General Lee wins first court skirmish

At the end of a six-hour hearing May 2, a judge enjoined the City of Charlottesville from removing its statue of General Robert E. Lee for the next six months. More than 150 years after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, the battle over Confederate monuments continues. Protesters in favor of ousting the statue chanted outside Charlottesville […]

Court costs: After winning jury trial, Eramo settles

Nearly two years after filing a more than $7.5 million defamation suit against Rolling Stone, its parent company and “A Rape on Campus” reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely—and five months after a jury awarded her $3 million—former UVA associate dean Nicole Eramo settled her case, likely for much less. The November 19, 2014, Rolling Stone article […]

Update: Culpeper mosque case headed to mediation

Following a March 22 hearing in U.S. District Court, the County of Culpeper and the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to mediation in the suit the DOJ filed alleging county discrimination against the Islamic Center of Culpeper when it requested a sewage permit for a mosque that was normally granted to churches. The Islamic Center, which […]

‘Life-changing’: Medical marijuana inches toward desperate families

Within the next few years, three Charlottesville families will be able to legally obtain the cannabis oil extract that eases the seizures of their children with debilitating intractable epilepsy, thanks to unanimous approval in the General Assembly in February, passing even the usually marijuana-averse House of Delegates 99-0. Good news, right? Yet none of those […]

The unmasker: Nikuyah Walker makes independent bid for City Council

In her run to sit on the other side of the City Council dais she’s often stood before, Nikuyah Walker won’t be touting Charlottesville as a world-class city. Instead, her theme of “unmasking the reality” acknowledges the duality of a town that draws the wealthy and well-educated, yet is unaffordable for many of its citizens, […]

Legal front: Lawsuit filed to halt removal of General Lee statue

Nearly a dozen citizens filed a not-unexpected lawsuit and an injunction today in Charlottesville Circuit Court to stop the removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee and any further tampering with Lee and Jackson parks, both donated by Paul Goodloe McIntire. The plaintiffs include descendants from the park donor and the sculptor, as […]

Where’s Tom? The case of the missing congressman

Craig DuBose made his appointment February 1 to meet with Congressman Tom Garrett in the congressman’s Charlottesville office March 6. Heather Rowland made hers February 10. Both constituents called to confirm their appointments before showing up at Garrett’s Berkmar Crossing office, and both were dismayed to learn Garrett wasn’t there. “I was disappointed,” says DuBose, […]

Is Hedgerow a no-go? County pushes for biking park that bikers don’t want

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has made it clear that, though Charlottesville’s City Council has voted to allow mountain biking at Ragged Mountain Natural Area—a city-owned park located in the county—they don’t like it one bit because county regulations prohibit activities like biking that could pollute the reservoir. As an alternative, the supes are […]