Seven Oaks sells—finally

After nearly seven years on the market, Seven Oaks, the Greenwood estate owned by Dave Matthews Band manager, MusicToday founder and real estate tycoon Coran Capshaw sold October 31 for $5.5 million. The 100-acre historic estate was listed for $12.5 million when it went on the market in 2008. The new owner is an entity […]

Wes Bellamy makes another bid for City Council

Wes Bellamy lost to Bob Fenwick in the 2013 Democratic primary for Charlottesville City Council by five votes—a frustratingly small margin, he said. But now, as the 28-year-old teacher and youth mentor launches his second bid for a Council seat, he’s glad he didn’t win last time around. A lot has happened in two years, […]

Hearings set: Accused Rugby Avenue slayer Gene Washington in court

The man accused of killing a mother and daughter in their Rugby Avenue home before torching it was in court February 19 for a preliminary hearing for the murder of Robin Aldridge. Gene Everett Washington, 30, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Robin, 58, and her daughter Mani, 17. […]

Data dive: Tracking untapped business tax revenue in Charlottesville

Earlier this month, news outlets around the state picked up a story about a local government data crusader who hit on a potential treasure trove of untapped municipal tax revenue. Waldo Jaquith, who founded the nonprofit U.S. Open Data, had paid for access to the State Corporation Commission’s (SCC) list of more than 1.1 million […]

The ruins of Afton Mountain: Eyesores along a scenic byway

Thousands of visitors come to Virginia every year to tour the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. As they soak in the natural beauty where the two meet off Interstate 64 at Rockfish Gap, with views stretching out across the Shenandoah Valley, they soak in something else less appealing, although breathtaking in its own way: […]

Richmond rundown Legislators find common ground as session winds down

The 2015 General Assembly session is in its final sprint, with talk of both houses agreeing to a budget and voting on it one day before the session ends February 27—a nearly unprecedented rapprochement. Contributing to the speedy resolution was taking Medicaid expansion off the table, despite Governor Terry McAuliffe setting that as a priority […]

Dominion proposes alternative pipeline routes through Nelson

Dominion has announced that it is exploring several alternative routes for its planned Atlantic Coast Pipeline through Nelson County. The 550-mile natural gas pipeline, which the company hopes to have online by the end of 2018, would be routed through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, and has seen significant opposition in Nelson, where many […]

Documentary screening aims to get people talking about race

How do you get teens to talk about race in a way that prompts action and meaningful change? That’s a central question posed in the 2013 documentary “I’m Not Racist…Am I?,” which follows 12 New York City teenagers from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds as they go through a series of workshops and conversations on […]

The giving spree: The General Assembly swallows a bitter pill

Let us set the scene for you. As the Virginia General Assembly heads into the home stretch of its winter session, it has one currently incarcerated delegate legislating while on work release, another recent delegate serving a nine-and-a-half-year prison sentence for bribery and extortion and a former governor headed to the federal pen on multiple […]