A big ol’ fireball hurtled through the air sometime between 8:20pm and 8:30pm this evening, Morgan McLeod reports. It sounds crazy, but Morgan also reported last year’s fireballs, not to be confused with the 2001 fireball that turned out to be a Russian rocket falling to the ground.
Did anybody else spot this? It’ll be interesting to figure out if this was a meteor, space junk, or what.
In yesterday’s Daily Progress, Jeremy Borden wrote about the Polo Grounds Road underpass, where the road goes to one lane while it goes under the CSX tracks. In the daytime a brief tap on the horn ensures that nobody is coming through, while a headlight flash does the trick at night. Traffic was increased considerably there while Proffit Rd. was closed, so the VDOT set up a temporary traffic light to handle the flow through the one-lane underpass. Rivanna district supervisor Ken Boyd was disappointed to see the light come down when Proffit opened up again, and is advocating for a permanent light there.
I drive through that a few times each week, as do many friends and family members, some of whom have done so their entire lives. I’ve never heard anybody complain about it. If there’s ever been an accident there, I’ve never heard of it; in fact, VDOT says it has a flawless record for at least the past five years.
A University of Virginia student was hospitalized this week with what family members believe was an E. coli infection he contracted after eating a salad made from bagged mixed greens purchased in a local grocery store.
C’ville Market tells the Progress that one of their suppliers called them and had them put all of their spinach in a trash bag, and the supplier event sent somebody out to pick it up. This national outbreak of spinach-related E. coli just seems to be getting worse.
The Proffit Road bridge opened up again yesterday, with VDOT and CSX officials saying it finished right on time. Which is true if, by “right on time,” they mean months later than advertised.
VDOT should win some kind of an award for the alternate route they had set up in the meantime. Reasonable human beings who want to get from 29N to 20N simply take Polo Grounds Road rather than Proffit, a detour of maybe five miles, depending on where you’re going. VDOT, on the other hand, used signs to direct people south on 29, onto the 29/250 bypass, then onto 64 to wrap around town, then off of 64 onto 250 east of town, and then finally on 20N. It’s probably twenty miles long.
A dozen C’ville bloggers got together a couple of months ago, and now Jennifer and Marijean are staging a repeat. C’ville Coffee, Saturday the 30th, 10am. I’ll be headed to the beach for the week the day, but I’ll see if I can delay my departure by a few hours to join up with everybody. If you’re a blogger, a blog commenter, a blog reader (hint: you’re reading one now), or you’d like to take up blogging, do yourself a favor and come on out and meet the crowd. There are now exactly 200 Charlottesville blogs, so the crowd’s pretty big.
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 four six 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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