Fenced out: Neighbors complain about closed shortcut

In the North Downtown neighborhood, a new fence is causing a fuss. Where some Second Street NE residents have long walked down their dead-end lane to an unlocked gate that led to the backyard of the Park Street First Baptist Church, they’ve recently been faced with an obstruction to the beaten path. It’s a fence—a […]

Leaky-gate, part 2: RWSA responds to cover-up accusations

It was late June when a whistleblower, who recently resigned from the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority to protest an $80-million water pipeline it wants to build between two reservoirs, went before its board of directors to denounce it. Rich Gullick, the authority’s former director of operations, handed over several pages of in-depth analysis on […]

Brookhill base: Ice park planned at new subdivision

When an angel investor bought the Main Street Arena for nearly $6 million in March 2017 with the intent to turn it into a technology incubator, folks who frequented the 23-year-old ice park—the only one within an hour’s drive from Charlottesville—began to panic. But now it looks like hockey players, figure skaters and curlers could […]

Paying the consequence: Activists fined $15 for late-night street protest

When Corey Long was found guilty of disorderly conduct last month for pointing a homemade flamethrower at white supremacists on August 12, a slew of local activists who’ve dubbed him a “community defender” waited until the sun went down to take to the streets and protest his conviction. In Charlottesville General District Court on July […]

Get in line: Ting’s network expansion slower than expected

When the folks at a “lightning-fast” fiber gigabit internet company decided to roll out their service in Charlottesville, they knew it would be popular—but now it’s in such high demand that there are hundreds of city residents waiting for access to its network. Ting has been in town for more than three years, and is […]

‘Crime against humanity:’ Jail urged to stop voluntary ICE reporting

When incarcerated undocumented immigrants are released from the local jail, they exit through the sally port, where they often have an unfortunate encounter. It’s not unusual that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent will be there waiting for them. In a July 12 Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail authority board meeting, jail superintendent Martin Kumer said […]

James Fields pleads not guilty to federal crimes

The man charged with 30 federal hate crimes, including the murder of Heather Heyer by ramming his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of counterprotesters on August 12, gave a clipped introduction to the judge when he announced himself as James Alex Fields Jr. on July 5. Each hate crime charge carries a maximum sentence of […]

Leaky-gate: RWSA employee resigns in protest

Remember last fall’s mandatory water restrictions? An employee who recently resigned from the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority says the agency is blaming an alleged drought for the loss of several hundred million gallons of water from the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir, when two leaky gates were the culprit. “The dry weather did not cause […]

Inciting words: Kessler gets a win and $5

In a civil suit against an angry activist, Unite the Right rally organizer Jason Kessler has won $5. The man who planned the August 12 event where neo-Nazis and counterprotesters clashed in the streets, leaving three people dead by the end of the day, said his suit was intended to bring “decorum.” He sued Donna […]

New look: Former asylum turned luxury inn

The place once known as the Western State Lunatic Asylum before it became a medium security prison in 1981 and was abandoned in 2002 opened last week as The Blackburn Inn. “This building has such a storied past,” says Paul Cooper, the president and CEO of Retro Hospitality, the firm that manages the inn. Part-time […]