It seems that all three new TV stations — WCAV (CBS, 19), WVAW (ABC, 16) and WCVL (9) are on schedule for their launch dates, WCAV in six days, WVAW in September, and WCVL in November. WCAV and WVAW, both owned by Gray Communications, have set up offices at the Ix Building, running out of a trailer until their offices there have been built. WCVL have rented the old Charlottesville Broadcasting space in the Market Street parking garage, but are still seeking the funding to get set up. WCAV, the first to launch, won’t have any local news until they get some reporters in September. Elizabeth Nelson had the story in Friday’s Progress.
Archive for August, 2004
Yet Another Shopping Center (YASC) has been proposed: “Northtown Center,” between the Woodbrook and Carrsbrook developments on 29 North. The plan is for it to have the usual array of big box retail and fast food. The homeowners associations at Woodbrook and Carrsbrook are upset, though, because the development would get rid of the stream that puts the “brook” in “Woodbrook” and “Carrsbrook,” and the prospect of a 20-foot retaining wall isn’t particularly appealing to them, either. They’re not trying to fight the development, they emphasize, but see it as inevitable — they just want it to be less intrusive and less environmentally unsound. Julie Stavitski had the story in Friday’s Progress.
The Observer, which has been published for 26 years, has called it quits, WINA reports. It was in November of 2002 that ‘99-’02 publisher Jeff Peyton called it quits, with his ownership being sold to Ron Hassan shortly thereafter. In January of last year, the two-year-old valley edition was axed, with Observer employees forking off the web-based Augusta Free Press at that point. By all accounts, the paper has limped along since then, so the conservative weekly’s ending doesn’t come as a tremendous surprise. Update: See the comments for some corrections and clarifications from former Observer employees. Also, John Yellig has some details in today’s Progress.
Madison County, following in the footsteps of Greene County, has rezoned 35 acres along Rt. 29 for commercial development. It’s right next to the new Madison Plaza shopping center and across from the high school, and could include office space, a pair of restaurants, and a hotel/conference center, though that’s speculative. As Rt. 29 in Greene and Madison becomes increasingly built up, it’s becoming decreasingly clear what benefit will be offered by the long-debated 29 Bypass. Olympia Meola has the story in today’s Progress.
In an effort to keep the county safe from terrorists, the entrance to the county office building has been strewn with boulders. Twelve of them have been arranged in a circle, at a cost of $4,000, to protect the building in the case of the national threat level being raised to code orange. The boulders replace police cars that had previously been arranged in the same place as circumstances necessitated, also to protect the county office building from boulder-averse terrorists seeking to strike fear into the heart of Charlottesvillians. Julie Stavitski has the story in today’s Progress.
Six classes have graduated from UVa in the the time that Bodo’s has been ostensibly on the verge of opening a Corner location. The class of 2005 may be the first to actually see that happen. Owner Brian Fox, who has been using the location as the business headquarters of his other two locations, is going through all of the motions of opening for business in the next couple of months, including hiring the forty people necessary to run the location. This isn’t the first time that the Corner location has been said to be on the verge of opening, though — people have come to feel proprietary about Bodo’s in the meantime, so expect much grousing if it doesn’t happen this time. John Yellig has the story in today’s Progress.
A week ago, cherno submitted WTVR’s story that the serial rapist may have struck again in Charlottesville, and today, police confirmed that, WINA reports. A woman on Webland Dr. was sexually assaulted on Thursday afternoon, after her house was broken into. It’s believed that he bruised his hand during the attack, which is the only distinguishing mark known right now. Update: Reed Williams has the story in today’s Progress.
Former Sheriff of Greene County Willie Morris has been convicted of assault and battery after he abused a prisoner in June of last year. Morris handcuffed and kicked 24-year-old Shawn Carter after he became angry at the prisoner for bad behavior. Morris was given a 30-day suspended sentence and ordered to pay a $500 fine. During his time as sheriff, Morris was known for his unusual approach to the job, gaining particular attention at one point for refusing to write tickets to motorists driving without a county sticker. Olympia Meola has the story in today’s Progress.
Things seem to be getting tense in the community after two police officers shot a man in a struggle at Friendship Court, a man who is now in critical condition at the UVa Medical Center. Officers William Sclafani and Jeremy Carper responded to a call about a man who had entered an apartment without permission and begun to damage it. When they arrived, the man — Kerry Von Reese Cook — was hiding in a bedroom closet, and refused to leave. The police began to struggle with him, and the situation escalated to the point that officer Sclafani shot Cook, though it’s not clear exactly how that escalation occurred. The officers are on a routine administrative leave, and have been treated for injuries sustained in the scuffle. Reed Williams has the story in today’s Progress.
Gordonsville police officer Emerson Brown — who disappeared in October of last year, then reappeared claiming that he’d gone on a mission to hunt down some people who stole his gun, then was fired, then turned out to have just gone on a cocaine bender in Fredericksburg, where he traded his service pistol for drugs — has been sentenced to five years in prison (4.5 suspended), having pleaded guilty to felony embezzlement and another six months (suspended) for making false statements to police. Apparently, the cocaine wasn’t a problem, since that charge was dropped. (”It’s not the cocaine that bothers me…it’s that you lied about it.”) Olympia Meola has the story in today’s Progress.
It’s time for the annual influx: this weekend, the students return, with UVa’s fall session starting on Monday. Somewhere between 5k-10k visitors will accompany the student body, which will include 3,100 incoming freshmen. Traffic should be as bad as always, so plan to avoid Emmett St. and West Main St. Kate Andrews has the story in today’s Progress.
As planned, both the CBS (WCAV) and the ABC (WVAW) stations are on the air now, on channels 19 (18 cable) and 16 (3 cable), respectively. Both are just repeaters for national content, and won’t have local news until mid-October, or so goes the plan. The third new station, WCVL, is still shooting for a mid-November launch date, but there remains the matter of the $2M start-up funding. Inevitably, there is the question of whether the town can support a whopping four local TV stations — with the demise of the Observer, the question of how many local weeklies that Charlottesville can support may have been answered. Lisa Provence has the story in this week’s Hook.
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