Health issue 2014: Local docs on the controversy over breast cancer screening

This story is part of our 2014 health issue, which also includes articles on concussions in young athletes, rhabdomyolysis, and gluten intolerance. Just over four years ago, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force—an independent, federally funded panel of physicians—rocked the cancer community when it changed its breast cancer screening guidelines, recommending that women get mammograms […]

Keswick tragedy raises questions about fire agreement, smoke detectors

“It’s fire! Fire! My kids and wife are inside!” The desperate 911 call made by an Albemarle County man who arrived home from work around 1:30am on January 18 to discover his home ablaze offers a heartbreaking glimpse into the tragedy that took the lives of 34-year-old Sayeda Nadia Ghaffer, 7-year-old Ammar Sheikh and 2-year-old […]

Health issue 2014: UVA studies impact of concussions in young athletes

This story is part of our 2014 health issue, which also includes articles on mammography, rhabdomyolysis, and gluten intolerance. Helmet? Check. Shoulder pads? Check. Tiny biometric brain injury sensor? Check. You won’t see the quarter-sized computerized devices tucked behind their ears, but more than 100 local high school and college athletes are donning the sensors […]

Education Beat: Delegate seeks shift in state funding for schools

Legislation to change the state funding formula for Charlottesville and Albemarle’s education budgets has been introduced again before the General Assembly in Richmond. The proposed budget amendment, known as the “Bell Amendment” and named after its patron, local Republican Delegate Rob Bell, would take the two communities’ 1982 revenue sharing agreement into account when calculating […]

Winter garden blues: Waiting out cold weather in the veggie patch

Winters in Virginia sure can be fickle. Last winter it was so warm that the ground barely froze, and I had clients harvesting tomatoes well into December. And then March hit, with sleety, slushy snow and cold temps, and my spring gardens couldn’t be planted until April—compare that with planting spinach on February 22 several […]

What’s Happening at the Jefferson School City Center?

Literacy Volunteers Hosts Volunteer Recognition Party Tomorrow On Saturday, January 25, 2014, Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/ Albemarle (LVCA) will host a Volunteer Recognition Party, featuring a reading by author Kevin Quirk and celebrating the hard work of over 150 volunteers. This year, LVCA will also honor three volunteers for their service in 2013: Renée Ferguson, […]

In McDonnell indictment, feds describe Star Scientific’s push for UVA research

After months of rumors, innuendo, leaks and mea culpas, the other shoe has finally dropped in the ongoing gift scandal surrounding former first couple Bob and Maureen McDonnell. On January 21, 2014, both were named as co-conspirators in a federal indictment that alleges, among other things, that they—separately and together—are guilty of wire fraud, false […]