Brian Wheeler writes for Charlottesville Tomorrow about a curious advertising insert that appeared in the Daily Progress last Friday that turns out to be funded by the Progress. Entitled “Uptown,” it promoted “shopping,” “eating,” and “living” in Hollymead, Forest Lakes and 29 North, mixing promotion of the Places29 master planning process with the advertising. Brian asked the advertising department what the deal was with this, and they explained that they just want “to boost traffic towards that area which is not getting the attention it deserves.” What, it’s so crowded that nobody goes there anymore?
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for October, 2006
An incident at The Omni this morning has put Charlottesville in the national media spotlight, though hardly for the best of reasons. At an event for Sen. George Allen starring Sen. Elizabeth Dole Democratic activist, Marine veteran and UVa law student Mike Stark had some questions for Allen during the media Q&A portion of the event. He asked Sen. Allen whether it was true that he’d spat on his ex-wife, a rumor that has been making the rounds among Democrats. In response, an Allen campaign employee grabbed Stark in a headlock and threw him to the ground. Another employee escorted him out of the building, despite Stark’s protests.
What makes all of this news is that NBC 29 got the whole thing on tape. They ran it for their 12pm broadcast, and the video was in rotation on CNN by mid-afternoon. The wires picked up the story, every major political blog is talking about it, and most major papers have stories or are working on them for tomorrow’s issue.
Stark writes that he intends to press charges against his attackers. The Allen campaign has issued a press release in which they accuse Stark of “verbally attack[ing]” Allen and say that they simply “restrained him” and “asked” him to leave the building.
It was when parts started falling off of the Belmont bridge that it became clear that it needed to be replaced. NBC 29 reports that the fifty-year-old structure is collapsing, and the city will need to spend $9M to replace the structure. It’s going to be a headache to do, since it’ll be seriously disruptive to the flow of downtown traffic to close either the bridge or Water Street underneath it. It’ll be in next year’s budget, and the process may take a few years.
I’ve never been a fan of the thing in the first place — it divides Belmont from downtown in a way that never should have been done in the first place. Too late now.
Further to the city transit discussion, The Cavalier Daily‘s Daniel Reinish took a spin on CTS to see how good it is. He caught a bus from grounds to Barracks Road, another one to Wal-Mart, and then one back to grounds. The first bus (which came on time) failed to stop for him, so he took a UTS bus to Barracks Road. The bus to Wal-Mart was on time departing and arriving. But it was the last bus there for the day (which he knew in advance), necessitating a $14 cab back to grounds. Reinish concludes that CTS is well worth it, though a little research first is necessary, and recommends improving signage and having buses actually stop at bus stops when people are waiting.
Police took Jeffery Wayne Shifflett into custody after a high-speed chase down Rt. 20 South yesterday afternoon, the Daily Progress reports. Albemarle police spotted him on Monticello Road and radioed ahead to Charlottesville police to coordinate the chase. Shifflett refused to pull over, and fled south on 20. He called 911 to report that he would drive to his sister’s house and surrender there. Twenty minutes after the chase began he was arrested on President’s Road, presumably his sister’s house.
Jeffery Shifflett is the older brother of Elvis Shifflett, who was recently arrested after a chase that also ended on 20 South. Shifflett the younger is now in the hospital after being shot repeatedly by police after he refused to surrender, a mistake that his brother did not repeat, or at least stopped repeating after twenty minutes of doing so. Shifflett was wanted in Albemarle, Charlottesville, Madison and Greene for theft, burglary, and probation violation, but it was his alleged threat against police after the shooting of his brother that made him particularly popular with area police in the past week. NBC 29’s Paul Merrill has an interview with one family allegedly a victim of Shifflett’s crimes, who say that they feel the world is a safer place today, but they’re still thinking of moving to a new house just to leave behind the memories of the burglary and ransacking of their home.
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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