It’s a wash: Nothing has changed, yet everything’s different

Well, as we predicted right before the voting commenced, Virginia’s latest round of elections ended up almost exactly where it began, with the Republicans holding a one-seat majority in the state Senate and a two-thirds majority in the House of Delegates. Despite a flood of advertising (much of it funded by outside interest groups), Democrats […]

Settlement nearly reached for Fluvanna prisoners

“It’s nasty—it had feces on the wall,” testified an inmate at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women during a November 9 settlement hearing. “It had blood,” she added, describing a trip to the prison infirmary. Cynthia Scott, 46, is one of five female prisoners who filed suit against the institution for insufficient medical care in […]

The Weiner factor: How one case derailed Denise Lunsford

Unlike Charlottesville, where it was a given that Democratic candidates for City Council would win, Albemarle had several contested races, including two for board of supervisors and four candidates vying for clerk of court. But the race everyone was watching: Whether Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford could hold onto her seat for a third term against […]

Upsets in Albemarle constitutional races

Incumbent Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford lost to Republican challenger Robert Tracci by 515 votes in a closely watched race, while other county Democratic candidates sailed to victory. Lunsford received nearly 49 percent of the vote to Tracci’s 51 percent. Another constitutional officer, incumbent Clerk of Court Debbie Shipp, running as an independent, lost by an even bigger margin. Shipp took 26 percent of […]

Down to the wire: Lunsford threatens lawsuit over Tracci ad

  The week before the election, the Albemarle County commonwealth’s attorney race exploded with lawsuits, threats of suits and last-minute retorts in ads between the campaigns of incumbent Denise Lunsford and challenger Robert Tracci. “The good news is that we have some excitement in local races,” says Richmond Sunlight creator and longtime local political observer […]

October surprise: Lunsford faces lawsuit over FOIA request

Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford, in a hotly contested race for reelection, faced additional heat October 29 when Richmond attorney Matthew Hardin filed a lawsuit against her for creating a “barrier to transparency” in her response to a Freedom of Information Act request issued earlier this week. The FOIA request asked for information on Lunsford’s credit […]

Judge will consider bond for psychic

Sandra Marks, aka Psychic Catherine and Catherine Marks, had a bond hearing October 22 in U.S. District Court and Judge Glen Conrad said he would consider it if she and her attorney can come up with an acceptable plan for her release. Marks, 41, has been in jail since her July 23 arrest in New York […]

Keys to the kingdom: As election day looms, we have issues

Hard to believe, but yet another election is upon us, bringing with it the annual deluge of attack ads, yard signs, candidate forums and billowing clouds of special interest money. Per usual, a vast majority of the General Assembly races that will be decided next Tuesday are a foregone conclusion. Thanks to gerrymandering and a […]

Orange County woman charged with 27 counts of animal abuse

Officials have seized just under 120 animals from a Somerset woman involved in what police say is an animal hoarding investigation at Peaceable Farm—not counting the ones that died before intervention. Anne Shumate Williams, also known as Anne Goland, was charged with 27 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty October 26 and is being held at […]

Scarlet letters: Dean responds to BSA’s ‘shaming narrative’

In a scathing open letter e-mailed to UVA’s Office of African-American Affairs and later posted on Facebook, the university’s Black Student Alliance attacked the office’s strategic outcomes for the upcoming year for wording the group felt painted black students as a problem. Of particular offense to the BSA was the following statement: “The new director […]