Observer founder Kay Peaslee has died, Bryan McKenzie writes in the Daily Progress. The well-known firebrand and her husband established the weekly in the the seventies, selling it in 1988. (The Observer folded in 2004.) In the mid-nineties, Peaslee spearheaded the unsuccessful movement to revert Charlottesville to a town, to share services with Albemarle County. She moved to Indianapolis in March of 2010, to be near family. She died there, on Tuesday. Kay Peaslee was 89 years old.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
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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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Thanks for posting this, Waldo. Kay Peaslee was one in a million. The Observer factored into my decision to move to Cville almost 30 years ago. I spent time reading the local papers over a year before taking the leap. The Observer, rather than the DP, gave me a true feeling for what life in Charlottesville would be like.
In the link you posted to the Hook article, there was comment from Toni Rhoades that really jumped out at me, and boy is it ever true: “…I would just note that one of the more distressing aspects of life in contemporary Charlottesville is the near-complete lack of collective memory, the stuff of which context is composed and on which sound judgment and good planning are based.”
Rest in Peaslee.