In a hearing in federal court on May 13, Judge Glen Conrad ruled to accept Martese Johnson’s amended complaint in his suit against the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, though the state had asked to throw out the lawsuit. The ABC’s attorney, Nicholas F. Simopoulos, said Johnson made more than 60 amendments to his […]
New cops are learning a strategy called fair and impartial policing, which aims to help them evaluate their biases before they take to the streets. At a May 13 six-hour course, Albemarle’s Lieutenant Mike Wagner and Master Police Officer Dana Reeves taught 13 recruits from the county, Charlottesville and the University of Virginia police […]
In honor of Philip Weber III, aka Running Man, the director of Champion Brewing Company’s running club is organizing a memorial 8K that will take place on Saturday, May 28, and benefit the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library. Weber died after he was struck by an SUV on Ivy Road last December. “There were times when, to […]
The Piedmont Group of the Sierra Club is urging the community to speak out against the usage of synthetic chemical pesticides in parks and on school grounds. Though city staff has taken steps to reduce the overall use of toxic chemicals in those areas, environmentalists hope to make 2016 the year in which they are […]
Thirty-five-year-old Russell Matthews, dressed in a denim shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers, enters a small classroom in the Dillwyn Correctional Center in central Virginia and shakes his instructor’s hand. He’s the first of about 15 prisoners to arrive to class on this mid-April day. “Good evening,” Matthews says to Jonathan Jones, the class instructor […]
On the second day of his jury trial, prominent realtor Andrew Middleditch, 56, pleaded guilty to his second DUI offense and entered an unexpected Alford plea before the closing statements related to his involuntary manslaughter charge, which came from a Memorial Day car crash that killed 78-year-old Lonnie Branham. When the judge asked Middleditch […]
In Charlottesville, an ordinance exists to protect historic properties, but in Albemarle County, there’s no such luck. And one woman is hoping to save three old buildings on a county farm that was in her family for several generations. Andrew Jackson Dawson served in the 5th Virginia Cavalry and the 49th Virginia Infantry during the […]
Blue Ridge Pool, a spring-fed summer commodity, has cultivated a loyal following of swimmers since it was built by UVA graduate R. Warner Wood in 1913 and established as a swim club in 1944. This year, owner Todd Barnett announced that the pool will only be open on Sundays from noon to 8pm. Barnett, who […]
The high-end realtor charged with involuntary manslaughter and his second drunk driving offense for killing an elderly driver in a Memorial Day car crash last year stands trial in Albemarle Circuit Court. On April 26, a 12-person jury made of nine women and three men was selected to hear the case against Andrew Blackwell […]
The man charged with brutally beating to death special education teacher Robin Aldridge and her daughter, Mani, and then setting their Rugby Avenue home on fire in December 2014, appeared before a judge for a motions hearing April 21. One of his three attorneys argued that he’s at a disadvantage because, in her words, he’s […]