Longtime Charlottesville pedestrian advocate Kevin Cox was arrested Wednesday and charged with a crime that could jail him for a year over of a homemade crosswalk he marked on Elliott Avenue in the city, one block away from where a pedestrian was struck and killed by a car last fall. On May 5, Cox was at the podium in council chambers championing the crosswalk proposal. “Elliott Avenue has been poisoned,” Cox said, “by the deeply held design principle that Charlottesville is a collection of through roads for the city engineer and other county drivers to use as they tear through our town.” “I would just encourage you,” interrupted Councilor Brian Pinkston, “to not use ad hominem attacks please.” The remonstrance seemed to embolden Cox. “Don’t interrupt me,” he fired back. “When the city engineer first arrived, he raised the speed limit on Locust [Avenue] from 25 to 35; that’s how he thinks.” At the conclusion of his remarks, Cox earned a vigorous burst of applause from a girl in the gallery. Later, Cox’s supporters expressed shock at Pinkston’s allegation. “I think Pinkston needs to have a lesson in rhetoric,” city resident Benjamin Heller told The Daily Progress. “He’s confusing ad hominem attacks with blasphemy laws.”

Over 130 students, parents, and other members of the Loudoun community signed up to voice their concerns in last night’s School Board meeting. Topics in the two-and-a-half-hour long session included controversy over Policy 8040 and recent Title IX investigations, the removal of a Rock Ridge High School theater teacher, the need for more space of Broad Run High School’s theater program, and proposed Dulles South attendance zone changes. School Board Chair Melinda Mansfield (Dulles) and Vice Chair Anne Donohue (At-Large) both were active in reminding the audience of the decorum rules, which bar actions such as heckling, yelling and applause. There were many instances of speakers being asked to redirect their comments to avoid identifiable student information.

One of four election fraud charges against Blacksburg Town Council member Liam Watson was dismissed by a Circuit Court judge Tuesday. The grand jury indictment in question alleged that Watson listed a false address on official paperwork that certified his qualifications as a candidate in the Nov. 7, 2023, election for a seat on the council. But as a write-in candidate, Watson was not required to fill out the form, defense attorney John Fishwick argued. That the form be required by state law is “an essential element of the offense that the Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt,” Fishwick wrote in his motion to dismiss. Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Patrick Jensen wrote in court papers that he “believes the defendant’s legal position is correct.”