Monthly Archive for November, 2011

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What’s the Oldest Business in Charlottesville?

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 26, 2011 in Ask cvillenews.com and History. 35 Comments

Today I got my hair cut at Staples’, picked up some carpentry supplies at Martin, and had lunch at Riverside, and that set me to wondering about which local business is the oldest.

Martin Hardware seemed like a good place to start. They were founded in 1893. But Timberlake’s, as their sign informs all who pass by, was established in 1890. Keller & George promotes their 1875 founding in radio ads. My insurance agent, Hanckel-Citizens, was founded a few years earlier, in 1872. After half an hour of thinking about this and googling around, I can’t come up with any older local business that’s still running, without interruption, and hasn’t been bought up by a larger business.

Now, of course, my curiosity is piqued, and I have to imagine that I’m overlooking something. Do you know of a business that’s older than Hanckel-Citizens?

Local Hotspots for Parking Tickets

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 23, 2011 in Law and Justice. Closed Tags: , .

From Derick Waller at NBC-29, the ten places where the Charlottesville Police give out the most parking tickets:

  1. Water St. Parking lot (2,756)
  2. University Ave (1,626)
  3. E. Jefferson St. (1,321)
  4. E. Market St. (894)
  5. 4th St. NE (877)
  6. W. Main St. (868)
  7. 13th St. NW (789)
  8. Garrett St. (779)
  9. Jefferson Park Ave. (737)
  10. 4th St. SE (710)

Rotunda Magnolias to be Felled

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 16, 2011 in History and UVa. 6 Comments Tags: , .

UVA is planning to take down the big magnolias on either side of the Rotunda, Ted Strong writes in the Daily Progress, and some people aren’t thrilled about it. The enormous trees are slated for removal in order to allow scaffolding to be put up around the building, so that the leaky roof can be replaced. (The scaffolding, interestingly, will support a tent to cover the roofless Rotunda.) The trees are thought to have been planted about a century ago, but it’s not clear if they’re really the same trees or replacements. Ironically, the trees could be contributing to the building’s troubles; as evergreens, they leave the building in shade year-round, preventing evaporation of rainwater. A student petition opposing the removal of the trees has garnered over 2,000 signatures.

Craig Sues for Higher Biscuit Run Payout

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 9, 2011 in Business, Development, Government, Politics and Taxes. 16 Comments

Remember when Hunter Craig sold Biscuit Run to the state for $9.8M and the hope of tax credits, in order to get rid of that albatross in a terrible economy? And then The Hook figured out that it was turning into a boondoggle, with Craig trying to get state tax credits (which is as good as cash) on an $87.7M appraisal for land that he bought at the height of the bubble for $46.2M? Well, it gets boondogglier. Craig and his associates are suing the state for another $19.48M, Hawes Spencer reports, since they’re not happy with the $21.48M that they’ve already gotten for the land. Why? Because they’re still $25M in the hole, with a lot of that probably owed in the form of monthly loan payments. If that’s a thirty-year note at 5% interest, then Hunter Craig and partner (and father-in-law) Wick McNeely have to come up with $134k/month. (Just this year, McNeely has sold Burning Daylight Farm, his Nova Scotia mansion, put his Garth Road home on the market, and ended his Farmington membership.)

I’m something like $100k underwater on my mortgage. Here I was thinking that it was my duty to suck it up and live with, because it’s nobody’s fault but my own. Maybe that attitude is what’s keeping me from being a successful businessman.

Election Results in, with Some Surprises

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 8, 2011 in Politics. 19 Comments

Though the votes are still being tallied, the major election results are already known.

Republican Ken Boyd has secured a third term representing the Rivanna district on the Board of Supervisors, defeating Democratic challenger Cynthia Neff. But down in the Scottsville district, Democrat Chris Dumler has defeated Republican James Norwood. That means that the Board of Supervisors now has three Democrats and three Republicans, which is bound to affect their agenda. (That’s an oversimplification—one of those Democrats is actually an independent, and Lindsay Dorrier was technically a Democrat but voted like a Republican.)

The three Democrats swept the City Council race, putting the Huja-Galvin-Smith ticket into office over the handful of independents in the race.

In state-level races, it’s no surprise that Sen. Creigh Deeds and Del. David Toscano won reelection handily, but it is surprising that odds-on favorite Connie Brennan, a Democrat, was defeated by scandal-plagued Republican Matt Farris in the 59th House district, despite the presence of a conservative independent who sapped some votes from Farris. The Senate race pitting incumbent Democrat Edd Houck against Republican challenger Bryce Reeves has proven to be a nail-biter. With 91% of precincts reporting, Houck is up by just 37 votes, making a recount a near-certainty. If Republicans take one or two other Senate seats in Virginia, then the Houck-Reeves race will quickly become very important, because it would decide control of that chamber.

In down-ticket local races in the city, Democrat Llezelle Dugger won Charlottesville Clerk of Court with 75% of the vote over Democrat-turned-independent Pam Melampy. Colette Blount, Amy Laufer, Jennifer McKeever and Willa Neale won the Charlottesville School Board race. And in the county, Ned Gallaway won the at-large school board seat, and Lonnie Murray and Steven Meeks won the Soil and Water Conservation Director seats.

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