krues8dr writes: I just heard on 3WV that the yellow bike program will be launching today. They said something about a parade or something downtown, starting from City Hall, and that the public was invited to come down and join in the festivities.
It’s at the east end of the Downtown Mall, at 11:45…I think. Between krues8dr and I, there’s just enough information here to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ll be there!
miss_tori writes: According to several music trades online, including R&R, the FCC is holding a hearing on the potential for diminished competition in Charlottesville’s radio market. The blurb states, “The commission says that Clear Channel’s long-pending acquisition of Air Virginia’s WUMX/Charlottesville, VA would reduce the number of ‘effective’ competitors in the market from three to two, and it plans to hold a hearing to resolve the matter. The hearing would be the first since 1969 to deal with market-concentration issues in a radio station sale. FCC Chairman Michael Powell notes that the top two owners in Charlottesville would have a combined 94.2% market share. ‘This level of concentration, in the absence of any countervailing considerations or public interest benefits, is simply too significant for us to conclude that the transaction is consistent with the public interest.'” Does Charlottesville’s listening audience care who owns which stations? Do they even know?
UVa has asked the Department of Environmental Quality for permission to burn more fuel at their power plant. Their plant, on JPA near the UVa Medical Center, operates without scrubbers to decrease sulfur dioxide emissions. They are exempt from air quality regulations because of their non-profit status. The University has considered moving to the clean-burning natural gas, but the $4M price tag has left them cold. Jake Mooney and Eric Swensen have the story in today’s Progress.
The Virginia Discovery Museum, located on the east end of the Downtown Mall, is putting an antique carousel on the Mall. The restored miniature carousel (it’s just 9.5 feet wide and 8.5 feet tall) just needs to be approved by the Board of Architectural Review, and then the details must be worked out regarding leasing the rides. Says Peppy Linden, the museum’s executive director, “it is so charming and it is so pretty and it is so appropriate for the mall and the museum.” Jake Mooney has the story in today’s Progress.
Last night’s public hearing on the Rt. 29 bypass project brought a tremendous crowd out to the Doubletree Hotel, where VDOT was holding the information session and hearing. As Peter Savodnik writes in today’s Progress, “the overwhelming consensus of the roughly 800 attendees at the Virginia Department of Transportation meeting was that building the four-lane, 6-mile bypass would be a mistake of Herculean proportions.” The purpose of the hearing was to get public input on the environmental impacts of the roadway. Concerns along those lines ranged from watershed destruction to destruction of farmland and forest, the loss of salamander habitats to contamination of the reservoir. VDOT will, theoretically, take all of the information provided by the attendees and use it to assist in making decisions about the future of the bypass.
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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