The Virginia Discovery Museum, located on the east end of the Downtown Mall, is putting an antique carousel on the Mall. The restored miniature carousel (it’s just 9.5 feet wide and 8.5 feet tall) just needs to be approved by the Board of Architectural Review, and then the details must be worked out regarding leasing the rides. Says Peppy Linden, the museum’s executive director, “it is so charming and it is so pretty and it is so appropriate for the mall and the museum.” Jake Mooney has the story in today’s Progress.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for March, 2002
Page 5 of 10
Last night’s public hearing on the Rt. 29 bypass project brought a tremendous crowd out to the Doubletree Hotel, where VDOT was holding the information session and hearing. As Peter Savodnik writes in today’s Progress, “the overwhelming consensus of the roughly 800 attendees at the Virginia Department of Transportation meeting was that building the four-lane, 6-mile bypass would be a mistake of Herculean proportions.” The purpose of the hearing was to get public input on the environmental impacts of the roadway. Concerns along those lines ranged from watershed destruction to destruction of farmland and forest, the loss of salamander habitats to contamination of the reservoir. VDOT will, theoretically, take all of the information provided by the attendees and use it to assist in making decisions about the future of the bypass.
State budget shortfalls will likely force UVa and PVCC to increase their tuition rates, Eric Swensen reports in today’s Progress. It’s anticipated that they’ll have to raise their rates by 5%-9%. PVCC is pleased that their funding wasn’t cut by as much as it might have been — they’re likely to only have to raise the cost of a full-time education there by $50-$100 per semester to offset their roughly half-million dollar loss. UVa is having their funding cut by 15%-20%, for a total loss of $59M over the next two years. For all the gory details, just read the Progress article.
A state judge has struck down the Republicans’ 2001 state redistricting plan, declaring it to be unconstitutional. Judge Pattisall cited the southeast corner of the state in particular as being divided up on racial boundaries to provide the most voting strength to the smallest number of districts. The new districts, which then-Sen. Emily Couric (D) and Rep. Mitch Van Yahres weren’t shy about insulting, divided up Central Virginia in a highly-unusual fashion that left many wondering who their representative was. After Sen. Couric’s death, there was a special election in the 25th District, which Creigh Deeds (D) won by a landslide. This ruling raises the obvious question of whether that special election was even legal, and what geographic area that Sen. Deeds represents. The Washington Post has the story.
Sunday night, a 25 people met at Mt. Zion Baptist Church to deal with the racial issues prompted by the recent attacks on UVa students. At the beginning of the meeting, the group voted to expel two members of white supremacy EURO, delcaring them to be a “highly racist organization that has no business in this meeting.” They also voted to refer to the victims as “survivors,” and decided to instruct city spokesman Maurice Jones to write an open letter to the “survivors” to express concern. Jake Mooney has the story in today’s Progress.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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