Confronting a shameful past: Search for 1898 lynching site narrows

As big a role as history plays in Charlottesville’s identity, some events, like an 1898 lynching, were pretty much buried or forgotten until Jane Smith was doing historical research and going through old issues of the Daily Progress in 2013. She happened upon this July 12, 1898, headline: “He paid the awful penalty: John Henry […]

A big dill: PickleFest draws local and national pickleball talent

While this weekend’s PickleFest may sound like a celebration of brined cucumbers, it’s instead a festival centered around a sport that’s gained a massive following in Charlottesville over the last half a decade. Pickleball, the paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, was created in Seattle, in 1965, and has been slowly […]

Mayor Walker announces city manager out by December

Mayor Nikuyah Walker announced this afternoon that the city will not renew City Manager Maurice Jones’ contract, which ends December 7. She said an earlier separation date could be mutually agreed on. “In the life of any healthy organization, it is important to be able to recognize when change is needed,” Walker said. “Over the […]

Federal judge to rule on motions to dismiss in August 12 victims’ case

In a lawsuit filed on behalf of 10 alleged victims of last summer’s deadly August weekend in which hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis descended upon Charlottesville, a federal judge is now considering whether to grant several of the defendants’ motions to dismiss the case. Attorneys Roberta Kaplan and Karen Dunn claim that 25 individuals […]

In brief: The militia won’t come back, a free speech controversy and more

And stay out! Six militia groups and their leaders named in a lawsuit aimed at preventing white supremacist and paramilitary organizations from showing their mugs around Charlottesville again have settled, agreeing they won’t engage in coordinated armed activity in any of the city’s future rallies or protests. The latest round of defendants to bow out […]

Activist-theologian: Kessler protester talks about trespassing arrest

When about 40 protesters gathered at the University of Virginia School of Law library in April to chase off Jason Kessler, one man was arrested—and it wasn’t the one who brought hundreds of torch-wielding white supremacists to Grounds last summer. As Kessler sat doing legal research for his upcoming lawsuits in a room that wasn’t […]

‘Commie killer’ Daniel Borden enters plea, is found guilty

Another man charged with malicious wounding in the August 12 Market Street Parking Garage beatdown of DeAndre Harris has been convicted. Daniel Borden, whose local TV station and newspaper have said he was known for his swastika drawings and Nazi salutes in high school, was 18 years old when he traveled from Maumee, Ohio, to […]