Like so many first dates, this one took place at a coffee shop– Café Cubano, to be exact. But like many a romance, this one also includes its share of fireworks— including worries that letting a group of growth watchdogs write stories for the daily newspaper could skew coverage.

The cash-strapped Daily Progress had been eyeing Charlottesville Tomorrow’s form, and admired the nonprofit’s passion for covering government meetings. And Charlottesville Tomorrow, mired in the internet-only zone, couldn’t help but be excited about getting read by a much larger audience.

The pair’s backgrounds were so different. How would the parents of the growth watchdog feel (more)

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Bart Isley and Ryan Yemen tap into the interest in high school sports.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

As the economy has tanked, traditional print media is gasping for air. So why not start a new niche magazine? That was the thinking of two former Daily Progress sports writers. On Thursday, August 27, the high school sports-centric Scrimmage Play hits the stands.

Bart Isley and Ryan Yemen, both 25, know all too well the dire predictions for print publications.

“Print is failing because news can be covered so easily on CNN,” says Yemen.

“Our theory,” says Isley, “is print media can still work if it’s of high quality and focuses on certain things. Our coverage is local and very specific.”

With the help of stringers, Isley and Yemen plan (more)

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Dorothy McAllister and Earl Shifflett still believe Butch Morris murdered their baby brother.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

Throughout the trial of Alvin Lee “Butch” Morris for the murder 21 years ago of her brother, Dorothy McAllister sat calmly in Albemarle Circuit Court, hoping finally to see the man she believes killed Roger Lee Shifflett brought to justice. That trial ended with a hung jury.

She wasn’t in court Thursday— having been tipped off in advance— to hear Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford ask the judge to nolle prosequi the murder and robbery charges against Morris.

“I can’t bring myself,” explained McAllister, “to sit there and watch.”

Other kin felt the same. Although at least a dozen family members filled the courtroom for the seven-day trial in July, none were in court August 27 when Lunsford (more)

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After three years and no trial, Gregory Briehl enters a plea that doesn’t admit guilt, but admits there’s enough evidence to convict.
PHOTO COURTESY GREGORY BRIEHL

Gregory Briehl, the former spiritual leader and counselor who was arrested and convicted in 2006 for illegal filming and who was slated for trial September 1, entered a surprise Alford plea August 26. Briehl pled to one count of possession of child pornography, the Daily Progress reports.

The former church leader was originally charged with 20 counts, but the actual age of the females on his computer was an issue. Albemarle Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jon Zug told the Progress that compared to other porn he’s seen since, Briehl’s are “tame,” and that he’ll no longer prosecute such cases unless it’s obvious they’re children.

Briehl, who once climbed a tree to film a female undressing in his house and served 60 days on the surreptitious filming charges, was sentenced to five years suspended and will do no jail time, but will lose his counseling license.

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In another recent high-profile porn case, white supremacist Kevin Strom got 23 months in April 2008 when he pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of child porn possession.

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Investigators have still not determined what caused the fire that destroyed this Stony Point estate.

There’s a perfectly good reason why the built-in sprinkler system didn’t save the unoccupied multi-million-dollar mansion that burned to the ground on August 16. Owner Darren Kady says he turned the system off five years ago after a leak cost him tens of thousands.

“One of the heads gave out while I was in China,” says Kady, “and I got a call from the fire department that the sprinkler system had gone off. It caused $50,000 worth of damage. So they were shut off.”

The 7,000 square-foot house, named Southwind Manor and located at 4595 Belle Vista Drive, had been on the market for nearly two years at prices ranging from $3.5-3.9 million. It offered a pool, extensive interior woodwork, and expansive views of the Southwest Mountains.

According to Albemarle County fire investigators, the fire started around 4am and took 50 firefighters nearly six hours to subdue.  Investigators also said the garage doors were wide open.

More than a week after the fire, county fire investigator Howard Lagomarsino says (more)

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Mac McDonald starts broadcasting August 31 and takes his former UVA play-by-play colleague Adam Gottschalk’s afternoon slot on WKAV while Gottschalk moves his sports talk to the morning.
MCDONALD PUBLICITY PHOTO, GOTTSCHALK  BY JAY KUHLMANN

More than a year ago, Mac McDonald abruptly left his job doing sports radio play-by-play on WINA radio. Almost as unexpectedly, he’s back on the air starting Monday, August 31, not for UVA nor his old pals at WINA, but with his own drive-time syndicated show airing on the competition AM station, WKAV Sports Radio 1400.

McDonald says he was about to move to Orlando after working on a book for the past year. “I had people pushing me to get back on radio and do (more)

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The Rivanna Reservoir, built in 1966, has been silting in. Instead of dredging, the waterworks wants to build a new one.
PHOTO BY SKIP DEGAN

Waterworks director Tom Frederick told his board today, August 25, that he’d been struggling to nail down a contract with the Nebraska-based firm that his selection committee tapped earlier in the month to launch a dredging study of the Rivanna Reservoir. Due to the alleged complexity of the study, Frederick said, he had extended (more)

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