First year tragedy
While UVA administrators were worried about Block Party, they couldn’t have foreseen that a family of three in town to drop off a student would be struck by a car turning left from Bond Street onto District Avenue shortly before 1pm August 21 at The Shops at Stonefield. Bonnie Baha, 57, of San Marino, California, died from her injuries at UVA Medical Center.
First reported sexual assault of the school year
On move-in weekend, a female UVA student was grabbed from behind by a knife-wielding white male on Emmet Street near Thomson Road between midnight and 1am August 20. The suspect is described as between 20 and 30 years old, average height, with light-colored hair.
Everyone’s a winner
Both the Jane Dittmar and Tom Garrett camps claimed victory for the first 5th District debate August 10 at the Senior Center. Photo by: Eze Amos
The big move
The Kroger on Emmet Street will move to Seminole Square in 2018 and become the biggest grocery store in Virginia west of Richmond at 100,000 square feet. It’ll bring 150 new jobs, and Kroger says the deluxe new store has nothing to do with the coming of Wegmans. Kroger’s fuel station will remain in its original location, and Hobby Lobby, a craft and home store, will move into the vacated space.
City seeks Draego suit dismissal
City Council has the right to ban speech that defames groups and to kick Joe Draego out when he talked about Muslims as “monstrous maniacs” June 20, according to a motion to throw out Draego’s lawsuit filed August 18. Draego’s attorney, Jeff Fogel, disagrees and promises a response and a preliminary injunction this week.
Bringing home the pork
Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine snag nearly $8 million in federal Department of Transportation and FAA grants to rehab a runway at CHO. Blacksburg airport gets $4 million, and earlier this month, small airports in Dinwiddie, Warren and Culpeper got almost $2 million.
Class of 2020
Classes began August 23 for the latest batch of UVA students to matriculate at Mr. Jefferson’s U, and officials say they come from the largest application pool yet. The incoming class, estimated at 3,685, is more diverse, both
racially and socioeconomically. That said, you’ll still be seeing a lot of white females. Here’s what the class of 2020 looks like.
Gender: Female 54% | Male 46%
In-state 67%
Out-of-state 33%
Biggest out-of-state enrollers: New York 134 | New Jersey 111 | Pennsylvania 91
Biggest out-of-country enrollers: China 102 | India 30
—UVA Office of Institutional Assessment and Studies
Ethnicity: White 57% | Asian-American 14% | Black 7% | Multirace 4% | Hispanic 6% | Nonresident alien 5% | Unclassified or unknown 6% | Native American 0.2% = 6 students | Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 0.1% = 2 students
Income: Low income 7% | Need-based financial aid 34% | First-generation college 11%
In-state: Fairfax 677 | Loudoun 220 | Richmond/Henrico 173 | Albemarle 120 | Charlottesville 19
Quote of the week:
“I personally believe in the power of second chances and in the dignity and worth of every single human being. These individuals are gainfully employed. They send their children and their grandchildren to our schools. They shop in our grocery stores and they pay taxes. And I am not content to condemn them for eternity as inferior second-class citizens.” –Governor Terry McAuliffe at the Civil Rights Memorial in Richmond August 22, in his announcement of the re-restoration of voting rights to nearly 13,000 felons after the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled his blanket restoration of rights of more than 200,000 was unconstitutional.