Yearly Archive for 2006

Page 12 of 71

Allen/Dole Event at Omni Goes Awry

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 31, 2006 in Politics. 32 Comments

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.

Belmont Bridge to be Replaced

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 31, 2006 in Transportation. 8 Comments

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.

Cav. Daily Reviews CTS

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 30, 2006 in Transportation. 2 Comments

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.

Jeffery Shifflett Arrested

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 27, 2006 in Crime. 42 Comments

Jeffery ShifflettPolice 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.

Gravity Lounge to Close

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 26, 2006 in Business and Music. 19 Comments

In this week’s C-Ville, Spencer Lathrop writes that every local musician’s favorite venue, The Gravity Lounge, is going out of business:

While rumors have long swirled about Gravity Lounge’s demise, people close to the source tell me that December really will be it for the club. Here’s hoping that’s not true—but in the meantime, you should show your support by checking out The Roches this week, and the unbelievably talented and funny Asylum Street Spankers next month.

It may well be that it’s just not profitable to run a venue so nice and so artist-friendly while keeping the prices so reasonable.
(Via Nailgun)

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