Gary O'Connell to work on his passion: water

After 15 years as Charlottesville City Manager, Gary O’Connell is “ready for a change.” At the end of April, O’Connell will leave his post in the city to head the Albemarle County Service Authority (ACSA) as its executive director. To what may seem like a step into a minefield—otherwise known as the ongoing debate over […]

Local leaders are pumped that high-paying government work is coming to Albemarle County. But Will the Defense Intelligence Agency payoff match the promise?

O Dear Citizen of Albemarle, I know you’re excited. The Defense Intelligence Agency is here.  We’ve been hearing about them for years: Eight-hundred twenty-eight employees descending on Albemarle County like a swarm of locusts. But these locusts will be a boon, not a plague, sowing a luscious bounty. In the words of the wise men […]

Evergreen, or just lucky?

Hey Ace: Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed an oak tree on the 250 bypass (heading east, on the left side of the McIntire Park interchange) that is still green and full of leaves. Driving west, it’s more of a greenish-brown. How does this happen in January, especially considering the winter we’ve been having?—Oak-K-Commuter-in-Charlottesville […]

University Limited to turn Alcove condos into 31-roomer

With the Landmark Hotel still serving as the city’s largest monument to failed accomodations, it bears asking whether Charlottesville needs another hotel, no matter the size. Then again, for Whit Graves, maybe size matters after all.   The Alcove condos—which sit in the thick of UVA traffic near the corner of Wertland and 14th streets, […]

County reductions would close JMRL branches in Scottsville, Crozet

As Albemarle County whittles away at a budget, community relations director Lee Catlin wrote last week in a press release that the county asked multiple community agencies “to assess the impacts of a five-percent and 10-percent funding reduction from the County.” The same day, Jefferson-Madison Regional Library Board President Anthony Townsend called a press conference […]

Van der Linde agrees to pay $600,000 in settlement

Did Peter van der Linde fight the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority into a settlement stalemate of sorts, or vice versa? This much we know: Months after the RSWA filed an amended complaint against the recycling center director to the tune of a $30 million racketeering charge, the RSWA came to settlement terms last week with […]

UVA versus Michigan, by the numbers

Total student population University of Virginia: 21,057 University of Michigan: 56,857 (all campuses)   Total operating budget  University of Virginia: $2.25 billion (through June 2010) University of Michigan: $5.42 billion (all campuses), $1.5 billion overseen by Sullivan in 2009   Number of employees University of Virginia: 15,128 full-time University of Michigan: 9,266 instructional staff; 30,654 non-instructional (all […]