Abrupt exit: Chief’s retirement, Pleasants’ fill-in raises questions

After initially refusing to confirm reports that Charlottesville police Chief Al Thomas had resigned and was packing his office on Monday and would be out of the building by 5pm, the city issued a release Monday afternoon that said Thomas would be retiring, effective immediately. The hasty departure raised questions at the December 18 City […]

Updated: Chief Thomas out, retirement effective immediately

After initially refusing to confirm reports that Chief Al Thomas had resigned and was packing his office on Monday and would be out of the building by 5pm, the city issued a release that says Thomas is retiring effective immediately. Thomas, who previously was police chief in Lexington, was the first African-American hired to head Charlottesville’s […]

Public record: The community reacts to the Heaphy report

Following the tragic climax of Charlottesville’s summer of hate on August 12, City Manager Maurice Jones ordered an independent review of the city’s handling of the July 8 KKK rally and the Unite the Right rally that left Heather Heyer dead and dozens injured when a neo-Nazi plowed into a crowd on Fourth Street. He […]

Activist group encourages resistance—to grand juries

“I was already run over by a car, I will not be bullied by the federal government,” said Star Peterson, a victim of the August 12 vehicular attack in which a white supremacist bowled over a group of counterprotesters with a dark gray Dodge Challenger. Peterson was among about 20 members of activist group Solidarity […]

In brief: No permits, no DP editor, no daycare license and more

Permission denied Minutes before a decision was due, City Manager Maurice Jones denied several special event permits for rallies and counterrallies proposed on the weekend of August 12 in Emancipation, Justice and McGuffey parks—ground zero for the summer’s Unite the Right rally that left three people dead and countless wounded. The first application was filed […]

Blue Christmas: Diner not ready to reopen

When we last heard from the owner of Blue Moon Diner in May, she said she was closing the West Main Street institution for renovations until early 2018. Now, as the new year is upon us, Laura Galgano says it could be fall before the lights come back on at the beloved home of the […]

Dude, where’s my mail? Frustrated residents want answers

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds,” wrote Herodotus, an ancient Greek philosopher, in what later became the U.S. Postal Service’s unofficial credo. “That obviously doesn’t stand true in Charlottesville these days,” says Bentivar resident Bill Lawrence. In May, C-VILLE wrote about […]

Family closure: Sentence suspended for father who killed son

The former UVA police officer who killed his mentally ill son while defending his family last year won’t serve any additional jail time, an Albemarle County judge ruled December 5. On November 9, 2016, then-84-year-old Donald Short shot his 47-year-old son, Matthew, in the leg and abdomen after Matthew started a violent fight with Short’s […]