cvillenews.com

Photo: Fire Hydrant in the Middle of the Sidewalk

Waldo Jaquith — Sun, 12 May 2013 04:16:27 +0000

Jocelyn Dale shares this photo of a new hydrant that the city just installed on Forest Hills Ave, just off Cherry.

As Jocelyn asks, why make the sidewalk impassable to anybody in a wheelchair, walker, or pushing a stroller? I hope the city fixes this bone-headed mistake as soon as possible.

Zoning, Easement Make Trump Golf Course Unlikely

Waldo Jaquith — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:37:50 +0000

There are some serious obstacles to Trump building a golf course in Albemarle. #

Rugby Closed Last Night Under Mysterious Circumstances

Waldo Jaquith — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:36:13 +0000

A chunk of Rugby Road was shut down for an hour last night, WINA and The Daily Progress report, and nobody’s saying why. From 9:30–10:30, the stretch between Rosser and Preston was closed by state police, who stuck around for hours afterwards. The spokeswoman for the state agency would say only that it was part of a law enforcement investigation spanning agencies. Yet the Charlottesville Police said they have no awareness of the operation, and the the folks at the State Police division headquarters in Appomattox also said that they had nothing to do with it.

8 PM Update: As I wrote the above, the scene was repeating itself, with The Department of Homeland Security and the State Police arresting three people for printing fake IDs. Apparently last night was about executing a search warrant. Today they rolled up in an enormous armored vehicle, arresting two guys at the house, and grabbing another at Harris Teeter a short time later, after he tried to escape. It seems like a hell of a show of force for some guys printing fake IDs, so perhaps this was more than a few guys selling lousy knock-off licenses to college students to buy beer. They’ve been charged with mail fraud, fraud related activity in connection with IDs, and criminal complaint wire fraud.

County Eyes New Library Location

Waldo Jaquith — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:11:45 +0000

The Northside library branch may move to West Rio—the old Phillips Building Supply. #

Woodbrook Divided Over Bench and Bridge

Waldo Jaquith — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:10:05 +0000

Via Charlottesville Tomorrow, I see that the Woodbrook Neighborhood Blog has a long piece about how the neighborhood is divided over an Eagle Scout’s project to build a bench and a bridge over a county-owned lagoon as a part of a trail on public land. Blogger Dan Gould conducted a bunch of interviews, talked to county employees, took a bunch of photos, and even took an informal survey of landowners who live nearby. A lively discussion has ensued in the comments section. It’s a great piece of work about a parochial matter, the sort of thing that would surely have no place in a regional publication, but that anybody who lives in the Woodbrook area surely finds very interesting.

Charlottesville Tomorrow Teams Up with C-Ville Weekly

Waldo Jaquith — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:02:32 +0000

Charlottesville Tomorrow is extending its content sharing to a new publication, they’ve announced in an unsigned story, to include the publication of education stories in C-Ville Weekly. No money is changing hands in the agreement, which includes a cooperative venture to put together a voter guide for city and county school board elections in November. The collaboration gets underway in June. Simultaneous to this news is Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Kickstarter-based effort to raise $17,000 to fund a new education-reporter position. The expansion into education marks a noted increase in the scope of the mission of the non-profit, which has focused primarily on development-related issues since its 2005 founding.

It was nearly four years ago that the online-only publication struck a similar deal with the Daily Progress, in a similar deal: the Progress prints the organization’s voter guide, in exchange for being able to run any Charlottesville Tomorrow stories that they want.

Trump Winery to Add Golf Course

Waldo Jaquith — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:58:21 +0000

Trump Winery is rehabbing the old Kluge estate golf course, only now it’ll be open to the (paying) public. #

Republicans Field Two Council Candidates

Waldo Jaquith — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 06:32:00 +0000

Charlottesville Republicans have managed to find a couple of candidates for Council, Aaron Richardson reports for the Daily Progress. After sitting out the last few elections, the party has put forth Buddy Weber and Mike Farruggio as their two candidates for the November election. Weber is the chair of the city party, and Farruggio is a career city police officer. Weber cited mismanagement of public housing as a particular concern, while Farruggio is opposed to the new stormwater utility fee. Five Democrats are seeking one of two nominations; the winners will go on to run against Weber and Farruggio in the general election.

Democrat Challenging Thomas for BOS Seat

Waldo Jaquith — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 03:46:24 +0000

Democrat Jaymie “Brad” Sheffield is running for Board of Supervisors, The Daily Progress reports, challenging Republican incumbent Rodney Thomas for the Rio District. Sheffield is the assistant director at JAUNT. He holds a masters degree in planning from UVA. The election is in November.

Monticello Receives $10M Gift

Waldo Jaquith — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 17:29:10 +0000

Monticello has been given $10M to refurbish the 2nd and 3rd floors and build replica slave quarters. #