Albemarle First Sale Falls Through

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 29, 2005 in Business. Closed

A year ago, with Albemarle First’s stock price on the decline and the local bank hurting from losing millions in a 2003 check-kiting scam, their largest shareholder declared that it was time for them to sell out to a bigger bank. Washington D.C. financial holding company Millennium Bankshares obliged, buying Albemarle First last June. Or so it seemed.

Today comes the news that Millennium Bankshares shareholders voted down the acquisition, ending the transaction. Millennium’s shares climbed 6% on the news; Albemarle First’s dropped 23%.

Presumably, Albemarle First shareholders are as eager as ever to see the bank bought out. It will be curious to see if they can round up any new suitors.

11:47pm Update: A reader points out that The Hook saw this coming two months ago.

Charlottesville Police and the Black Community

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 27, 2005 in Crime, General News and Meta News. 1 Comment

Speaking of racism, CBS 19 had an interesting two-part series on the black community and the Charlottesville police department. Though the bar is admittedly rather low, Summer Knowles has produced an unusually in-depth local TV news piece on a topic that likely didn’t come in as a press release. More of that, please.

(Via Sean Tubbs)

Racism’s Effect on UVa

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 27, 2005 in UVa. Closed

In today’s Daily Progress, Melanie Mayhew has a lengthy piece about UVa and racism, looking at the racial incidents at UVa in early September and the effects of the widespread media coverage of those events. Mayhew looks at the history of integration at the university, the recent incidents, and what their short- and long-term impacts might be on UVa.

Hackensaw Boys on NPR

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 27, 2005 in Music. 2 Comments

Charlottesville’s own Hackensaw Boys were featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition yesterday morning in an extended interview. They performed a pair of songs and talked about how they first started, their bluegrass style, and their new album, Love What You Do. Charlottesville bluegrass is making a name for itself, in the form of the Hacks and King Wilkie, both of whom are rapidly becoming darlings of different segments of the bluegrass cognoscenti.

Best Mobile Phone Carrier?

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 25, 2005 in Ask cvillenews.com. 8 Comments

cvillenewser asks: “What’s the best cell phone carrier for the Central
Virginia/Charlottesville area in terms of reception and value (minutes/cost)? I’m currently with Nextel, and while I haven’t had any problems, I’m wondering if I’m missing out on a better deal out there.”

By my math, there’s no beating Ntelos, which has the bonus of being local, but I’m sure others will weigh in.

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