With 2024 just around the corner, we decided to take a look at this year’s most popular C-VILLE news stories. Here’s what our readers clicked on the most in 2023, based on Google Analytics.
“Afton Mountain’s grand lady,” August 23
Written by longtime C-VILLE contributor Carol Diggs, our top news story looked at the future of Swannanoa and other properties after the death of local real estate investor James F. “Phil” Dulaney. Dulaney’s widow, Sandi, talked about wanting to keep the house in the family, rather than pursuing grants or donating the property to a preservation organization. The goal, according to Dulaney and Adrianne Boyer, Swannanoa’s marketing and events director, is to introduce the estate to a new generation through a regular program of events.
“The champ falls,” August 9
Coming in at number two was a feature story that spawned a lot of heated discussion: Shea Gibbs’ and my coverage of the fall of Champion Hospitality Group, Hunter Smith’s business dealings, and their impact on the local food and beverage community.
“Siren song,” July 26
While working on the CHG piece, I spoke at length with local chef Laura Fonner about the closure of her restaurant, Siren—both before and after she made the decision to shutter the eatery. Fonner attributed Siren’s closing to Smith’s involvement, even posting an image on social media of her flipping the bird next to a sign calling him out by name.
“In the dark,” October 11
C-VILLE’s fourth most popular news story of the year dealt with extortion allegations against “The I Love CVille Show” host Jerry Miller. The accusations against the podcaster emerged when a recorded phone call between him and the CEO of now-defunct Sigora Solar were posted online October 2. In the recording, Miller appears to demand $30,000 for “crisis management” from Sigora CEO Michael Ball to keep the host from airing community complaints about the company. Miller never responded to these allegations, and has still not replied to my emails.
“Get schooled,” September 6
Local elections were a hot topic in 2023, especially the Albemarle County school board race between Allison Spillman and Meg Bryce. Our fifth most-viewed news story of the year highlighted both candidates’ platforms and campaign priorities. Between strong fundraising and the revelation that Bryce’s father is Antonin Scalia, this was a school board election for the local history books. Spillman won the race for the ACPS at-large seat, receiving 62 percent of the vote.
“Devil in the details,” August 2
Things got heated at Lake Monticello this summer, when the neighborhood’s homeowners association director Don Polonis made controversial social media posts, which spurred a campaign to remove him from the board. Polonis narrowly maintained his seat on the board, despite an overwhelming number of voters casting their ballots in favor of removing the director, due to Virginia corporate law.
“Out of pocket,” December 6
C-VILLE’s seventh most popular news story of 2023 was Lisa Provence’s update on the Department of Justice investigation into Sentara Health, Optima’s parent company. The DOJ wants to know whether Sentara wrongfully received $665 million in federal money through the Affordable Care Act, and in a November petition the department requested documents and testimony pertaining to the years-long investigation. Shortly before we went to press, a judge temporarily sealed the petition—after it was publicly available for more than a week.
“More Dairy Market?” July 19
Sean Tubbs’ real estate reporting was popular with C-VILLE readers in 2023. The eighth most-read news story of the year was Tubbs’ coverage of the potential Dairy Market expansion, and its implications for the surrounding neighborhoods and businesses. Stony Point Development Group retracted its original expansion plan following a wave of criticism against the developers and their failures to fully incorporate community voices.
“What’s in a name?” September 20
Our ninth most popular news story was Tubbs’ dive into the names of two new University of Virginia residence halls, Gaston and Ramazani Houses. Both dorms are named after professors whose lives were entwined with some of the biggest struggles of the mid-20th century.
“New plans for vacant land,” September 13
Coming in 10th was another Tubbs piece, this time about Riverbend Development filing a plan for a 69-acre parcel of land between Interstate 64 and the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks. Riverbend wants to build 200 homes there, but a rezoning is required to bump the density up from six units per acre.