City cites 90 for not shoveling sidewalks

It was pretty challenging being a pedestrian after winter storm Jonas dumped more than 15 inches on Charlottesville. City code requires that sidewalks be cleared within 24 hours after the snow stops. Once City Manager Maurice Jones declared the storm officially over the evening of Saturday, January 23, citizens received a slight reprieve because it […]

UPDATED: STAB students praised for presenting to City Council

Three St. Anne’s-Belfield seniors hoped to draw attention to the current positioning of a nearly hidden plaque that commemorates the predominantly African-American neighborhood of Vinegar Hill that was razed by urban renewal in the ’60s. The students presented a petition to City Council February 1. Christopher Woodfolk, 17, says he and his classmates created the […]

Randy Taylor prosecutor Anthony Martin resigns

Anthony Martin, the Nelson County commonwealth’s attorney who got a murder conviction without a body in the case of missing teen Alexis Murphy, resigned from his position January 26 after being reelected in an unopposed race in November. In an e-mail, Martin says, “[R]eally it boiled down to wanting a change after 10 years of prosecution. […]

More misdemeanors: Delegate Matt Fariss charged with hit-and-run

Southern Albemarle County’s infrequently seen representative to the House of Delegates, Rustburg resident Matt Fariss, R-57th, has been charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run as well as breach of the peace in two separate Campbell County incidents. In a story originally reported by the Lynchburg News and Advance, a 2014 Dodge Ram truck traveling north on Red […]

Little information released about UVA student arrested in North Korea

A University of Virginia student is currently detained in North Korea for allegedly committing a “hostile act” against the country. Otto Franklin Warmbier, a third-year commerce student, Echols scholar and Theta Chi fraternity brother, was visiting North Korea with the Chinese travel agency Young Pioneer Tours, which markets itself as providing “budget tours to destinations […]

Cow knob salamander reroutes Atlantic Coast Pipeline

  The Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s proposed route through the George Washington and Monongahela national forests has been scrapped—a very big deal for the future of the pipeline, according to opponents—and Dominion must now begin looking for an alternate. The U.S. Forest Service rejected the ACP’s application for a special use permit January 21, requiring a […]

Eye on the door: Hurt heading back to Chatham

  Typically when a mid-career politician says he’s not seeking reelection, it means he’s looking at a run for higher office or is involved in a scandal. U.S. Representative Robert Hurt laughs when asked which prompted his decision to not run for a fourth term. “I was first elected in 2000,” the Republican legislator says […]

And away we go… Everybody back in the pool!

Ah, January in the capitol, when Virginia’s legislators swarm in from all corners of the commonwealth for the annual General Assembly session, bringing along the petty grudges and crackpot bills they’ve managed to generate over the previous year. And every year we sit in anticipation, just waiting for the next intemperate floor speech or ill-considered […]

Entrapment trial: Jury rejects task force’s $50 heroin sting

Ryan McLernan admits he’s an addict. But he’s adamant he never sold drugs until another addict—a confidential informant for the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement Task Force—asked McLernan if he could help him score. McLernan did, and, six months later, he was indicted for distribution of $50 worth of heroin. The 22-year-old Western Albemarle High graduate […]