Home Inspections Are a Good Investment

An important component of a home sale is an expert inspection of the property. In fact, most REALTORS ® strongly recommend that an offer to buy includes a home-inspection contingency. Generally the buyer pays for the inspection but this, like many things, is negotiable. A home inspector will examine a property, then detail findings and […]

In brief: Dissent in the air, taco shop heist and more

Rolling Stone resists The magazine was back in court February 9 in Roanoke to ask a judge to throw out a $3 million jury award to UVA administrator Nicole Eramo for defamation, arguing Eramo didn’t prove reporter Sabrina Erdely acted with actual malice and that running a correction isn’t defamatory republication. Judge Glen Conrad will […]

Fundraising shortfall: City grant helps keep heritage center afloat

When Charlottesville decided to keep the historic Jefferson School and its prime real estate as a community center rather than selling it for condos, a complicated financial structure was required to make the $18 million rehab of the 1926 high school possible. Four years after the renovated school reopened in 2012, fundraising that was supposed […]

For fake’s sake: Assault on real news continues

“What I’m about to show you is keeping me up at night,” said former CBS correspondent and current UVA professor Wyatt Andrews at a February 9 seminar addressing the relationship between President Donald Trump, the media and “fake news.” And what he said might surprise you. At 1.2 million, the Wall Street Journal has the […]

Invalid warrant: Judge allows evidence in Korte case anyway

Ruling that the search warrant that led to the arrest of former UVA film studies professor Walter Korte was invalid—and that the two images used as the basis for the warrant in fact weren’t child pornography—Judge Cheryl Higgins nonetheless allowed the admission of the photos, citing a “good faith” exemption for police seeking warrants. Korte, […]

In brief: Scary legislation, same-sex education and more

Sheriff ponies up Albemarle’s Chip Harding says he’ll write a check for $5,000 and has raised another $28K to donate to the Virginia Crime Commission, chaired by Delegate Rob Bell, to help study the effects of collecting DNA for misdemeanor convictions. Harding and Hannah Graham’s parents say it would have saved her life if Jesse […]

Psychic’s husband gets 33 months in prison

The husband of Sandra Marks, aka Psychic Catherine, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay $5.5 million in restitution to the clients seeking spiritual solace the couple bilked. Donnie Marks, 43, who was charged with mail fraud and money laundering, appeared in the same U.S. District Court February 10 where his […]

Augusta County: Beautiful, Affordable, Happening

Nestled in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, it’s named after an 18th century princess of Wales, mother to Britain’s King George III. So sparsely populated at its founding in 1738 that for seven years no one bothered to set up a government, it saw a population increase of more than 34 percent from 1990 to 2010. […]

No way, Crozet: High-density subdivision rezoning denied

At its February 1 meeting, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors denied a rezoning request for Adelaide, a proposed 80-unit housing development in Crozet. The project is currently zoned for one single home per acre, and developer Kyle Redinger sought a zoning change to six units per acre, which would provide more density in the […]