Another Tar-jay?
Local mogul Coran Capshaw’s Riverbend Development has plans for the former Kmart shopping center on Hydraulic, now known as Hillsdale Place. The company went before the Planning Commission May 14 for entrance corridor approval (after C-VILLE went to press).
The plans keep the existing footprint of the center that’s been closed since 2017. An 8,000-square-foot plaza lined
with shops and restaurants will be the space’s new focal point.
A Target-red-colored anchor, an outdoors store that looks suspiciously like an REI, and a mysterious storefront dubbed “Bells & Whistles” are depicted in the drawings.
Quote of the week
“There’s no way to prepare for a madman.” —WINA’s Dori Zook reports on the May 11 machete attack of two hikers on the Appalachian trail, one of whom was killed. James Louis Jordan, 30, of Massachusetts, faces federal charges.
ICE wins
The Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Authority Board voted 7-4 to continue voluntarily notifying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when an undocumented inmate is released from jail, prompting explosive reactions from some people in the audience. Activists had been pressing the board to change its policy for more than a year.
Hit and run
Police are searching for the driver of a dark-colored sedan that grazed a pedestrian around 11pm May 9 on Pine Street near the Islamic Society of Central Virginia. Police do not believe the victim was intentionally targeted, but the mosque, which is holding nightly prayers during Ramadan, has a GoFundMe campaign to pay for additional security measures, and is now paying a police officer $40 an hour to be there every night.
Cop on a roll
An unusual sight on Seventh Street caught the eyes of many passersby last week, when a Charlottesville police cruiser rolled backward over a steep embankment, narrowly missing an apartment window. Only its front end could be seen peeking over the hill, putting it in a pretty challenging position for a tow. Cops say an officer exited his car to chase a suspect on foot—and you can probably guess what happened next.
Sheared
Greene County Commonwealth’s Attorney Matt Hardin cut his 10-inch tresses and donated them to Locks of Love May 8.
New ride
Megabus is launching a route from Charlottesville to Dulles Airport beginning May 16. The service will leave from the Seventh Street SW entrance of the Amtrak station and run Thursdays through Mondays, for $25 to Dulles and $20 back. Megabus entered the local market last fall, causing the Starlight Express to halt, and a trip to New York City that once took about six and a half hours now takes nine or 10.
Sheepskin stats
UVA will hand out 7,090 degrees over the upcoming weekend, about the same as last year.
- 4,211 baccalaureate degrees, 151 of which were earned in a speedy three years, and five in a super-fast two years.
- 457 medical and law degrees.
- 2,448 total graduate degrees, including 311 Ph.D.s, 12 doctors of education, 20 doctors of nursing practice, and 10 doctors of juridical science.
- 1,210 graduates are international students.