Emancipation Park at night, Charlottesville.
A street artist’s rendition of Heather Heyer, victim of a hate crime when a speeding car driven by a neo-Nazi plowed into the crowd during the “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville.
Charlottesville’s 4th Street where Heather Heyer was killed on August 12.
A federal judge sided with alt-right organizers and upheld their right to meet Saturday in Emancipation Park, formerly Lee Park, where the Robert E. Lee statue is located that city council wants to remove.
Bearing Drift contributor Rick Sincere wrote Thursday about the last-minute lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Virginia and the Rutherford Institute on behalf of Jason Kessler, alt-right organizer of the event, after the city of Charlottesville revoked the permit for Emancipation Park and moved it to McIntire Park about a mile away. McIntire Park is much larger than Emancipation Park and, with thousands of protesters expected, the city is understandably concerned.
Friday night by 10:00 reports were coming from observers in Charlottesville that hundreds of alt-right supporters were already marching with torches through the streets and surrounding the newly renovated Rotunda on the University of Virginia campus where a brawl broke out between white supremacists and those opposing them.
NBC-12 will have coverage. Be safe, Cville.
Charlottesville Bojangles at Pantops. (Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell)
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Stopping by the brand new Bojangles in Charlottesville’s Pantops (I-64, exit 124) on Rt. 250) area on Tuesday, we got the low-down on future Bojangles locations in the area from the owner himself. He confirmed the rumors that have been circulating in the Staunton area.
He is opening a Bojangles in Staunton on Richmond Road near the Sheetz and Frontier Culture Museum. From I-81, that’s exit 222 — WalMart, Lowe’s, Starbucks, Rowe’s, Cracker Barrel, Texas Steakhouse, Chili’s, and Martin’s Food Market. He mentioned that plans also call for a Chick-Fil-A and McDonald’s (replacing the one in the service station on the east side of the interstate) that will locate in that same area along with a hotel and restaurant. Exit 222 has been begging for development along the strip of Richmond Road between the interstate and Frontier Drive.
He said he also plans to open a Bojangles in Waynesboro at the location of the old Ladd Elementary School located off I-64’s exit 96. That area of Rt. 340 also has WalMart, Martin’s Food Market, Applebee’s Ruby Tuesday’s Starbucks, Cracker Barrel, Target, Kohl’s, and other restaurants and hotels.
Many in the area have been asking for a Bojangles and Chick-fil-A so it looks like we won’t have much longer to wait, Staunton. Perhaps in 2017….
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Monticello celebrates Thomas Jefferson’s 272nd birthday Monday with a 1000 a.m. ceremony on the West Lawn and free admission to the grounds. Admission to the house requires purchasing a ticket. The keynote speaker will be Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.) who was the recipient of the 2015 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Citizen Leadership.
It’s spring on Monticello’s mountain with early season flowers and garden plants. The weather is supposed to be in the mid-70s and partly sunny so it will be a good day to commemorate the anniversary of Mr. Jefferson’s birth.
Photo from Monticello
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and $5 admission … great time to visit the home of America’s third President! We decided it would be the start of our colonial loop through a tiny part of our historic Virginia because, after all, that’s what history nerds do. Right?
By Lynn R. Mitchell
1) Monticello at Christmas
Experience the Colonial Virginia celebration of the holiday season at the home of Thomas Jefferson, open today from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. with 1987 admission prices of $5.00. That’s a big savings over the usual $18 for adults and $8 for children. Children younger than 6 are free.
By Lynn R. Mitchell
A gracious and prolific entertainer, one can just imagine that Mr. Jefferson would approve of the fun taking place on his mountain. Join in the festivity and fun during the 4th Annual Monticello Holiday Classic 5K and Deck the Halls Kids Dash this Saturday, December 6, from 7-9:00 a.m. (See map.)
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Celebrate the beginning of the holiday season at Monticello’s FREE Second Annual Holiday Open House with host, Thomas Jefferson (Bill Barker), and live music in the parlor. Be among the first to see Monticello decorated for the holidays as you stroll through the first floor at your own pace. Discover unique holiday gifts at the Shop at Monticello, which will be offering tastings and treats and a 10% off sale!
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Residents local to Monticello outside Charlottesville, Virginia, receive the year round Local Discount admissions to Thomas Jefferson’s mountain home.
From Monticello:
Local adult residents always get the off-season rate for any adult Monticello Day Pass or Family Friendly Day Pass during the peak season. Also, locals always get in for free when bringing a paying adult guest!
Continue reading
Photo by Coy Barefoot
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Many were touched by Hannah Graham’s disappearance. Some knew her. Others knew someone who knew her — that is my connection through my first-year UVa student niece who had known Hannah since attending French Academy with her at Washington and Lee University in 2012. Many had children and felt the anguish Hannah’s parents were going through. The community closed ranks, embracing the family, and worked together in a way that is not often seen. Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo never let go of his tenacity nor his promise to Hannah’s parents to find her, and with the help of thousands of volunteers, he was able to keep that promise although, sadly, not in the way he would have liked.
Many reporters and some bloggers have followed along but one who has stood out because of the information he was able to provide that wasn’t necessarily found in the regular news feeds was Coy Barefoot, a Charlottesville resident who wears many hats including writer, history professor at UVa, radio personality, and more. But most importantly, as seen in his words below, he wears the “Dad” hat.
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Hannah Graham’s parents issued a statement Friday after news reports confirmed that human remains found in rural Albemarle County were those of the missing University of Virginia student:
By Lynn R. Mitchell
Hannah Graham’s remains were found in Albemarle County just outside Charlottesville. That jurisdiction is now moving forward with the death investigation, issuing the following statement about their status:
On Saturday, October 18th human remains were discovered in southern Albemarle County. The remains were sent to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Richmond for examination and positive identification. The Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed that these are the remains of Hannah Graham, 18, of Fairfax, Va.
Continue reading
Hannah Graham
By Lynn R. Mitchell
The University of Virginia’s president Teresa Sullivan’s statement about Hannah Graham following positive identification of her remains after being missing for five weeks:
“Hannah showed great promise as a student and as a young woman. She brought immense energy and delight to her learning at the University, and she was a source of friendship and joy for so many people here at the University and abroad, particularly her friends on the ski team. Thomas Jefferson wanted students here to fulfill ‘destinies of high promise.’ For Hannah’s young life to end so tragically, and for her destiny of promise to be left unfulfilled, is an affront to the sanctity of life and to the natural order of human events.
“This is a sorrowful day in the life of the University, and our entire community is grieving with the Graham family. We offer our sincere condolences for their loss, and we will continue to hold them in our thoughts and prayers in the days ahead.”
By Lynn R. Mitchell
We all suspected the ending would be this way when human remains were found last Saturday at a remote house in Albemarle County which prompted police to call off all future searches and notify eighteen-year-old Hannah Graham’s parents. What, we wondered, had there been that made them so sure their hunt for the missing University of Virginia student was over?
Today officials escorted Hannah’s parents to the Old Lynchburg Road crime site in the morning, and then released the information that Hannah had, indeed, been found. Her parents have closure as opposed to wondering where she is, but what a sad way for this six-week journey to end (see Hannah Graham’s parents visit Old Lynchburg Road crime scene and Medical examiner confirms Hannah Graham’s remains found in Albemarle).
By Lynn R. Mitchell
On Saturday, five weeks to the day from when Hannah Graham, 18, disappeared from Charlottesville, human remains were found outside Charlottesville. A press conference was held that afternoon by Charlottesville police chief Tim Longo with the grim news that all had been fearing … that Hannah had probably been found pending positive identification after lab results (see Police notify Graham parents that body found in Albemarle County is likely hers by Bryan McKenzie).
The skeletal remains were found by a team from the Chesterfield County sheriff’s office who were among the thousands who have volunteered during the five-week search for Hannah (see Hannah Graham searcher says ‘God wanted’ them to find what they found).
The isolated house at 3193 Old Lynchburg Road had been noticed by someone who saw a large number of buzzards around the property so called in to the tip line with the address and his observations (see Where Hannah was found by Coy Barefoot). That was on October 6. Police have been working non-stop on the overwhelming number of tips. Of particular interest in Barefoot’s article was this:
“Morgan’s [Harrington] skeletal remains were found 100 days later, on a farm south of Charlottesville— just about five miles from 3193 Old Lynchburg Road. Jesse Matthew grew up in this rural part of Albemarle County south of Charlottesville. His mom’s house is just up the road, about 4 miles from where the remains of Hannah Graham are believed to have been found.”
The latest news on WordPress.com and the WordPress community.
Virginia politics and more
LynnRMitchell.com 