Occupy Charlottesville

Flowering and fescuing in Lee

Spring has brought forth the annual flowering of this weeping tree in downtown's Lee Park, which also recently received a coating of grass seed, straw, and water– an effort to re-cover the patches of grass lost during approximately six weeks of tents during last fall'

Inspiring kids to become "creators, not consumers," but did they take it too far?

Indoctrination? You decide what happened at Woodbrook

It started with a blog entry at BigGovernment.com, and now such esteemed journalistic sources as the U.K.'s Daily Mail, the Daily Progress, and the

Rich and powerful: Why won't they save themselves?

I spent a recent week at Occupy Miami and Occupy Fort Lauderdale. One question came up several times: What if the system responds– or pretends to respond– to our demands? What if the political class agrees to create more jobs, help the unemployed, let distres

Broken beauty: The lofty life and tragic death of Linda Doig

"She had further to fall than I did," says the wiry, bearded man, gesturing to his companion on a beat-up sofa. Next to him sits a tall but weathered blond who nods in agreement and asks the man to retrieve a magazine page from the tent they're sharing downtown during the w

Essayist misunderstood Occupy and its fingers

I don’t mind criticism of the Occupy movement except when it is based on misrepresentations of the sort in the essay ["Great people? Steve Jobs, the Occupy movement, and us"] on the last page of the December 8 Hook.

Doig was represented by a top agency in the 1980s.

Last stand: The Charlottesville Occupier who died

She didn't come to Lee Park to protest. She was just looking for a safe place to sleep. Now, friends and family are mourning the death of Linda Doig, a former international fashion model who once worked with top designers in Milan and Paris, but whose downward spiral into a

Fitzhugh says she was surprised by all the attention.

Very Veronica: Unclothed Occupy protester explains why

The woman whose nude protest and arrest sparked questions in the final moments of the Occupy Charlottesville encampment says she's a little surprised by the attention but definitely not regretful. While over 7,000 online viewers may know her as "the naked lady," she is a 33

The last campfire

The final campfire at the Occupy Charlottesville encampment at Lee Park provides a warm focal point as Charlottesville police stand ready to make sure campers move on with the exodus forced by the threat of trespassing arrests for violating the park's 11pm curfew on Wednesd

Occupy Charlottesville members pack up tents and belongings in Lee Park on Wednesday, November 30.

Not welcome: As Lee Park empties, UVA shoos Occupiers

Members of Occupy Charlottesville planning to move their tents to George Rogers Park on the Corner won't find a welcome wagon waiting, according to a warning issued by UVA brass, and those who choose to stay downtown in Lee Park against city orders are prepping for a confro

Tom McGregor, 50:
"I spent my 50th birthday here in this park," says McGregor, who became homeless for the first time three months ago after going through a divorce and losing his job as a cook in Greene County. Occupying Lee Park wasn't on his mind six weeks ago, he says, when he was approached on the street by a protester who suggested he join the movement. Now, he says, after living among the dozens of Occupiers, the movement "got my support." McGregor says he spends some of each day looking for restaurant work, so far with no luck. And he says derogatory comments about the homeless he's heard from passersby make him angry.
"If some of these people complaining became homeless as quick as I did," he says, "they'd understand."

What's next? Occupiers ponder the future

Tuesday, November 29 is deadline day for Occupy Charlottesville, but at noon– just six hours before protesters must decide whether to stay in Lee Park in violation of an expired permit or to move to another location– there's still no consensus."We just don't kno