Mike N. asks: “I just noticed an antenna atop a lamp-post on the Belmont Bridge. Does anyone know what this is for? It appears to be about an 10 inch patch antenna aimed over the pavillion to another one mounted atop the building across from it. Sound level monitoring for the pavillion maybe?”
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for January, 2006
Page 6 of 6
There are 61 applicants for the position of Charlottesville superintendent, Sarah Berry reports in today’s Daily Progress. About a third are from Virginia, about three quarters are male, and no data on race or ethnicity has been gathered. The search firm is going to recommend a half dozen applicants on Monday. Hopefully this time the search firm will at least google the applicants first. Maybe the school board can hire Bob Gibson to research ’em. (I’m only half kidding.)
Many years ago, developer Gabe Silverman told me that he was very worried that A&N might leave downtown. I didn’t understand his concern for a big national chain, so he explained that A&N provided clothing and similar staples for low-income families downtown — there was no other place downtown since Woolworth’s had gone under. If it left, it would be yet another small blow for downtown working-class Charlottesvillians.
So today was I disappointed, but not surprised, to see that A&N’s storefront was empty, with signs up indicating that December 31 was their last day at the location, directing people to their other two locations in town. I was further surprised to visit their website and read their history. A&N was founded in 1868, immediately after the Civil War, by a Richmond couple, Mark and Lena Rose Sternheimer. Today the business is run by Mark Sternheimer and his son, Ross. They have 53 locations (well…52), all of which are in Virginia.
And now A&N is gone from downtown, in some small part because I never supported it, because I figured they were some multinational conglomerate. I suck.
Today on Brian Wheeler’s blog he points to The Washington Post‘s account of Anne Arundel school board member and high school student Pallas Snider. Brian advocates the addition of a non-voting student member to the school board. I agree entirely — it seems bizarre to have a governing body with no representation of the governed — but I’d like to see the position become a voting position as soon as is practicable.
In yesterday’s Daily Progress, Jessica Kitchin looked at a really ridiculous problem that the county has created for itself:
When Albemarle County resident Mary Steppe visits the county’s Department of Social Services, it is literally an uphill effort.
[…]
The 42-year-old mother of three estimates that she walks about a mile each time she has to visit social services at the Albemarle County Office Building on Fifth Street Extended. Currently, there is no public transportation to the building, which means many of the county’s neediest residents have to walk, bike or get a ride in order to get food stamps, housing vouchers or other social services resources.
Some will recall that this office was located on the Downtown Mall until a few years ago when, crazily, it was relocated way outside of town off the bus line. When they moved it I told anybody who would listen that it was one of the dumbest things I’d seen Albemarle do, planning-wise, in some years. It’s a big county, and no single location will easily serve a great many people. But a lot more people were served when it was downtown than when it was plopped down Fifth Street. Is there even a sidewalk going out there?
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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