Committee advocates for Pantops pedestrian bridge

The Pantops Walkability Committee is hosting its first community meeting to discuss the need for a pedestrian bridge over Route 250 at Rolkin Road. The committee, under the leadership of Diane Berlin, hopes retailers and residents in the Pantops area will support their vision for the proposed bridge, which would follow the Pantops master plan and make the area […]

Another rabid fox? Reported descriptions don’t match

An aggressive and potentially rabid fox attacking residents in North Downtown has worried people for the past week. Police say a fox acting suspiciously on March 14 was captured and put down, but did not appear to be the same fox originally reported. “We just want our neighborhood to be safe,” says Sarah Peaslee, who […]

Riverkeeper pleased with coal ash settlement

Charlottesville’s Southern Environmental Law Center, representing the James River Association, reached a settlement with Dominion on the utility’s plans to dump coal ash wastewater from the Bremo Power Station in Fluvanna. A local riverkeeper says new standards will protect human and aquatic life. The deal between the groups, which will be enforceable by law, requires […]

The Young Men’s Shop’s final farewell

The Young Men’s Shop—opened by Henry Reuben on the Downtown Mall in 1927—is closing its doors after nearly 90 years of selling tailored suits and brightly colored ties. “It’s been here basically for 89 years and I guess it’s just a part of Charlottesville,” says current owner Harry Marshall, who says he’ll miss interacting with […]

Trash talk: One local wants litter removed from the Rivanna

It’s been nearly three months since Albemarle County resident Scott Fox first noticed a number of plastic bags littered across the bank of the Rivanna River behind his house, caught on rocks and tree limbs in the water and trapped below the water’s surface. Fox, who lives in a small, A-frame house right on the […]

How to spend $162 million: The city’s budget increases 3.5 percent

Charlottesville City Manager Maurice Jones presented his proposed budget for fiscal year 2017 to City Council on March 7. The $161,871,784 budget is a 3.5 percent increase over 2016’s fiscal year budget, which was approved at $156,391,435. The latest budget is Jones’ sixth version. “The biggest chunk is going to the schools,” he says, and […]

Controversy resurfaces: Should the statue stand?

The Lewis and Clark statue at the intersection of West Main Street has been the center of controversy for some time—last month, police removed a mysterious, red-stained, human-shaped figure made of masking tape from the base of the statue that was aiming a makeshift bow and arrow up at the explorers. One local says it’s […]

Jesse Matthew pleads guilty, receives four additional life sentences

  Convicted murderer Jesse Matthew pleaded guilty to the first degree murders and abductions of both Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington in Albemarle County Circuit Court on March 2. He was given four life sentences—the maximum sentence for each count. Matthew will avoid the death penalty because Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci nolle prossed his capital murder charge […]

Legal expert speaks to Jesse Matthew’s anticipated guilty plea

Jesse Matthew is set to enter a plea deal in the abduction and murder of Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington in Albemarle Circuit Court on March 2. Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci issued a letter February 29 stating that although it is anticipated that Matthew will plead guilty and resolve both cases, Tracci’s office will not […]

Detained UVA student faces North Korean press

The UVA student detained in North Korea last month for allegedly committing a “hostile act” against the country publicly apologized for making “the worst mistake of [his] life” February 29 at a government-arranged news conference in Pyongyang. Otto Franklin Warmbier, a third-year commerce student, Echols scholar and Theta Chi fraternity brother, was visiting North Korea […]