‘Déjà vu’: Amanda Knox podcast focuses on Soering case

Like Jens Soering, Amanda Knox was a college student when she was convicted of murder. She spent four years in an Italian prison for the 2007 murder of her roommate in Perugia, and her case became a cause célèbre before she was acquitted in 2015. Since her return to the United States, she’s become an […]

Judge-ment day: Downer tells all about sitting on the bench

Judge Bob Downer knows something about what it’s like to appear before a judge as a defendant. He’s been there. And it’s a story he’s told in court. As a UVA graduate in 1970, Downer and some frat brothers, clearly under the influence of that era’s Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, decided to swipe […]

Local races: Your primary guide

Primary day is June 11, and there’s more on the ballot than the 57th District race between Kathy Galvin and Sally Hudson.  If you live in the city, the three people who win the Democratic nomination will likely be the ones to fill the three empty seats on City Council in November because of the […]

A12 plan: Judge rules state police must release it

More than a year and a half after a freelance reporter requested the Virginia State Police and the Office of Public Safety turn over its Unite the Right public safety plans, a judge ruled today that it’s time for the state to cough them up—although with some confusion about redaction and release. Natalie Jacobsen worked […]

New wave: Two women, two generations head into the 57th primary stretch

The reliably Democratic 57th District rarely makes for an exciting horse race. Once a delegate, always a delegate, as David Toscano and Mitch Van Yahres before him proved, each easily holding on to the seat representing Charlottesville and the Albemarle urban ring as long as he chose. Not this year. Newcomer Sally Hudson upended the […]

Eviction outrage: Landlord says he’s committed to affordable housing

More than 100 people representing a dozen organizations rallied and marched in support of residents of Belmont Apartments May 5, the same day tenants whose leases have expired were told to vacate their apartments at 1000 Monticello Rd. The Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition gathered representatives from activist and faith groups to march from Belmont to […]

Four-way confusion: Stop signs at Rugby Avenue create some chaos

A plan to make the Rugby Avenue and Rose Hill Drive intersection safer for now has some drivers in fear for their lives. Four-way stop signs went up at the end of March, and the traffic signal was bagged in plastic. Neighborhood website Nextdoor is full of people talking about nearly getting creamed by motorists […]

Bad lights: Glaring illumination mars night sky

On a night with a full moon, Rick Barnett can see pretty clearly outside his Belmont house. The problem is, he can also see clearly on moonless nights—thanks to an array of lighting, mostly commercial, blazing up into the sky behind his house. On a recent drive around the neighborhood, he points out a shielded […]