Fridays After Five: A Charlottesville Tradition

By Ken Wilson –  The Dave Matthews Band  played it. So did Corey Harris, and so did Sons of Bill. The hometown crowd heard these future stars, and heard them for free, at Fridays After Five, the April to September concert series set to begin its 30th season. Fridays from April 14 to September 8, […]

Feeling blue: Local diner set for closure

  On a recent Sunday morning, a crowd of Blue Moon Diner patrons could be seen hovering outside the side door of the self-proclaimed “best little breakfast, sandwich, burger, dinner, live music, arm wrestling, vinyl record-playing, family-friendly neighborhood bar and activist spot” with menus in hand. Lovers of the eatery, a Charlottesville institution, are shoveling […]

Eaglets’ landing: Nest could slow preservation development

When David Mitchell bought 120 acres 10 years ago off U.S. 250 in Crozet, he wanted to maintain much of its rural character and planned a subdivision with 13 clustered homes, with his own on a 60-acre preservation tract on the banks of Lickinghole Creek Basin. But he wasn’t the only one who found the […]

In brief: Angry scientists, alt-right lingo and more

Science, not silence At least 500 STEM-lovers came out to IX Art Park on Earth Day for the city’s satellite March on Science. C’ville Comm-UNI-ty hosted the event. Stonefield death nets $100 fine Franklin Pollock Reider, 75, was convicted of reckless driving April 24 for hitting pedestrian Bonnie Baha, 57, a California businesswoman who was […]

Insurance denied: City footing Lee statue, parking garage legal bills

Since 2016, Charlottesville has faced a larger-than-usual number of high-profile lawsuits, and in at least two cases, its insurance carrier won’t be picking up the tab. And while the carrier hasn’t seen the most recent suit, filed by Albemarle County over the Ragged Mountain Natural Area April 20, that litigation could join the Lee statue […]

Pig-killing couple convicted of animal cruelty with no jail time

  In a two-day trial that ran into the early-morning hours on April 22, a 12-person jury convicted a Fishersville duo of animal cruelty and maliciously killing a pig by stabbing it in the neck at least 31 times. Aymarie Sutter, 27, was employed as a veterinary assistant at the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA on July […]

An ‘insidious’ and ‘invasive’ threat to democracy

It’s the issue former President Barack Obama will focus on, joining people like Arnold Schwarzenegger and HBO’s John Oliver, who consider it the biggest threat to the United States’ representative government. The menace is not one that comes from outside the country, but a homegrown tradition dating back to the earliest days of the republic: […]

Home Owners Love Louisa’s Relaxed Country Lifestyle

By Celeste M. Smucker – Comfortable rural living where you can see the stars at night is one way people describe life in Louisa County located just to the east of Albemarle.  Others point to its vibrant economy and central location with easy access to the three major urban centers of Charlottesville, Richmond and Fredericksburg. […]

Staging a House to Sell

By Marilyn Pribus –  “It’s critically important to have a house show well when it’s time to sell,” declares REALTOR® Byrd Abbott, an associate broker with Roy Wheeler Realty Co. “Some tweaking and paring down often needs to be done because it’s so much easier to present a staged home.”  What Exactly Is Staging? Often […]

Biking battle continues: Supes give the okay on studying Hedgerow

Albemarle Board of Supervisors Chair Diantha McKeel said in February that an accelerated opening of Hedgerow Park could be an alternative to allowing biking at Ragged Mountain Natural Area, a controversial city-owned and county-located property on which both governing bodies are at odds about whether cycling should be permitted. In an April 12 work session, […]