Cover Stories


Where there's smoke, there's ire: Condo conflict lights up in Hessian Hills Published on Feb 15th, 2011 32 comments When Eileen Aiken bought a condominium at the Hessian Hills complex in 2005, it was the first time she'd ever owned her own home. Five years later, house pride has turned into a living hell, and she...
'He's still here.' And other revelations in the Harrington case Published on Feb 8th, 2011 745 comments It was a Saturday night in October 2009. The air outside was chilly, and a light rain was falling as the visiting father finished dinner with his daughter at a Charlottesville restaurant and the two...
Groupenomics: Getting schooled on the daily deal craze Published on Feb 2nd, 2011 16 comments Are you ready for the social buying craze? They've got an offer you can't refuse. Yes, the so-called 'group buying' or 'social buying' craze spearheaded by websites like Groupon and LivingSocial has...
Familial pain: Harringtons press police for controversial DNA test Published on Jan 25th, 2011 111 comments Dan and Gil Harrington visit the secluded spot on Anchorage Farm where their daughter Morgan's remains were discovered one year ago. PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO Dry grass snaps underfoot as Gil and Dan...
Reversal of fortune: Albemarle House goes on the block Published on Jan 18th, 2011 39 comments For former billionaire's wife Patricia Kluge, the auctions, the lawsuits, and the loss of the winery bearing her name combined to make 2010 seem to be a very bad year, an annus horribilis as...
Survive and thrive: The do-it-yourself Charlottesville snow guide Published on Jan 10th, 2011 11 comments The January 13 cover. HOOK GRAPHIC Chris Davis oversees more than 1,000 shovels in 18 models at Martin Hardware. PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER With snow moving east or on the ground by the time you read...
Bad men? New numbers show spiraling cost of Biscuit Run Published on Jan 6th, 2011 36 comments A year ago, an outgoing governor hailed the purchase of a flailing subdivision called Biscuit Run as a "bargain" for Virginia taxpayers. Now, however, newly leaked documents show that taxpayers may...
COVER- The year in review: The best and the worst of '10 Published on Dec 23rd, 2010 9 comments Heinous crime, extreme weather, an angry citizenry–- 2010 had a lot going on, along with marking the end of the millennium's first decade. Yet in some ways, it was just like any other...
The Canadian Published on Dec 18th, 2010 0 comments Jack soaked up the peacefulness that reigned in the locked and nearly soundproof employee restroom. He tossed two pills far into the back of his throat and then slurped sink water from his cupped...
Fire on Ice Published on Dec 18th, 2010 0 comments Please, God, this isn’t happening. Where did I go wrong? What did I do wrong? When did this dusting of snow become so deep? We were struggling along the trail– or at least I hoped we were still...
Person of the Year: Bad Boy turned Brazen Brainiac: Oliver Kuttner Published on Dec 16th, 2010 13 comments Oliver KuttnerPHOTOS BY JEN FARIELLO "In my 1978 yearbook quote," says Oliver Kuttner. "I said, 'Try and you'll make it.' That's been my personality the whole time," The 49-year-old real...
COVER- Down and out: Controversy erupts over panhandling downtown Published on Dec 9th, 2010 55 comments Mark Brown doesn't like begging. The owner of what was long known as the Charlottesville Ice Park (now the Main Street Arena), Brown recently helped formulate an ad campaign to help the homeless and...
COVER- To buy or not to buy: The holiday shopping season kicks off Published on Dec 2nd, 2010 0 comments Hours before the sun came up on Friday, November 26, parking lots at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Toys 'R Us and K-Mart overflowed, and traffic streamed up and down 29N like some surreal middle-of-the-night...
COVER- Two years, two bags: How she makes almost no trash Published on Nov 25th, 2010 27 comments When your day job is measuring the health of waterways, it's a given you're going to be more aware of just how much humans can resemble parasites, sucking the very life out of the host we call...
COVER- Coop de grass: Charlottesville eggsellent adventure Published on Nov 18th, 2010 0 comments Alice Gore's two white Orpingtons share a roost.PHOTOS BY JEN FARIELLO In 1966, Chickenman, a radio short that satirized the television series "Batman" was created by Dick Orkin at WCFL-AM in...
Fight for justice: Justine Swartz Abshire's family wages war on widower Published on Nov 10th, 2010 53 comments Hook cover image. Since their daughter's mysterious death on a winding country road, the parents of Justine Swartz Abshire have made no secret about who they believe is responsible. But four years...
COVER- <i>Wahoowah</i>! Cavalier football hikes and tackles onto the big screen Published on Nov 4th, 2010 0 comments PUBLICITY PHOTO "People sometimes say, 'Why are you doing this? UVA football isn't that important– how can you fill even an hour of a documentary with stories about UVA football?'" laughs...
COVER- Zombiesque: The lighter side of the living dead Published on Nov 4th, 2010 0 comments Director Brian Wimer at the October 30 premiere of Danger. Zombies. Run.PHOTO BY MILO FARINEAU The premiere brought out tout le monde zombie.PHOTO BY MILO FARINEAU Party on, Zombie Lady.PHOTO BY...
Top secret: Did taxpayers get burned by Biscuit Run? Published on Oct 27th, 2010 23 comments It seems like a simple question: How much will taxpayers pay to make Biscuit Run a Virginia park? Nearly a year after the October 28 Hook cover image. It seems like a simple question: How much...
Conflicting tales: The unfolding tragedy at the VQR Published on Oct 20th, 2010 57 comments The Hook has new details on the VQR tragedy.PHOTO ILLUSTRATION "911," the dispatcher says. "Hi," says the male caller. "You need to send a police car and an ambulance to the dirt road that runs off...
COVER- Patented medicine: Trail of money follows trail of tears Published on Oct 14th, 2010 6 comments Dr. Bennett is one of many UVA inventors whose pictures grace the walls of the UVA Patent Foundation office in the Lewis & Clark building downtown. COURTENEY STUART Baseball legend...
COVER- Seeing Red: Safety measure or cash grab? Published on Oct 7th, 2010 22 comments With the arrival of Charlottesville's first red light cameras comes the end of an honor system between drivers that has existed for decades, at least at one tricky intersection. Now it's come to...
Going South: But where's the Lawn? Published on Sep 30th, 2010 14 comments PHOTOS BY TOM DALY / AERIALS BY SKIP DEGAN If the recently completed South Lawn project were a blockbuster movie, the promo might start like this: "In a world where UVA launches the most ambitious...
Kuttner conquers: Oliver's Edison2 car wins $5 million X Prize Published on Sep 16th, 2010 35 comments Kuttner (fourth from left) and team designed a car weighing 830 pounds. YOUTUBE VIDEO Oliver Kuttner, the Charlottesville real estate developer turned automotive developer, has won the $5 million...
SHORT STORY- First Church Published on Sep 9th, 2010 0 comments A gun fits well in a big blazer pocket when kneeling to pray. The damp chill of the red clay seeps to my knees through the grass and the thin polyester/rayon dress pants I buy for $19.99 at J....
SHORT STORY- The Last Itako Published on Sep 9th, 2010 3 comments Dr. Roberts tells me I should make lists when I get upset. "As problems grow worse in your marriage," she continues, "breaking them down into lists will help you focus on what's really...
John Kluge: The benevolent billionaire goes out in style Published on Sep 8th, 2010 35 comments John Kluge and his wife, Maria Tussi Kuttner Kluge. UVA PHOTO In a life that continued for two and a half decades past his obituary interview with the New York Times, media-shy billionaire John...
Unfriendly skies: Forest Lakes, the Miracle on the Hudson, and Canada Geese Published on Sep 1st, 2010 35 comments September 2, 2010 cover image. HOOK GRAPHIC The way that a pilot named Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger saved all 155 onboard his disabled commercial jetliner was the feel-good story of 2009. Locally,...
Welcome Madame President: UVA's wish list for Teresa Sullivan Published on Aug 26th, 2010 0 comments The Morgan Harrington and Yeardley Love tragedies. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's Climategate attack on a former UVA researcher. And now the crisis facing the Virginia Quarterly Review after the...
Tale of Woe: The death of the VQR's Kevin Morrissey Published on Aug 18th, 2010 650 comments On John Casteen’s last official day in office as the president of the University of Virginia, a tragic story, one fit for the pages of the award-winning literary journal that he nurtured, began to...