Do the YMCA: Charlottesville site breaks ground—finally

The long-awaited Brooks Family YMCA will offer local families a fitness floor, elevated track, basketball gym and multiple pools—all coming to McIntire Park in the summer of 2017 at a cost of $18,744,384. Exactly half of that has been raised so far. “You may have your door knocked upon soon,” Suzanne Jessup Brooks, vice president […]

The Weiner factor: How one case derailed Denise Lunsford

Unlike Charlottesville, where it was a given that Democratic candidates for City Council would win, Albemarle had several contested races, including two for board of supervisors and four candidates vying for clerk of court. But the race everyone was watching: Whether Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford could hold onto her seat for a third term against […]

Pedal to the metal: Advocates want bikes at Ragged Mountain

“It embarrasses me that some outdoors people feel that there are others who are not ‘pure enough,’” wrote avid trail hiker of 50 years, John Pfaltz, in a letter to C-VILLE the day after Charlottesville City Council voted 3-2 to table the decision on whether a prohibition on cyclists, runners and dogs would be lifted […]

Wyld thing: Parents at Buford concerned about recruiting tactics

When Manuel Lerdau heard from his seventh-grader a couple of weeks ago that a Christian youth organization was recruiting at Buford Middle School under the guise of a party, he became concerned. “Representatives from WyldLife were at Buford during lunch recruiting students to attend WyldLife events, and doing it in a way that was not […]

Upsets in Albemarle constitutional races

Incumbent Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford lost to Republican challenger Robert Tracci by 515 votes in a closely watched race, while other county Democratic candidates sailed to victory. Lunsford received nearly 49 percent of the vote to Tracci’s 51 percent. Another constitutional officer, incumbent Clerk of Court Debbie Shipp, running as an independent, lost by an even bigger margin. Shipp took 26 percent of […]

Down to the wire: Lunsford threatens lawsuit over Tracci ad

  The week before the election, the Albemarle County commonwealth’s attorney race exploded with lawsuits, threats of suits and last-minute retorts in ads between the campaigns of incumbent Denise Lunsford and challenger Robert Tracci. “The good news is that we have some excitement in local races,” says Richmond Sunlight creator and longtime local political observer […]

Construction crews prepare for the Blade

Signs and sandwich boards on the historic Downtown Mall may soon be outshone by the reinstallation of a much anticipated, 33-foot sign at the Paramount Theater. As the theater celebrates its 10th anniversary of reopening, construction crews prepare to bring back the Blade—a $175,000 project to put the Paramount’s iconic blade sign back in its […]

October surprise: Lunsford faces lawsuit over FOIA request

Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford, in a hotly contested race for reelection, faced additional heat October 29 when Richmond attorney Matthew Hardin filed a lawsuit against her for creating a “barrier to transparency” in her response to a Freedom of Information Act request issued earlier this week. The FOIA request asked for information on Lunsford’s credit […]

Gubernatorial invite: Will McAuliffe visit pipeline foes?

While many out-of-towners plan tours of Nelson County to learn the land by way of winery and brewery, Governor Terry McAuliffe has been extended a much more somber, or rather, sober, invitation. Over 1,200 Virginia residents signed Friends of Nelson’s request for McAuliffe to join locals and business owners on a tour of the Atlantic […]

Judge will consider bond for psychic

Sandra Marks, aka Psychic Catherine and Catherine Marks, had a bond hearing October 22 in U.S. District Court and Judge Glen Conrad said he would consider it if she and her attorney can come up with an acceptable plan for her release. Marks, 41, has been in jail since her July 23 arrest in New York […]