Sidney Stinnie admits he shot a man. He admits he sold drugs. But he emphatically denies that he sexually assaulted former City Council candidate James Halfaday in the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail in 2013. The prosecution appears to agree and dropped a forcible sodomy charge against him in February. “I lost family members,” said Stinnie, […]
Charlottesville’s proposed city budget is still leaning heavily on a hotly contested one-penny increase in the city’s meals tax, a hike that would generate $2.1 million. That’s money supporters—including an apparent majority of City Councilors—say is necessary to close a school funding gap and pay for additional police. But at a public hearing on the […]
Chief Charles Werner said he’s calling it quits this summer after a 37-year career at the Charlottesville Fire Department. Werner started at the department at 18 years old, became chief in 2005, and in January, his department received the insurance industry’s top Class 1 rating, which translates into lower premiums for residents. Werner started a […]
As the battle over the fate of Sweet Briar College heads to the courtroom, a forensic accountant hired by the nonprofit Saving Sweet Briar has issued a report finding that as of August 2014, the school’s financial picture did not warrant the decision to close. “An initial review of Sweet Briar College’s finances shows that […]
This is an updated story. The original is included below. On Sunday, just shy of five months after Rolling Stone posted its explosive and flawed report on an alleged gang rape at UVA online, The Columbia Journalism Review made public a 13,000-word analysis of the reporting and editing failures that led to the publication of […]
There is little doubt that the subject of race relations is currently at the forefront of the American conversation. From “hands up, don’t shoot” to “black lives matter” to Starbucks’ condescending, widely derided Race Together campaign (in which a rich white business owner encouraged his majority-minority workforce to converse with coffee-craving customers about skin color), […]
Since spring is busting out all around central Virginia, it’s a perfect time to consider upgrades to outdoor living space. An ideal project might be a deck addition or a screened porch. Another welcome addition could be an outdoor kitchen with counter space, a grill, a built-in ice chest, or even a small refrigerator. Families […]
The resurgence of low-down financing seems dangerous on the surface. However, since the 2008 recession, things have drastically changed, including requirements regarding down payments. What’s different this time? According to Karen Dowell of Real Estate Solutions (www.karendowell.com), the primary difference is the underwriting criteria. Although there are still some low credit score types of programs […]
Charlottesville’s only AIDS services organization (ASO) is permanently closing, the 29-year-old nonprofit announced this week. Thrive, formerly known as AIDS Services Group, sent media outlets a press release late Thursday explaining that the group’s board made the unanimous decision to shut down Wednesday night. “This was not an easy decision,” reads a statement from the […]
The same people who came to Charlottesville earlier this year to defend the city holiday honoring Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, which City Council axed March 2, now plan to raise a Confederate flag on private property here. “Any time people try to take something away from our heritage, we try […]