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Yes, Charlottesville made one of those ââ?¬Å?best places to liveââ?¬Â lists again, but our self-proclaimed ââ?¬Å?world-class cityââ?¬Â seems to have slipped in the rankings. read full story

Last Wednesday, The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted to allow, or sort of allow, a development boundary to be removed for the proposed expansion of the National Ground Intelligence Center just past the airport on 29 N. The boundry moving idea now goes to the Planning Commission, which will hold a public hearing and toss it back to the board. read full story

Shortly before midnight last night, the Charlottesville Church of Christ burned severely, and the investigating officer reports that 24-year-old Jason Scott Santos, no address given, has been arrested for a break-in of the Church that occurred around the time of the suspicious blaze. read full story

Closing arguments began today at 1pm in the civil case pressed by wrongly convicted Earl Washington, the man kept in jail 18 years for a murder he did not commit. Washington, who testified Monday about the terror of living on death row, is suing the estate of an investigator who allegedly pushed him into a false confession. read full story

Police are looking for two big guys and one little guy in connection with a May 1 stabbing at Hardy Drive– and they advise not trying to apprehend them yourself. read full story

Habitat for Humanity has gone positively mad– mad about pricy housing. read full story

The "Charlottesville 17," the students who staged a four-day sit-in demanding a $10.72/hour "living wage" for UVA employees, got some punishments late last night. According to a story in this morning's Cavalier Daily, each of the 17 must write three apology/thanks essays to the University administration, the police, and the Madison Hall workers whose work they interrupted. read full story

Don�t know anything about the candidates for City School Board to be elected May 2? Well, now you have no excuse. read full story

The DMB is offering a $1.5 million challenge grant to help build the New Orleans Habitat Musicians' Village, reports MTV News. The village would include Habitat for Humanity homes and house the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. The money comes from a fundraising concert the DMB did in Denver with the Neville Brothers and the John Butler Trio. "This is our way to get the word out that there is more work to do, and ask people to step up to the challenge and make a donation to help," the band said in a recent statement. read full story

UVA's football team elected four– count 'em– four co-captains for the 2006 season. And with impressive restraint, Jay Jenkins' Daily Progress article did not mention that sole junior captain-elect Chris Long is the son of Hall o' Famer Howie. The other captains are quarterback Christian Olsen, cornerback Marcus Hamilton and Wide receiver Deyon Williams. read full story

The student-run Uva Judiciary Committee has brought charges against the 17 students who were arrested for holding a sit-in inside Madison Hall, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. The students, who were demanding higher wages for Uva's lowest paid workers, are being charged with unauthorized entry and disorderly conduct and could face expulsion if convicted. The trial will take place next week. read full story

Famous grieving mom, Texas ranch squatter, peace activist, and general thorn in President Bush�s side, Cindy Sheehan will speak in Charlottesville on May 17 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center. Sheehan made national news when she camped outside Bush�s Texas home to ask him why her son, Casey, who was killed in action in Baghdad in 2004, had to die. Since then, Sheehan has become a powerful, and controversial figure in the anti-war movement. read full story

Blue Ridge Irish Music School is working on a lease agreement with Westminster Church for the former Prism space, the school announced today. read full story

The urban theorist who so famously asked a Charlottesville audience, "Where are the bicycles" has died at the age of 89. Jane Jacobs, who visited in 1996 to accept the Thomas Jefferson Prize in Architecture from UVA, died today at her Toronto home, the read full story

The Democrat to go up against incumbent Virgil Goode in the 5th District Congressional race will be determined by caucus, and after Saturday, Nelson farmer Al Weed leads Ruckersville Parkway visionary Bern Ewert 25 to 5, according to a Weed release. And that's before going into tonight's Super Monday, in which 10 jurisdictions have 113 delegates up for grabs. Albemarle's 38 will be elected at 7:30pm in Monticello High, and Charlottesville's 17 delegates will be elected at in the Buford Middle School cafeteria. Registration for wanna-be delegates starts at 6:30pm. read full story

Here�s a shocking statistic for ya: according to a recent market analysis by the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors, 2,377 homes are for sale in their database...that�s more than double the homes for sale at the same time last year! Equally as shocking is the rise in the median price of a home: $285,000 in CAAR�s market area (Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Nelson, Greene, Fluvanna, and Louisa), up 27 percent from last year. read full story

Mere weeks after financial publications and data analysis firm SNL announced its purchase of a new property in Amhedabad, India and boasted of a near 100 percent increase in payscale for local employees over the past eight years, the company is on the block, according to a report in today's online version of the U.K. newspaper, The Daily Telegraph. According to the article, SNL– founded by Reid Nagle in 1987– has tapped Bank of America to advise the company on a $200 million sale. read full story

The man who shot Ingo, the police dog, is convicted April 20 and sentenced to 7 years for malicious wounding, and another 5 for felony possession of a gun, the Progress reports. Robert Lee Cooke shot at Ingo– his defense claimed in self-defense– while fleeing a burglary in October 2004, paralyzing the canine cop, who was later put to sleep. Officer Andy Gluba shot Cooke twice, paralyzing him. read full story

Last week's Hook cover story on up-and-coming musician Robert Randolph touched off a major debate at the mecca of his instrument, The Steel Guitar Forum. There on that bulletin board, a debate raged over the story and comments Randolph made in it– i.e. "A lot of those guys in Nashville hate my guts." read full story