Jr. were arrested for the murder of Jayne Warren McGowan, Pritchett’s grandfather issued a public statement of his "deepest regrets" to McGowans’s family. It brought the family of the alleged killers into the light, making a connection that is often put forward when evaluating the […]

Prof almost got pot past Nixon

In 1969, Richard J. Bonnie was teaching at UVA's School of Law, from which he had just graduated, when he read about a case in Roanoke that involved a sentence of 20 years in jail for possession of a small amount of marijuana.

Budget hawks prepare for battle

Previous coverage: Supes struggle over tax rateCounty approves 68 cents, city opts for 95 cents Pressured leaders lower tax rateCounty schools look to lose some funding County attacked for tax rateSupervisor Slutzky irked by “intellectual dishonesty” Last April, as the county Board of Supervisors were trying to set the real estate tax rate as part […]

Farm now, but forever?

In May 2001, media mogul (and sometime Albemarle resident) John W. Kluge gave a gigantic gift of 7,379 acres to the University of Virginia Foundation, the taxable real estate branch of UVA. Valued at the time in excess of $45 million, the land is located in southeastern Albemarle County and comprised 11 farms and estates. […]

The race is over, let's start the race

It was the day of the 2007 elections, but Tom Perriello was working to win votes for 2008. "Wherever people are suffering, we can do better," he said on November 6 to a group of 25 seniors in the back of the Pantops Ponderosa. In between campaigning for State Senate candidate Connie Brennan, he was […]

All you can't eat

The immediate years that followed World War II are universally known as the boom years, and as newly reunited couples everywhere became consumers, and spawned millions more, their insatiable appetite was met by an agricultural industry that was altering its practices.

Two Exxons robbed with stun gun

Late in the evening of October 11, 2007, 18-year-old Taquan Lovelle Anderson—police authorities allege—walked into the Exxon on Cherry Avenue where he encountered the store’s owner, Suresh Parekh. Demanding the night’s deposit (reportedly, around $1,900), Anderson then shot the owner with a stun gun, first in the front shoulder and then in his back. This […]