Tuel Jewelers owner dies

Frances Elizabeth Gibson Loose, who bought Tuel Jewelers in 1975 and who worked in the store for 65 years, passed away January 5 at age 86. She was a familiar sight on the Downtown Mall, always professionally dressed for work, even in recent years, when her daughter Mary Loose DeViney pushed her to the store […]

Independent Nikuyah Walker elected first black female mayor

  The first meeting of the new City Council January 2 went into uncharted territory with formerly behind-the-scenes decisions—the new mayor and vice mayor—made publicly, and for some on the dais, uncomfortably. New councilors Nikuyah Walker and Heather Hill were elected mayor and vice mayor, respectively, while the airing of the grievances allowed some rebukes […]

Fast track: Faculty and students want in on Alderman renovation planning

UVA has long desired a makeover of its 1937 research library, and with General Assembly funding for the $160 million project likely in 2018, plans are surging ahead—leaving some faculty and students uneasy about whether Alderman’s 2.5 million book collection will make it back to the library once renovations are complete. And while plans are […]

Crying fowl: New YMCA threatens birds, says teen advocate

On the treadmill at the Brooks Family YMCA, it almost feels like you’re outside running, thanks to an expanse of glass looking into the woods of McIntire Park. And that expanse of glass has taken out a tufted titmouse, a dark-eyed junco, a hermit thrush, a cedar waxwing and a white-throated sparrow, according to Charlottesville […]

Unfriended: Garrett staffer calls cops on constituent

Craig DuBose likes to let his 5th District congressman know how he feels about issues, and he regularly posts comments on Tom Garrett’s Facebook page—until he discovered he’d been blocked December 7. DuBose says he called Garrett’s Washington office the next day, and was transferred to communications director Matt Missen, who told him he’d violated […]

August 12 shooter and Market Street Garage attackers go to grand jury

Three out-of-towners who were charged following the August 12 Unite the Right rally were in court December 14 for preliminary hearings, where a judge determined there was probable cause to seek grand jury indictments. Baltimore resident and Confederate White Knights of the KKK imperial wizard Richard Preston, 52, is charged with shooting a firearm within […]

Abrupt exit: Chief’s retirement, Pleasants’ fill-in raises questions

After initially refusing to confirm reports that Charlottesville police Chief Al Thomas had resigned and was packing his office on Monday and would be out of the building by 5pm, the city issued a release Monday afternoon that said Thomas would be retiring, effective immediately. The hasty departure raised questions at the December 18 City […]

Updated: Chief Thomas out, retirement effective immediately

After initially refusing to confirm reports that Chief Al Thomas had resigned and was packing his office on Monday and would be out of the building by 5pm, the city issued a release that says Thomas is retiring effective immediately. Thomas, who previously was police chief in Lexington, was the first African-American hired to head Charlottesville’s […]