Wreck deprives Key Westers of phone for days
Dec 5th 6:21pm
Ex-AHS star Novak waived by Redskins
Dec 5th 11:32am
by lindsay
Less than two months after the Washington Redskins signed him to be their kicker, Albemarle High School alum Nick Novak finds himself out of a job.
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Culbreth Road to close for at least a year
Nov 30th 5:55pm
by Dave McNair
Culbreth Theater is about to get a new neighbor in the form of a 554-space parking deck, and it means you won't have Culbreth Road as your favorite Rugby to Emmet cut-through for at least a year.
UVA announced Tuesday that Culbreth Road, which connects Rugby Road to University Avenue near Emmet Street, will close to through traffic on December 11.
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Nick Novak on the hotseat again
Nov 30th 4:49pm
by lindsay
Three weeks after sitting in the Hook's HotSeat, Washington Redskins kicker and Albemarle High School alum Nick Novak now finds himself on an actual hot seat as he faces possible unemployment. On Tuesday, the Redskins signed kicker Shaun Suisham to be part of the team's practice squad.
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HookCast for November 29, 2006
Nov 29th 5:45pm
by Dave McNair
Police shootings, school bus seat-belts, dumbing down students
ON THIS WEEK'S COVER:
Riddled: What happens after police shootings
The news of police shootings is sensational, but what happens in their aftermath? In this week's Hook, families of two men disabled by police bullets–including Elvis Shifflett, the subject of a seven-day manhunt
in October– speak out.
ALSO IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE:
Unbuckled: no belts on local school buses
When an Alabama school bus plunged off an overpass recently, killing four students, the issue of seat belts on school buses made national news.
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Newsplex gets Comcast boost
Nov 29th 12:14pm
by Lisa Provence
Comcast's takeover of Adelphia Cable is proving a boon for the local Gray Television stations as they land prime spots lower on the dial, while their fiercest competitors get the boot– or the less desirable spots Newsplex stations now hold.
"It's huge," says Newsplex general
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Webb and Bush get testy in first meeting
Nov 29th 11:39am
by lindsay
If it's true that first impressions are the most lasting, then President George W. Bush and Senator-elect Jim Webb may not be the chummiest of statesmen in Washington for the next two years.
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No indictments in Allen fracas– yet
Nov 28th 5:31pm
by lindsay
Almost a month after borderline violent images from a Charlottesville campaign stop for Senator George Allen splashed across cable news and the Internet, city Commonwealth's Attorney Dav
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Copywrong: why can’t we take pix inside Monticello?
Nov 28th 4:34pm
by Hawes Spencer
A November 27 post at the popular boingboing.net suggests that the reason visitors aren't allowed to take pictures inside Monticello is– get this– copyright law. But according to Monticello spokesperson Wayne Mogielnicki, that's almost right.
"Our policy is no photos in the house," Mogielnicki.
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Was Albemarle First a ‘welfare agency’?
Nov 28th 11:41am
by Hawes Spencer
A former member of the Albemarle First Bank board of directors claims in a recent magazine article that the bank ran into trouble because of reckless lending that essentially made it a "welfare agency."
In the fall edition of Region Focus, retired economics professor and banking veteran
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Stink’s demise? Authority to halt composting
Nov 28th 6:44am
by Hawes Spencer
There's been a big stink in the Woolen Mills neighborhood, but yesterday's action by the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority may lessen the smells.
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Biggest yet: Billy Joel’s coming to JPJ
Nov 27th 6:57am
by Hawes Spencer
Billy Joel, the "piano man" who shot to fame in the mid-1970s with a moving song by that title and then successfully danced through various musical genres, is bringing his tunes to town.
According to an email sent out to customers of the John Paul Jones Arena shortly after 10pm Sunday, Joel will perform Friday, February 23, and tickets go on sale December 1.
How big is Joe
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HookCast for November 22, 2006
Nov 21st 4:37pm
by Hawes Spencer
The Holiday Survival Guide, The end of 10-4, CarMax muscles in on Pantops
That's right, you read correctly. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, this week's issue hits newsstands a day early this week. Our regular Thursday releases will resume next week.
ON THIS WEEK'S COVER:
The Holiday Survival Guide
Each November and December, an ever growing chorus sings the same refrain: "The holidays have gotten too commercial!" But luckily for us we live in a town rich in holiday traditions that, by and large, don't require spending a dime.
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Gray Television nixes O.J. faux confessional
Nov 20th 3:00pm
by Lisa Provence
Public outrage over O.J. Simpson's upcoming book, If I Did It, and a FOX interview with the former football star acquitted of murdering his wife spills to the local airwaves.
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‘Tis the (tree-ey) season
Nov 20th 10:39am
by Hawes Spencer
The Christmas trees have arrived– as seen in this 8am photo today at Ivy Corner, a horticultural shop in downtown Ivy.
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HookCast for November 16, 2006
Nov 16th 5:15pm
by lindsay
Is Charlottesville the Little Apple?, Beebe plea could bring new indictments, Sheriff added to sexual assault suit
ON THIS WEEK'S COVER:
I [heart] Charlottesville: Is our town the Little Apple?
This week, we ask has Charlottesville taken a turn for the north? With ever-more exotic restaurants and shops, new residents from around the world, and a decided voting tilt to the left, we're looking more and more like a certain big, mid-atlantic city.
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Queen Elizabeth II to visit Jamestown
Nov 16th 1:21pm
by lindsay
Four centuries after English entrepreneurs claimed our Commonwealth in the name of her forebear, Queen Elizabeth II will attend the ceremonies commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement in May.
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How are our children and families doing? Study takes our vital signs
Nov 16th 12:52am
by Dave McNair
For seven years now, the Charlottesville/Albemarle Commission on Children and Families (CCF) has been issuing Stepping Stones, a statistical study on the well-being of children and families in the area.
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Cantor could take #2 GOP slot in House
Nov 15th 4:22pm
by lindsay
After suffering its worst losses in 12 years in this year's elections, the Republican party has been doing plenty of cleaning house, with Bob Gates nominated to replace Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense and Senator Mel Martinez (FL) taking over for Ken Mehlman as head of the Republican National Committee. But sometimes, a loss can be a win, and for Rep.
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Save 30 seats– Leitao lures Farrakhan to UVA
Nov 15th 3:27pm
by Hawes Spencer
Mustapha Farrakhan, a highly recruited Illinois prep basketball player and grandson of controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, announced yesterday that he has signed a letter of intent with UVA coach Dave Leitao, who
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Colbertââ?¬â?¢s a fan of ââ?¬Å?Gail for Railââ?¬Â jingle
Nov 15th 12:49am
by lindsay
The election may be over, but the hits keep on coming in the Virginia senate race.
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The Progress slims down
Nov 14th 3:16pm
by Lisa Provence
It seems like only yesterday that the Daily Progress unveiled a much heralded redesign, complete with an insert to help readers fully appreciate the enormity of the changes.
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Bombshell dropped as Beebe pleads
Nov 14th 1:07pm
Semper fi, meet super fab
Nov 10th 10:06am
by lindsay
If all goes as planned, our Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan will be getting a helping hand from an unexpected source back home: Charlottesville's own Club 216.
In a press release, the dance club says it has launched a drive to send care packages to Marines. "Some of us may not support the war, but we all support the troops," the e-mail reads.
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Allen to concede defeat to Webb
Nov 9th 2:52pm
by lindsay
One of the most improbable series of events in recent Virginia political history will come to its once unimaginable conclusion at 3pm when would-be presidential contender and Senator George Allen will concede defeat to his Democratic opponent, Senator-Elect J
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HookCast for November 9, 2006
Nov 9th 12:58pm
by Dave McNair
Mind For Murder, Real Estate bubble, Redskins kicker
ON THIS WEEK'S COVER:
MIND FOR MURDER: She's good enough for CourtTV & NBC, but is that good enough?
Noreen Renier may be America's leading crime-solving psychic. For 30-plus years , the Free Union resident has used her psychic powers to find bodies and finger suspects, including wife-killer Scott Peterson, with startling accuracy. Still, some claim she's a fraud with a genius for self-promotion. Is her special talent real?
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Sabato crowned king of the crystal ball
Nov 8th 5:24pm
by lindsay
Election Night 2006 will go down in history as a big night for Democrats with their winning of a sizable majority in the House of Representatives and a potential one-seat majority in the Senate (pending the outcome of our own potentially imminent recount).
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G’night 29
Nov 8th 12:40am
by Courteney Stuart
With 97 percent of precincts reporting and George Allen showing just the slimmest of leads– less than 1/4 of one percent– the NBC29 news anchor wished viewers a good night at midnight and signed off. "We'll continue our election coverage in the morning," she chirped.
Huh? One of the most hotly contested senate races in the country, with a record voter turn-out in Virginia and with much of the action leading up to the election happening right here in Charlottesville, and 29 signs off? Luckily, the Newsplex came through.
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Allen appears doomed by Richmond
Nov 7th 11:51pm
by Hawes Spencer
With each passing update of statewide vote counts, Virginia localities turn in their tallies– most of them anyway.
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High turnout in Alb.; wacky date in Char.
Nov 7th 6:03pm
by Hawes Spencer
The day has finally come. It's election day. With Allen and Webb remaining neck and neck until the bitter end, one will finally be named the victor.
Virginians are turning out in droves to vote in a race that could help determine the majority party in the Senate.
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Closed hearing in ‘12-step’ rape case
Nov 7th 5:44pm
by Courteney Stuart
The November 27 trial for William Nottingham Beebe is looming, and today Beebe, charged with raping a 17-year-old UVA first year in a fraternity house in 1984, was present for a closed hearing before Judge Edward Hogshire in Charlottesville Circuit Court.
Although the case has received national and international media coverage, with Beebe's accuser, Liz Seccuro, appearing on television (including an hour-long NBC Dateline e
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'Gail for Rail' throws support to Webb
Nov 6th 1:13pm
by Hawes Spencer
The #3 candidate in Virginia's madcap race for the U.S. Senate, the woman who has focused on light rail, appears to have steered her train into the camp of Democratic challenger James Webb.
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Stark handcuffed at Allen rally
Nov 4th 10:55pm
by lindsay
Today, blogger and UVA first year law student Mike Stark yet again confronted Senator George Allen at a campaign rally and yet again somebody hit the deck.
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Sabato accuses Webb of plagiarism
Nov 3rd 8:44pm
by lindsay
As chronicled in this week's cover story, UVA politics professor Larry Sabato told MSNBC's Chris Matthews in September that he knew Senator George Allen used "the n-word" when the two were classmates at UVA but later admitted he himself never heard the word cross Allen's lips. Many to
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9/11 monument has risen in Buena Vista
Nov 3rd 12:00pm
by Hawes Spencer
Remember the star of our summer 2004 cover story about fiberglass wonders near Natural Bridge?
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Stark becomes a reporter
Nov 2nd 11:23pm
by Dave McNair
American politics, you gotta love it. Two days ago, some thought that UVA law student Mike Stark�s aggressive questioning of Senator George Allen inside the Omni Hotel, and the scuffle that followed, might land him in jail. Now it appears to have landed him a job.
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Staunton confident in its ‘Omni’
Nov 2nd 11:27am
by Hawes Spencer
The hotel/conference center on which hopes for a downtown resurgence have been hanging will cost Staunton taxpayers nearly $580,000 this year, but officials in the Queen City express optimism and confidence (not worries), in a story in today's News
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Sabato predicts Webb win, Democratic Congress
Nov 2nd 10:45am
by lindsay
With Election Day only a week away, UVA professor and political pundit Larry Sabato made his much-anticipated predictions for the midterm elections on his Crystal Ball website.
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HookCast for November 2, 2006
Nov 2nd 9:52am
by Hawes Spencer
Life of Larry Sabato, Film fest wrap-up, Greenleaf groper, Down 'n dirty senate race
FROM THE NEWSROOM OF THE HOOK NEWSPAPER ON THE DOWNTOWN MALL IN CHARLOTTESVILLE VIRGINIA, THIS IS THE HOOKCAST FOR THE WEEK OF... Thursday, November 2, 2006.
ON THIS WEEK'S COVER:
Life of Larry: How Sabato faces the election
UVA politics professor Larry Sabato is the talking head most in demand from newspapers and television at election time.
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BZA rejects neighborhood appeal
Nov 1st 5:59pm
by Dave McNair
No one could ever accuse Mark Haskins of not being persistent.
At a October 26 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, the Little High Neighborhood Association prez was at it again, arguing that Region Ten's Mews project off of Little High Street, a 40-unit affordable housing project for Region Ten clients and others with disabilities, should be open to public scrutiny
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