Former Western teacher arrested in sex sting

A former Western Albemarle High School teacher is being held in a Staunton jail after a sting operation caught him attempting to meet a person he thought was a 13-year-old boy he’d encountered on the Internet, according to Augusta County Sheriff’s Office. John Daniel Patterson, 66, was arrested April 15 after he showed up at […]

House rules: Republicans fight to hold on to a bellwether seat

Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, bi-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics. By now it is generally accepted wisdom that Democrats are not going to do well in this year’s midterm elections. There are myriad reasons for this, but what it basically boils down to is this: A sizeable chunk of the 2014 Senate elections […]

Harding’s charge: Albemarle County Sheriff takes aim at wrongful convictions

Albemarle County Sheriff Chip Harding has always approached his work as a cop through his background as a social worker and through his Baptist faith. But after a four-decade law enforcement career that includes nearly 30 years putting criminals behind bars as a Charlottesville Police Department investigator, he had a come-to-Jesus moment reading John Grisham’s […]

New search in Alexis Murphy case

Two weeks before the murder trial of Randy Allen Taylor is scheduled to begin on May 1, investigators from multiple law enforcement agencies searched property around his former Nelson County residence, according to NBC 29. Taylor is charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of 17-year-old Alexis Murphy, who was last seen around 7:15pm last […]

Charlottesville drone vid at the center of landmark FAA challenge

Charlottesville made headlines around the country last year when it became the first municipality in the U.S. to pass legislation limiting the use of unmanned aircraft. Now the city is in the drone spotlight again—but this time because of an aerial video at the center of a landmark court decision that opened a legal door […]

UVA student’s suit against ABC moves to federal court

Early this week, the Virginia Attorney General’s Office approved the transfer of the $40 million civil suit filed by a UVA student against the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to federal court. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the suit filed in Richmond Circuit Court last month by Elizabeth Daly, now a 21-year-old third year, […]