Man admits to 1982 rape and murder

The man responsible for a decades-old Culpeper rape and murder pleaded guilty April 11, a local prosecutor announced. Kenneth Maurice Tinsley struck a plea deal that says he raped 19-year-old Rebecca Lynn Williams, and acknowledges there’s enough evidence to also convict him in her stabbing death. The case caused an innocent man—Earl Washington, Jr.—to spend […]

Fry’s Spring Neighbors take on developer

James King may be blind, but he’s painfully aware of the development encroaching all around him. Residents of Jefferson Park Circle in Charlottesville for 20 years, King and his wife, Peggy, get a privileged view of both city and county construction. “This is an attack like we’ve never had before,” says Mr. King, a veteran […]

So much for SOCA’s new fields

Two extreme storylines competed in the Board of Supervisor’s decision on the fate of the request from the Soccer Organization of Charlottesville Albemarle (SOCA) to build a $4.5 million soccer facility on 10 acres in northern Albemarle, adding to existing fields off Polo Grounds Road. If allowed: The insatiable appetite of County Growth will gobble […]

Batten gives $100 Million

The University of Virginia received the largest gift in its history—$100 million—on April 12 from retired Landmark Communications, Inc. executive Frank Batten, Sr. The dough will go to create the Frank Batten

Nader to students: get angry

“So here you are: 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 years old. Where are you going to be in 50 years? What will you be doing? Do you talk about that on your cell phone?” On April 12, Ralph Nader gave his lecture, “While You Were Watching Big Brother, Big Brother Was Watching You” to hundreds […]

How to wrap a tuition increase

UVA’s Board of Visitors approved a tuition increase on April 12. That means UVA in-staters will pay 8.3 percent more per year ($655) in tuition and fees, bringing their yearly total to $16,133; out-of-staters are due for 7 percent more ($1,805), yielding a $35,383 annual total. Luckily, nobody puts a positive spin on a tuition […]

T.J.'s b-day

Dear Ace: I noticed that UVA and Monticello are commemorating Jefferson’s birthday on Friday, and I got to wondering: How would Thomas Jefferson have celebrated?—Celia Brating Celia: Images of T.J. in a pointy hat, hopped up on Sprite and Doritos, tearing open presents with abandon and harassing a party clown are certainly tempting to conjure, […]

Black is white

O.K., kids, pop quiz: In the last few weeks one member of Virginia’s U.S. Senate delegation issued a statement condemning the homophobic views of General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Pace had publicly opined that homosexual acts are immoral). He then proceeded to pile on embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales […]

Correction from previous issue

Due to a data entry error, the write-up in last week’s calendar for the April 6 David Sedaris reading at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center incorrectly included the phone number for the Wilson School of Dance. We hope that fans of Sedaris’ humor appreciated the mix-up, and we commend the good-natured way […]

Robin Campo and Cynthia Burke

art Realism is back—at least that’s the impression given by two shows, by Robin Campo and Cynthia Burke, currently at McGuffey. Within a postmodern context, the quest to faithfully represent the world finds two quite different champions in these artists, a sculptor and painter respectively. Campo’s show, “Offering,” tends more toward the deadpan, while Burke’s […]