Former Pastor faces child porn charges

A former Lutheran pastor charged with 20 counts of possession of child pornography, as well as two counts of videotaping non-consenting adults, has been released on $100,000 conditional bond following a July 19 hearing. Gregory Briehl—who, until this spring, was an associate pastor at the Peace Lutheran Church as well as counselor at First Stone Counseling Center-urned himself into Albemarle authorities July 18 after they issued a warrant for his arrest.

Public swearing arrests

Ah, summer in Charlottesville. A perfect time for outdoor concerts, evening strolls on the Mall and the sort of public profanity that causes bystanders to ask, “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”    Public swearing/intoxication arrests totaled 22 in the city two weekends ago. But Charlottesville Police Captain Bryant Bibb says those arrests were mainly […]

Corner killer sued for wrongful death

The family of Walker Sisk, who was stabbed to death in November 2003, has served his killer, Andrew Alston, with a $3 million lawsuit.    Alston was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for stabbing Sisk, a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter, 18 times in a drunken altercation at the corner of 14th and Wertland streets. He was released from […]

Parking-meter thief hits jackpot, then jail

David Robert Brown, 35, was charged with grand larceny for stealing more than $1,000 from parking meters in the Water Street lot. Police caught him on camera around 1:45am Monday, July 17, tampering with meters.    Meters were checked and cleared out by the City on June 13. When they were checked again June 30, about […]

Cops sued for serial rapist DNA search

A man who says a Charlottesville Police DNA dragnet violated his constitutional rights may be joined by other victims in a class-action suit.    Larry Monroe of Charlottesville was one of 190 black men approached for a DNA sample as police attempted to catch a serial rapist. During the investigation, from late 2003 to April 2004, […]

Goode donor pleads guilty to illegal giving

Richard Berglund pleaded guilty Friday, July 21, to making illegal donations to Rep. Virgil Goode, whose district includes Charlottesville. Berglund’s admissions are the latest news in a congressional bribery scandal involving MZM Inc., a company that provides security and other military related services.

Council thanks heaven for Noah Schwartz

In recent years, Charlottesville’s Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA)—charged with the oversight and maintenance of Section 8 and public housing—has been notoriously inept. Consequently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has classified the City for the last three years with troubled housing status.    To combat the embarrassing boondoggle, the City hired a […]

Stem-Cell vote bedevils state politicos

On July 19, 2006, George W. Bush used his veto power for the first time in his presidency to trump a Senate vote which sought to extend federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. His veto was widely expected, as he had made it quite clear in a 2001 statement that his preference was to largely […]

Local group calls for impeachment

A mostly older crowd packed the meeting hall of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church on Wednesday, July 19, with one purpose: to impeach the president.    The event, sponsored by the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice, was moderated by David Swanson, a board member of CCPJ and co-founder of the anti-war website afterdowningstreet.org. He kicked […]

Tech Ed center seeks business support

An employment crisis is brewing eight years down the line: As the baby boomers retire and smaller generations come to working maturity, demand for employees will far outstrip supply. Will the gum-popping youths of today be ready to fill those retiring shoes?    Such was the picture painted by Darah Bonham, the new director of Charlottesville […]