The saga of Jim Baldi’s noisy Belmont restaurant is ending not with a bang, but a whimper. Bel Rio’s landlord, Jeff Easter, has told them to be quiet, Rachana Dixit writes for the Daily Progress. Easter says that his lease limited them to jazz performances, not traditionally known for being loud, and Baldi’s move to having DJs spinning thumpy music just isn’t permitted. There’s a twist, too—Bel Rio is shut down, a sign on the door saying it’s only temporary, but it’s not clear why or when—or if—it’s reopening. Council is set to consider lowering the noise ordinance further on Monday, just to deal with Bel Rio, but I imagine they’ll put that off for a future meeting, since it’s entirely possible that this is the end of the matter. Until it comes up again in 5-10 years, the next time somebody opens a noisy venue in a residential area.
Monthly Archive for July, 2010
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Halsey Minor is the victor in his dispute with Lee Danielson over the Landmark Hotel, Rachana Dixit writes in the Progress. The former business partners took their dispute to arbitration, with Minor wanting $12M from Danielson, and Danielson wanting $6M from Minor. The arbitrator found that Danielson was guilty of “deliberative and reckless conduct” and “gross negligence,” and has ordered him to pay $6.4M to Minor. (A stunning $2.2M of that is in attorneys’ fees.) This tells us nothing about the future of the hotel. There’s still the matter of Minor’s lawsuit against Silverton Bank—and vice versa—the outcome of which may help figure out what’s going to happen to the big, empty tower.
By way of reminder, this whole thing started with Lee Danielson back in 2003, when he bought the Boxer Learning/Central Fidelity building for $3.3M. Three years later he hadn’t done a thing with it, and Oliver Kuttner bought it from him for $3.7M. Though he’d said he was thinking about turning it into affordable housing, he ultimately returned to Danielson’s plan to build a hotel, and sold the whole thing back to Danielson and Minor. Within months, Danielson and Minor couldn’t even agree as to whether they were still building a hotel, started squabbling publicly, and early last year the lawsuits started.
How many times do people have to learn not to do business with Lee Danielson?
There’s a suspect in the Morgan Harrington murder case, the Daily Progress reported this afternoon. Apparently, DNA from the suspect was found, because a cold hit matched to a 2005 abduction and sexual assault case in Fairfax. A 26-year-old woman was walking through a residential neighborhood at 10 PM on a Saturday night when a ~30-year-old black male seized her from behind, carried her into a park, and assaulted her. (See the wanted poster for details on the suspect.)
The description of a suspect is a huge break in the case, which—at least publicly—has had nothing but dead ends so far. Witnesses may not remember seeing Harrington that night, but having a description of a suspect would seem to double the odds of somebody having seen something.
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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