McAuliffe signs sexual assault bills

In the wake of multiple tragedies involving sexual violence over the past nine months, Virginia lawmakers passed three bills on campus assault prevention and response policies that Governor Terry McAuliffe signed into law May 28. HB 1785, introduced by Delegate Jimmie Massie (R-Henrico), mandates that campus police notify the local commonwealth’s attorney of a victim-initiated […]

Tenacious board: Sweet Briar fight heads to state’s top court

As the fight over Sweet Briar College heads toward the Virginia Supreme Court, one key question swirls around the board, which recently voted to close the 114-year-old institution. The trustees find themselves opposed at practically every level by students, alumnae, faculty, and even elected officials. Three lawsuits have been filed, the judge hearing them says […]

Girl drowns in Rivanna

A 9-year-old girl drowned in the Rivanna River on May 30 after slipping and being pulled underwater by a current. She was playing in a shallow area of the river, which was later measured at approximately 1.48 feet deep by the U.S. Geological Survey, according to the Daily Progress. Charlottesville and Albemarle County authorities initiated […]

Legal Aid, Sexual Assault Advocacy Fund team up to support UVA victims

As University of Virginia grad Lisa Richey read the now retracted Rolling Stone article on sexual assault at UVA last November, she felt compelled to do something to make a difference. On an impulse just hours after the story’s publication, she launched an online fundraiser with the general but somewhat undefined goal of providing independent legal counsel to victims […]

Middleditch released on bond

Prominent local realtor Andrew Middleditch, who was charged with driving under the influence following a May 25 fatal crash on Barracks Road, was released from jail Thursday on a $15,000 bond, according to the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail. Ivy resident Middleditch, 55, was traveling east in the 2900 block of Barracks Road between Old Garth Road and […]

Commonwealth needs more time in Martese Johnson case

At a scheduled May 28 court hearing, the prosecution asked for more time to review the Virginia State Police investigation into the bloody March 18 arrest by Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control agents of 20-year-old UVA student Martese Johnson. Prosecutors said in a motion that a final meeting with state police is set for the first week […]

School bus mom: Child hit back of her car

Dana Monroe said she could see the school bus at the top of the hill at Rives and Vine streets as she turned out of Ridgecrest Drive in Belmont. And when she felt something hit her car, she pulled over. Monroe was charged May 15 for disregarding a stopped school bus in an incident in […]

Light House Studio buys Vinegar Hill Theatre

Charlottesville’s iconic independent movie theater, Vinegar Hill, which has been shuttered for two years, has been sold to Light House Studio, a nonprofit that encourages young filmmakers, for $850,000. Light House initially was interested in the space as a rental. “Back in November, we realized in sort of an aha moment that we could put […]

Report from Nepal: Local lives through aftershocks

Western Albemarle High grad Marli Gordon was walking through her impoverished Kathmandu neighborhood of Nayabazar on April 25 when she began to lose her balance. Screaming filled the streets as people ran from their houses, and Gordon instantly realized she was in the midst of an earthquake. “Pieces of bricks were falling off of houses […]

Immortal Joe Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner

There have been, in the history of this column, a grand total of three all-timers. The first was U.S. Representative Virgil Goode—a genial doofus with a white-cloud coiffure and career-long propensity for grandly offensive pronouncements. The second was good ol’ George “Macaca” Allen, former governor, one-term U.S. senator and presidential aspirant, whose awesome display of […]