An Army captain, an interpreter, and two of her CBS news crew are dead, and television journalist Kimberly Dozier lies critically injured after a roadside bomb exploded after they’d left the safety of a Humvee in Baghdad.

Dozier, 39, a well-known foreign correspondent, earned a master’s degree in Middle East foreign affairs from UVA in 1993. Several news accounts say that doctors are “cautiously optimistic” after surgery on Dozier at an American military hospital.

“I just heard it on the news,” says R.K. Ramazani, founder of UVA’s Middle Eastern Studies department. “I’m concerned and unfortunately having trouble finding more information about her condition.”

Ramazani, an emeritus professor with 54 years at UVA, says he was shocked to hear about his former student today while driving and listening to National Public Radio.

“She was a good student,” says Ramazani, “and very (more)

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Authorities say that early this morning a man slipped into a house in the 2300 block of Shelby Drive and began applying duct tape to the mouth of a sleeping 12-year-old boy. Awaked by the child’s screams, the parents and older brother went after the intruder who escaped through the front door that he’d allegedly left open. City spokesman Ric Barrick relates that a similar (more)

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The man who brought the world “Let it Rain,” “Layla,” and “Cocaine” has decided that after a 14-nation sold-out European tour, a seven-night run at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and a show in Moscow’s Red Square, he needs– what else?– a show in Charlottesville. But unlike James Brown, a Charlottesville traveller who performs tonight downtown, Eric Clapton will play at the new John Paul Jones Arena, UVA’s almost-finished sports dome that’s quickly shaping up as one of the busiest entertainment centers on the East Coast.

One really cool thing for knowledgeable Charlottesville audiences is that Allman Brothers Band slide guitarist Derek Trucks, recently interviewed by Vijith Assar and reviewed four years ago by Damani Harrison in the Hook, will be playing in Clapton’s band on this summer/fall tour. Trucks, as you may recall from Assar’s interview, began filling in for the late Duane Allman and he has since been elevated to a full partner. He also fronts his own band, which blends together blues-rock, Coltrane, and Indian classical music.

Clapton tickets (no price given yet) go on sale August 26.

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Judah Friedlander, the geeky, heavyset actor/comedian whose role as the random street hugger made the Dave Matthews Band’s 2001 “Everyday” video so memorable, has posted his behind-the-scenes pictures and musings online.

Friedlander, clearly amused with himself and Charlottesville, (more)

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If “You’ve Got a Friend,” now would be a good time to call him up and make plans for Thursday, August 17 when uber-folkster and 1970s icon James Taylor will “Shower the People” at the John Paul Jones arena. Taylor’s other smash hits include “Carolina in my Mind,” “Handy Man” and “Fire and Rain.” Tickets go on sale June 3 at 10am and can be purchased at www.johnpauljonesarena.com.

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A professor was convicted, but organizers of the “Living Wage” campaign at the University of Virginia cheered this afternoon’s ruling in a Charlottesville courtroom acquitting all 17 students in their four-day sit-in.

Judge Robert Downer seemed to be admonishing UVA President (more)

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Governor Tim Kaine had said that he would sign legislation outlining plans for rail options on the Interstate 81 corridor into law– and he has finally made good on that promise.

“I am pleased that Governor Kaine supports the General Assembly’s passage of HB 1581,” said Rockbridge Republican Delegate Ben Cline, the sponsor of House Bill 1581, which will require a comprehensive study of the impact of the use of intermodal rail on long-haul, through-truck freight traffic on I-81 in Western Virginia.

The bill was at the top of the wish list for the Emory-based group called Rail Solution - whose executive director, David Foster, worked with Cline on the language of the legislation.

Rail advocates say that the Virginia Department of Transportation needs to look more seriously at options for improving rail lines along the I-81 corridor as it considers what to do to improve traffic flows on the highway.

“By signing this legislation, the governor recognizes the importance of developing a plan that will address safety and congestion issues through the use of rail and intermodal transportation along I-81,” Cline said.

“I look forward to working with the secretary of transportation, interested parties such as Rail Solution, and the Rail Advisory Board to implement the provisions of the bill,” Cline said.

- By Chris Graham

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A 65-year-old man came East a few years ago to be closer to his son, a Staunton musician, died May 6. What makes this story so unusual is that the father was a participant in the 1963 kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr., the only son of the legendary crooner.

In a copiously detailed story published in the Roanoke Times, the late Joe Amsler comes to life as a quiet man regretful of his crime and, his friends suggest, reticent about his prior life in Hollywood.

Still, there’s that key detail that he participated in taking then 19-year-old Sinatra Jr. from a Lake Tahoe hotel at gunpoint, holding him for three days, and accepting a $240,000 ransom for the physically unharmed victim.

The Times reports that although handed life sentences, the two kidnappers served less than five years in prison. The ringleader, Barry Keenan, now a successful Texas-based real estate developer, accepts full responsibility for the crime and downplays Amsler’s role. The crime was the subject of Stealing Sinatra, a 2003 movie made for the Showtime channel, with William H. Macy playing the role of the third conspirator.

Amsler’s son is Chris Amsler, who is half of the husband-and-wife Staunton-based acoustic Americana musical duo called The Rusticators.

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Hook journalist Courteney Stuart will appear on the WINA radio show “Charlottesvile, Right Now” around 4:30pm today to discuss the story of a businessman who allegedly shot a neighbor’s pet cat. As detailed in this week’s Hook cover story, “Claws and effect: Cat killing shocks Bentivar,” the big black cat’s name was Carmen, and she died April 24 after allegedly taking a bullet from George Seymour, a neighbor in a plush subdivision who operates an import car store at the corner of Emmet Street and Hydraulic Road.
“Charlottesville, Right Now” can be heard on AM 1070, and the host is author Coy Barefoot.

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“I’ve been in law enforcement for 30 years and I’ve never seen a case like this,” says Charlottesville police Capt. J.E. “Chip” Harding, commenting on the case of confessed peeping Tom, 26-year old David Lee Long Jr., who was recently arrested and released after a psychological evaluation deemed him unfit to stand trial.

Long was arrested last summer after being caught breaking into a residence. At 12:30am on August 18, 2005, a woman on Cherry Avenue discovered Long in her bedroom, started screaming, and scared him off. Long later confessed to peeping on six couples while he masturbated, said Harding, even going so far as to show police where the couples lived. Long also showed police where he had pried a screen open, saying he planned to wait for the women to come back. In a separate peeping incident, Harding said a man approached Long with a gun after catching him outside his home and scared him off. During a police interview, Long was asked if he planned to rape the woman whose bedroom he had broken into. “No, but I would have had sex with her if she wanted to,” said Long. Despite all this, Long was released on May 4. As of this posting, Mr. Long could not be reached for comment. (more)

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If last week’s pedestrian death did not merit the usual attention that such a calamity might normally precipitate, there could be a reason why. The victim was already receiving near daily attention from local authorities.

Cecil Ray Garlic was struck and killed by a car while crossing U.S. 29 near Woodbrook Drive on April 30. “Alcohol may have played a role in Mr. Garlic’s death,” said Albemarle police’s Lt. John Teixeira. The alcohol was not consumed by the driver of the vehicle, however. The drinker was Cecil Ray Garlic.

Frequently arrested for “public swearing/intoxication,” Garlic had a lengthy police record. According to the summary reports issued by City spokesperson Ric Barrick. Garlic was arrested 13 times between February and April.

Garlic, 45, with no fixed address, is a native of West Virginia with more than one tragedy in his background. Lisa Provence has the story in today’s Hook.

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While Highland County continues boil over the hot topic of allowing a father and son team to cover a ridge with 19 wind turbines, two new wind energy proposals have emerged: one’s for Patrick County and other, a posssibly 50 turbine deal, eyed for Roanoke County, according to the Roanoke Times.

One of the hottest debates in America right now, supposedly “green” wind energy often splits environmentalists when proposed for Eastern ridges because of concerns that the giant, often 400-foot-tall, turbines kill bats and birds in pristine backwoods areas.

The Highland County project was the subject of the Hook’s March 16 cover story.

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Five months after she first broke her silence in a Hook cover story, Liz Seccuro will tell her story this week on Dateline.

In the episode, titled “The Apology,” Seccuro recalls being brutally raped at a UVA fraternity 21 years ago when she was a 17-year-old First Year. Her alleged attacker, William Beebe, wasn’t charged and left the school voluntarily soon after the incident. But two decades later, (more)

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In a further sign that the bloom may be fading from the real estate rose, Charlottesville’s top real estate discussion site points out that 31 percent of new constructions have rolled back their prices.“Price reductions for new construction has been unheard of in this market for the past several years,” says blogging real estate expert Jim Duncan. “Changes are upon us.”

Duncan says that of the 1136 properties are on the market in “CharlAlbemarle,” 341 of them have issued price reductions since January 1.

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Sports radio commentator Mac McDonald announced this morning that he will soon leave his post as a regular host on the WINA morning talk radio program to focus on other activities such as blogging and pod-casting with his actual employer, Cavalier Sports Marketing, an arm of the UVA athletic department.
Many listeners to the drive-time program on 1070 AM may not realize it, but McDonald, aka “The Voice of the Cavaliers,” is actually paid by the Cavaliers.

News of McDonald’s departure, delivered just before 8am, seemed to take morning hosts Jay James (filling in for medically recovering Dick Mountjoy) and Jane Foy by surprise. “You talked up to the end so we couldn’t get a word in,” said a seemingly faux-angry Foy, as WINA broke to another segment.

McDonald had been a regular presence on the station since 1996. He says that while May 31 will be his last day on the morning show, “It’s not like I’m leaving.” He says he plans to appear periodically on WINA in the future to call athletic contests and special events.

“There’s not going to be a swan song, a salute-to-Mac day. I’m just going to slip out to the golf course.”

During his departure announcement, McDonald alluded (more)

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Charlottesville’s fastest-serving but slowest-evolving bagel chain has recently made a move. After 18 years of accepting only cash and checks, Bodo’s Bagels has begun accepting credit cards for purchases.
Signs went up last week at all three locations announcing the change.
“The world’s going plastic– we’re trying to get with the times,” says owner Brian Fox. “The Corner store really (more)

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According to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, UVA leads the nation’s public universities in graduation rates for blacks. In a recent study by the journal, the university graduated 86 percent of its black students in a six-year period. At many state universities, only 60 percent or less of blacks end up graduating.

So what’s UVA’s secret? In a recent New York Times article, 19-year old undergrad Courtney White credits the university’s peer adviser program. (more)

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Despite ascendant athletic programs all over UVA, the baseball team led by coach Brian O’Connor has had a particularly sweet season including a no-hitter and now has reached #6 in an influential national poll. (more)

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How do you know when Charlottesville has jumped the shark? When the Bloods start recruiting gang members! Jeeze, what’s up with this? After weeks at hinting at the possibility that the famous Bloods were recruiting in Charlottesville, police have finally confirmed the fact.

“We feel confident in saying that some of the people [arrested] are members or affiliated with the Bloods,” Capt. J.E. “Chip” Harding tells the Daily Progress. “What we hear is that there is an effort nationally to recruit in smaller towns and cities. This is the first time in our area that we know of that criminal acts have been committed by members of the Bloods organization.”

(more)

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A guilty verdict and mistrial was handed down to Kerry Cook yesterday. Cook was involved in a 2004 domestic dispute. When police arrived, Cook hid in a closet, a fight ensued when police found him, and Cook was shot in the stomach. The jury found Cook guilty of resisting arrest, but on the felony charge, assaulting a police officer, the jury found themselves deadlocked eight to four, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial.

“They felt there was some additional evidence needed to corroborate some of the things we heard,” Jury Foreman Tom Pitt told the Newsplex.

“Clearly we felt Kerry Cook was the victim of an unfortunate police shooting and there was excessive use of force by the police officers at the scene,” said Cook’s defense attorney Bill Rogers. Of course, the Commonwealths attorney said the shooting was justified, and that they plan on retrying the case. Cook, who has been in custody 21 months, was sentenced to nine months in jail for resisting arrest.

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As the promos for Wimbledon start up on ESPN2 in June, watch and listen closely; the theme music for this year’s tournament is composed by none other than DMB fiddler and tennis aficionado Boyd Tinsley. According to a press release, ESPN coordinating producer Bill Bonnell approached Tinsley with the request. “When we heard Boyd was a tennis enthusiast, we thought this could be the perfect opportunity to work with someone of Boyd’s stature and musicianship,” he reportedly said. Tinsley, who launched the local Boyd Tinsley $50,000 Women’s Tennis Tournament in 2003, will appear in the promos performing his composition on Wimbledon’s famed Centre Court. Wimbledon starts June 25.

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After at least a dozen front page stories covering every possible twist and turn on the issue of whether a former Fluvanna County resident will survive the televised talent show called “American Idol,” the DP’s idol has been booted. The Progress reveals this morning, in yet another front pager, that North Carolina resident Christopher Daughtry failed to adequately impress the judges with his rendition of Elvis Presley songs last night on the Fox program.

The telegenic 26-year-old crooner may soon get back to life in McLeansville, North Carolina as a service advisor for an auto dealership– or as a professional singer. Whatever happens, the TV-glued Progress reporters will surely have the tale(s).

Friday 5/12 update: A DP reporter investigates the only conclusion that can make sense of this ouster to the still-disbelieving daily paper: Deserving Daughtry has been robbed of his title by complacent fans.
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It was big night for UVA’s literary journal The Virginia Quarterly Review last night. In fact, it’s a bit of a David and Goliath story. The small journal with only four staff members won two Ellies — the Oscars of the magazine publishing world — at the 41st annual National Magazine Awards. The VQR took the General Excellence Award for magazines with circulations under 100,000 (the magazine only has a circulation of 6,000), and more surprisingly it took home the Fiction Award, edging out heavyweights like The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, Esquire, and Harpers. The VQR had been nominated for six awards going into the night. Only the Atlantic Monthly had more with eight. Not bad considering the little lit-mag was up against magazines with dozens of staff members and annual budgets in the millions. (more)

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If you turn on the television tonight and watch the world premiere of the ABC movie “Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America,” airing at 8pm EST, you’ll see plenty of scenes shot in and around Virginia, as well as a character eerily referred to as the “Governor of Virginia.” Just try to remember it’s NOT REAL. At least not yet. In an attempt to head off a War of the Worlds-esque panic, (more)

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Biscuit Run, Albemarle Place, Old Trail Village…it’s getting hard to keep track of all the mega-developments popping up around town. Tomorrow, May 10, you can put your two-cents in about another mega-plan—North Pointe, a 264 acre proposed development along 29N just past the airport that will add 900 new homes and 500,000 square feet of retail space to the area. The Board of Supervisors will be holding a public hearing on North Pointe tomorrow at 6:00pm at Burley Middle School. You can also e-mail your two-cents to the Board at

For a good history of North Pointe, check out Charlottesville Tomorrow’s collection of posts on the project.

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