Morrissey’s Death Under Media Investigation

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 14, 2010 in Business, Meta News and UVa. 39 Comments

The story of the death of VQR Managing Editor Kevin Morrissey two weeks ago has become a topic of great interest. The Chronicle of Higher Education today features a weighty investigative piece entitled “What Killed Kevin Morrissey?”. Author Robin Wilson repeats claims that magazine editor Ted Genoways is rarely at work, that he has left his staff completing much of his duties, and that years of bullying Morrissey culminated in the employee’s suicide. (Genoways denies the charges.) And over at C-Ville Weekly, Brendan Fitzgerald updates his coverage with basically a whole new layer of the story, reporting that Genoways is now directing inquiries to an attorney.

I must again point out that I am one of the four people on the staff of VQR working for Genoways, and that it remains awfully uncomfortable for me to write about this here. Based on the sheer volume of press inquiries I’ve been getting from local and national media outlets in the past two weeks, we can expect to see quite a bit more coverage of this story in the days ahead.

Edwards Resigning from School Board

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 5, 2010 in Education and Politics. 6 Comments

In what is presumably a coincidence, on the same day that Brian Wheeler announced his resignation from the Albemarle School Board, Alvin Edwards announced that he’s resigning from the Charlottesville School Board, Rachana Dixit writes in the Daily Progress. That resignation is effective at the end of October. The former mayor cited only personal reasons. Dixit did the math, and points out that Edwards has missed a great many board meetings in the last few years—one third of them since January 2008—and even disappeared without explanation for two months early last year. Edwards was elected in 2007, and his seat is up for reelection in November of next year. His term will be completed by whomever is appointed by the board.

Wheeler Resigning from Albemarle School Board

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 5, 2010 in Education and Politics. Closed

Brian Wheeler is resigning from the Albemarle School Board, WINA reports. He says he both wants to spend more time with family and wants to spend more time on Charlottesville Tomorrow, the non-profit that he runs. Wheeler holds the only at-large seat on the board, which will be filled by the remainder of the board appointing somebody to complete his term. Wheeler was first elected in 2003 by a 0.65% margin and reelected by a healthier 12.5% margin in 2007. His term seat is up for reelection in November of next year.

Kevin Morrissey Has Died

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 30, 2010 in Obituaries. 71 Comments

Kevin MorrisseyThis morning, shortly after 11:00, my friend and boss Kevin Morrissey took his own life at the coal tower. He left his apartment, walked down Water Street and called the police to report a shooting at the coal tower, a shooting that actually came shortly thereafter. A lifetime of grappling with depression combined with recent stresses proved too much for him. He was the managing editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review at the University of Virginia since 2003. Kevin was dogged at his work, meticulous in his detail, and one of the finest human beings I’ve had the privilege to know. Survived by his father, sister, and brothers, he was was 52 years old.

Woman Who Appeared with Obama a Convicted Criminal

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 28, 2010 in Business, Government and Law and Justice. 12 Comments

Charlottesville’s Leslie Macko, who stood at President Obama’s side as an example of people who need unemployment benefits, actually lost her job because of after a conviction for prescription drug fraud. Jessica Jaglois at CBS-19 dug up this gem, which certainly has the potential to become national news. Macko said that she’d been laid off from ACAC, and needed unemployment benefits extended since there were no other jobs to be had. In fact, ACAC fired her after she was convicted. Which leaves me wondering how she’s getting unemployment. Don’t you have to be laid off to be eligible?

07/29 Update: ACAC has added an update to the story to clarify something that definitely wasn’t clear the first time around, which is that her firing had nothing to do with her drug conviction. She was convicted of prescription drug fraud (and, in another incident, grand larceny), and she was fired, but that the two aren’t related.

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