February 2012
2 posts
January 2012
7 posts
Bypass vote may haunt Albemarle supervisors
Albemarle Supervisor Duane Snow (pictured) recapped his April meeting with Supervisor Rodney Thomas and Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton, and told the board that he had pledged support for the Western Bypass in return for state funds to local transportation priorities. Rooker replied that Snow failed to adequately inform the board, and had the minutes from a previous meeting to prove...
Boy, oh, Boyd!
This year, leading Republican Albemarle Supervisor Ken Boyd won reelection against a Democratic opponent, following the resurrection of a $200M-plus road project thought long-gone, but resurrected by the state. Here’s how it happened, why it happened, and how Boyd benefitted.
Much ado about 4-2: How will Boyd v. Neff shift county powers?
Neighborhood watch: Forest Lakes critical in...
Time after time
Arguably my favorite interview of 2011. Meet the charming, eloquent David Todd—the man who fixes Thomas Jefferson’s clocks.
C-VILLE Weekly
September 13
“God doesn’t strike somebody dead if there’s a criminal crossing a property with...”
– This year, Virginia set a record for firearm sales. In Albemarle County, the number of gun dealers also rose. And a firearms advocate from Northern Virginia (quoted above, weeks before another Virginia Tech shooting) planned a protest at UVA, which promptly banned concealed carry among faculty and...
December 2011
2 posts
“Disorder in the court: Are UVA Law’s gossip headlines self-inflicted?”
– Click here to read more.
C-VILLE Weekly
December 27
Where students, tourists and townspeople met
During his 30 years as owner and manager of The Tavern, Shelly Gordon served three types of people at his lodge-style, UVA-bedazzled diner: students, tourists, and townspeople. Last week, when I stopped in for my final Tavern breakfast—pecan pancakes, salty bacon, a gallon of coffee—Gordon’s crowd seemed largely unchanged.
The building, located in a prominent UVA entrance corridor, may change...
November 2011
2 posts
Silt happens
$3.5 million lawsuit against Hollymead Town Center developers may grow.
C-VILLE Weekly
November 22
UVA's free speech guru gets mouthful of praise at...
Two weeks after his 77th birthday, Bob O’Neil —UVA’s sixth president, former director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection for Free Expression, and wise old bird—returned to Charlottesville for a gala in his honor. O’Neil, who retired from the Thomas Jefferson Center in May and now lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, spent the first 90 minutes of his celebration standing 10’ from the...
October 2011
5 posts
Garrett Hall, $12.2 million later
So, I read E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, loosely based around the murder of architect Stanford White. Shortly after I finished the book, UVA finished renovations on White’s last building for the campus grounds. One thing led to another, and…
C-VILLE Weekly
October 23
C-VILLE Food & Drink Annual
For C-VILLE’s Food & Drink annual, I wrote about:
The aesthetic pleasures of weird salts
Eating invasive species, like lionfish
My favorite (relatively) late-night menu
Kale’s kick-ass nutrient density
Homemade kombucha
All-you-can-eat gelato
The next neighborhood
The tale of the Martha Jefferson neighborhood, through two houses.
The two-story homes at 509 and 513 Locust Ave. were built in 1903. The same year, Dr. Halstead Hedges and six local doctors decided to build a sanatorium at 919 High St.—Hedges’ home, located less than a quarter-mile from the Locust houses and, until then, the site of his medical practice.
C-VILLE Weekly
October 11
A snail's pace; or, Charlottesville's new invasive
In the tradition of buzzards and ferocious dogs, here’s another in what I consider to be a formidable collection of strange animal stories. Meet Charlottesville’s newest invasive species: the Chinese Mystery snail!
Fittingly, the Chinese mystery snail took its time getting to Virginia. In the late 19th century, food markets in San Francisco imported the creatures; within 20 years, perhaps...
September 2011
1 post
August 2011
3 posts
Your mugshot may be Crime Times' next cover
Crime is money for Brad McMurray, a business school graduate turned publisher whose Crime Times magazine began to appear on newsstands in area gas stations a few months ago. In fact, during a time when many newspapers struggle to match the costs of content and production with advertising revenue, McMurray is a one-man business with a steady influx of free content: the names and mugshots of...
Ramadan in jail
Days before Ramadan, Islam’s month-long holy fast, the ACLU of Virginia sent letters to sheriffs and jail superintendents throughout the state to reiterate the religious rights of Muslim inmates. Each year, writes ACLU fellow Thomas Fitzpatrick, Muslim inmates complain about meals served during the hours when they are required to fast.
C-VILLE Weekly
August 23
Best of C-VILLE 2011
For this year’s Best of C-VILLE issue, I wrote about the teacher behind world peace, Charlottesville’s smelliest neighborhood, a dangerous dogs registry, and how Gregory Fairchild’s study of Latino credit unions suggest that the community institutions may lower crime. I also wrote short profiles of Patricia Kluge, Donald Trump, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, and UVA President Teresa Sullivan.
...
July 2011
1 post
June 2011
5 posts
Kluge bankruptcy paints a broad picture
“German painter Anton Sattler was invited into the homes of some of America’s most renowned families to restore old rooms to their youthful beauty—to revitalize them, give them new lives. “Auchincloss, Roosevelt, Rockefeller,” lists the website for his company, founded in 1891. Anton Sattler, Inc., worked such magic on Gloria Vanderbilt’s former dining room, where the company restored...
Death by "livability"
“Jefferson Area Tea Party Chair Carole Thorpe told C-VILLE that ICLEI ‘has nothing to do with environmentalism,’ but instead with efforts to impose the United Nations’ sustainable development program, Agenda 21, as international law.
“‘This is ICLEI’s mission,’ said Thorpe. ‘If they could close their eyes and wish, [then] tomorrow Agenda 21 would be...
UVA raises a racquet
“Bob Sweeney doesn’t play squash. ‘Believe it or not,’ says UVA’s Vice President for Development and Public Affairs, who oversees the school’s $3 billion capital campaign. However, Sweeney knows the difference between a North American court and the slightly longer international court. He knows that the game may have cultural caché among international students from countries...
Blood money
“Being a medically underserved area has its advantages. Last year, the city used its designation to apply for a grant to construct a community health center in the Frank Ix Building, near several major public housing sites. The grant, administered through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, would direct $650,000 for three consecutive years towards a...
May 2011
1 post
April 2011
1 post
March 2011
1 post
February 2011
1 post
January 2011
3 posts
Kluge lenders pour it on
“Every vintage has a history: In July 2002, the UVA Foundation sold the 123-acre Maxwell Farm—a piece of John Kluge’s 7,379-acre gift to the university—to a private partnership called House and Garden Company LLC. That partnership later became Kluge Estate Winery & Vineyard, which transferred the property to Patricia Kluge herself before the land reached its current owner, Vineyard...
December 2010
4 posts
C-VILLE's top 25 news stories of 2010
No. 5 Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sets us back. Way, way back.
“It took Ken Cuccinelli eight years to move from state senator to Attorney General of Virginia, a post he assumed in January. After a matter of months on the job, it became clear that the Commonwealth might need another eight years to unscrew itself once Cuccinelli leaves his post. In no time flat, Cooch rolled out a...
Tall orders
“‘Tom Skalak will be easy to find,’ said UVA Foundation CEO Tim Rose. ‘Just look for the tallest man in the room.’
“At roughly 6’8”, Skalak is a noticeable presence at UVA, and a conspicuous absence from any meeting. However, his departure would do more than eliminate the cricks in his colleagues’ necks; it would announce a potential change of...
November 2010
1 post
October 2010
1 post
Eat my words
For C-VILLE’s annual food issue, I profiled Western Albemarle’s top Girl Scout Cookie seller (1,150 boxes), visited the dependencies at Jefferson’s Monticello, and memorialized a few fallen foodies. I also reconnected with UVA’s most memorable dining hall employees, punned on local BBQ (“Slaw and Order”), drank many miniature beers with AC, and found out what it...
September 2010
2 posts
"Why are things so heavy in the future?" →
I wrote a story about The Galaxy Diner, time travel, Back to the Future and a relationship for a podcast called I Like You. I also spoke with the lovely hosts, Elah and JP, about the same. Click the link to listen.
August 2010
2 posts
Time is on your side →
SB wrote a story for a (recommended) podcast called I Like You. The story involves passing letters and tapes, passing time, passing loves, and my poor attempt to pronounce the word “foyer.” Listen to her story here.
July 2010
7 posts
Des(s)erted?
“From former clients of his Virginia Payroll & Tax business to the Virginia Department of Taxation, more than a few folks would like to know the whereabouts of Jim Baldi. Baldi, who also owns the Belmont club Bel Rio, now shuttered, slipped out of Charlottesville during the last few weeks without a trace, apparently. Other published reports say Baldi left town with former Bel Rio...
Asking for change
“’Due to the economy, I find myself unemployed and homeless and hungry, and health is bad. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.’”
“His goal, Steve says, depends on the day. He could aim for $60, and get it, but it might take him until 10pm or later. Once, in a nearly 18-hour stretch, he received $185—some $10s, some $20s. Last fall, he and a friend were...
Asking for change
“’Due to the economy, I find myself unemployed and homeless and hungry, and health is bad. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.’”
“His goal, Steve says, depends on the day. He could aim for $60, and get it, but it might take him until 10pm or later. Once, in a nearly 18-hour stretch, he received $185—some $10s, some $20s. Last fall, he and a friend were...
25 essential Charlottesville experiences
No. 11: Join the Hackensaw Boys long enough to get a nickname like “See-Saw” or “Tri-diddle”
“Snow White had seven dwarves, and Santa Claus had nine reindeer. But they pale in comparison, in both number and nombre, to the roster of Charlottesville’s most distinctive string band, the Hackensaw Boys.
On Pee Paw! On Baby J! On Plantain, on Spits, on Plang Tang and...
3 tags
"Huguely to police: Love bled while he shook her"
“Add up the hours since George Huguely’s arrest in connection with the brutal slaying of his ex-girlfriend, Yeardley Love, and the 22-year-old former UVA student has spent fewer than four days outside of his cell in Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. Huguely, who is in segregation from the rest of the jail population, receives approximately one hour outside of his single-person...