Three fatalities: Traffic deaths unrelated
Apr 3rd 4:39pm
by Lisa Provence
Albemarle hasn't had any fatalities all year– and then within three days, three men are dead from crashes on county roads.
"All three of these are very different, with much different dynamics," says Sergeant Sean Hackney with Albemarle County Police. He's investigated over 100 fatal crashes during his career and says there are three common factors in most fatalities: speed, alcohol, and lack of seatbelts.
read full story
The week in review
Apr 3rd 4:36pm
by Hook Staff
Worst first: Albemarle has its first traffic fatality March 27 followed by two more two days later (see related story page 10). In 2012, 12 people died on county roads.
read full story
Speedy: Court no-show leads to candidate arrest
Apr 3rd 4:23pm
by Lisa Provence
The Democratic primary is still two months away, and already one of the City Council contenders has run afoul of the law. Wesley Bellamy announced his candidacy March 6; on March 27, he had a press conference to announce it was the clerk's fault he was arrested for failing to show up in court.
Bellamy, 26, a computer teacher at Albemarle High and founder of a mentoring/boxing organization called Helping Young People Evolve– HYPE– was the first of two African-American men to declare their candidacy in the oft-white field of council contenders.
read full story
Get Out! events, shows, things to do
Apr 3rd 8:53am
by Dave McNair
“If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Dreams of a child
read full story
Dumler recall: Supe has (another) day in court
Apr 2nd 5:11pm
by Lisa Provence
Albemarle Supervisor Chris Dumler, unshaven since he began spending his weekends in jail, appeared in Albemarle Circuit Court April 2 because of a citizen's petition to remove him from office.
Dumler and the petitioner, Keene resident Earl Smith, sat opposite each other on the front row in the courtroom filled with at least two dozen people who've appeared at supervisors meetings and publicly said they want Dumler gone.
read full story
Lest we forget: Special election April 2
Mar 28th 5:57pm
by Lisa Provence
Even in a non-presidential election year, Virginians go to the polls. This year, besides the June 11 Democratic primary and the November 5 governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general elections, Charlottesvillians have another chance to cast a ballot April 2 for the under-the-radar position of city treasurer.
Related story
Rare openings: Treasurer, commissioner of revenue up for grabs
read full story
For Travis: Losing locks for a cure
Mar 28th 2:49pm
by Courteney Stuart
Twelve-year-old Travis Compher, a seventh-grader from Caroline County, has been battling leukemia for more than a year and is still undergoing monthly chemotherapy treatments, but that didn't stop him from making the trip to Charlottesville on Thursday, March 21, to watch UVA fourth year Phoebe Willis shave her head in his honor after she'd raised more than $14,000 toward childhood cancer research. Nearly 100 "shavees" lost their locks, and the UVA St. Baldrick's Day event, held at The Biltmore, raised $86,000– more than $6,000 over the goal.
read full story
Rotunda to Rivanna: the future of our urban core
Mar 28th 1:35pm
by Dave McNair
Like the palm of your hand, our city, if you were to look at it from high in the sky, has a similar pattern of lines that time has carved out. One of those lines, running east to west from the Rotunda to the Rivanna River, and parallel to the Buckingham Branch railroad, has local "palm readers" looking to the future. "In 50 years, I hope someone can walk from the grounds of the University all the way to the
read full story
Rejection: Tina Fey's Admission fizzles
Mar 28th 12:01pm
by Roger Ebert
by Richard Roeper
Has Tiny Fey ever played a character we weren't rooting for?
In smart features such as Mean Girls, Baby Mama and Date Night, on the just-completed NBC series 30 Rock, on Saturday Night Live and in her book Bossypants or even co-hosting the Golden Globes, Fey's either likable or lovable. We're on her side, through all her pratfalls and fashion faux pas and quick, self-deprecating quips.
Who doesn't like Tina Fey?
read full story
Focused on a cure: Kassell's ultrasound vision
Mar 28th 11:48am
by Courteney Stuart
Every once in a while, a technology comes along that revolutionizes medicine. Sometimes, it just takes a while to recognize its impact. In 1970, for instance, Neal Kassell saw a CT scan for the first time.
"I thought it had no future," laughs the 67-year-old UVA neurosurgeon. "I was wrong."
Kassell was certain he was right, however, when, about eight years ago, he conceived of treating and even curing previously untreatable conditions using ultrasound technology.
read full story
Slim purchase
Mar 28th 10:51am
by Bill Emory
They say that companies that contract with our City are bound by tree protection guidelines. We will watch a few trees. See how that goes…
~Commentator Bill Emory puts up a new photo nearly every day at billemory.com/blog.
read full story
Jeepers peepers! Frogs are canaries in a coal mine
Mar 28th 9:20am
by Hook Contributor
By Amy Mathews AmosThe snow had melted, the sun was shining and the river beckoned, so I took a long walk by the water this weekend. Being outside was satisfying enough, but I got an unexpected treat: frogs.
I heard them first, croaking a chorus in shallow water, then was rewarded with a glimpse as one swam away. The daffodils haven’t bloomed yet, but the frogs told me spring is coming. It’s a scene that has delighted children and adults across America for centuries.
But what if next year, they’re gone?
read full story
Outstanding value in Western Albemarle
Mar 28th 5:05am
Spotlight on Fry's Spring
Mar 28th 5:05am
by Samantha Masone
Area: Fry’s Spring
Price range: $108,800-$882,500
Schools: Jackson Via & Johnson, depending on location, Walker and Buford, Charlottesville High School
Pros: Easy access to amenities, tight-knit community
Cons: Effects of student and rental housing on property values, heavy traffic during football games
read full story
Young and old: Vinegar Hill Café aims for health at all ages
Mar 27th 3:49pm
by anon
Two months after the grand opening of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, community music and educational events are happening on a near-daily basis in the extensively renovated facility.
Now, anyone stopping by the Center on Fourth Street NW won't leave hungry. That's thanks to the Vinegar Hill Café, a restaurant owned and operated by the Jefferson Area Board for Aging that aspires to improve the lives of the city's youngest and oldest residents even as it serves up healthy and affordable lunch options for Heritage Center visitors.
read full story
Public housing fray: HUD says no Norris conflict of interest
Mar 27th 11:26am
by Lisa Provence
Former mayor and City Councilor Dave Norris has made a career out of working for nonprofits dedicated to helping the disadvantaged. That's why it was so surprising to find in a recent report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development note of a possible conflict of interest in his roles as chair of the public housing authority board and as a paid consultant for public housing residents.
read full story
Witness-less: Curry prof's grand larceny charge reduced
Mar 27th 11:22am
by Lisa Provence
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
The week in review
Mar 27th 10:43am
by Hook Staff
Worst trend: Charlottesville becomes the wild West again with another incident of gunfire on a weekend night at a crowded venue. The latest bullets erupt March 22 at the Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot during a 20-person brawl, in which two are stabbed, according to the Daily Progress. Antwan Chambers, 20, of Buckingham, racks up five charges including reckless use of a firearm, and possession of cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute. Four other people arrested with him face drug charges.
read full story
Dumler petition: Mr. Smith goes to circuit court
Mar 26th 1:55pm
by Lisa Provence
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
Security failure? Morgan Harrington's family refiles complaint
Mar 26th 1:28pm
by Courteney Stuart
On the same night it barred an injured and disoriented Morgan Harrington from reentering UVA's John Paul Jones Arena during a Metallica concert in October 2009, the firm providing concert security helped an intoxicated off-duty Fairfax police officer attending the show to find a safe ride, according to an amended complaint against Richmond-based RMC Events, filed in Charlottesville Circuit Court by Morgan's mother, Gil Harrington.
read full story
Four more cops
Mar 26th 12:38pm
by Hook Staff
•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
John Lewis and the power of love
Mar 26th 11:11am
by Lisa Provence
Civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis was arrested 40 times in the '60s, and four times since he's been in Congress. The youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington and the leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was clubbed by police on the Selma bridge and left with a concussion. As an original Freedom Rider in 1961, he was beaten in Rock Hill, South Carolina, by a group of white men "who left me lying in a pool of blood," he told the audience at the Paramount Theater March 23.
read full story
Red brain, blue brain: Does political affiliation reflect intelligence?
Mar 21st 4:30pm
Fiction contest winner: 'The Cliff'
Mar 21st 3:56pm
by Hook Contributor
By Charles McRavenThey rode in as if they owned the place, and within five minutes, they did. Thirty Union soldiers, commanded by a captain, spreading out over the farm, posting sentries. Ophelia stood on her porch and watched it happen, knowing absolutely that there was nothing she could do, or should have done, to stop it.
There’d been no warning, no frightened neighbors rushing by to safety to scream at her to get out. The men had the bold ruthlessness of invaders, the certainty that nothing would oppose them.
read full story
Haute Chinese: Chang celebrates top ten honors
Mar 21st 1:24pm
by Dave McNair
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
Stream of memories
Mar 21st 12:12pm
by Courteney Stuart
Two months after beloved local photographer Philip Beaurline died of complications relating to the flu, his widow, Marie, and son, Anders, were by the Rivanna River in Darden Towe park on Thursday, March 14 as the 100+ Women Who Care philanthropic group donated $3,900 to Streamwatch in his honor. Women Who Care aims to find 100 or more women in the Charlottesville area to donate $100 four times each year. The money– as much as $40,000 annually– is given to local charities.
read full story
John Carlos: The silence heard round the world
Mar 21st 11:20am
by Lisa Provence
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
The write stuff: Meet the winners!
Mar 21st 11:07am
by Courteney Stuart
Writing takes discipline, to be sure– just ask the Hook's famed contest judge John Grisham, who spends hours every single day at the keyboard, and has more than two dozen best sellers to his name.
read full story
Incredible Carell: If Michael Scott were a magician
Mar 21st 10:59am
by Roger Ebert
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
Luce
Mar 21st 10:53am
by Bill Emory
Neighborhood dog by the name of Luce.
Commentator Bill Emory puts up a new photo nearly every day at billemory.com/blog.
read full story
Letter: New skatepark for kids or adults?
Mar 21st 10:52am
by Letter Writer
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
Peace plan: Scott Atran talks to terrorists
Mar 21st 10:11am
by Meri Jane Smith
Scott Atran runs with a rough, international crowd– jihadis, mujahideen, and lashkars– otherwise known as Islamic fundamentalists, otherwise known as terrorists, who have invited Atran into their worlds. As we know all too well, their worlds can be dangerous, even for a westerner with an invite.
read full story
The week in review
Mar 21st 9:28am
by Hook Staff
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
Spotlight on Farmington
Mar 21st 5:05am
by Samantha Masone
Area: Farmington
Price range: $575,000-$5,900,000
Schools: Murray, Henley, Western Albemarle Pros: location, amenities, beautiful neighborhood
Cons: high cost of ownership, close identification with club
“Farmington is primarily identified by the club,” says Elizabeth Feil Matthews, a realtor with McLean Faulconer and listing agent for the home that sits at 935 Windsor Road.
read full story
Vinegar Hill: Building goes on the block
Mar 20th 1:22pm
by Lisa Provence
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
Deaton: Candidate calls for moratorium on death penalty prosecutions
Mar 20th 11:00am
by Lisa Provence
Calling the death penalty "barbaric," Steve Deaton, candidate for commonwealth's attorney in Charlottesville, wants a moratorium on prosecutions that could lead to death row.
"It's something I've been thinking about a long time," says Deaton. "I'm surprised no one brought it up– it's so out of character for Charlottesville."
read full story
Snowe mobile: Former Maine senator speaks at Emily Couric lunch
Mar 19th 4:12pm
by Lisa Provence
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
Get Out! events, shows, things to do
Mar 19th 11:29am
by Dave McNair
"You know the kind of joke that's super-hilarious but also points in some genius way to the whole thing of the universe? Like that."—Daniel Handler, on Paul Legault's The Emily Dickinson Reader
Dead poet party
If you've never really cared for poetry, or understood why
read full story
Senator Snowe got the memo
Mar 18th 2:45pm
by Lisa Provence
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
A taste of Hamiltons' new menu
Mar 16th 10:09am
