Put on ice: The General Assembly is in session

State Senator Creigh Deeds compares the 2016 General Assembly session, which starts January 13, to a Talking Heads lyric: “Same as it ever was.” Says Charlottesville’s senior legislator, “It’ll be about money and health care.” Virginia’s part-time legislature passes a balanced budget every two years, and the 60-day session has been known to drag into […]

SWAT talk: Number of standoffs is ‘out of the norm’

The overall goal of any SWAT team is to save lives, says Lieutenant Steve Upman with the Charlottesville Police Department. The January 5 standoff between city, county and university police and a suspected bank robber marked the second standoff of the year. “The two callouts over the last few days are out of the norm […]

Three locals missing in one week

Last week, three locals were reported missing and only one has been found. Joseph Carroll Breeden, 38, was last seen at the Hollymead Town Center Five Guys Burgers and Fries, where he works, at 7:30pm Wednesday, January 6. At 8pm, he was captured on video at a UVA library. At 5 feet 9 inches and […]

Welcome to the club: Common House takes over former Mentor Lodge space

The space for a 7,000-square-foot private club on West Market Street was purchased in 2013, and what plans call a “brick and mortar establishment” may be one step closer to becoming a reality. A joint public hearing between Charlottesville City Council and the City Planning Commission was held Tuesday night after C-VILLE went to press, […]

Canine expertise: Bloodhound at center of Jesse Matthew hearing

A judge ruled that police did not make misrepresentations to a magistrate when seeking a search warrant during a hearing that stretched more than nine hours January 11 on a defense motion to suppress evidence in the capital case against Jesse Matthew for the abduction and murder of UVA student Hannah Graham. Central to Matthew’s objection to […]

Creigh Deeds sues state for son’s wrongful death

The day after news broke about the $6 million wrongful death lawsuit he’d filed in his son’s 2013 death, Virginia state Senator Creigh Deeds refused to discuss the suit, but says the decision to file “was always a consideration. Since the beginning of the republic, the legal system has been in place to make changes […]

The year in rear view: Our annual political quiz, odder than ever

Last year began, per usual, with politicians swarming the capitol for the kickoff of the General Assembly legislative session. Match each of the following attending personalities with a sordid detail from their past: 1) Former Governor Bob McDonnell 2) Current Governor Terry McAuliffe 3) Delegate Joe Morrissey 4) Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw 5) Senate […]

Space issue: Rescue squad sues city over variance

The Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad hopes to increase the size of its building, which has been nestled on McIntire Road since 1964, to give volunteers more space to meet and make it possible to accommodate the increasing size of emergency vehicles. “The trucks don’t fit,” says Chief Dayton Haugh. “It’s 2015.” In May, CARS submitted an […]

Trail runner offers safety tips after Running Man’s death

Following the December 29 death of 55- year-old Philip Weber III, known as Charlottesville’s “Running Man,” an ultra marathoner and running club board member makes suggestions for safe running. Weber was struck and killed by a 2001 Isuzu Trooper on Ivy Road around 7am. At the time of the incident, police closed the westbound lane […]

Del Rosso enters 5th District race

Denouncing his own party, Republican Michael Del Rosso announced a run for the 5th District seat that Congressman Robert Hurt will give up after this year. About three dozen supporters joined Del Rosso in front of the Freedom of Speech Wall on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall on a chilly January 4. Del Rosso cited a Fox […]