Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith

Page 323 of 549

Pavilion Announces Summer Line-Up

Published by Waldo Jaquith on June 21, 2005 in Music. 2 Comments

In a press conference yesterday, Charlottesville Pavilion representatives announced a planned July 30 grand opening of the rebuilt amphitheater on the east end of the Downtown Mall, along with the lineup for the first couple of months. There will be a soft opening on July 27, with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe performing a free concert. Beginning that Friday — the 29th — Fridays After 5 will be held at the amphitheater. On the 30th, Loretta Lynn will play the grand-opening concert, in a benefit for Live Arts, with Sissy Spacek joining her on stage. Other acts playing this summer include Bob Weir & Ratdog, Little Feat, and Bruce Hornsby.

Though it’s looked like the amphitheater is nowhere close to being ready in time, yesterday the concrete slab was poured, leaving the installation of the roof and some seats. Charlottesville Pavilion representative Kirby Hutto explained that, construction-wise, that’s about it — it’s not tough to build an amphitheater.

John Yellig has the story in today’s Progress.

06/21 Update: Charlottesville Podcasting Network has the raw audio of the press conference, including comments from Kirby Hutto, David Brown, Gary O’Connell, and John Gibson.

Council: Tempers Flare Over Transit Center

Published by Waldo Jaquith on June 21, 2005 in Development and Politics. 5 Comments

City Council approved an additional $3.8M in appropriations for the $6.7M (now $10.5M) transit center under development at the east end of the Downtown Mall, but just barely. On 3-2 vote, Kevin Lynch and Rob Schilling dissenting, Council voted to appropriate the additional state and federal funding to the project. Lynch and Schilling said that they were surprised by the overrun, and hadn’t been kept abreast of any need for the additional funds. Councilor Blake Caravati, always the diplomat, accused the two of “misleading the public,” “demagoguery,” and “factual ignorance.” John Yellig has the story in today’s Progress.

$291k to Griffin; Thompson Takes Over

Published by Waldo Jaquith on June 17, 2005 in Education and Politics. 12 Comments

Charlottesville superintendent Scottie Griffin is being paid $291k to stop being superintendent, James Fernald reports in today’s Daily Progress. That’s $19k in benefits, $15k for her attorney, $7k for moving expenses, and $250k to go away. If all goes well, that should end the 11-month-long Scottie Griffin saga.

Also at last night’s school board meeting, assistant superintendent for administration Bobby Thompson was named acting superintendent — he’ll step up on July 1, the day after Griffin’s time ends.

Bodo’s Opens

Published by Waldo Jaquith on June 16, 2005 in Business. 1 Comment

The impossible happened: Bodo’s opened a Corner location yesterday, as planned (and planned, and planned, and planned). They cast their doors open to waiting throngs — they had 1,000 on the first day of business. The Cavalier Daily has the story.

C’ville Blog Aggregator

Published by Waldo Jaquith on June 15, 2005 in Site News. 3 Comments

Long-time readers know that one of my frustrations with the site is that I run it. So while anybody can comment, what appears on the front page is still based on what I think is important. And what the hell do I know?

So I’ve established an aggregator for Charlottesville blogs. It’s updated every 3 hours, and lists all of the latest blog entries from bloggers in and around Charlottesville. It turns out that there’s a surprising variety in what people are talking about, and some of the views on what’s going on around town I’ve found to be really interesting in the few days since I set it up.

If you’re a blogger, or you know of a Charlottesville blog that isn’t listed, just let me know and I’ll add it to the blogroll. Bookmark the site or add it to your news reader and see what people are talking about.

06/16 Update: I forgot to point out that I really hope that a local blog aggregator will encourage others to start blogging, knowing that they’ll have an immediate audience. Some of the easier services include Blogger, LiveJournal, and TypePad. It takes just 5 to 10 minutes to get set up.

Sideblog