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Three years ago, lacrosse players George W. Huguely V and Yeardley Love were getting ready to graduate from the University of Virginia. That plan changed early May 3, 2010, when Love was found facedown in a pool of blood on her pillow in her 14th Street apartment. Now, on the anniversary of her death, Huguely sits in Keen Mountain Correctional Center serving a 23-year sentence for second-degree murder and waiting to see if an appeals panel will grant him a new trial.   read full story

Unlike his last appearance in court as a defendant, a freshly shaved Chris Dumler came before a judge April 29 seeking to have the petition for his removal from the Albemarle Board of Supervisors thrown out– to no avail. Judge Cheryl Higgins ruled against him in a case that has very little precedent in Virginia.   Related stories 9 days: Dumler goes in for chunk of jail time read full story

by Richard Roeper Born in 1945 in the shadow of Hiroshima, Ginger and Rosa grow up in a London of weary shortages of food, living space and cheer. Who could have guessed Swinging London and the Beatles were on the way? The girls become fast friends: Ginger, whose father Roland was a conscientious objector during World War II, and Rosa, whose father isn't in the picture.   *** Ginger and Rosa Director: Sally Potter read full story

When we think conservation easement, we think rural land and gracious farms, forever protected from subdividing, with the quiet broken only by the moo of cows. The roar of four-wheel drive vehicles climbing near-vertical terrain? Not so much. It turns out property owners who put their acreage under easement can four-wheel to their hearts content, say both Albemarle County zoning, and the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which holds 650,000 acres under easement in the Commonwealth. read full story

Latest tuition increase at a best-value university: UVA ups its in-state tuition and fees 3.8 percent to $12,458 a year, making a year there around $26,000. Out-of state students get hit with a 4.8 percent bump up to $39,844, and once room and board are added in, they're looking at about $53,800 a year, according to a release.  read full story

Transportation planner Brad Sheffield gathered about three dozen Dem supporters at the Albemarle County Office Building April 23 and announced a run for the Rio District seat on the Board of Supervisors now held by Republican Rodney Thomas. The self-described "planning nerd" offered his experience as what best qualifies him for the Board of Supervisors. Sheffield is an assistant director at JAUNT and has undergrad and master's degrees in planning from UVA. read full story

The 64th Annual Charlottesville Dogwood Festival Grand Feature Parade went down Market Street on April 20 and it did not disappoint. Indeed, Charlottesville's diversity was on display as scout troops, bikers, step dancers, gay and lesbian groups, military, and beauty queens all let their freak flags fly. read full story

Her campaign manager is the former Albemarle supervisor who represented the Samuel Miller district for 16 years, and veterinarian Liz Palmer hopes to reclaim that seat in November from the man who now holds it, Republican Duane Snow. Related stories FLAWS- Tripled rates, spun numbers, and Conservancy conflicts: Why the war on dredging slogs on read full story

John Kluge, Jr. wants his land back. That would be the 217-acre front yard of Albemarle House, the mansion his mother, winemaker Patricia Kluge, lived in until the bank foreclosed on the property in 2011. Both land and mansion are now owned by Donald Trump. A lawsuit filed April 5 in Albemarle Circuit Court contends that Trump "fraudulently acquired" the separate front yard and is now stiffing John Kluge's trust for more money promised if Albemarle House sold within two years. Kluge's father, billionaire John W. Kluge, put the 217-acre parcel into a trust for his son in 2000. read full story

When the Shebeen restaurant discontinued Smithwick's beer on tap, owner Walter Slawski didn't expect there to be much of a fuss over the disappearance of the historic Irish ale, which dates to the early 18th century. But within weeks of its disappearance from the beer menu, Slawski and his staff soon learned that someone wasn't happy. Anonymous postcards began arriving to the restaurant from as far away as Canada, and while they weren't exactly threatening, the message was unmistakable. read full story

City Council candidate Wes Bellamy was in court April 11 long enough to reschedule a hearing on two charges: driving on a suspended license and failure to appear in court. He stopped briefly outside Charlottesville General District Court to tell reporters he couldn't talk to them about why his license had been suspended. "I'm looking forward to speaking about it and getting it all cleared up, but I can't now," said Bellamy, pointing to his attorney, Ron Tweel. read full story

Free Union resident Harry Landers finished his fifth Boston Marathon in three hours and 39 minutes. He was showering in his hotel room at around 4:10 into the race when the bombs exploded. "I just heard two explosions– what was that?" his wife, Janis Jaquith, saw someone post on Facebook. She cut on the TV in their hotel room a few blocks away from the finish line. read full story

If you're a county supervisor trying to put a dent in a 30-day jail sentence, Friday, April 12, might seem like a good time to knock off nine days because the Board of Supervisors won't meet again until May 1. Supervisor Chris Dumler will be serving time from April 12 until April 21, according to Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail. read full story

Greg Fairchild has to cancel a phone interview. He's in Macedonia and has been invited to the president's house to listen to jazz after they discovered a mutual interest in Chet Baker earlier that day at lunch. This sort of thing seems to happen to Fairchild a lot. read full story

by Peter GaluszkaIt is a wintry afternoon on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. Strutting against a cobalt blue sky, a fife and drum corps dressed in resplendent red and blue colonial garb plays martial airs in front of the steps of Virginia's stately Capitol. The governor is about to take his oath of office administered by the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia: read full story

Biggest margin: Democrat Jason Vandever wins the special election for Charlottesville treasurer April 2 by 75 percent with 1,280 votes to independent opponent John Pfaltz's 397 votes. read full story

When Donna and Steven DeJong built their house in Walnut Hills eight years ago, their builder offered to come back and repair any damage from settling that occurred during the first year. "We never had one nail pop," says Donna DeJong. That's not been the case since their neighbor, Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport, began blasting away for its runway extension project last fall, and suddenly everything's cracking at the DeJong house: a window, a basement tile, molding, and sheetrock throughout their 5,200-square-foot house. read full story

A scene of terror unfolded on I-81Tuesday afternoon, April 9, when two Harrisonburg teenagers found themselves in a car that accelerated out of control to 110 mph, leading the two to leap from the moving vehicle seconds before police engaged in a controlled collision that forced it into the guardrail. read full story

Five-year-old Yovani Hernandez joins his dad, José Hernandez, and dozens more April 8 on the corners of Ridge-McIntire and Preston Avenue at and across from the Albemarle County Office Building. Virginia Organizing, Casa Alma Catholic Worker, Church of the Incarnation, and Sin Barreras Community Center organized the evening-commute-hour demonstration, which they say brought 125 demonstrators in support of a major overhaul of immigration policy. read full story