Trust us: Albemarle jumps through hoops for mystery company

    The preservation of Albemarle County’s rural beauty can directly be attributed to its comprehensive plan, the holy grail of where development can occur and where it may not. That’s why some are surprised the Board of Supervisors is fast tracking an amendment that moves 223 acres from rural to growth area for a […]

Tolbert successor named to neighborhood development

The spot vacated by longtime director of Charlottesville neighborhood development services Jim Tolbert in February officially will be filled August 17. Alexander Ikefuna, former director of community services and planning in Mobile, Alabama, will step in to take over the position that’s been held by interim director Missy Creasy since Tolbert left. Ikefuna discovered he […]

Burglar bullies Bang!

Bang! restaurant has become the go-to spot for a local burglar, who has broken into the Second Street eatery three times this year and always steals the same thing: booze, according to owner Tim Burgess. The latest hit was July 28, and unopened bottles of gin, bourbon and Absolut vodka disappeared. Each heist has cost […]

Psychic indicted: Found some victims at Synchronicity

The business known as Readings by Catherine on U.S. 29 north became even more intriguing when it was raided by federal officers last summer. No charges were filed, and its owner, Sandra Marks, 40, a.k.a. Catherine Marks, disappeared until she was arrested last week and appeared at a bond hearing in New York for a […]

Anson’s crawl: City Council candidate details arrest record

Republican City Council candidate Anson Parker is not the first person running for office with an arrest record—Wes Bellamy had his own bout with unresolved traffic tickets two years ago. Parker has racked up three arrests for public drunkenness since 2006, with the most recent in January of this year. He also was charged with […]

Baby on board in roll-away car

A 2011 Dodge Avenger left running in the parking lot at Guadalajara with a baby in the backseat July 26 rolled across Market Street and crashed into a truck in the parking lot beside the Charlottesville Recreation Center. The baby was unharmed, according to Charlottesville Police’s Steve Upman. Originally the car was believed to be […]

City Council approves William Taylor Plaza

The controversial development that puts a Fairfield Inn on the corner of Ridge Street and Cherry Avenue, nixed by the Planning Commission 5-0 and rejected by more than 500 petition-signing residents, got a 3-2 go-ahead from City Council July 21. The Southern Development project was in front of council a few weeks ago, and a  […]

Middleditch charged with involuntary DUI manslaughter

Local realtor and Ivy resident Andrew Middleditch, 55, was charged with felony involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence July 13, a charge stemming from a May 25 crash in which Lonnie Wycliffe Branham, 78, was killed on Barracks Road. Middleditch previously had been charged with a DUI, his second. He was released from Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional […]