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UVA Curry School of Education professor Glen Bull was in Charlottesville General District Court March 21 to face grand larceny charges involving a purse. The incident allegedly occurred July 19 on the 400-block of East Main Street on the Downtown Mall. According to court records, the items taken included a purse, designer wallet, MacBook Air, scarf, U.S. currency, and totaled a value greater than $200, the price point for grand larceny. read full story

In the latest episode of the scandal-plagued, sexual-battery-pleading, jail-time-serving Supervisor Chris Dumler saga, one of his constituents takes 584 signatures to Albemarle Circuit Court to ask a judge to remove Dumler from the Board of Supervisors, a request pretty much unprecedented in Virginia. read full story

•Last week's story, "Recession-ender: Albemarle budget ready to grow," incorrectly says the FY 2013-14 budget adds seven new police officers. Four will be added, and three positions were unfrozen last year. •The name of photographer Bill Moretz was misspelled in last week's art listing. read full story

By Ronald Bailey read full story

When the editors of Travel & Leisure Magazine set out earlier this year to find the best Chinese restaurants in America, they had a daunting task. There are now over 41,000 Chinese restaurants in this country, according to industry research– that's three times the number of McDonald's, making General Tso possibly more familiar to most people than Ronald McDonald. Of course, as native Chinese will tell you, most of the typical "Chinese" dishes you'll find in American restaurants are about as Chinese as a Big Mac. read full story

When John Carlos was a seven- or eight-year-old growing up in Harlem, he had a vision of that moment on the victory stand in Mexico City at the 1968 Olympics, even down to using his left hand rather than his usual right. He imagined he was in a movie. That premonition became an iconic image 15 years later when 200-meter bronze-medal winner Carlos and gold medalist Tommie Smith stood in front of the world and gave a Black Power salute. read full story

by Richard RoeperWelcome back, Hilarious Jim Carrey. We've missed you.In The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, a predictable but often terrific absurdist comedy, Carrey plays Steve Gray, a long-haired, tattoo-spangled, masochistic performance artist/illusionist from the Criss Angel/David Blaine school. Forget about walking on hot coals; this guy sleeps overnight on hot coals and asks for a wake-up call. read full story

It will be interesting to see if the new skateboard park [Hook March 7, 2013, article, "Pop-shove-it! Charlottesville skate park re-opens in McIntire] will be designed for the benefit of children or the ease of adults. read full story

Latest slam on the BoV's June debacle: The American Association of University Professors releases a report on Rector Helen Dragas' firing of President Teresa Sullivan and calls it a "crude exercise of naked power," as well as "a failure of judgment, and alas, of common sense." Ted Strong has the story in the Daily Progress. read full story

First the what's-playing sign was missing from the side of Vinegar Hill Theatre. Then a for-sale sign appeared, leaving loyal moviegoers wondering if their favorite cinema house was threatened again. The two events are not related– the movie sign blew down– and the theater is still open, but the building that houses it and Camino restaurant is on the block for $1.2 million. When Ann Porotti and then-husband Chief Gordon purchased what would become Vinegar Hill Theatre in 1973, it was owned by Symington Garage and housed a motorcycle showroom, says Porotti. read full story

Once upon a time, "moderate Republican" was not considered an oxymoron. An example of that rare breed, former Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, was in Charlottesville March 18 as the Emily Couric Leadership Forum's woman of the year. Time named Snowe one of the best U.S. senators in 2006, but in 2012 she announced she wouldn't seek a fourth term because of the polarizing partisanship that had ground congressional effectiveness to a halt.   read full story

Senator Olympia Snowe's magenta jacket matched perfectly with the hair of Emily Couric scholarship finalist Page Grissom from Murray High School at the March 18 Omni luncheon. Correction and update 3/19: Page Grissom's name was misspelled in the original version; the scholarship recipients names have been added in the caption. read full story

Early Saturday morning, March 16, at approximately 12:45am, three gunshots rang out on Second Street NW on the Downtown Mall, between the offices of the Hook and the Elks Lodge, leaving two men shot and wounded on the street. According to police, the two men have been identified as Frank D. Brown, 56, of Albemarle County, and Leon T. Brock, 22, of Culpeper County. As of Hook presstime on Tuesday, March 19, both were listed in stable condition at the UVA Medical Center and no charges had been filed. read full story

Real estate agent/developer Michael Wayne Harding, brother of Albemarle County Sheriff Chip Harding, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud in U.S. District Court March 8 for bilking some prominent local businessmen of more than $2 million. "This is a fraud scheme of some complexity beyond what we usually see in this district," said U.S. Attorney Tim Heaphy. read full story

After more than four decades of planning, the head of the $50 million traffic improvement monster we've long known as the Meadow Creek Parkway, the Route 250 Bypass interchange, is finally being built after the city granted permission for construction to begin on March 4. "I like to think that it will improve safety and add multimodal access where there currently is Pieces of the Parkway Project John W. Warner Parkway Location: Albemarle County, from East Rio Road to Melbourne Road read full story

Charlottesville Bicycle Pedestrian Coordinator Amanda Poncy out for a morning walk with Buddy, five-year-old tricolor hound on Wednesday, March 6. Coincidentally, Poncy is walking on the 1976 TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, a 4,247 mile transcontinental trail established for the Bicentennial. read full story

Bald is beautiful, especially when it helps save children's lives. That's the idea behind St. Baldrick's Foundation, a charity that sponsors headshaving events across the country that have raised more than 100 million dollars for childhood cancer research since 2005. read full story

How did a nice girl from a good, WASP-y family in D.C. grow into a woman who fell in love with the founding prophet of Mormonism? Jane Barnes details that story in her 2012 book, Falling in Love with Joseph Smith: My Search for the Real Prophet. She describes her beloved as "charismatic, imaginative, irreverent." They're not the sort of adjectives one usually hears to characterize, say, Moses or Elijah. read full story

Christopher Tilghman isn't complaining. When his first book in eight years, The Right-Hand Shore, rolled out last year, he got glowing reviews in national publications like the New York Times. His publisher sent him out on a 20-city tour, which just doesn't happen that often anymore for writers. "I've been pampered," he says. read full story