Although revenue is up in Albemarle, and county exec Jeff Richardson presented a sunny forecast to the Board of Supervisors February 15, his $457-million fiscal year 2020 budget is based on upping the current property tax rate by 1.5 cents. He calls the budget, which increases spending 5.7 percent, “an ambitious vision statement that is […]
Although revenue is up in Albemarle, and county exec Jeff Richardson presented a sunny forecast to the Board of Supervisors February 15, his $457-million fiscal year 2020 budget is based on upping the current property tax rate by 1.5 cents. He calls the budget, which increases spending 5.7 percent, “an ambitious vision statement that is […]
Last fall, after Burley Middle School unveiled a monument wall listing the names of students who attended the segregated school from 1951 to 1967, local activist Jimmy Hollins began circulating a petition to officially designate it a historic landmark. Burley is one of three operating Virginia schools that had once been all-black, as it was […]
New kids on the bench The General Assembly appointed four new judges for the 16th Circuit, which includes Charlottesville and Albemarle, and two are for new positions to handle swelling caseloads. Juvenile and domestic relations court Judge Claude Worrell, 55, will move up to circuit court. Before his appointment in 2013, Worrell was a deputy […]
A resolution to ban Confederate imagery on clothing in Albemarle schools was back on the agenda at the February 14 Albemarle County School Board meeting. The last time the issue came up, in August, six people were arrested. School board members were split on the issue, and again postponed a decision, to the dismay of both […]
Phoebe Stevens is a pacifist. She says that’s why she wrapped her arms around Jason Kessler at his August 13, 2017, press conference as a crowd of angry protesters closed in on him. But after she knocked him down in the chaos, he accused her of assault and battery—a charge she was convicted of in […]
Things were looking good for opponents of Virginia’s automatic suspension of driver’s licenses for nonpayment of court costs. A federal judge had opined the state law is likely unconstitutional, a Republican state senator carried a bill that repealed the law, and it passed the Senate 36-4. Then it got to a House subcommittee, where four […]
When Police Civilian Review Board member Katrina Turner got involved in her son’s February 1 traffic stop, a local defense attorney asked the city’s commonwealth’s attorney to determine whether she had violated the state’s conflict of interest act. At last week’s review board meeting, attorney and regular attendee Denise Lunsford told the board she’d asked […]
Valentines, imagine getting hitched this month. Then imagine celebrating your 75th wedding anniversary in February 2094. A 75th anniversary is so rare that the U.S. Census Bureau keeps no statistics on it. Estimates are that fewer than 0.1 percent of marriages make it to 70 years or more, according to the University of Nebraska Omaha […]
In the summer of 1999, Anne Williams had just relocated to Virginia from Ohio, and she brought along some on-air experience from Yellow Springs’ WYSO that helped her land an interview with independent radio station WNRN. Williams says she was driving on Interstate 64, headed to the interview with her radio dial tuned to 91.9, […]
By Shrey Dua Daniel Devlin is a 20-year-old UVA student who’s been vaping since he was 18. If Virginia lawmakers get their way, he could soon face civil penalties for pursuing his habit. Last week, a bill that would raise the age to buy tobacco and vape products from 18 to 21 was passed by […]