Monthly Archive for October, 2011

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James Halfaday Arrested

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 19, 2011 in Crime and Politics. 4 Comments Tags: , .

Erstwhile City Council candidate James Halfaday has been jailed on four counts of election fraud, according to a press release from the Commonwealth Attorney’s office:

The charges allege Mr. Halfaday used a false address when he certified his candidacy for City Council with the General Registrar for the City of Charlottesville.

While the investigation has revealed that Mr. Halfaday is not now nor was he ever an owner of Snap Fitness, Mr. Halfaday has not been charged with an offense related to this false statement at this time. The form filed by Mr. Halfaday did not contain certain language required by the Code of Virginia. As a result, election fraud charges concerning Mr. Halfaday’s statement of economic interest are unlikely.

It’s such an irony that Halfaday apparently so bungled his statement of economic interest that he may have accidentally prevented himself from being charged for lying within it. According to the Progress, the economic interest form failed to have the legally required warning that candidates aren’t allowed to lie.

None of this news is any surprise, of course: questions have been raised about Halfaday’s candidacy since shortly after he came in last place in the race for the Democratic nomination for City Council in August.

5:45pm Update: Lisa Provence has detailed coverage in The Hook. Halfaday was released from jail this afternoon, and is due in court tomorrow.

Plan 9 Files for Bankruptcy

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 19, 2011 in In Brief. 3 Comments

Plan 9 has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. They’re not going out of business, just restructuring their debt.  #

The Real History of Fellini’s

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 18, 2011 in History. 5 Comments Tags: .

In 1994—the year that Fellini’s shut down—I was sixteen years old. That was the summer that I started to spend all of my waking hours downtown, and I knew Fellini’s only as something legendary that I’d just missed taking part in. The restaurant’s reputation for debauchery and its position as a hub of the downtown social scene were and remain legendary, but it’s remained in the realm of oral tradition until recently. Over the past two weeks, C-Ville Weekly has published a two-part series of J. Tobias Beard, “The (Mostly) True Story of Fellini’s” and Here’s Looking at You, Chief.” I found these to be fascinating reads, and learned both that Fellini’s was far more interesting than I’d ever known and that, if I had been able to hang out there, my parents probably should have been investigated by social services. I’m tempted to summarize the story here, to pique your interest, but I couldn’t possibly. It’s got sex, drugs, murder, crime, and a whole lot more, and concludes with Beard tracking down Chief Gordon in L.A.

This is the sort of story that, I’ve found, is a sort of a litmus test. One group of people will find this terribly exciting, and another will find it exhausting and self-indulgent. Chalk me up as an enthusiastic member of the former.

Protest Group Seeks Permission to Camp in Lee Park

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 17, 2011 in Government and Politics. 57 Comments Tags: , .

Occupy Charlottesville has asked City Council’s permission to protest 24/7 in Lee Park, Ted Strong reports for the Daily Progress. Occupy X groups have been popping up across the country in the past couple of weeks, beginning with Occupy Wall Street, with left-leaning protesters staging live-ins in public opposition to economic inequality and corporate power over government, especially since the September 2008 economic collapse. Lee Park has a 11 PM curfew, which prevents the protesters from remaining there around the clock, as is the norm for the Occupy protests. Occupy Charlottesville has been protesting in Lee Park since Saturday, but has asked permission to carry on non-stop, for a month. Given that Council doesn’t permit homeless people to remain there overnight, Councilor Holly Edwards said that she felt uncomfortable with the idea of allowing protesters, while Councilor David Brown expressed concern about the precedent that permission could set.

10/18 Update: Council agreed to give the group a permit to remain in the park through Friday night. It’s up to parks director Brian Daly to decide if they can stay longer.

Download a Sample City Ballot

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 10, 2011 in In Brief. 6 Comments Tags: .

Wondering who you’ll have to pick from when voting in November (or absentee beforehand)? Download a sample city ballot (PDF).  #