Rect-urrection: How will Dragas foes cope with her victory?
Feb 6th 5:21pm
by Lisa Provence
Has there ever been a University of Virginia rector as reviled as Helen Dragas, the woman who united students, faculty, and alums in calling for her head following her failed ouster of President Teresa Sullivan last June? And yet, on January 30, the reappointment of this seemingly Teflon-coated Virginia Beach businesswoman sailed through confirmation in the General Assembly with a final 63-33 House of Delegates seal of approval.
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Dead or alive: The Hook's legislative watch
Feb 6th 4:28pm
by Lisa Provence
During Week 4 of the General Assembly, crossover day looms and both houses work to get their bills passed– or not– while Supreme Court Justice Harry Lee Carrico lies in state in the Capitol.
DeadAn end to Virginia's uranium mining ban– Sen. John Watkins (R-Midlothian).
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Censured: Former, current supes call for Dumler to resign
Feb 6th 12:40pm
by Lisa Provence
Christopher Dumler may have thought the worst was behind him when he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual battery January 31 so he could avoid a felony conviction and remain on the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. However, it was clear February 6 the issue hadn't died when his fellow supervisors censured the Scottsville representative and two former supes called for his resignation.
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Road to nowhere: Western Bypass must be stopped
Feb 6th 12:35pm
by Hook Contributor
By James E. Rich
The General Assembly is currently considering proposals to raise significant new revenues for transportation in the Commonwealth. Many hardworking Virginians live paycheck to paycheck, and many small businesses continue to struggle to survive and maintain payrolls in an uncertain economic climate. If additional taxes are going to be extracted from families and job-producing businesses, the logical questions arise: will the new funds be used to benefit the average taxpayer? And will the funds be spent in a cost-effective way?
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The week in review
Feb 6th 10:46am
by Hook Staff
Latest in the Daniel Harmon-Wright saga: The former Culpeper cop who blasted unarmed Patricia Cook, 54, a year ago is found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and two other felonies January 29. A jury recommends three years in prison after his request for a mistrial is denied when a dictionary is found in the jury room, the Culpeper Star-Exponent reports. He'll be sentenced April 10.
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Nonpartisan redistricting not dead
Feb 5th 11:02pm
by Hook Staff
Last week's "Dead or Alive: The Hook's legislative watch" incorrectly said Senator Creigh Deeds' constitutional redistricting amendment was dead.
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Food trucks: Are more regs needed?
Feb 5th 1:11pm
by Dave McNair
For some time now, mobile food trucks have been a part of our culinary landscape, rolling up at various and varied private locations, offering everything from organic doughnuts, hot dogs, tacos and burritos, hamburgers, BBQ, and more. Indeed, because Charlottesville has no public places where the food trucks are allowed, enterprising operators have had to strike deals with private property owners to survive. The phenomenon has finally caught the attention of City officials, who now want to regulate the mobile eateries, they say, to allow for their continued proliferation.
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Kroger showdown: man confronts gun-toter
Feb 1st 7:00am
by Dave McNair
Bob Girard had a craving for some ice cream last Sunday evening, so he stopped in at the Kroger on Hydraulic Road to pick up vanilla bean, extra chocolate, and strawberry, along with some Hershey's chocolate syrup. The last thing he expected to encounter was a fellow shopper with a rifle slung across his shoulder. "What are you carrying?" asked Girard, a well-known local musician, who originally recounted the now widely reported incident in a Facebook post. "An assault rifle," the guy said."What caliber?" asked Girard."A .308," he said. "An AR-15."
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Surprise redistricting: Local GOP delegates mum about controversy
Jan 31st 4:18pm
by Lisa Provence
Business for the day had already concluded in Richmond on January 21– Martin Luther King, Jr. Day– when Republican senators took advantage of the absence of a Democratic civil rights leader, Henry Marsh, who was attending the presidential inauguration, to push through a far-reaching redistricting bill while they had a 20-19 advantage in the evenly split Senate.
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Flash of color on a snowy morning
Jan 31st 4:14pm
by Bill Emory
Schools were closed and bricks were slick on Thursday morning, January 24, as a jogger travels the nearly empty Downtown Mall.
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Senator Henry Marsh's big day
Jan 31st 3:50pm
by Courteney Stuart
Blogger Waldo Jaquith was at the Virginia State Capitol on Monday, January 21, when Republican senators passed a controversial redistricting bill. This is his account of the day.
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Dead or alive: The Hook's legislative watch
Jan 31st 11:36am
by Lisa Provence
Week 3 of the General Assembly and suddenly redistricting is a hot topic, putting Virginia on the national map– and on the Colbert Report– with the Senate Republican bill passed by one crucial vote on MLK Day.
DeadLegal notices in localities larger than 50,000 don't have to go in newspapers– Del. Chris Head (R-Roanoke)
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The Liar's Club: Keeping the wild history of White Hall alive
Jan 31st 11:16am
by Courteney Stuart
Nazi POWs picking peaches in Crozet? Check. An Albemarle County farm boy surrounded by Ethiopian tribesmen carrying spears? Believe it.
The Albemarle County area called White Hall might not look like much more than bucolic countryside for those just driving through, but folks stopping at historic Wyant's Store any weekday morning may learn that things aren't always as they appear– and, if they listen up, they'll hear some wild stories being told by a group of men who call themselves the Liar's Club.
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Dumler pleads: Supe gets 30 days for sexual battery
Jan 31st 10:36am
by Courteney Stuart
Albemarle County Supervisor Christopher Dumler pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual battery in Albemarle County General District Court on Thursday morning January 31. He will serve 30 days behind bars.
"I'm very proud of the victim," said Fluvanna County Commonwealth's Attorney Jeff Haislip, who was appointed special prosecutor in the case. "We could not have done this without her courage and the others that came forward."
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Property auctions
Jan 31st 5:05am
by Hook Staff
January 31 at 1pm at the Charlottesville Circuit Court Property: 1107 6th Street SE Debtor: Paul A. Accardo Original amount owing: $218,000 Bidder brings: 10 percent Info: Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore LLP 540-983-9395
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The worst: Big names can't save 'Movie 43'
Jan 31st 5:05am
Fifeville farmhouse: Country charm, convenient location
Jan 31st 5:05am
by Samantha Masone
Address: 311 6 1/2 Street SWNeighborhood: FifevilleAsking: $250,000Assessment: $284,400Year Built: 1925Size: 1502 finished sq. ft.Land: .1260 acresCurb Appeal: 7 out of 10Listing Agent: Shannon Harrington, RE/MAX Commonwealth - 804-484-0367
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Emerald Ridge gem trades quickly for full price
Jan 31st 5:05am
Winter jasmine watch
Jan 30th 4:31pm
by Lisa Provence
It's become something of a tradition for the Hook to snag a photo of the winter jasmine in bloom below Carr's Hill on University Avenue as a bellwether of Spring, sort of our own version of Groundhog Day. Unfortunately, we haven't been particularly vigilant this year, so while this photo, taken January 30, shows the signature yellow flowers, we can't say exactly how long they've been in bloom.
Some priors
- 2012 - January 12
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The week in review
Jan 30th 10:53am
by Hook Staff
Worst exercise of Second Amendment rights: A man walks into Kroger on Emmet Street with a loaded AR-15 semi-automatic rifle January 27.
Worst idea for a hoax: University of Virginia at Wise student Bryant Alexander Hairston, 20, of Martinsville, is charged with knowingly making a false statement after calling 911 January 23 to report an armed man wearing a face mask on the campus.
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Groceryland: Albemarle Square gets fresh
Jan 30th 9:06am
by Dave McNair
Yes, Charlottesville, you will soon have yet another grocery store option, as the North Carolina-based gourmet grocery store chain The Fresh Market is set to open on February 6 in the Albemarle Square Shopping Center, joining the recently opened Trader Joe's down the road, the new Whole Foods location, Kroger, Harris Teeter, and Food Lion as an additional 29-North grocery shopping option .
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Delegate given wrong last name
Jan 29th 9:43pm
by Hook Staff
Delegate Rich Anderson was misidentified in last week's "Dead or Alive: The Hook's legislative watch."
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Get Out! events, shows, things to do
Jan 29th 5:00pm
by Dave McNair
"Simplified gestural figures continue to illustrate the wonder and the struggle of being human, and our hunger for validation.”– Intimacy Theories, by Polly Breckenridge
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Flu season: 3 deaths reported at UVA Medical Center
Jan 28th 3:55pm
by Lisa Provence
An already bad flu season has turned worse with three flu-related deaths reported at UVA Medical Center.
One of those was well-regarded architectural photographer Philip Beaurline, who died January 18 at age 59.
The virus hit hard in early December, when St. Anne's-Belfield shuttered its upper school and Jack Jouett Middle School reported 80 students out that same week.
Since December 1, UVA Medical Center has had 305 confirmed cases of the flu, according to spokesperson Eric Swensen. One of the three flu-related deaths transferred from another facility.
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Birds of a feather
Jan 27th 3:30am
by Lisa Provence
Hey, we thought they flocked together, but this juvenile swan joining Canada geese at Beaver Creek Reservoir in Crozet apparently didn't get that memo. The Wildlife Center in Waynesboro took a look at our grainy photo, and says it's either a tundra swan migrating through or a mute swan, which is an invasive species. Of the latter, says Wildlife's Leighann Cline, "They tend to show up where they're not wanted."
Photographed January 20.
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Snow pussies: Schools make tough calls with the twitch of a tail
Jan 26th 1:39pm
by Courteney Stuart
Making the call to close schools for inclement weather has always been tough for school officials, particularly when the snow hasn't even started falling. In Albemarle and Charlottesville, a pilot program between the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA and the school systems is making that judgment easier– and providing once homeless cats with a second chance.
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Mini-moviehouse
Jan 25th 11:20am
In a rush
Jan 25th 10:34am
by Bill Emory
When you're in a rush, any direction will do. UVA women line up on Chancellor Street for sorority house tours on Saturday, January 19. The 10-day formal recruitment process culminated in "bid day" on Monday, January 21.
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Rare openings: Treasurer, commissioner of revenue up for grabs
Jan 24th 10:58am
by Lisa Provence
Commonwealth's attorney and sheriff are the better known constitutional officers; treasurer and commissioner of revenue– not so much. In the next year, each of these positions are up for grabs, and voters might want to familiarize themselves with the candidates, since once elected to those posts, people tend to hold on to them for years.
Related stories
Brown's law: The art of the 'necessary no'
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Letter: Hold Government accountable for Hash
Jan 24th 8:46am
by Letter Writer
Your recent article about Michael Hash, the man who was accused of murder and wrongly imprisoned for 12 years really struck me. In today’s modern society, you would think that criminal offenses by government officials in the handling of innocent people’s court cases wouldn’t be acceptable. I understand that before DNA testing was available, it was often difficult to prove someone’s guilt, but the fact that government officials deceived the courts and the people without any punishment is sickening.
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Surgeon's decree: Gun control a public health issue
Jan 24th 7:15am
by Hook Contributor
By Sara K. Rasmussen
Last month, our country endured an unspeakable horror when elementary school students in Newtown, Connecticut, became the victims of one of the most heinous gun rampages that our country has experienced. As a mother and a citizen, I am outraged and hurt to have had to live through yet another episode in our nation’s history where innocent lives were lost to gun violence. As a pediatric surgeon, I have seen the heartbreaking outcome of guns in the wrong hands too often.
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Hot dog hideaway: Crozet stand serves all the way
Jan 24th 5:55am
by Lisa Provence
A tucked away space on Three Notch'd Road in Crozet used to house a Subway. Since October, it's serving up dogs instead of subs.
Sam's Hot Dog Stand is a West Virginia franchise founded by former Waynesboro mayor Frank Lucente with the motto, "We do one thing and we do it right."
"It's something that wasn't here," says owner Jeff Mahan. "I was looking for a market niche. And the price point is good in a bad economy."
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Wild girls: Chastain goes motherly
Jan 24th 5:35am
by Roger Ebert
by Richard Roeper
Very few horror movies would last past the second act if the characters in these films were actually fans of horror movies.
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Name changer: Will tenant satisfaction improve at Autumn Hill?
Jan 24th 5:19am
by Lisa Provence
Landmark at Granite Park is the latest moniker for one of Charlottesville's most renamed apartment complexes– one that is known for generating tenant complaints.
The 425-unit complex on Commonwealth Drive, built in the 1960s, began as Westfield. It then became Trophy Chase and subsequently was in the news for several murders, including that of a UVA student killed by her husband in 2003, and 19-year-old Ashley Toney, who was shot to death in 2005.
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Price cut on Preston Place
Jan 24th 5:05am
by Samantha Masone
9/20/2012Charlottesville459 Locust Charlottesville Owner, LLC to Cville Operations Hub, LLC, 459 Locust Avenue, $3,500,000Dorothy W. Brown, Etal to Michele Jordan, Trustee, Ridge Street Land Trust, 912 Ridge Street, $65,000*James G. & John P. Elwood, Trustees to Paul M. & Marilyn J. Wright, 612 Preston Place, $440,0009/21/12AlbemarleFlorence Irene Dollins Norvelle to David A. Powell, 5091 Raynham Hall Lane, $100,000
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What law would you pass?
Jan 24th 5:00am
Property auctions
Jan 24th 1:32am
by Hook Staff
January 24 at 10:15am at the Albemarle Courthouse Property: 2160 Devonshire Road Debtor: Carter C. and Robert R. Schotta IV Original amount owing: $454,750 Bidder brings: 10 percent Info: ALG Trustee LLC 703-777-7101
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The session: What local legislators are up to in Richmond
Jan 24th 12:39am
by Lisa Provence
The 2013 Session of the Virginia State Legislature kicked off on January 9, and if last year's focus was all about probing lady parts, this year's legislators will tangle over a variety of no less controversial issues.
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Dead or alive: The Hook's legislative watch
Jan 24th 12:11am
by Lisa Provence
Week 2 of the session and the number of bills the legislature considers has swollen to 2,462, according to Richmond Sunlight, while the body count of dead bills piles up.
DeadReversal of last year's mandatory abdominal ultrasound before an abortion– Sen. Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk)
Reversal of requirements that existing abortion clinics must meet hospital standards– Sen. Mark Herring (D-Loudoun)
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Get Out! events, shows, things to do
Jan 23rd 10:07pm
by Dave McNair
A story about a boy, his Garageband program, and thousands of screaming fans.
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