Monthly Archive for February, 2007

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Wintergreen Subject of Antitrust Suit

Published by Waldo Jaquith on February 23, 2007 in Business. 7 Comments

A real estate agency has filed suit in federal court against Wintergreen and Roy Wheeler, accusing them of colluding in violation of state and federal anti-monopoly laws, Brian McNeill writes in the Progress. Mountain Area Realty says that they’ve been shut out of the market by the exclusive marketing relationship, and they’re seeking $6M in damages. The firm says that Real Estate III and Montague Miller have shuttered their Wintergreen offices as a result of the deal (Montague Miller disagrees). In a rare display of candor, Mountain Area Realty’s attorney says that attorneys’ fees on both sides will be “umpteen-jillion dollars.”

Real estate agent Jim Duncan figures this could have a far-reaching impact on any “exclusively marketed by” deals, while attorney Jennifer McKeever points out that having a monopoly isn’t actually illegal, and that the case should move through pretty quickly. Plus, the Sherman Antitrust Act has basically gone unenforced since President Bush took office; I can’t see that changing now.

Hamilton Calling it Quits

Published by Waldo Jaquith on February 23, 2007 in Politics. 8 Comments

City Councilor Kendra Hamilton won’t be running for reelection, Seth Rosen reports in the Progress. Hamilton was elected to Council in 2004 along with Mayor David Brown, and, along with Kevin Lynch, both find their terms up somewhat early this time around because the elections have been moved from May to November. Hamilton, a writer, says that she needs to spend more time on her vocation and finish up her PhD from the UVa English department. Neither Brown nor Lynch have decided if they want to run for reelection. It would be Lynch’s third term and, as he points out, “eight years is a while.”

As the only member of Council who isn’t a white man, Hamilton’s departure is sure to send some city Democrats into a tizzy trying to track down a black woman to replace her. Charlottesville attorney and blogger Jennifer McKeever hinted strongly at plans to run in a recent blog entry. Is anybody else planning to run?

Kuttner Revives Danielson Hotel Plan

Published by Waldo Jaquith on February 23, 2007 in Development. 15 Comments

TrvlnMn writes of Oliver Kuttner’s nine-story hotel proposal:

Kuttner opts to make money, chooses hotel option. Proves he was just paying “lip service” to the affordable housing issue. Perhaps the token gesture greased the wheels for BAR approval.

He had proposed building affordable housing, right on the Downtown Mall, but now it’s looking more like the nine-story hotel originally proposed by Lee Danielson some years ago.

Higgins Tapped for Judgeship

Published by Waldo Jaquith on February 22, 2007 in Law and Justice and Politics. 20 Comments

This time it’s for real: Somebody other than Jim Camblos has been selected by regional Republican legislators to replace Circuit Court Judge Paul Peatross. That somebody is Ivy resident, Republican, attorney, and former assistant commonwealth’s attorney Cheryl Higgins. The General Assembly still has to vote to accept the nomination, which is scheduled for tomorrow, but odds are vanishingly close to zero that they’d reject her.

The Republican majority figured this out among themselves, with some press announcing the arrangement even before some regional Democrats in the General Assembly learned about it. Three cheers for bipartisanship.

02/23 Update: Bob Gibson has a proper review of the outcome in today’s Progress.

DP on TV Stations

Published by Waldo Jaquith on February 19, 2007 in Business and Meta News. 9 Comments

In today’s Daily Progress, Brian McNeill’s stalks (and bags) that most elusive of prey: objective coverage of other local media outlets, in the form of analysis of the two corporations vying for domination of the local TV airwaves. NBC 29 continues to crush the competition, according to Nielsen ratings, bringing this great bit from Newplex general manager Roger Burchett:

“As far as we’re concerned, it’s a book of useless numbers,” said Burchett, though he admitted that if his stations overtake NBC29 he’ll “treat the Nielsen ratings like gospel.”

This is probably the best local media coverage of local media since Coy Barefoot’s study of NBC 29’s news content in C-Ville Weekly back in the late 90s. Not that there’s much competition; media doesn’t often cover media and, when it does, it’s often snarky.

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