5th District Congressional Race Underway

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 22, 2003 in General News. 11 Comments

Nelson County farmer Al Weed has started running against Congressman Virgil Goode for the 5th district congressional seat for the November 2004 election. Weed already has a pair of paid staffers, a couple of dozen volunteers, and a campaign office, almost a year and a half before the biennial election. If this race seems familiar, it’s because Vice Mayor Meredith Richards ran it just last year, losing to Goode with 36.5% of the vote. Richards leaves open the possibility that she may run against Weed for the Democratic nomination, saying that she intends to decide by Christmas. Bob Gibson has the story in today’s Progress.

Disclaimer: I’m heavily involved with Al Weed’s campaign. You know, in case it’s not totally obvious after reading the story.

Council Passes Anti-PATRIOT Bill

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 22, 2003 in General News. 63 Comments

At last night’s City Council meeting, Council passed the proposed anti-PATRIOT Act resolution, by 4-1, with slight modifications, after dozens of people spoke unanimously in support of the resolution. Despite the complete support from a broad cross-section of Charlottesville residents, lone Republican Councilor Rob Schilling refused to support the bill, telling opponents that they should contact their federal representatives instead. Elizabeth Nelson has the story in today’s Progress.

Obligatory disclaimer: I spoke in support of the resolution.

Housing Shortage at UVa

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 21, 2003 in UVa. 15 Comments

Hundred of students will be arriving for school this fall without a place to live, Elizabeth Nelson reports in Sunday’s Progress. Eagle’s Landing and Camden Plaza, two new student apartment complexes, have been pre-renting apartments for months, with Eagles Landing telling prospective students on their website that if they decide to live there, “[their] life will be a million times easier.” The only problem is that, due to construction delays, the complexes won’t be finished until well after the students arrive. UVa doesn’t have nearly enough dorms to house the students, and it’s not clear if area hotels could handle them all. A consequence of UVa’s approach to housing students, or just an unfortunate situation?

Albemarle Approves Hollymead Town Center

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 17, 2003 in General News. 133 Comments

Surprising nobody, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors approved rezoning of 24 acres on 29 by 5-1, permitting the creation of a substantial portion the 165 acre Hollymead Town Center shopping center. (The BOS will rule on two other parcels in August.) They did so after two hours of public comment, with plenty of speakers both in favor of and opposed to the big-box development. Ultimately, the supervisors agreed with Charles Martin, who said, simply, “I think a big box is OK.” David Dadurka has the story in today’s Progress.

New 29 Developments Not Popular

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 12, 2003 in Business. 86 Comments

Having a hard time keeping track of all of the planned developments for 29 North? The Hook has put together a guide, giving the vital stats and stories behind Hollymead Town Center, North Pointe, and Albemarle Place. With 3,690,000 square feet of space between them, there’s a whole lot of traffic planned for 29. Not everybody’s down with the proposals, though — on Wednesday, a group of protesters held a “Voluntary Tax Collection Day,” seeking the $100,000,000 that will be necessary to widen 29 to 11 lanes to support the addition of Hollymead Town Center. Unfortunately, they fell well short of their goal. David Dadurka had the story in Thursday’s Progress.

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