The week in review
May 29th 4:43pm
by Hook Staff
Biggest trial: A jury finds Food Lion manager Mark Weiner, 53, guilty of abduction with intent to defile May 24 after a four-day trial and recommends a 20-year sentence. Weiner was accused of drugging a 20-year-old girl in December and taking her to an abandoned house, from which she escaped.
Saddest accidental shooting: Ten-year-old Maggie Hollifield is killed around 10am May 21 in her home in Crozet by a juvenile male, according to Albemarle police, which did not release his name.
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3 women: Council candidate's past assault, stalking charges dismissed
May 29th 2:08pm
by Lisa Provence
More than a decade ago, City Council candidate Melvin Grady was charged with two counts of assault and battery and one of stalking— charges that were all dismissed. "These charges were false charges," says the Buford math teacher.
One woman accused Grady of stalking in 2000 and filed a protective order August 27, 2002, that was in effect for two years, according to Charlottesville Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court records. In the same court, he was charged with two counts of assault and battery on another woman, both of which were dismissed September 7, 2001.
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Fake IDs: How hard is it?
May 29th 11:01am
by Lisa Provence
The recent bust of a fake ID ring where over $2 million was found in a house on Rugby Road brought attention to a lucrative criminal enterprise with high demand, particularly in a college town. So how hard is it to produce what law enforcement described as "high-quality false identification"?
Not very, apparently.
Related stories
More details: Alleged fake IDers to remain in jail
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Get Out! events, shows, things to do
May 27th 10:43am
by Dave McNair
"Rock music should be gross: that's the fun of it. It gets up and drops its trousers." – Bruce Dickinson, British rock guitarist and lead singer for Iron Maiden.
Quirkfest at the Pavilion
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Summer reading: 5 local authors to take to the beach
May 25th 1:48am
by Lisa Provence
In a town where there are more writers per capita than readers, it can be daunting to think about keeping up with the local offerings when it seems like just about everyone has a book. For your convenience, the Hook nets out a few must-reads from Charlottesville's literary luminaries (and there are plenty more). So when you're packing up for the beach or heading to the hammock and looking for something to delve into, here are five books worth reading if you're living here– or even if you don't.
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Tiny bullies
May 23rd 8:39pm
Decision delay: Dumler awaits ruling on petition
May 23rd 7:24pm
by Courteney Stuart
At least 470 of his constituents want him gone, but embattled Albemarle County Supervisor Chris Dumler hangs on– and he has at least one more week to serve the Scottsville District before Judge Cheryl Higgins rules on a petition to remove him from office.
"For the board to work, it requires trust, and they don't have it in Mr. Dumler's case," said special prosecutor Mike Doucette in his closing argument, wrapping up a four-hour trial on Monday, May 20 that brought at least three of Dumler's fellow supervisors to the stand along with several unsatisfied Dumler constituents.
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"Epic networking fail": Book salesman mistaken for child predator
May 23rd 4:21pm
by Laura Wagner
The alert from Albemarle County Schools on Thursday, May 23, struck fear into the hearts of area parents: a man driving a white Chevy wagon had reportedly approached a child who'd just gotten off the school bus and was walking up the driveway towards his Keswick area home. If the reported incident had all the hallmarks of every parent's worst nightmare, it soon became apparent that things weren't quite as they first seemed.
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Escapes: Summer fun near and far
May 23rd 3:00pm
Blue Ridge Swim Club: 100 years of splashing, swimming and sunning
May 23rd 11:52am
by Courteney Stuart
Want to time travel? You don't need a flux capacitor, you don't need a degree in physics, and you don't need to resurrect Albert Einstein to ask him how to do it. You just need a swimsuit and way to get yourself out to Ivy, where the Blue Ridge Swim Club is celebrating its 100th Anniversary this summer.
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Fit to be tied: Did little car survive big collision?
May 23rd 11:17am
The week in review
May 23rd 10:01am
by Hook Staff
Worst trend, part 1: Nine people overdose on heroin in Culpeper and Spotsylvania last week, and two die, according to a release.
Worst trend, part 2: Virginia's suicide rate is the highest in 13 years, while the homicide rate has plunged, making suicides three times more common in the Old Dominion, Capital News Service reports from Richmond.
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Commanding laughter: Cohen surprises audiences with a tight regime
May 23rd 4:04am
by Roger Ebert
THE Dictator is funny, in addition to being obscene, disgusting, scatological, vulgar, crude and so on. Having seen Sacha Baron Cohen promoting it on countless talk shows, I feared the movie would feel like deja vu. But no. He establishes a claim to be the best comic filmmaker now working.
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Bell loses, Jackson wins: Local GOPers gather in Richmond
May 22nd 6:48pm
Barnum's beaming: The Greatest bypass on Earth!
May 22nd 6:02pm
by Randy Salzman
Have you ever walked into a store soon after opening hours to find the advertised sale item "all sold out?”
Come to the Holiday Inn Thursday, May 23 and get a look at a “bait and switch” tactic so impressive that P.T. Barnum must be beaming in his grave.
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Copper top: Rotunda gleams for graduation
May 21st 3:30pm
by Laura Wagner
Final exercises at University of Virginia took place on the Lawn last weekend, May 18 and 19, and while much was made of tradition, something was different: the dome of the Rotunda was copper colored – instead of the traditional white – for the ceremonies. Heavy rain earlier in the month derailed plans to paint the dome before graduation, ensuring that students and their families had the rare opportunity to view the Rotunda as it was during the early twentieth century when architect Stanford White redesigned it with a copper roof in 1898.
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More details: Alleged fake IDers to remain in jail
May 19th 5:33pm
by Lisa Provence
The alleged counterfeiters from the May 6 fake ID-ring bust on Rugby Road were in court again and will not be leaving jail in the near future as the government amasses evidence against them and promises more charges.
Investigators have found more than $2 million in cash so far– $1.3 million in the house alone and hundreds of thousands of dollars in multiple bank accounts, according to U.S. Attorney Tim Heaphy. The May 7 criminal complaint had noted $200,000 was in a safe in the house.
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In-depth TV: Barefoot teams with Newsplex for longform local news
May 19th 10:20am
by Courteney Stuart
Coy Barefoot's already known around town as a radio host, historian and author, and he's adding another title to his already lengthy resumé: TV host. On Sunday, May 19, Barefoot's latest effort, Inside Charlottesville, premieres on the local CBS affiliate WCAV, channel 19.
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Sheriff's posse tees off
May 19th 6:05am
by Lisa Provence
Sheriff Chip Harding has turned into something of a fundraising machine, expanding the designated prisoner-transport/subpoena-serving role of sheriff in Albemarle and creating the largest volunteer deputy reserve force in Virginia. Last year, his Sheriff's Posse Golf Round-up raised enough money to buy a mobile command trailer, essential, he says, for search and rescue operations.
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Red-faced: Red-light camera company caught in bribery scandal
May 16th 4:28pm
by Dave McNair
The red-light cameras that Albemarle County installed at the intersection of Route 29 and Rio Road in 2011 have caught thousands of red-light runners and generated thousands in ticket revenue. But according to a story first broken by the Chicago Tribune, representatives of the Australia-based company that operates the cameras, Redflex, have been caught red-handed bribing a Chicago transportation official. The company is now under federal investigation.
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Prose flows: Gatsby's over the top, but book shines through
May 16th 4:26pm
by Hook Contributor
By RICHARD ROEPER
Given the wretched and sometimes wonderful excesses of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge, not to mention a trailer that gave the impression Luhrmann's interpretation of The Great Gatsby would be one extended anachronistic music video, it turns out Luhrmann's Gatsby is first and foremost F. Scott Fitzgerald's Gatsby.
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Freshening the Forester: Wife's car lacks inner beauty
May 16th 4:08pm
Un-carceration: Prosecutor candidate Deaton talks jail reform
May 16th 3:52pm
by Dave McNair
Steven B. Deaton is gunning for the Democratic nomination for Charlottesville commonwealth's attorney– again– and on a rainy Wednesday, May 8, under the protection of the Pavilion's roof, he made his case.
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Brick fix
May 16th 2:09pm
by Courteney Stuart
Nearly a year after the Main Street Arena General Manager sent the city a letter complaining about the condition of the crumbling bricks along the building's east side, the walkway has at last been repaired by the city. But who's responsible for paying for the repair is up for dispute.
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Death to Death: June turn-out could help
May 16th 11:33am
by Hook Contributor
By David Swanson
Most of the world's governments no longer use the death penalty. Among wealthy nations there is one exception remaining. The United States is among the top five killers in the world. Also in the top five: the recently "liberated" Iraq.
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Cheat street: Can trust be regained after repeat infidelity?
May 16th 5:43am
by Courteney Stuart
Hi, Carolyn:
How do I start trusting my wife again? Three years ago, I caught her (52) having an affair with a 29-year-old aide who came to our house to help with our autistic son.
One of my first questions to her was "What did I fail to give you?" We went the counseling route and, as the months passed, I knew she would text or write him, but I dealt with these things as they came up. She was repentant and wanted to make it work ... and, I love her.
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Tapped & paired: New places invade Barracks
May 16th 5:37am
by Dave McNair
The idea behind the Sedona Taphouse is simple: good beer, good food, and a comfortable atmosphere for all.
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Valedictator: Lawn to get a dose of Colbert
May 16th 1:43am
by Dave McNair
Get ready, Nation. Funny-man Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, is coming to Mr. Jefferson's University to deliver the 2013 valediction keynote speech on May 18. But which Colbert will show up? The "well-intentioned, poorly informed high-status idiot" he plays on the show or the guy who, along with his UVA alum wife, Evelyn McGee Colbert, funded a new Arts Scholars program in the UVA College of Arts & Sciences? Maybe both.
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Dignity and justice, City Market
May 15th 5:38pm
by Hook Staff
In last week's story, "May Day rally: Housing authority hides from protesters," the Rally for Dignity and Justice in Public Housing was misidentified.
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The week in review
May 15th 4:48pm
by Hook Staff
Closest tie to Boston Marathon bomber: The body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev was refused burial space all over the northeast. He's quietly buried in a Doswell cemetery in in Caroline County, and outrage ensues.
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GOP convention: 'Laborious process' to nominate AG, LG
May 15th 2:39pm
by Lisa Provence
You've got to be pretty serious about your political party if you're willing to spend an entire Saturday in Richmond nominating candidates for attorney general and lieutenant governor.
Yes, lieutenant governor. Seven people want this mostly ceremonial job that used to be a stepping stone to governor, before attorneys general like Bob McDonnell started using that office to launch a gubernatorial run.
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Get Out! events, shows, things to do
May 15th 1:33pm
by Dave McNair
"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." – Robert Frost
Bell returns to her roots
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Shock and awe: Inside the Rugby Road raid
May 15th 12:24pm
by Lisa Provence
After the entire city of Boston was shut down last month during a massive manhunt following explosions that maimed and slaughtered marathon bystanders, news that a block of Rugby Road was shut down last week for a multi-agency operation sparked ominous speculation. Was it a terrorist threat? A hostage situation? A murderous rampage?
Virginia State Police initially refused to say what nefarious activity had taken place that warranted closing off a stretch of one of Charlottesville's most prestigious streets.
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Elusive wonder: Director's bold vision gets last Ebert thumbs up
May 9th 11:27am
by Roger Ebert
This was the last movie review Roger Ebert filed.
Released less than two years after his The Tree of Life, an epic that began with the dinosaurs and peered into an uncertain future, Terrence Malick's To the Wonder is a film that contains only a handful of important characters and a few crucial moments in their lives. Although it uses dialogue, it's dreamy and half-heard, and essentially this could be a silent film– silent, except for its mostly melancholy music.
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Probation violation: Kroboth gets six months
May 9th 11:10am
by Courteney Stuart
An extended vacation has turned into an extended jail term for convicted attempted murderer Kurt Kroboth, who was sentenced on May 2 in Albemarle County Circuit Court to six months behind bars for violating the terms of his probation.
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More classical
May 9th 10:57am
by Letter Writer
As a supporter of local music and a WTJU classical announcer, I thought that the recent edition of the Hook (April 25) did a superb job covering the local music scene and its support from the community. But the article ignored one essential feature– local classical musicians and ensembles. From orchestras such as the Charlottesville University Symphony Orchestra and the Waynesboro Symphony, ensembles such as Three Notch'd Road and Zephyrus, and many individual musicians, our area abounds in great classical music.
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Vendor bender: Will the City Market stay or go?
May 9th 10:49am
by anon
For as long as the Charlottesville City Market Saturday extravaganza of local foods and crafts has existed on the City parking lot along Water Street–over 20 years, though the popular outdoor market has actually been around for 35 years– there's been discussion about relocating it.
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Ranunculus
May 9th 10:18am
by Bill Emory
Buttercups. Pretty but poisonous.
Ingestion causes burning of the mouth, abdominal pain, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. Skin redness, burning sensation, and blisters following contact with cell sap. ––NCSU~Commentator Bill Emory puts up a new photo nearly every day at billemory.com/blog.
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Bucking tradition: Does Democrat Terry McAuliffe have what it takes to beat Ken Cuccinelli?
May 9th 9:41am
by Hook Contributor
by Peter Galuszka
Easter Sunday blows rainy and cold while the cell phone buzzes at 12:58 p.m. It's a surprise email from Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Terry McAuliffe. "Peter," his message reads. "My family and I are about to head out to Easter brunch but I wanted to make you aware that today's the last day we have to file our first financial report of the year." McAuliffe asks for a $5 donation.
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Fore! Trump golf course faces hazards
May 8th 2:42pm
by Lisa Provence
Donald Trump is aiming for a hole-in-one with reported plans to build a public golf course on the former Kluge estate in southern Albemarle, but several hazards stand in his way. For one, the 217-acre would-be golf course in the front yard of Albemarle House is under conservation easement– and it's also under litigation from the John Kluge Jr. Trust, which claims Trump stiffed it on the purchase price.
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