Rolling Stone backtracks on UVA rape story; friend, police, Attorney General react

As criticism of shortcomings in its reporting of an alleged 2012 gang rape at UVA reached a fever pitch, Rolling Stone magazine’s managing editor today issued a mea culpa, saying the publication now has doubts about the account given by Jackie, the 20-year-old University student whose story launched a firestorm of reaction in Charlottesville and beyond, including a […]

Alums decry lack of leadership at UVA as sexual assault issue boils

As the controversy over UVA’s handling of sexual assault cases continues to build, some alums are expressing their frustration over what they see as a lack of leadership at the school and even calling publicly for the resignation of President Teresa Sullivan and replacement of the Board of Visitors. “If the BOV felt strong enough […]

What’s Happening at The Jefferson School?

YILC to host winter event The YMCA’s Intergenerational Learning Center will be hosting a pancake breakfast at the Vinegar Hill Café on Saturday December 13. From 9am-11am, the breakfast will include pancakes, bacon, coffee, milk, and juice. Santa will also be a special guest during the breakfast! Afterwards, come over to the child care center […]

Forest fracking: Understanding the decision on drilling in the GW

Early on a Tuesday morning last month, Sarah Francisco got an e-mail she’d been waiting years to receive. Francisco, a senior attorney at the Virginia office of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville, is the conservation group’s point person on the U.S. Forest Service’s long-delayed management plan for Virginia’s George Washington National Forest. The […]

Should schools be required to report rape? Some victim advocates say no

Two weeks after the publication of a Rolling Stone story alleging a brutal rape and a culture of covering up sexual assault at UVA rocked the community, officials are responding to angry calls for action with proposals: State lawmakers are rolling out plans for legislation that would require school administrators to report any evidence of […]

Name changer: Trademark claim threatens local restaurant

With former UVA scholar Edgar Allan Poe dead now since 1849, you might think everything about him is in the public domain. Not so. Just ask the owner of Poe’s Public House on the Corner, who may have to change his restaurant’s moniker after he received letters warning him that the name is taken. Joe […]

A tangled Webb: Virginia’s one-term senator aims for the White House

Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, bi-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics. If you had asked us a month ago to name which politician would be the first to officially challenge Hillary Clinton’s (as yet unannounced) bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, we probably would have picked former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, or perhaps Vermont’s […]

Lights, cameras, substation: Corner safety in focus

Hannah Graham’s name was not mentioned in the University of Virginia press release about a safety advisory committee’s recommendation for a police substation on the Corner, but the second-year’s national-spotlight disappearance from the Downtown Mall in September and the subsequent discovery of her remains was clearly the impetus. It’s also driving a heightened awareness of […]

Calling West Main ABC “a menace,” locals petition for closure

More than 30 prominent Charlottesvillians, including Delegate David Toscano, City Councilor Bob Fenwick, neighborhood association presidents and West Main Street business owners, have signed a letter to the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control demanding that the West Main Street store be moved because of the unsavory behavior it brings to the neighborhood. “The store […]