 The Daily Progress' most read stories of 2017
These 10 stories were the most viewed stories on DailyProgress.com this year.
10. Woman found dead on 250, police say circumstances unclear
On July 15, U.S. 250 was closed to southbound traffic near the Old Ivy Road bridge for several hours after a woman's body was found that morning. Police initially had little information on the incident, and implored the public to help. Authorities later declared the death a suicide.
9. Harvard dean promises to lead UVa with 'power of reason'
After Teresa Sullivan announced her retirement, the University of Virginia launched an effort to find its ninth president. The search culminated in September when the university announced that James E. Ryan, a UVa School of Law alum and dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, would become president after Sullivan's departure.
8. Ex-Vice Mayor Holly Edwards, 'a peacemaker and a bridge builder,' dies at 56
Former Charlottesville Mayor Holly Edwards was remembered for her selflessness and community activism after her death in January at 56.
7. Top 15 moments of Malcolm Brogdon's Virginia basketball career
Malcolm Brogdon etched his name in Virginia sports history during his career at UVa, a feat distilled into 15 bite-sized moments in February.
6. KKK rally in Charlottesville eclipsed by protests
Approximately 50 members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan held a protest at Charlottesville's Jackson statue on July 8. Clashes between the KKK and counter-proteseters were limited, but after the rally ended, police resorted to tear gas in order to disperse the crowd.
5. N.C. man in Confederate uniform with rifle in Emancipation Park met by counter-protesters
Just days after the violence of August 11 and 12, a North Carolina man carrying a Confederate battle flag and a semi-automatic rifle was confronted by protesters as he stood vigil at the Lee statue in Charlottesville's Emancipation Park.
4. Protesters shroud Jefferson statue, decry UVa response to rallies
About 100 UVa students, faculty and community members covered the Jefferson statue at the Rotunda on September 12. Later, UVa President Teresa Sullivan, in an email to alumni, wrote that the protesters were "desecrating ground that many of us consider sacred."
3. Torch-wielding protesters gather at Lee Park
A crowd of people, mostly men, carried torches into Emancipation Park, then known as Lee Park, to protest the proposed sale of the Lee statue that stands in the park. As you can hear in the short video that accompanies the story, the torch-bearers chanted "you will not replace us," "Russia is our friend" and "blood and soil." The last phrase is a nationalist philosophy that is most often associated with the German Nazi regime.
2. Unite the Right torch rally ends in violence at the Rotunda
Tension that built over a summer filled with protests, rallies and anti-racist activism snapped the night of Friday, August 11. On the evening before hundreds of white nationalists would gather at Emancipation Park, many attendees-to-be marched with torches through UVa Grounds in a vivid replay of the May incident at the Lee statue. This time, however, the march ended in violence and bloodshed.
1. Ohio man charged with second-degree murder after car plows into crowd
Groups gathered on Aug. 12 for the much anticipated — and much dreaded — Unite the Right rally. Clashes between rally-goers and counter-protesters would mean the planned speakers never had the chance to take the stage. Police declared the event an unlawful assembly before it could begin, and police cleared Emancipation Park. The day turned deadly early that afternoon, when James Alex Fields Jr. drove his car down Fourth Street and into a crowd of protesters. About two hours later, two state troopers were killed when their helicopter crashed and burned near Old Farm Road.
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