Mike Murphy named interim city manager

After more than a week of heated exchanges between city councilors and Mayor Nikuyah Walker over the hiring of an interim city manager,  there was 10 minutes of public notice before a 3-0 vote in closed session at 1:15pm resulted in Assistant City Manager Mike Murphy taking the job effective 5pm today, just hours before […]

Napoleon v. Bellamy at City Council

Kerfuffles certainly aren’t new at City Council meetings anymore, but the one June 18 between Pat Napoleon and Wes Bellamy jolted awake anyone who may have been dozing during public comments. Napoleon is the founder of Rise Charlottesville, and has been collecting signatures to remove those on council last year who voted to remove Confederate […]

Top choice: Charlottesville hires first female police chief

Two years ago, City Manager Maurice Jones announced the hiring of Al Thomas, Charlottesville’s first African-American police chief, who abruptly resigned 20 months later on December 18 following a scathing independent review of the handling of the violent events of August 11-12. Today, Jones introduced his latest police chief pick: former George Washington University chief […]

Guilty again: Ramos second person convicted in garage assault

    In the second trial of the week for the brutal August 12 attack on DeAndre Harris, a jury deliberated 35 minutes before entering a second guilty verdict May 3 for an out-of-towner here for the Unite the Right rally. Georgia resident Alex Michael Ramos, 34, sat expressionless through most of the two-day trial […]

Mark Weiner accuser in court again

The woman whose accusations jailed former Food Lion manager Mark Weiner for two and a half years before he was released, and led to the defeat of then-commonwealth’s attorney Denise Lunsford in 2015 was in court April 27. Chelsea Steiniger accused Michael Mills, the father of her two children, of punching her on February 15. […]

Booze bracelet: Cantwell’s public intoxication charge violates terms of bond

“Drunk,” “loaded” and “liquored up” were all words used in Albemarle County Circuit Court to describe the state of “Crying Nazi” Chris Cantwell during his Loudoun County arrest last month that nearly landed the self-proclaimed racist back in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. At an April 25 hearing, Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci said good behavior was […]

Tracci’s motion: Asks judge to vacate Kessler dismissal

Two weeks ago a judge dismissed a perjury charge against whites-righter Jason Kessler because the prosecution didn’t establish that the alleged crime took place in Albemarle. Legal pundits decried the misstep as a rookie move. Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci filed a motion to vacate that decision April 3, claiming that Judge Cheryl Higgins erred twice […]

Kessler subpoenaed C-VILLE reporter

Two business days before Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler was scheduled to stand trial on a felony perjury charge March 20 in Albemarle Circuit Court, C-VILLE Weekly reporter Samantha Baars was in Charlottesville General District Court, where a deputy handed her a subpoena to appear as a witness for Kessler. Aside from First Amendment […]