New county housing lowest since 1995

Albemarle County (www.albemarle.org) recently released its 2006 building report that shows 575 new building permits were issued in 2006. The results are the lowest number for residential construction since 1995, when 569 building permits were issued. Nine Year Comparison of New Albemarle Residential Dwelling Units The 2006 numbers are down 44 percent from 2005. Those […]

Street closure “measure of last resort”

Congested traffic is an issue for anyone who lives in Charlottesville, but for those that stand to be affected by the development of Biscuit Run and the 30,000 increased vehicles per day it promises to deliver, the dilemma is one of invasion and threat to quality of life. To head off this expected infringement, a […]

Localities look for more tools

Both City and County governments have been working on adding new tools to allow them to address two hot-button issues: adding affordable housing and substracting rural development. Several City leaders have been pushing for an ordinance that would give developers increased density in exchange for affordable housing; in the County, Supervisor David Slutzky has championed […]

School systems want slightly more

This time of year, the item dominating the agendas for local school boards (www.ccs.K12.va.us; www.k12.albemarle.org) tends to be the annual budget funding request. After the school board wrangles over their priorities, it forwards the request to local government, which has final say. Contentious issues in the County have included the ol’ “living wage” issue: Some […]

May the pluckiest lady win

Local schools have got less than one month left to make their nominations for the Emily Couric Leadership Scholarship. Unlike other scholarships, this one, open to girls from 11 Charlottesville and Albemarle area high schools, doesn’t award young women who keep their noses in the books—it awards women who get up and do. Named for […]

Statues: The ties that bind

Charlottesville’s ties to its sister cities will soon grow more, um, concrete. The image above is a rendering for a “sister city” sculpture, designed by former director of strategic planning, Satyendra Huja. It already has the approval of the Board of Architectural Review and now awaits word from City Council (www.charlottesville.org). The current plan is […]

Wife killer guilty of capital murder

On Saturday, November 20, 2004, John and Irene Powers drove up the long, wooded drive to their daughter’s secluded apartment outside Manassas. Two nights before, they had seen her at Outback Steakhouse,

Legal concerns for DNA databank

When Charlottesville Police Captain J.E. “Chip” Harding discovered about 20 percent of local felons who should have been included in the State DNA databank were missing, officials got pretty excited about solving the presumably statewide problem. House Bill 3034, sponsored by Albemarle Delegate Rob Bell, would grant authority and set up a system for swabbing […]

Let the games begin

Ed Robb, Albemarle sheriff since January 2000, has announced he won’t run for re-election. Two potential sheriffs have announced their candidacy: Current Charlottesville Police Captain J.E. “Chip” Harding will likely snag the Republican nomination and Larry Claytor, who has run before as an independent, will seek the Democratic nomination. Robb, who will turn 70 this […]