Monthly Archive for June, 2006

Page 4 of 5

Qroe Executives Die in Plane Crash

In today’s Daily Progress, Jessica Kitchin and Bryan McKenzie write that Qroe Companies founder and president Robert Baldwin and regional director David Brown both died in yesterday’s Bundoran Farm plane crash. The NTSB investigation is underway, and it seems likely that they’ll conclude that the crash resulted from the pilot hitting power lines during landing as a result of poor visibility.

Though Qroe’s $30M purchase of Bundoran has been described as a done deal, it’s my understanding that, in fact, the transaction had not yet been completed — perhaps that was on yesterday’s agenda. With the blow that the loss of these two men must represent to Qroe, I have to wonder if the Bundoran sale may may by the wayside.

8:15pm Update: The Hook points out there ain’t no overhead lines to be hit. There goes that theory.

Plane Crash at Bundoran

A small plane crashed late this morning while attempting to land at on the strip at Fred Scott‘s Bundoran Farm, south of town near the crossroads. There was an explosion upon impact, followed by a fire. The two men in the the plane have died.

Bundoran is in the process of being sold to developers Qroe Farm — it’s yet to be seen what this crash has to do with that in-progress sale.

NBC 29 has the story, and The Hook is following developments.

3pm Update: Sean Tubbs, who’s really on his toes today, already has a podcast report from the scene.

10pm Update: The AP has more, including that the plane is owned by David Brown, of Hartford, CT. Brown was described as “regional director of Qroe Companies” by the Progress last month, so it seems clear that Qroe employees were the victims of the crash. Finally, The Hook reports that the plane hit some wires while landing, which is the apparent cause of the accident. It was pretty rainy at the time of the crash, which must have made for poor visibility.

Green Condo Construction for Belmont

The Daily Progress reports that a “proposed 101-foot-tall building at 201 Avon St. could add up to 116 condominiums and 22,000 square feet of commercial space to downtown.” The architect boasts a record of environmental advocacy and, in their words, “focuses on the full ecology of the building.” From the article:

The building would be one of the first structures in Charlottesville to be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design specifications through energy-efficient construction, use of recycled materials and other green building techniques.

Albemarle School Board Meetings MP3s

The Albemarle County School Board is now providing the audio of their meetings as MP3s. The audio up there now seems to be limited to the Thursday-night board discussion about student conduct policies, a prelude to the plan of having an actual podcast of all meetings’ audio beginning in a few months. I’ll be happy to see that next step. Why can’t Charlottesville be this innovative? (Via Brian Wheeler)

Blog Carnival: Cameron Hosts

Cameron hosts this week’s C’ville Blog Carnival, tracking down sixteen local blog entries well worth your time, all from the past few days.

Next week Steve Whitaker hosts.

Sideblog