Still relevant?: WVPT and WHTJ public television stations merge, say declining revenues not a factor

For years, two out-of-town public television stations fought to claim status as Charlottesville’s “local” PBS station. Now they both can say that. Harrisonburg’s WVPT is being consolidated into Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation, the parent company of Richmond-based WHTJ, and the merger will offer local viewers two additional stations. Instead of duplicate offerings of “Nova” or […]

Epic fail: Heaphy investigation finds plenty of blame

  Since the August 12 Unite the Right rally that left three people dead, Charlottesville residents have asked where the police were that day and why Fourth Street was open so that a neo-Nazi from Ohio could plow into a group of counterprotesters, injuring dozens and killing Heather Heyer. The release of former U.S. attorney […]

Not ‘finger pointing’: State task force weighs in on August 12

  Almost immediately after the violent clashes in Charlottesville August 12, Governor Terry McAuliffe established a task force to review the events of that weekend, and consultants presented a preliminary report November 15. The top two takeaways: This is a new era of protests—and a stronger permit process for those seeking to use public facilities […]

Feasibility project: New West2nd plan draws complaints

In 2014, the city had a public competition for plans to develop the municipal parking lot that was the longtime home to City Market. Keith Woodard won, and three years later, West2nd, his bold mixed-use project that will house the market, has gone back to the drawing board. Last month, Woodard announced a new development […]

Independent upset: Dems crush everywhere—except Charlottesville

  Election night 2017 in Charlottesville had quite a different feel from 2016. Democrats swept statewide offices, with Ralph Northam winning the governor’s race by an even wider margin—9 percent—than pundits had predicted. And no one saw it coming that Dems would dislodge the hefty 66-34 Republican majority in the House of Delegates, and, depending […]

Anonymous source: Progress story on Nikuyah Walker called a ‘hit piece’

Three days before the November 7 election, the Daily Progress ran a story on independent candidate Nikuyah Walker with the headline, “Emails show Walker’s aggressive approach.” Her supporters have gone ballistic on social media over the story. The article describes dozens of emails Walker has sent city officials as indicative of her style of communication: […]

It’s Eugene Williams Day

Charlottesville’s legendary civil rights leader turned 90 November 6, and Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy presented him with a proclamation declaring the day Eugene Williams Day at a birthday celebration November 4 at Boar’s Head Inn. Williams grew up on Dice Street in a house with no plumbing, unlike the white-owned abodes on nearby Ridge Street. He […]

Bond denied: Third time is not the charm

Judge Rick Moore slightly shook his head as he watched a video that showed Alex Michael Ramos assaulting Deandre Harris in the Market Street Garage August 12—and then he denied an appeal to release Ramos on bond, despite an associate of Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler offering to house the Georgia man. It was […]