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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

Of course Jackson Landers recently ate python at the big hunt in the Everglades, and naturally, the machete slaying involved a biker named Lucky. "Outdoor Life wanted photographs of a python dissected and photographs of the stomach," Landers recounts. "You have to take apart an eight-foot snake. It's not like gutting a deer. "And after all that," he continues, "the bastard died hungry." read full story

Area: GreenbrierPrice range: $150,000-$399,000Schools: Greenbrier, Walker, Buford, CHSPros: location, valueCons: age of some of the homes read full story

Worst missing girl case: Jennifer Carolina Romero, 16, at first was believed to be a runaway when she disappeared from her Weyers Cave home March 2. Police now think that through social media, the teen may be ensnared in human trafficking, NBC29 reports. Mynor Franco-Depaz, 19, of Arlington, has been arrested, but no sign of Romero since her cellphone signal was traced to Arlington. read full story

Supervisor Chris Dumler spent his first weekend in jail– only 14 more to go– March 8-10, while his fellow Albemarle supes are making plans to fill his seat, despite Dumler's insistence that he's not going anywhere. In the six weeks since Dumler took a plea that reduced a felony forcible sodomy charge to misdemeanor sexual battery, the number of people calling for him to resign has grown to include city and county Democrats and all of his fellow supervisors. read full story

By Marlene Condon read full story

Western Christianity dates back over 2,000 years. An essential part of Christian belief is the concept of Original Sin. The Church provides baptism as a sacrament to provide individuals a “clean slate” by removing both the guilt and the punishment due to Original Sin. read full story

Pedestrian Paul Hostetler navigates his way down West Main Street in front of the Amtrak station around 9am March 7, the day after the big snow. "It was terrible," says Hostetler of his walk. read full story