McAuliffe anoints Berkmar Drive, talks Morva

Virginia traffic officials began discussing ways to make U.S. 29—a highway that carries 50,000 vehicles a day—flow more successfully about three decades ago, Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne says. When Governor Terry McAuliffe took office three-and-a-half years ago, he made it a top priority. Today, the governor and his colleague visited Albemarle County for a […]

Environmentalists say new farm is bad for the birds

Clean energy is on the rise, and Reston-based group SolUnesco is planning to build a 70-acre solar farm in Albemarle County, which would be the first of its kind in the area. One local nature enthusiast, however, says these “so-called green energy sources” aren’t as harmless to the environment as many people think. “Although green […]

The bright side of darker power lines

Last August, locals protested Dominion Virginia Power’s plans to rebuild area transmission lines with a much brighter material than their darker predecessors. Now a state commission has ruled that the power company must chemically darken its structures, and the group of people that worried new lines would stick out like a sore thumb is rejoicing. […]

Office space

First he brought you Studio IX, and now he’s set his sights on another collaborative workspace, one for whom he dubs the town’s creative entrepreneurs. In the Downtown Mall’s historic Bradbury building—the former Bank of America space—James Barton prepares to open Vault Virginia, where he says commercial atmosphere will meet a residential one in a […]

Another plea agreement: Felony drug charges likely dismissed

The man involved in the county’s first fatal traffic crash of 2016 pleaded guilty to possession of heroin, cocaine, a generic form of Xanax and to reckless driving in Albemarle County Circuit Court June 21 as part of a plea agreement. On March 15, 2016, Frayser “Kip” White IV allegedly crossed double-solid yellow lines in […]

Gene Washington pleads guilty

The man charged with beating a 58-year-old special education teacher and her 17-year-old daughter to death before setting their Rugby Avenue home ablaze in December 2014 pleaded guilty to one count of capital murder and one count of second degree murder in Charlottesville Circuit Court on June 21. Gasps filtered through the courtroom and a […]

The buzz in Scottsville, the state’s first Bee City

One in every three bites of food we take has been touched by a pollinator. And Scottsville—recently the first town in Virginia to become a Bee City—is sharing the buzz on the role pollinators play in the community. On June 24, during National Pollinator Week, Scottsville will host its first pollinator celebration in which, among […]

Trying again: Cohousing ready to break ground

Every kitchen sink will face a window that looks out into the front yard in a new 26-home development in Crozet. Lounging comfortably around the living room of their clubhouse, Emerson Commons residents call this design “classic cohousing,” because it encourages interaction with neighbors. Periphery parking lots that allow for a traffic-free and kid-friendly community, […]

Threat assessment: UVA prof says schools are safe

There are an average of 32,000 firearm deaths in the country every year—and there have been 224 school shootings since 2013. “Schools are one of the safest places for kids to be,” says Dewey Cornell, a professor at UVA’s Curry School of Education and director of the university’s Virginia Youth Violence Project. At his June […]

Don’t eat the fish: Push to study toxins in local waters

Quillback carpsucker. Flathead catfish. Gizzard shad. American eel. Carp. If you catch one of these in the James River, you’re better off throwing it back in. Danny Hodge, a visiting fisherman recently stationed on the James, did just that when he says he reeled in a 20-pound catfish last month. “I wouldn’t eat none of […]