In brief: Censure-ship, walker-ship, sinking ACP ship, and more

Summertime and the sidewalks aren’t easy Walkability is one of Charlottesville’s small-city charms, but sometimes it’s not so easy to get around, particularly if you’re disabled. On July 27 the city listed a dozen sidewalk projects that limit access. And then there are the blockages that aren’t official closings. Pedestrian activist Kevin Cox spotted a […]

‘The squeeze’: Novelists sue city and county for business tax bills

John Hart and Corban Addison Klug both make a living writing novels. Unlike writers for newspapers and magazines, which state code exempts from business license taxes, Hart and Addison received sizable tax bills from Albemarle County and Charlottesville that they say are unconstitutional. The two men filed lawsuits against the city and county July 24, […]

Guilty plea: Paige Rice agrees to misdemeanor in embezzlement case

Carolyn Paige Rice, a former Charlottesville chief of staff and clerk of council, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor embezzlement charge Wednesday for failing to return an iPhone X and Apple Watch that were paid for by the city during her tenure. As part of the plea agreement, Rice was charged with a misdemeanor instead of […]

Overtaxed: Numbers don’t add up for diners

Charlottesville raised its meals tax to 6 percent July 1, which, on top of the 5.3 percent state sales tax, adds more than 11 percent to your dinner tab. But a computer glitch at one local restaurant meant some customers were paying more than 16 percent. Lorena Perez, a designer at C-VILLE Weekly, had lunch […]

‘Shocked, humiliated:’ Jefferson School executive director sues tenant for defamation

The executive director of the Jefferson School Foundation is suing one of the building’s resident nonprofit partners for defamation, after the tenant accused her of conducting “unethical fundraising” in a previous job. Sue Friedman, a former Albemarle School Board chair, was hired in January to handle day-to-day operations of the historical Jefferson School City Center, […]

Bridge builders: Charlottesville’s unsung heroes

By Kay Slaughter Each day, people cross the Drewary J. Brown Bridge on West Main Street oblivious of this memorial to Charlottesville’s history. Nothing announces the bridge over the railroad tracks as a special space. It was rebuilt in 1998 and renamed by City Council for Brown, a civil rights leader who had recently died. […]

Rugby Avenue gets the green light

A test to make the intersection of Rugby Avenue and Rose Hill Drive safer by installing four-way stop signs concluded this week with plastic bags coming off the old stoplights and the removal of the stop signs. When the signs went up at the end of March, neighborhood website Nextdoor was abuzz with reports of […]