Donald Trump intends to buy all of Pat Kluge’s properties, Hawes Spencer reports for The Hook. Although he did not get Albemarle House at auction today—that went to the bank that holds the mortgage—he’s got the right of first refusal on it. The rest he’s made offers on. Trump, with an estimated net worth of $2B, certainly has the money to buy all of them, but as an investor, he’d presumably be buying them to turn a profit. Trump’s representative in the matter tells the Post that it’s too early to speculate exactly what he’d do with the property, but that it has “significant historical value and potential for development…the more acreage, the more pieces you acquire, the more possibilities there are.” She later says that “[Kluge and Trump have] been working together with the objective of trying to preserve the vineyard for the benefit of the Virginia wine industry.”
Monthly Archive for February, 2011
Page 2 of 3
Charlottesville Schools are looking at providing a laptop to every middle and high school student, Brandon Shulleeta writes in the Daily Progress. They already provide enough computers in the schools to have one for every two students—this would instead provide one dedicated one for each student, doubling the number of computers. The idea is to gradually roll them out, rather than introducing thousands all at the same time (because then they all age out at the same time). It would cost between $500,000–$1,000,000, though it’s thought that much of that cost would be offset by the reduction in textbook expenses, by moving to electronic texts. Superintendent Rosa Atkins told the school board that some of their vendors are moving to exclusively electronic texts, and that Charlottesville students will be left behind if the city schools don’t change with the times.
Whether they’ll go the Mac or Windows route isn’t decided, but I hope they go with both. Though there’s no such thing as a Mac virus, making it their total cost of ownership much cheaper, establishing a monoculture is just looking for trouble. Best to let kids pick from the two, going with whatever they’re already comfortable with.
The Downtown Business Association is plans to install security cameras throughout the Downtown Mall, Brandon Shulleeta writes in the Progress. Having tried and failed repeatedly to get the city to pay for it, now business owners are looking to install cameras themselves, presumably mounted on private buildings, pointing at public space. DBA co-chair Bob Stroh says that it’s necessary to keep people safe, as a deterrent against crime, and that the group would provide video to police upon request. The group doesn’t yet know how much it’ll cost, and it’s not particularly clear that it’s necessarily going to happen.
Let the record show, for those who read this story in years ahead, that crime downtown is not particularly an issue. People aren’t afraid to go downtown, there has not been a spate of burglaries or assaults, and of all areas downtown, the Downtown Mall itself is surely the safest.
Remember last year’s showdown between the Jefferson Madison Regional Library and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors? The BoS cut JMRL’s funding, so JMRL’s Board of Trustees announced they’d have to close the Scottsville and Crozet branches. The BoS then insisted that JMRL maintain their existing locations and services…but with less money. Duane Snow threatened to eliminate all funding to the library if they didn’t manage that feat, while providing suggestions that JMRL try things that they’d been doing for years, like “use volunteers” and “cut back your hours.” Lindsay Dorrier entered the fray by claiming—wrongly—that JMRL simply wasn’t allowed to shut down the Scottsville branch. Eventually, the BoS caved and funded fully the library at the existing, anemic levels.
Backstory established, here’s the update. The dubious BoS commissioned an $8,000 independent study of the library, thinking that they could leave the multi-jurisdictional JMRL and run an Albemarle-only library. The study confirms everything that JMRL has been saying for years: that JMRL “provides an efficient and effective library system overall when compared to other localities, despite having one of the lowest per capita funding levels and the lowest number of staff per capita.” Also, it would be totally infeasible for Albemarle to break off from JRML, for a host of simple, practical reasons that are perfectly clear to anybody who takes a few minutes to think about it. Brandon Shulleeta explains all of this in the Progress, and for Charlottesville Tomorrow, Sean Tubbs does likewise, along with a report from the joint meeting between the BoS and the JMRL board, the first such meeting in two decades.
At the meeting, I see, Duane Snow was still insisting that the BoS should be able to micromanage JMRL, despite that they appoint a trio of representatives to the JMRL board to do exactly that. As with last year, Snow is still making suggestions that the library do things that they already do, and have done for years: altering hours, closing in the evenings, and shutting down on some days. This is exactly why the library has a board—they’re in charge of figuring out these things, so that Snow and company can focus on the big issues of running the county. Apparently Snow hasn’t learned that lesson yet. Here’s hoping that his fellow board members have.
There’s been some buzz on Facebook and Twitter about a mysterious federal security presence around town—well-armored black SUVs and the like. It turns out there’s a good reason: Senate Democrats are holding a retreat at the Boar’s Head Inn. They’re meeting up with White House officials and strategists for a couple of days, and they’ll return to the Senate tomorrow. The National Republican Senatorial Committee is predictably griping about the location (“no word from Senate Democrats on why they’re holding this retreat at the posh Boar’s Head Inn outside Charlottesville”); apparently they’ve never been to the Boar’s Head which, while nice, isn’t exactly the Ritz or, indeed, Keswick Hall.
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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