City Dems’ displeasure ousts Schatzman from Electoral Board

Charlottesville Electoral Board chair Joan Schatzman became a casualty of the Sheri Iachetta registrar scandal January 10 when she was booted from reappointment to the board where she’s served for more than 11 years at a special meeting organized by her own party. Schatzman, a Democrat, and her fellow board members, Republican Rick Sincere and […]

That’s a wrap! The annual Odd Dominion New Year’s quiz

Think you were paying attention to Virginia politics in 2014? Take our carefully curated multiple-choice quiz and find out just how much of an electoral obsessive you really are. 1. Although they won a pair of State Senate seats in January special elections, Virginia donkeys were dealt a huge blow when Democratic Senator Phil Puckett […]

Jesse Matthew to appear in Fairfax court

Accused abductor Jesse Matthew, 33, will appear in court January 8 and 9 in Fairfax County for motions hearings pertaining to a 2005 rape in which he’s charged with attempted capital murder, abduction with intent to defile and sexual assault. Matthew’s attorney, former Albemarle commonwealth’s attorney Jim Camblos, is seeking a gag order and money […]

Charlottesville City Council backs mall camera study

A majority of the Charlottesville City Council agreed Monday night to study the cost and impacts of installing of publicly owned security cameras on the city’s Downtown Mall, the West Main Street corridor and the University Corner. Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo and city Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman made the case for the cameras in […]

UPDATE: Police say man accidentally fell to his death in Water St. garage

UPDATE 12:45pm Friday, January 2: Police have identified the person found dead in the Water Street parking garage New Year’s Day as Justin Michael Frazier, 24, of Crozet, and have said video surveillance indicates Frazier was the victim of an accidental fall. In a follow-up press release issued Friday, Charlottesville Police Lieutenant Steve Upman said detectives […]

Upstart Internet provider Ting is bringing gigabit speeds to C’ville

Finally, a little good news for Charlottesville in the national media: The city made tech and financial headlines last week when mobile company Ting announced it was buying a controlling share in locally owned Blue Ridge InternetWorks as part of a plan to expand a lightning-fast fiber optic cable network here. Ting entered the wireless […]

Rutherford Institute weighs in on handcuffed 4-year-old

Local civil rights organization founder John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute sent a stern letter to Andrea Whitmarsh, superintendent of Greene County Schools, about policies that allowed an out-of-control 4-year-old to be handcuffed, carted away by a Greene County sheriff’s deputy and shackled at the sheriff’s office October 16 until his mother, who was en […]

UPDATED: Details in Sage Smith disappearance come to light

Below is the original version of the story on new information in the Sage Smith investigation, which ran online on December 24.  More than two years after Dashad Sage Smith went missing, recently unsealed court documents are offering information about the case that until now was unknown to the press and public. The records, which include search warrant […]

Delegate Jailbird: Joe Morrissey attempts to make history

Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, bi-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics. We are not normally overflowing with good cheer this time of year, for one simple reason: Nothing ever freakin’ happens! We’re usually stuck covering something indescribably dull, like Governor Terry McAuliffe’s latest budget proposal. (Did you know that he’s still in favor of […]