Monthly Archive for January, 2006

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Dave Norris is a Council Candidate

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 13, 2006 in Politics. 4 Comments

Local anti-poverty activist Dave Norris has announced that he’s running for the Democratic nomination for City Council, John Yellig reported in yesterday’s Progress. Norris announced his candidacy at R2, before dozens of supporters, promising to continue his work on behalf of the homeless, creating affordable housing, and promoting sustainable urban planning. Interestingly, only one former or current City Councilor was present at the event, Kevin Lynch, which is unusual for a candidacy announcement, at least to my recollection.

The only other candidate known to be planning to announce for the two seats up for election in May is former fire chief Julian Taliaferro. Earlier this week, Councilor Blake Caravati said he’d be stepping down, while lone Republican Rob Schilling hasn’t yet announced his intentions.

For more on Norris, see Jessica Kitchin’s piece from last week, when Norris was named as one of the Daily Progress‘ “Distinguished Dozen.” Or, of course, his campaign website.

Disclaimer: I intend to volunteer for and contribute modestly to Dave’s campaign, so anything that I write about the race should be regarded as pure propaganda, or possibly outright lies.

Tin Blizzardversary

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 13, 2006 in Weather. 7 Comments

Happy ten-year anniversary of the ’96 blizzard!

It was a decade ago today that things got a little more awesome in Charlottesville, at least for me as a 17-year-old who weathered the storm downtown. Admittedly, it wasn’t so hot for the VDOT employees who died or all of the people without power. I went downtown with some friends in the middle of the night and we took turns climbing up on construction equipment in front of Mudhouse and stage-diving into the 3′ of powder. My friend Noah spent the night on the roof of the Old Michie Building to test out his new bivvy sack. We’d go hours without seeing a soul.

Do you have any memories of the storm?

(Via the unintentionally hilarious Outskirts)

Confessed Rapist Denies Rape

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 13, 2006 in Law and Justice and UVa. 8 Comments

The guy who raped a woman in 1984, was subsequently IDd by her, and then confessed to the crime a few months ago has put forth a clever defense strategy: he didn’t do it. (By “clever” I mean, of course, “stupid.”) As Liesel Nowak writes in today’s Daily Progress, William Beebe e-mailed Liz Seccuro recently and wrote, in part: “I’m not intentionally minimizing the fact of having raped you. I did.” His attorney says that he “did not contact Ms. Seccuro to apologize for a rape because that’s not what happened.”

Perhaps he’ll be moving on to the Chewbacca Defense next?

Evan Almighty Filming Here

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 12, 2006 in Business and Entertainment. 7 Comments

WINA reports that a good chunk of the sequel to Bruce Almighty will be filmed in Our Fair City. Evan Almighty. The movie stars Steve Carell in Jim Carrey’s role, who God tells to build an ark. Hilarity, presumably, ensues.

I call dibs on the ark when they’re done.

Criticism of Courthouse Renovation

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 12, 2006 in General News. 6 Comments

Anybody that’s been to the McIntire/Main intersection recently has surely seen the renovation of the area in front of the federal courthouse. The construction has involved tearing down the trees and installing security bollards (I had to look the word up; there’s the link), which isn’t real pretty. Former mayor and architect Maurice Cox is among those unpleased with the new look, Liesel Nowak reported in Tuesday’s Progress.

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