Although Hurricane Sandy continues to wreak havoc on the northeast, as it spins out over land, the enormous storm is finished with Charlottesville, apparently having left us mostly unharmed. Twitter and Facebook were how many people kept up with developments, and the worst stories in our area seem to be the loss of power (about 10% of Dominion customers in Albemarle) and some light damage from wind and flooding. Although the rain, wind, and snow aren’t quite done, the airport got 1.2 inches of rain yesterday and gusts of 40 mph—a far sight better than folks in Delaware, New York, and New Jersey, who woke up this morning to devastation.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for October, 2012
Former Board of Supervisors candidate, House of Delegates candidate, and vice-chair of the Albemarle County Democratic Party Cynthia Neff has been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, CBS-19 reports. Neff was arrested overnight Saturday/Sunday on Proffit Road, near her home, after failing a field sobriety test. She has since been released from jail. In a remarkable coincidence, it was just ten days ago that Neff posted a $50,000 bond to get fellow-Democrat Chris Dumler out of jail after he was arrested on charges of forcible sodomy. In her mugshot, Neff is sporting what looks for all the world like a Mike Tyson-style facial tattoo, but that one must assume is face paint from an event that evening.
County Supervisor Chris Dumler was arrested yesterday and charged with forcible sodomy, Rob Graham reports for WINA. Police have said only that it’s a result of an alleged incident on October 4 and that the complaining witness is somebody who Dumler knows—no other information has been provided. He was held overnight at the jail, and has a bond hearing this morning. Dumler, a Democrat, was elected to the Scottsville district last November.
The University of Virginia’s enormous, under-construction sports practice facility on Emmett Street caught fire yesterday, every area media outlet reports, sending up an enormous column of black smoke that was visible all over town. A layer of rubber atop the roof appears to have been lit by a contractor’s errant blowtorch, starting a fire that spread over a good chunk of the roof and created a challenging situation for responding fire crews to deal with. The $13M structure was slated for completion in August of next year, though presumably that will be pushed back now.
Developers are proposing a massive new pair of buildings for West Main Street, Sean Tubbs reports for Charlottesville Tomorrow, that would put a mixed-use development on a vacant block. (Imagine you’re going from downtown to the university. You pass the train station and go over the bridge. On the university side of the bridge, on the left, is a parking lot used by Wahooptie, what used to be an auto shop, and an empty lot where a building was torn down 15–20 years ago. That whole block.) Coran Capshaw bought that block some years ago, and now he’s working with a few other developers to turn it into a 5-story and 8-story pair of connected buildings, containing 219 apartments, a restaurant, couple of retail spaces, and a parking garage. It’s being called “The Plaza at West Main.” The density of the housing and the height of the building with both require special use permits, and the Board of Architectural Review will have to approve it, since it’s in a historic district. The next step is for the Planning Commission to review it, which they’re doing next week.
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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