2015 Year in Review

Looking back on the last year, it’s clear why Charlottesville was named the No. 2 most exciting city in Virginia (actually, we’d make the case for No. 1). Our town was propelled into the national spotlight for high-profile events such as Martese Johnson’s altercation with ABC agents and Jesse Matthew receiving three life sentences in […]

Robert Davis receives pardon

Robert Davis stepped outside the walls of a prison as a free man today for the first time since he was arrested at gunpoint nearly 13 years ago. Governor Terry McAuliffe issued a conditional pardon in a case that experts have called a textbook case of false confession. After being released from Coffeewood Correctional Center […]

Augusta County schools closed Friday for safety

A Riverheads High School world geography teacher in Staunton is being accused of attempting to convert her students to Islam. On the subject of major world religions, Cheryl LaPorte assigned a worksheet on Islam that included an exercise about the difficulty of writing calligraphy. Students were asked to imitate the Shahada, or the Islamic statement […]

Space invaders: CHS robotics team goes international

A group of Charlottesville High School students are on an espionage mission from NASA to capture photographs of a competitor satellite while managing a limited store of energy and avoiding having their own satellite’s photo snatched by the competitor. BACON, or the Best All-around Club of Nerds, has been doing a pretty good job at it, […]

Comings and goings draw more attention than Jesse Matthew

The status hearing for accused murderer Jesse Matthew had the former Monticello High student in court December 17 for what was basically the postponement of scheduling a motion hearing to bring in uncharged crimes during sentencing, should he be convicted of the murder, abduction and capital murder of Hannah Graham in July. Garnering more attention during the brief […]

Tracci sworn in as Albemarle commonwealth’s attorney—twice

Robert Tracci won’t officially take the job as Albemarle’s top prosecutor until January 1, but he was in court December 17  to be sworn in, an oath Judge Cheryl Higgins requested he take a second time because she had instructed him to say “fairly and impartially perform the duties” rather than “faithfully and impartially.” Republican Tracci […]

Joie de vivre: Students decide to stay or leave Paris after attacks

Of the UVA students studying abroad in Paris this past semester, one says a significant number elected to finish their school work electronically from domestic soil after the November 13 terrorist attacks in which 130 people were killed. Former C-VILLE intern Kathleen Smith, receiving credit in Paris through the Institute for International Education of Students, […]

The blade blazes: Final step in Paramount restoration complete

  Hundreds of people, many sporting “The Blade” pins, crowded in front of the Paramount Theater December 15 for the finishing touch in the refurbishment of the 1931 historic venue: the lighting of the blade. Margie Shepherd remembers going to the Paramount shortly before it closed in 1974 for a double-bill, a midnight screening of […]

It’s baaack: Belmont Bridge design RFP goes out

More than a decade after a 2003 study determined the Belmont Bridge was deteriorating and needed to be replaced, and more than six years after a company was chosen to design the bridge and whose vision was resoundingly rejected by the community, Charlottesville is again seeking bids to design the bridge. A warning to any […]

Gun shy: In Nelson, citizens have no say in ammo warehouse

Nelson County’s Route 151 in the Rockfish Valley has been called the “Napa Valley of the East Coast.” But some residents fear that appellation will change with the newest development on its scenic byway: a massive 84,000- square-foot ammunition and firearms distribution warehouse that has an indoor firing range. Neighbor Harold McCauley says he received […]