Monthly Archive for January, 2012

Page 4 of 4

Kurt Kroboth Tried to Kill His Wife, Wants it Kept Quiet

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 4, 2012 in Crime and Meta News. 11 Comments

A guy who tried to murder his wife is concerned that it’s interfering with his life, Lisa Provence writes for The Hook, so he’s demanded that the weekly help him scrub media coverage off the internet. You might remember the story of Kurt Kroboth, the Charlottesville guy who failed in his efforts to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife, so he put on a vampire mask, snuck into her home, and attempted to chloroform her. That earned him six years in prison, a term that he completed recently. Now living in Arizona, he’s demanded that The Hook bar search engines from indexing stories about him, and threatened to sue them if they don’t do so. He says that the paper’s coverage of him is inaccurate, but refuses to say what, specifically, is inaccurate about it.

This is a classic example of the Streisand effect, wherein the attempt to suppress information online only makes it available more broadly.

Overhaul Afoot for Shoppers World?

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 4, 2012 in Business and Development. 11 Comments

The Shoppers World shopping center on 29N is better known as “the Whole Foods shopping center.” Or at least it was—now it’s “the shopping center where Whole Foods used to be.” After losing their anchor tenant, things have been looking rough for the aging complex. Ragazzi’s closed down in anticipation of reopening farther up 29, and Super Shoes is gone, apparently to reopen in Seminole Square. Lisa Provence explains in The Hook that the fact that China King’s lease was non-renewed is an indication that the Maryland owners of Shoppers World may be planning an overhaul just as soon as they clear out some more space. Like Albemarle Square, Shoppers World has been hollowed out by the glut of commercial real estate on 29N, and they’ll have to do something different if they want to pull out of their shopping center death spiral.

Huja Selected as Mayor

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 4, 2012 in Government and Politics. 7 Comments

The new City Council unanimously selected Satyendra Huja as the new mayor, Graham Moomaw writes in today’s Daily Progress. Newly elected councilors Kathy Galvin and Dede Smith also joined in the unanimous vote to name Kristin Szakos the vice mayor. Huja replaces Dave Norris as major, who had served in the position for the past four years. Our strong city manager form of government means that the mayor has relatively little power—he can set the agenda for and preside over meetings, but the position is largely ceremonial.