Rob Jiranek, one third of C-Ville Weekly‘s three-man team of publishers, has apparently left his post at parent company Portico Publication, having been named vice president of sales and strategic planning at Memphis’ Commercial Appeal. (I assume that it’s not possible to continue to serve as publisher while working in Memphis as VP of a paper there. But I know nothing about the newspaper publishing biz.) Jumping from the world of alt weeklies to dailies is a tough switch, and an unusual one for a guy who has never described himself as a fan of daily newspapers. Assuming that he’s sold his stake in the business, that would leave Bill Chapman and Steve Delgado as the owners. 10:15pm update: Just Bill Chapman. And, in fact, the publisher is Frank Dubec. All of this information is on their website, had I bothered to look, rather than relying on my lousy memory. It seems there’s no reason to assume that Rob Jiranek has sold his stake in Portico.
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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Hopefully whoever replaces him at the C-ville will be making some changes. It’s hard to even really call the Cville a locally-oriented paper anymore. More like a cash-cow for Featurewell, or whoever they use to supply their idiotic cover stories that usually have nothing to do with Charlottesville. I mean, they have good writers. Why not let them write the cover stories every week? It’s a real shame how far the standard has fallen over there since Hawes Spencer left to start The Hook.
Last week I took one look at John Stewart’s face on the front of the Cville with that assinine headline and decided that there’s just no reason to even bother picking it up anymore.
Man, I really hate play a role in one of these discussions regarding the local papers, but I think Jack is spot-on. The C-ville seems all but irrelevant these days, and I find the sort of faux smug-hipness they exude to be really off-putting. There just doesn’t seem to be any editorial direction over there (aside from straight down.)
It’s really a shame that, between our two local weekly papers, the Cville is sorely lacking in content (I often sarcastically pretend to confuse it with Real Estate Weekly) while the Hook has become visually appalling with it’s low-contrast full-color covers printed on physically unappealing gray paper. One looks fine but is not worth reading. while the other is totally worth reading but gets visually uglier every week.
Totally agree. I can’t stand the Cville cover stories that have nothing to do with Charlottesville. I also think both the Cville and the Hook have become way to cynical…..just stop the small town “cattyness,” and report the news. Also, not that we don’t like him, but enough of Dave Matthews. We already know more than enough about the band/guy, so stop using them to sell ad space.