The Virginia Film Festival announced this year’s theme a few days ago, when I wasn’t looking: “kin flicks.” Film Fest director Richard Herskowitz made it known on his blog, and Jeremy Borden provides details in the Progress. It seems anything pertaining to family is up for grabs, which Herskowitz says was motivated both by a desire to get more families to attend and continue the discussion that began with last year’s gay marriage amendment. If you’ve got suggestions for films, Herskowitz is soliciting them as comments to his blog entry.
cvillenews.com
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Albemarle County Sheriff’s Deputy Roger Craig is running for the Democratic nomination for sheriff, the Daily Progress reports. He’ll be challenging Albemarle County police investigator Larry Claytor for the nomination; Claytor announced his campaign a couple of weeks ago. Charlottesville police captain Chip Harding is seeking the Republican nomination.
I’m told that Sheriff Edgar Robb, who is retiring, was backing Harding as his replacement, but that he also encouraged Craig to get into the race. That would explain Robb’s refusal to endorse anybody just yet, but it seems like an odd thing to do.
Craig’s candidacy is a bit of a puzzle — I just mapped his address in Google Earth, and he lives half a mile from the Albemarle border, in Orange County, just down the road from me, which would make him ineligible to serve in an Albemarle office. He started working with the Charlottesville Police Department in 1987, and he’s been with the Sheriff’s Office for 16 years, so I’m certainly not questioning the man’s commitment to law enforcement in Albemarle. Maybe he moved recently?
02/28 Update: Rob Seal writes in today’s Progress that Craig does live in Orange, but he and his wife own a house in Albemarle that they’ll move into in May in order to satisfy the residency requirement. That would certainly seem to settle things.
A real estate agency has filed suit in federal court against Wintergreen and Roy Wheeler, accusing them of colluding in violation of state and federal anti-monopoly laws, Brian McNeill writes in the Progress. Mountain Area Realty says that they’ve been shut out of the market by the exclusive marketing relationship, and they’re seeking $6M in damages. The firm says that Real Estate III and Montague Miller have shuttered their Wintergreen offices as a result of the deal (Montague Miller disagrees). In a rare display of candor, Mountain Area Realty’s attorney says that attorneys’ fees on both sides will be “umpteen-jillion dollars.”
Real estate agent Jim Duncan figures this could have a far-reaching impact on any “exclusively marketed by” deals, while attorney Jennifer McKeever points out that having a monopoly isn’t actually illegal, and that the case should move through pretty quickly. Plus, the Sherman Antitrust Act has basically gone unenforced since President Bush took office; I can’t see that changing now.
City Councilor Kendra Hamilton won’t be running for reelection, Seth Rosen reports in the Progress. Hamilton was elected to Council in 2004 along with Mayor David Brown, and, along with Kevin Lynch, both find their terms up somewhat early this time around because the elections have been moved from May to November. Hamilton, a writer, says that she needs to spend more time on her vocation and finish up her PhD from the UVa English department. Neither Brown nor Lynch have decided if they want to run for reelection. It would be Lynch’s third term and, as he points out, “eight years is a while.”
As the only member of Council who isn’t a white man, Hamilton’s departure is sure to send some city Democrats into a tizzy trying to track down a black woman to replace her. Charlottesville attorney and blogger Jennifer McKeever hinted strongly at plans to run in a recent blog entry. Is anybody else planning to run?
TrvlnMn writes of Oliver Kuttner’s nine-story hotel proposal:
Kuttner opts to make money, chooses hotel option. Proves he was just paying “lip service” to the affordable housing issue. Perhaps the token gesture greased the wheels for BAR approval.
He had proposed building affordable housing, right on the Downtown Mall, but now it’s looking more like the nine-story hotel originally proposed by Lee Danielson some years ago.
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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