Charlottesville Breaking News

Fire engines, school buses, and even 18-wheel trucks routinely rumble over the east side of the Belmont Bridge. But not pedestrians.

Since November, east side walkers have been temporarily banned, forced by a chain-link fence to traverse four- to five-lane Avon Street if they wish to cross the bridge, the main southern gateway to downtown. And with an April 4 vote, a City Council majority has decided to spend nearly $15,000 building a permanent barrier to block pedestrians. A Hook investigation, however, finds that Council wasn't given information that might have altered the discussion.

Several times, beginning last fall, City planning director Jim Tolbert has appeared before the City Council to say that fixing the closed sidewalk would cost over $300,000. But what about fixing what's already there?

Bob Fenwick, a professional contractor and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers veteran who's making a second run for a seat on Council, contends that patching the sidewalk makes far better sense.

"We don't have money to throw around," says Fenwick. "If that bridge is strong enough for the vibration and load of heavy trucks, then it should be strong enough for a person. Or several people."

A reporter found that City officials have abandoned the idea of patching. Neither of the two proposals the City recently obtained shows any sign of considering repair, only replacement.

For instance, an...

An allegation of drinking some spiked lemonade at Western Albemarle High School led to a 10th grade girl getting pulled out of class and forced to take an on-campus, police-administered breathalyzer test. With the test allegedly finding no trace of alcohol, a Charlottesville-based civil rights organization contends that the school trampled the student's Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches.

"That's not a good idea if you want to protect freedom," says John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute. "It's a good idea if you want a police state."

According to the Institute, the controversy began on March 10 when two unidentified students told a teacher that the sophomore was drinking alcohol. The teacher allegedly informed Associate Principal Greg Domecq, who observed the girl during lunch but allegedly told her father that she "seemed fine" with no indications of impairment.

What's not in dispute is that Domecq had the teen removed from class and taken to a room where an Albemarle police officer was waiting to administer the breathalyzer.

The Fourth Amendment requires a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. For underage drinking at school, that might include stumbling or slurred words, Whitehead suggests. Without probable cause, all students become suspects, says Whitehead whose organization has recently uncovered a spate of what it sees as zero-tolerance abuses, including...