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Conduct yourself accordingly

I was seeing red when I read the letter to the editor attacking efforts to bring VRE passenger rail service to Charlottesville “Choo-choo-choose wisely,” Mailbag, July 12].

Since the writer of the letter admits that she herself moved here to get away from the wretched excesses of Northern Virginia (too many people, too many strip malls, too much traffic, too many town houses), I would like her to tell me how this rail service is connected to all these excesses. And Charlottesville cannot be compared to Gainesville, which had become a bedroom community because it is only 30 miles from the nation’s capitol, and has done so without benefit of commuter rail.

This proposed VRE rail service will really help the community. It will not bring any more onslaught of over development than what is already in progress.

I belong to the Virginia Association of Railway Patrons and the National Association of Railway Patrons, and in a small way helped to restore Amtrak’s Cardinal line when it was taken off during the Reagan Administration. There is no other form of transportation that can move as many goods and people as a train and use less fuel. And at this time, what could be more important with the shortage of oil?

I plan to take the VRE to D.C. often. I have been retired for many years and I don’t make the drive because it is dangerous and there is too much traffic. I’ve tried Amtrak, but the rains are always late and it is impossible to get a reservation. With better rail connections, I will have another way to get there.

We should work on controlling development with better planning for our region, not by denying the freedom to travel to people like me.

I hope the writer will think about this and join us to bring VRE to Charlottesville and help our community.

 

Robert M. Seaman

Charlottesville

 

“Best” behave

In your “Worst of 2005” piece [“Best of C-VILLE 2005,” August 2] it seems that you forgot one “Worst.” Worst Charlottesville citizen habit: making disparaging remarks about UVA and the students while secretly knowing that none of the things on the “Best Of” list would be here without them.

 

Andrew Garrahan

Alexandria

 

Font of wisdom

 

This letter is to the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority [“So simple, it just might work,” The Week, August 2]. I could have saved the $1.1 million you paid to consultants: STOP THE OUT-OF-CONTROL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT! No development = water conservation problem solved. No charge for the advice.

 

Pattie Boden

Charlottesville

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News

HonkyTonk Man

Dwight Yoakam had the look: long and lean with the big cowboy hat and the facial demeanor that suggested lonely and liking it. He had the voice: that extra little twang that suggests an education away from the schoolhouse.

 If you have yet to see Wedding Crashers, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play a pair of irreverent marriage counselors, and the opening scene is a funny mediation session between the lead characters and a couple in the midst of an ugly divorce and their lawyers. You have to pay attention, because the scene is dominated by Vaughn and Wilson, but Dwight Yoakam plays the future ex-husband who is about to lose his frequent flyer miles.

In the mid-1980s, Time magazine called Dwight Yoakam a renaissance man. A renaissance man possesses many talents, and in Dwight’s case that is hard to deny. But I would say that Yoakam is a musician who takes professional risks out of necessity. When he busted on the scene in 1984 with his EP A Town South of Bakersfield, he was already so rooted in the Bakersfield sound that he could have been Buck Owens incarnate. He had the look: long and lean with the big cowboy hat and the facial demeanor that suggested lonely and liking it. He had the voice: that extra little twang that suggests an education away from the schoolhouse. And he had the third element of the triple crown: that guitar player—Pete Anderson—who can turn a tune into a hit.

Yoakam was born in Kentucky in Pikesville Hospital, the same birthplace as Patty Loveless, but three months earlier. He was raised in Columbus, Ohio, and his mother owned a good record collection including the essentials: Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Buck Owens. After a brief stint at Ohio State, Dwight moved to Nashville where the scene was awash in the success of Urban Cowboy and a little too polished for his liking. Yoakam hooked up with guitarist Anderson there, and together they moved out to Los Angeles where Yoakam’s rootsy country music fit in nicely with some of the roots music purveyors of the punk rock scene, musicians like Dave Alvin and The Blasters, Los Lobos and X. The punk scenes in L.A. and New York each tended to be inclusive of other styles of music, as long as they were genuine. The New York scene included the Latino influence in Mink Deville and Garland Jeffries, and some reggae as well. L.A.’s roots rock was based on “American Music.”

Four years later, Yoakam’s debut EP was released. That was the time when MCA Records President Tony Brown had begun signing new, traditional-sounding country acts in Nashville, and Music City seemed a bit more interested in its own family tree. Brown typically gets credit for signing Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith and others to MCA, ushering in a period of neo-traditionalism in country music.

In 1986, Reprise Records re-released Yoakam’s EP as Guitars, Cadillacs, etc. etc… with extra tracks. Even the title suggests that Yoakam was no slave to country music’s legacy, and it was well received by not only country audiences, but by rock audiences as well. The CD got a lot of play on college radio. Dwight’s first single was a cover of Johnny Horton’s “Honky Tonk Man” that made it to No. 3 on the country music charts. His next LP release in 1987, Hillbilly Deluxe, had four Top 10 hits, and in 1988 Dwight hit No. 1 with Buck Owens’ “Streets of Bakersfield.” In the music business, a No. 1 song is a very big deal, and it solidified Yoakam’s position as a star. Dwight’s sound was not original, but it was very genuine, and his tunes were so good that his appeal was extensive.

Yoakam’s records steadily garnered fans and in 1993, he released his most popular record to date, the fantastic This Time, with its perfect blend of commercial honky tonk tunes, radio-friendly production and extraordinary musicianship.

The fact is, Yoakam was making his living with someone else’s musical style. Twenty years had passed since Owens was writing hits, and Yoakam was so naturally adept at the music that it may have seemed that you were listening to this great new Bakersfield sound for the first time. But to sustain his career, he had to take chances, though not necessarily big chances (Dwight’s ambient record is still in the can). Still, he needed to take some risks to keep the audience’s attention. As an artist you can lead fans down unexplored paths a little at a time and that is what Yoakam has always been savvy enough to do.

He tried his hand at acting, getting small parts in very fine movies like Red Rock West and putting in a memorable performance in the sleeper hit Sling Blade. He had unquestionable success in the movie business and in 2000, Yoakam wrote, directed and acted in South of Heaven, West of Hell. The movie had a wildly eccentric cast, including Bridget Fonda, Billy Bob Thornton and Paul Reubens, and both critics and audiences were cool toward it. Nevertheless, Yoakam had his writing and directorial debut under his belt. O.K., John Mellencamp has directed a movie and James Carville has written a children’s book. But one thing that you cannot say about Yoakam is that he lacks ambition. Dwight has said about movies, “Films are miracles in no minor way when they come to fruition at all.”

South of Heaven, West of Hell was not the only thing that Dwight had under his belt, because he ended up in a relationship with co-star Fonda. That relationship ended in 2002, very close to the release of Population Me, a record that Dwight says is about “taking care of yourself first.”

Dwight’s professional life took a turn as well when he finished out his contract with Reprise Records with a record of covers, Used Cuts, and suddenly had some decisions to make about how his music was going to get out to the people. Audium Records in Nashville approached Yoakam with the opportunity of starting his own label, and the deal was sealed when Dwight set up Electrodisc-Audium to release his own records and those of anyone else he might care to endorse. Population Me, Yoakam’s 17th record, was the first release on the newly established label. Dwight’s newest release, Blame The Vain, is on the good New West label that also offers discs of Delbert McClinton, John Hiatt and Buddy Miller.

Population Me was followed very closely by his split with Anderson who, besides being his longtime guitarist, also produced his records. The two had been together since their days in Nashville before either had a record; in some ways they could be considered the country music version of Mick and Keith, although Anderson’s public profile was always extremely low. Anderson produced most of Dwight’s records and he gave that music a sound that was always spare, yet incredibly interesting to listen to. He was the Fender-bending icing on Dwight’s honky tonk cupcakes. The duo claim in public that the split was about creative differences, but they ended up in court to have their creative differences sorted out, so you, the listener, can make that call.

Yoakam takes production credit for his most recent CD, Blame The Vain, which came out in June. The studio band is the same band that will appear at the Pavilion on August 20 and they are very good. New guitarist Keith Gattis sure sounds like a student of Anderson, especially when it comes to finding those low notes. Drummer Mitch Marine is strong and can likely play with anybody, and reports say that bassist Taras Prodaniuk plays the upright live, which should be great.

When I first picked up Blame The Vain, I had to look twice to make sure I had not gotten a Roxy Music record. The artwork throughout is highly stylized, featuring a gamalicious brunette model who is posed to resemble a mannequin. (Is that Dwight’s Jerry Hall?) And then there is Dwight. Designer duds and pouty poses refer to the CD title, but I might have preferred that Dwight not make a personal appearance on the cover.

Blame The Vain kicks off with the rockin’ title track that sounds like an amped-up Byrds meets Richard Thompson tune with beautiful droning guitar. And my hat goes off to Dwight’s songwriting: He can still sneak a nice bridge into a tune, which seems to have gone missing on the radio these days. A pure country music waltz, “Lucky That Way,” a la Merle follows. “Intentional Heartache” seems like a real stab at a hit single. It is a tune about a wife who is pissed off about the breakup of her marriage, and she drives to North Carolina to toss her ex’s stuff, including his boots and a signed Dale Jr. poster, into his mother’s yard. Dwight nods to Buck Owens on “Does It Show,” right down to the lyrics about “love’s biggest clown.” “Three Good Reasons” is the shuffle that Dwight can write in his sleep, and “Just Passing Time” and “I’ll Pretend” can each separate a drunk at the bar from all of his spare quarters.

Yoakam claims that he had The Beatles on his mind when he was writing this record, and “She’ll Remember” is the first piece of evidence, with its weird John Cale spoken-word lyric over the rhythm of “Tomorrow Never Knows,” and then the sudden shift into an interestingly arranged Yoakam original. But even the drum fill could have come from Ringo. And “When I First Came Here” has a conspicuously Beatles feel.

Lyrically, the record is as focused on the breakup of relationships and the pain that follows as it can be. Except for the title tune, which is a rumination on blame, every tune is a sore lament about a lover not turning out as expected. Does Dwight expect us to think that his personal life is not in these songs?

The final three songs begin: “When I first came here I was empty, lost and weak;” “Watch how she tore me apart;” and “Take her away, but don’t let her see me.” Though one can make the assumption that the end of a relationship found its way into these songs, Yoakam says, “I don’t journal my life. I don’t find it that interesting.”

For all of Blame’s alleged restlessness, the tunes that make the record are still the ones that conjure up Buck Owens in his heyday. Few artists change music from the inside out, and do it in a way that takes millions of fans with them. Bach, The Beatles, James Brown, Bob Marley—they were all making music from the influence of others, and yet they managed to internalize the music to such a degree that they transformed it into something completely new.

Like his L.A. peers Los Lobos, Dwight has tried spinning his musical career in different directions, but he always comes back to Point A, that is, guitars and Cadillacs. Los Lobos, on the other hand, have radically shifted direction numerous times from the traditional La Pistola, to the rock-meets-Tejano of The Neighborhood, to the very Waitsy Colossal Head. While the Lobos may have sacrificed part of their audience to pursue new directions, Dwight has always been on point commercially. And although there may not be tunes as picture perfect as “Little Ways” and “Johnson’s Love” from the early albums, Dwight is still writing good, strong tunes after 20 years.

Dwight has sold 23 million records altogether—go ahead and count them. If that is not a sign of vitality, then what is? Fans have stayed with him for all those years and records. And I have never talked to one person who said that they went to see Dwight and had a so-so time. So get that Keith Urban CD out of the player, and come see a performer with a genuine connection to country music’s tradition. Dwight can be considered The Mailman of country music because he always delivers. It’s going to be a very good time. Dwight Yoakam and his band will be at tshe Charlottesville Pavilion on Saturday, August 20.

WHO: Dwight Yoakam

WHAT: A country superstar who has consistantly delivered since the early 1980s

WHEN: Saturday, August 20, 7:30pm

WHERE: Charlottesville Pavilion, east end of the Downtown Mall

HOW MUCH: $27-41.50

MORE INFO: 800-594-TIXX;

www.charlottesvillepavilion.com

 

Mr. Yoakam goes to Hollywood

Dwight’s filmography

Red Rock West (1992)

Played a truck driver in this thriller about a hitman hired to kill an unfaithful wife. Directed by John Dahl.

The Little Death (1995)

Played Bobby Lomax in this mildly entertaining, but predictable, thriller. Directed by Jan Verheyen.

Sling Blade (1996)

Played Doyle Hargraves in this drama about a traumatized man starting over in a small town. Directed by Billy Bob Thornton.

Painted Hero (1997)

Played Virgil Kidder in this drama about rodeo riders. Directed by Terry Benedict.

The Newton Boys (1998)

Played Brentwood Glasscock in the 1920s action film about bank robbers. Directed by Richard Linklater.

The Minus Man (1999)

Played Detective Blair in this serial killer drama starring Owen Wilson. Directed by Hampton Fancher.

South of Heaven, West of Hell (2000)

Directed and starred as Valentine Casey in this critically panned Western, which he also wrote.

Panic Room (2002)

Played Raoul in the summer blockbuster thriller starring Jodie Foster. Directed by David Fincher.

Hollywood Homicide (2003)

Played Leroy Wasley in this LAPD crime film about a rap murder starring Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett. Directed by Ron Shelton.

3-Way (2004)

Played Herbert in the sexy noir-thriller remake of Gil Brewer’s pulp novel Wild to Possess.

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)

Played Sheriff Belmont in the south-of-the-border drama
that scored big at the Cannes Film Festival. Directed by
Tommy Lee Jones.

Wedding Crashers (2005)

Played Mr. Kroeger in the bachelors-behaving-badly comedy starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. Directed by David Dobkin.—Anne Metz

Categories
News

Beating the heat

Dear Ace: I’ve got central air in my house as well as a car that dips down to Kelvin if need be, and I’m hardly surviving this summer. Tell me, how are the homeless dealing with the heat wave?Sympathetic Sweater

Sweater: Heat wave?!? What heat wave? Then again, when you’re as ice cold as Ace, it’s hard to keep track of the temperature outside. But as he checked the weather forecast, Ace detected that local temperatures had been in the 90s for about 12 straight days. So, for folks without their own climate controlled Atkins compound, outdoor conditions must have been dreadful.

To find out how the homeless population (officially counted at 156) has been dealing with the heat, Ace contacted his friend Evan Scully at the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless.

It turns out that local organizations have been able to adequately provide the homeless with a place to cool off and rehydrate during the most dangerous part of the day. Scully says, “The accessible, air-conditioned local soup kitchens offer food, water and air-conditioning during the midday heat.”

Despite the triple-digit heat index, the TJACH did not report any health ailments due to the weather. (Ace gets a rash just thinking about a 110-degree heat index!) And even though it’s been hot, temperatures have not been hot enough to open an emergency air-conditioned shelter for the homeless.

According to Scully, the Salvation Army is the primary provider for the homeless population. Surprising to Ace, the Salvation Army reports that resident numbers have not increased with the recent heat spell. In addition to fulfilling its regular mission of providing shelter residents with food, water, showers and an air-conditioned environment, Major Bruce Smith, the executive director of the Salvation Army, says the shelter has “been distributing electric fans to families in need that are not eligible for social services.”

For the homeless and the homed alike, the good news is that, if you believe the weather folks, the heat wave should be over for the summer. And just in time, too. Ace was starting to think he’d have to haul his chill self all around the city, just to keep things cool.

Categories
Uncategorized

News in review

Tuesday, August 2
Virginia Lotto profit nears a half-billion bucks

For the fourth consecutive year, Virginia Lotto has hit the jackpot with another record profit. That’s what the lottery’s Interim Executive Director, Donna M. VanCleave, announced today. This year’s count? $423.5 million. That’s $15 million more profit than last year, and it’s all getting donated to Virginia’s K-12 public schools. Total lottery sales also set a record at $1.3 billion, besting last year’s record by $71.5 million. According to Jill Vaughan, the lottery’s flak, 64 retailers carry Virginia Lottery products in Charlottesville, and 22 in Albemarle County.

 

Wednesday, August 3
County denies hospital’s tax appeal

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors today rejected Martha Jefferson Hospital’s bid for tax-exempt status for the nonprofit hospital’s Pantops properties that currently provide medical services to county residents. According to Steve Bowers, spokesperson for Martha Jefferson, the hospital was seeking relief from $190,000 in taxes. But MJH’s properties do not meet the County’s definition of a hospital, and for that reason the request was denied. The hospital, whose main facility is in Downtown Charlottesville, also owns undeveloped acreage on Pantops where it plans a new hospital. Bowers says MJH hopes to begin the design process on that facility within a year.


Thursday, August 4
Habitat gets a boost from Bassett

Today dozens of Habitat for Humanity supporters, representatives from the Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce and employees of Bassett Furniture helped launch the official grand opening of Bassett Furniture’s newest store, across from Lowe’s. Owners Cort and Lenora Kirkley are joining efforts with Habitat by donating a dining room set to every Habitat home built in Charlottesville this year and next. “We believe every family should have a comfortable home to live in,” says Lenora Kirkley, “and the dining room—or the place where families gather to eat—is often the heart of the home.” Taking it another step, Bassett Furniture is also raffling a John Elway leather recliner and a football signed by Elway himself, with proceeds to benefit Habitat.

 

Homeless chief offers 10-year plan

More than 200 people gathered today for the 18th annual conference of the Virginia Coalition of the Homeless. Hosted by the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless at the First Baptist Church, the conference featured a keynote speech from Philip Mangano, who for three years has been the executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. “The time is arriving for another social evil to expire,” he said. Echoing the now infamous sentiments of his boss, Bush No. 43, Mangano predicted that in 10 years the eradication of homelessness in America would be another, gulp, “Mission Accomplished.” Can’t wait to see how that turns out.

 

Friday, August 5
FCC Internet decision assailed

Jonathan Rintels, Charlottesville resident and the executive director of the Center for Creative Voices in Media, inveighed against today’s decision by the Federal Communications Commission that telephone companies need no longer share access to their broadband DSL lines with competing Internet service providers (ISP). “According to the FCC’s July 2005 report on High Speed Internet Access, in December 2004 approximately 94 percent of Americans subscribing to high speed Internet access received it from either a cable or a telephone company. Given that tremendous market share, today’s FCC action eliminating competing ISPs will give cable and telephone companies even greater opportunities to provide the poor quality service at an inflated price for which they are so well known,” Rintels said in a news release.

 

Saturday, August 6
Unhappy birthday, Hiroshima

About 100 Downtown Mall pedestrians stopped this afternoon to check out the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice’s exhibit on the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. The CCPJ has commemorated the “birth of the nuclear age,” as they call it, since 1983. The event included stories detailing the destruction of Hiroshima (more than 200,000 people killed) and the bombing of Nagasaki three days later (about 100,000 people dead) and “shadow projects,” human-shaped paper cutouts to represent people vaporized by the atomic bombs whose outlines were permanently etched on buildings. Sue Chase, coordinator for the event, says CCPJ does this “in the hope that one day we will be a nuclear-free world, where children and adults won’t have to worry about the overwhelming nightmare of an attack by nuclear bombs.”

 

Sunday, August 7
Electricity slowly restored for thousands after storm

Thousands of area residents were only just having their electricity restored this morning after last night’s whale of a thunderstorm. A weak cold front traveling north pounded Charlottesville with rain and took plenty of trees along with it before hitting Madison County at around 8pm Saturday night, according to published reports. This morning’s aftermath included more reasonable temperatures, lots of debris and plenty of spoiled milk.

 

Monday, August 8
Allen’s ears closed to locals

Republican U.S. Sen. George Allen advances his unofficial re-election campaign by kicking off a 10-day “listening tour” that starts in Front Royal at noon today and culminates on Thursday, August 18, with a speech in Mollusk at the Northern Neck Soil and Water Conservation District’s annual awards banquet. Allen’s tour (a direct lift from the Hillary Rodham Clinton playbook) does not include any stops in Charlottesville or Albemarle, suggesting that Allen hasn’t time for whatever it is folks around here have to say about the federal government—at least not this time around.

 

Written by Cathy Harding from staff reports and news sources.

 

 

 

Taking one for the team
Koleszar answers Dems’ call to challenge Bell

After 10 years on the Albemarle County School Board, Steve Koleszar has done what no other local Democrat was willing to do—challenge Rob Bell for the House of Delegates.

To make up for Bell’s incumbent advantage, Koleszar will do his best to cast Bell as a no-tax zealot who would have the government abandon the less fortunate. Bell has increasingly cast his lot with Virginia’s Republican right-wing. In 2004, Bell was one of 45 Republicans to vote against a tax increase supported by Democrats and GOP moderates.

In the interview that follows, Koleszar explains how he hopes to bust up Bell’s glowing image and grip on power.—John Borgmeyer 

C-VILLE: Your father was a Republican and a Navy man. How did you end up a Democrat?

Steve Koleszar: I was a Republican growing up; I was a Rockefeller Republican. When he lost the primary in 1964, the Goldwaterites booed Rockefeller off the stage. He was making a gracious concession speech, and he got booed off the stage. Why? Because they were true believers. Those people run the Republican Party now. That was when I started to become a Democrat. I decided I was a Democrat because I believe in civil rights and economic justice. Democrats traditionally cared more about working people and building communities, whereas Republicans tend to be more about leaving every man for [himself]. As far as social issues, I don’t think they belong in politics. Government shouldn’t be in our personal life.

How did you end up in Charlottesville?

After my father retired from the Navy, we settled in New Jersey. I was very interested in Civil War history, so I went to school at Washington and Lee, and I earned a degree in history. After school I went back to New Jersey. I was a social worker for a year, drove a taxicab. My son was getting along, though, and I had to earn more money. My brother was in the Boston area, so I went there and got a job working in a typesetting shop. I became treasurer of that company, took courses in business and accounting. My family got tired of big city life. My best friend from high school lived in Charlottesville. We came here in 1982. I house-husbanded for a year while my wife went to work, then I went to work for Crutchfield. I was head of their accounting department. I’ve always adapted well to computer technology, but I just got my first cellphone for the campaign. I never really enjoyed the telephone.

Why did you decide to challenge Rob Bell, and what’s going to be your strategy against him?

The primary reason is that he doesn’t support education. He’s a no-taxer. He was one of the few in the House of Delegates that fought Governor Warner’s budget a couple years ago. He didn’t want people to work together for compromise. He voted no. That was a fundamental vote on what we’re going to do in this state. Are we going to have a government that will work together to build stronger communities, or are we going to put our heads in the sand and ignore problems? I was talking to Democrats, and they were saying we’ve got to get somebody to run. Nobody would step forward and do it, so I felt like I was called to do it.

My campaign manager hates it when I say this, but I could never in my wildest dreams be as good a politician as Rob Bell is. He writes all the thank-you letters, and he gets his name in the paper and does all these things you’re supposed to do. He’s got $180,000 in the bank. And this is in a district that was gerrymandered to be Republican. The conventional wisdom is he is unbeatable.

My strategy is that this race has to be about issues. Which way do we want our government to go? I care about what you would call “lunchbucket issues”—education, transportation. There are things that government should do. Is it every man for himself, or are we going to band together and use government as a tool to help improve lives?

 

A project of some note
Rocker plans a new recording studio in Albemarle

When the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors meets to consider a development proposal, especially something in the vicinity of Blenheim Road, it usually concerns Kluge-generated McMansions or unexpected road-paving—contentious topics, for sure. So it was perhaps a treat for them last Wednesday, August 3, to hear a request of a more harmonious sort from a Blenheim Road resident. Matt Singleton, the brains behind rock band Big Fast Car, petitioned for a special-use permit to build a recording studio on his 50-acre property.

“I have taken the necessary steps to be sure that the neighbors are not intruded upon,” said the 40-year-old rocker who sports slicked-back long hair and a thick silver hoop in his right earlobe. That apparently sounded good to the Supes, who then approved his permit with little fanfare and no public comment.

Singleton, who also plays bass with No Gods No Monsters, hopes the conversion of his 900-square-foot barn, one of several out-buildings on his property, will be complete by late fall. And though Singleton Studios will join what’s becoming a pretty crowded lineup of local studios, including Crystalphonic, Kevin McNoldy’s major-league facility on Preston Avenue in the city, Singleton doesn’t seem hassled by the competition.

“It will be for my own use,” says the Michigan native, who as a young rocker spent some time hanging out with proto-punks MC5. “I’ll bring in bands that I like—I’m not just going to take anyone who calls.”

What Singleton likes is rock, pure and simple. He names All of Fifteen and Richmond’s Octane Saints as bands that just might get the welcome at his studio.

“What I love doing is working with young and upcoming local and regional talent,” he says. “I couldn’t care less about people who are established and making money.”

Though Singleton and his family moved to Albemarle five years ago from San Francisco, it’s taken him this long to decide that more home-based music-making was in order.

“I spent a couple of years focusing on Big Fast Car and we did pretty well with it. We were traveling quite a bit with the band. And I was missing being around my kids,” he says.

Touring the facility, it was easy for a couple of visitors to appreciate last week why Singleton might want to become more of a homebody. The views there, in the south-central part of the county, are lush and verdant. Inside the converted barn, Singleton plans to line the walls with brick, which he says is ideal for the warm sound he seeks because it’s both absorbent and reflective. And he has poured plenty of moolah into an analog, that is, non-digital, Trident console. He calls it “classic,” and with its wood paneling, it’s pretty darn attractive, even if you know little else about studio equipment.

While the studio renovation proceeds, Singleton is working on solo projects in the outbuilding that now serves as his office. Big Fast Car is on hiatus, he says, while he composes and supervises the studio work.

“I don’t see any point beating my head in little clubs unless I have a [new] product,” he says. “I’m too old to jump in the van and play in front of 35 people anymore.”—Cathy Harding

 

The problems of problem children
A newly completed study profiles local juvenile offenders

In June, the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee of the Commission on Children and Families completed their four-year study, “Characteristics of Juvenile Offenders.” In mid-July the eye-popping numbers, taken from 547 Charlottesville-Albemarle case files of juvenile offenders ages 10 to 19, were officially released.

While the report may not paint a complete portrait of these kids who can’t seem to stay out of trouble, it sketches an outline. Since the report was based on case files put together primarily by probation officers, CCF’s job was to analyze the data (organized by behavioral, family, social, educational and emotional need/risk factors), not to collect more.

“The numbers were a little bit surprising,” says Cynthia Casey, a child protective services supervisor in Charlottesville, “but the characteristics were well within what we see on a day-to-day basis.”

In response to the report’s findings, says Gretchen Ellis, co-author of the report, the CCF has organized work groups on family violence and extracurricular activities, with the goals of identifying, studying and recommending solutions to problems.

According to Ellis, the family violence work group has recommended the creation of a Children’s Advocacy Center that would put a variety of children’s advocates—from lawyers to counselors—under one roof. When she spoke to C-VILLE, Ellis said she had just put the finishing touches on a $75,000 grant proposal to get the center up and running. She will know in “about a month” whether the funding has come through.—Nell Boeschenstein


The road ahead
Conference coaches break down the changes in the ACC

The Atlantic Coast Conference is a month away from a historic football season. Instant replay will be inaugurated this year, and Boston College will come online in the league. In addition, there’s a new format—the Atlantic and Coastal divisions—culminating with the first-ever ACC Championship on December 3 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Locally, Al Groh begins his fifth year as UVA head coach, and quarterback Marques Hagans starts his second season under center. But the Cavaliers, looked upon as heavy favorites last year, appear to be underdogs this season after earning a third-place position in the Coastal Division of the ACC Pre-Season Media Poll.

Ironically, rival squad Virginia Tech was looked upon as novice last season and they walked away with the ACC title.

Could that scenario repeat itself this season, only this time with UVA in the victor’s role?

A couple of weeks ago, coaches, players and sports reporters gathered for the ACC Football Kickoff weekend where these were among many issues addressed. C-VILLE talked with five ACC head coaches, including Groh, for a season preview.—Wes McElroy

Al Groh, UVA

C-VILLE: This off-season has the Associated Press pull their poll from the Bowl Championship Series, as well as ESPN pull their name from the Coaches Poll. Do you feel that coaches have enough time, given their football schedules, to evaluate what is going on around the NCAA and actually vote?

Groh: Believe me when I say this, I pay very little attention to who’s in and who’s out, which poll counts, which poll doesn’t count, or how many computers we have going on.

Basically, in the long run, it’s all going to shake out. I’m just trying to concentrate on what I can control, which is coaching my own team.

In the limited brainpower I have to apply, I’m going to apply very specifically to things dealing with my team.

What I need to know about those other things, other people will tell me. Personally, I don’t vote.

I sent in a form, “Do you want to vote,” and I checked off “Don’t include me.” So I’m just going to deal with my team.

Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech

C-VILLE: This season the conference welcomes its newest member, Boston College. Looking back on your first year in the ACC, what do you recall were your beliefs on how Virginia Tech was perceived in that position and what about now, now that you are defending champions?

Beamer: Last year this team was excited to be here. I was excited to be here. To be in the ACC. And then things just went great for us.

I think [this season] there’s a sense of relief, because we didn’t always think we would be a member of this conference. Then to come in and have people pick us, kind of in the middle of the pack, and to come back this year and feel like you proved that you do belong in the conference, that you can help this conference, and that you can add to this conference.

Boston College is going to be a great addition to the ACC and I hope the other teams feel that way right now.

There is a sense of satisfaction that we became a member of the ACC. There’s a sense of satisfaction that we’re a valuable member of the ACC.

John Bunting,
University of North Carolina

C-VILLE: After a year in the Big Ten, instant replay proved to be a success, and it will move into your conference this season. Why is this the year that college football expands to an extra-checks-and-balances system to help referees?

Bunting: The game’s getting faster and faster. The league’s getting better and better. College football, in general, is probably getting more talented. Players are bigger, faster and stronger. There’s more sophistication in offense and defense. Just more things for (referees) to look at.

For the last couple of years, referees come in my office saying they’d love to see it. They want it. We want it. They got it! I think it won’t be perfect but it will be something we will grow with and make as perfect as it can be. It’s helped the NFL.

Bobby Bowden,
Florida State

C-VILLE: Your slated starting quarterback Wyatt Sexton will begin the season with Lyme Disease. How did it change your game plan, so late in the summer, to work around inexperienced Xavier Lee or Drew Weatherford?

Bowden: Normally you are a red-shirt junior before you play quarterback at Florida State and before you start. Take all our quarterbacks and they’ve been red-shirt juniors before they started except when injuries have occurred.

Chris Rix had to start as a red-shirt freshman because one of our quarterbacks got kicked off the football team.

Now we lose our quarterback, and these two red-shirt freshmen—one of them is going to have to start a ball game.

So it’ll be a challenge. It’ll be fun to see what they can do. Good news is that they have talent. The worst thing that could’ve happened was to be inexperienced with no talent. But we are inexperienced with talent. We will let them compete against each other and see if one can separate.

Larry Coker,
University of Miami

C-VILLE: This off-season, it was announced that next year the NCAA will add a 12th game to the schedule. The Atlantic Coast was the only conference that publicly opposed the addition. Why were you opposed?

Coker: You like to have that break in the middle of things.

The thing that I was against was now you have an ACC championship, which is potentially another game, and that’s a good problem to have, hopefully. That’s one, as a coach, you want to have.

But I think again—I don’t know if I would really say that I would be one to believe it would academically set you back.

I think it’s been proven during the season that academics tend to hold up pretty well anyway. In football, you don’t miss much. The thing with academics, I think, is sometimes Thursday night games, Friday games, or Monday night games, hurt academics more than a 12th game.

I think we do play enough. Personally, I think it’s harder to get that 12th game in our schedule.

Categories
The Editor's Desk

Mailbag

Conduct yourself accordingly

I was seeing red when I read the letter to the editor attacking efforts to bring VRE passenger rail service to Charlottesville “Choo-choo-choose wisely,” Mailbag, July 12].

Since the writer of the letter admits that she herself moved here to get away from the wretched excesses of Northern Virginia (too many people, too many strip malls, too much traffic, too many town houses), I would like her to tell me how this rail service is connected to all these excesses. And Charlottesville cannot be compared to Gainesville, which had become a bedroom community because it is only 30 miles from the nation’s capitol, and has done so without benefit of commuter rail.

This proposed VRE rail service will really help the community. It will not bring any more onslaught of over development than what is already in progress.

I belong to the Virginia Association of Railway Patrons and the National Association of Railway Patrons, and in a small way helped to restore Amtrak’s Cardinal line when it was taken off during the Reagan Administration. There is no other form of transportation that can move as many goods and people as a train and use less fuel. And at this time, what could be more important with the shortage of oil?

I plan to take the VRE to D.C. often. I have been retired for many years and I don’t make the drive because it is dangerous and there is too much traffic. I’ve tried Amtrak, but the rains are always late and it is impossible to get a reservation. With better rail connections, I will have another way to get there.

We should work on controlling development with better planning for our region, not by denying the freedom to travel to people like me.

I hope the writer will think about this and join us to bring VRE to Charlottesville and help our community.

 

Robert M. Seaman

Charlottesville

 

“Best” behave

In your “Worst of 2005” piece [“Best of C-VILLE 2005,” August 2] it seems that you forgot one “Worst.” Worst Charlottesville citizen habit: making disparaging remarks about UVA and the students while secretly knowing that none of the things on the “Best Of” list would be here without them.

 

Andrew Garrahan

Alexandria

 

Font of wisdom

 

This letter is to the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority [“So simple, it just might work,” The Week, August 2]. I could have saved the $1.1 million you paid to consultants: STOP THE OUT-OF-CONTROL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT! No development = water conservation problem solved. No charge for the advice.

 

Pattie Boden

Charlottesville

Categories
News

Finder’s keepers

Look closer.

All around you, in the thick of the city and the wide-open expanse of the county, you’re missing something wonderful. It’s right in front of your eyes. You just have to stop and see, really see, what you can find.

That’s the idea behind “You Are Where?” Sure, it’s a popular visual trivia contest that’s been running in C-VILLE every week for the past 16 months. (This week’s cover, for those of you playing at home, depicts the humongous chicken outside Lumpkin’s Restaurant in Scottsville.) But “You Are Where?” also reminds us that perspective is everything; there’s beauty or strangeness or sharp architectural details all around, if you just know how to look for them.

Our go-to guy for “You Are Where?” is Andrew Hersey. His eye for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary is showcased in the 13 samples on these pages, some of our recent favorites. And while we’re on the subject of fine-tuning our view, we want you to get to know Hersey’s work a bit better. His current exhibit, up through September 30 in the Fifth Floor Gallery at Keller Williams, is more delicate and moody than his “You Are Where? work (see sidebar, page 22). Turning to empty spaces, he manages to uncover the tone and energy that fills them—qualities that become apparent only when you look closer.—The Editors

 


1. Where there’s smoke…

This sculpture (built in honor of a very independent local bigwig) sits atop a structure that hasn’t seen much use in the past decade.

2. Trunk show

Was that really a par two? Don’t cheat on your scorecard or this tusk customer will get you…

3. Bell of the ball

Nope, you’re not in Philly. Local ladders and hoses give this replica a ringing endorsement.

4. Memorial service

The road to this memorial was paved with donations exceeding $168,000. Don’t speed past its construction zone at the base of a mount.

5. American graffiti

Find this face at a small-town park named after an industrious mountain-digging engineer from the 19th century.

6. Not-ready-for-primetime place

Until recently, cameras and surveillance equipment kept watch on this building, but now it’s home to financial experts.

7. Stranger in the knight

Long ago the Black Knight lived down the “Lane,” but found this new home in the 1970s.

8. Filing a suit

You might be “suited” to know the “place” to find this piece of art.

9. Horsin’ around

Students of Virginia history know that this “Traveler” and his rider are both buried at a Lexington school that bears one of their names.

10. Light up your life

This bright idea first graced a 1931 city landmark in 1983 and was updated in 1999. Each of the four beacons includes 96 points of light to illuminate a field of dreams.

11. On guard

This vehicle won’t be firing on anyone anymore, but the occupants of the building behind it are always on guard.

12. Choose your path

Take a leisurely stroll up a “little mountain” by following this pathway.

13. Come sail away

This venture started by a local celebrity millionaire will get you going with food and gas.

 

Behind the lens
How photographer Andrew Hersey develops

With his black-rimmed Jean-Paul Sartre glasses and an intensely angular face, you need only one look at Andrew Hersey to know that he is an artist.

Most C-VILLE readers know Hersey’s work from the popular “You Are Where?” contest. However, Hersey’s current show, now exhibited at Keller Williams law firm, hearkens to his artistic roots. It features images of decaying interiors and solitary, alienated waif figures. The untitled show, which runs through September 30, is thematically concerned with the individual’s need for solitude and separation.

Born in Waynesboro, Hersey has split his adult life between Charlottesville and the Shenandoah Valley. Completely self-taught, he considers himself primarily a painter, but like most artists, over his 23-year career he has migrated to other mediums.

In the 1990s Hersey moved to Charlottesville from Staunton. As an artist in residence at the McGuffey Art Center, he began to feel listless as a painter. His work at the time started to feel less like art and more like a job, he says now. So he tried photography to ward off the artistic doldrums. Shortly after picking up his camera, he unveiled a show at McGuffey titled “Abandoned and Darkened,” which featured images of quiet, discarded interiors. Hersey cites his move to photography as a natural progression of his artistic temperament; the new medium, he says, “felt totally invigorating.”

Instinctual and spontaneous, Hersey’s playful approach to photography shines through in his “You Are Where?” photos, as well as in his private work. His images affect the viewer with a riddle-like disorientation of space that is normally familiar, even banal. Of his “You Are Where?” photographs, Hersey mentions that he rarely develops an idea of a specific angle ahead of time, but prefers that the shot be driven by the shifting mood, light and lines of the location.

Hersey considers his lack of technical knowledge as advantageous to his work. Art being like life, he says, “I enjoy not knowing what I am doing sometimes.”—Anne Metz

 

 

ANSWERS

1.   The statue on top of the coal tower

2.   The elephant sculpture at the

   Rio Road Putt-Putt

3.   The Liberty Bell replica at the
   Ridge Street fire station

4.   The VDOT memorial at the base

   of Afton Mountain

5.   Claudius Crozet Park

6.   The SNL Building, formerly the

   National Ground Intelligence Center

7.   The Black Knight logo at

   Charlottesville High School

8.   The “Business as Usual” Art In Place

   statue on Emmet Street

9.   The statue at Lee Park

10.   The lights at Scott Stadium

11.   The tank outside the National

   Guard Armory on Avon Street

12.   The boardwalk footbridge

   on the Saunders-Monticello Trail

13.   The awning at Fuel on Market Street

Categories
News

The Best of C-Ville 2005

Once again, you’ve answered our call. More than 600 people sent in C-VILLE’s “Best Of” ballots, providing invaluable assistance to our Native Guide as he sought out the greatest among the great, the best among the brightest here in Charlottesville. Naturally, there are many familiar favorites along with a few new faces, some select puns and one a propos reference to Sandra Bernhard.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

ART GALLERY
McGuffey Art Center

The McGuffey collective, housing many of the city’s visual veterans and offering regular open-studio hours, edged out galleries such as its former tenant Second Street Gallery and the now-departed Nature Visionary Arts. And with the inaugural run of its “Spotlight” series, the art center now opens its doors more than ever to the viewing public, ensuring its juggernaut status for years to come.

  

MOVIE HOUSE
The Jefferson Theater

The Downtown landmark dating from 1901 may not win for best sound system—but whether it’s the appeal of watching an art-house flick surrounded by early-20th-century murals and frieze work, or seeing major releases for a mere three bucks, the second-run theater is first in your hearts.

  

PLACE TO DANCE
R2

Rapture’s floor faced its closest competition from Club 216 and Fridays After 5. Other contenders were the new Satellite Ballroom and Outback Lodge’s Gothic dance party, The Dawning.

 

OUTDOOR RECREATION
Walnut Creek Park

This 480-acre jewel, open 365 days a year with bike trails, a boat launch, fishing and even summer canoe rentals, is one of Albemarle County’s best open spaces.

 

OUTDOOR EVENT OR FESTIVAL
Fridays After 5

Despite having a makeshift Garrett Street location for the first half of the Fridays season, the Downtown concerts showcasing your favorite local groups and the occasional rock ‘n’ roll dinosaurs withstood challenges from county fairs and a spring parade named after a certain tree. But as its new home, the open-air Charlottesville Pavilion, brings even bigger names to ticketed events, locals may start to wonder: Will the free outdoor series continue its “Best Of” winning streak next year?

 

SWIMMING POOL
ACAC

Its Adventure Central water park, off Four Seasons Drive, offers three outdoor pools, water slides and what the website calls a “park-like setting” (perhaps a tad euphemistic, considering the preponderance of pavement around the pool). The gym’s flagship facility at Albemarle Square also has an indoor pool for ACAC’s more exercise-minded members.

 

LIVE MUSIC VENUE
Starr Hill Music Hall

At three times Starr Hill’s size, and with heavy hitters already playing there, can the Charlottesville Pavilion be far behind Starr Hill in next year’s balloting? Either way, the trophy will end up in the same case, as music mogul/hyperactive developer Coran Capshaw operates both venues.

 

ROCK MUSICIAN/ BAND
Dave Matthews Band

In last year’s race, C-VILLE broke with tradition by naming Monticello Road the best local rockers—let’s face it, they needed the press more. This year’s race saw The Road closing the gap against the veteran front-runners. But with a newly released album (Stand Up) to promote, and the growing possibility that they may soon return to local stages, we’ll give DMB its just desserts this time. Coming in third were UVA-based psychedelic art-rockers Fountainhead. Bon chance à la prochaine, fellas.

FOLK MUSICIAN/ BAND
Terri Allard

Being a full-time mom evidently has
no effect on Allard’s stage energy as
she claims yet another victory, defeating newlywed runners-up Paul Curreri and Devon Sproule.

 

CLASSICAL MUSICIAN/ BAND
Charlottesville & University Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Carl Roskott leads CUSO in its seasonal concert series of orchestral masterworks at Old Cabell Hall, which took first chair in the contest against UVA’s many choral groups.

 

BLUEGRASS MUSICIAN/BAND
Hackensaw Boys

We might expect a letter or two from diehard bluegrass buffs about declaring this neo-Appalachian outfit the winner. But nomenclature aside, The Hacks’ populist approach is as grassy as it gits in our voters’ eyes. The local twangers-turned-Nettwerk-recording-artists are moving full steam ahead with the recent release of their fourth album, Love What You Do.

 

JAZZ MUSICIAN/BAND
John D’earth

Seeing the UVA brass-master play Thursday nights at Miller’s is a must for fans and students of modern jazz. And at least one noted local jazz player voting in our poll “trumpeted” his colleague’s work as co-leader of the Thompson D’earth Band.

 

WORLD BEAT MUSICIAN/BAND
Darrell Rose

The contest between traditional African percussionist Rose and his frequent collaborator on guitar, Corey Harris, was a close one. But with a single vote separating the two, the ever-present skin-man can sound his own “Best Of” drumbeat for a second year running.

 

DJ
Quarter-Roy

By DJs, we meant, of course, the hardworking figures keeping parties pumping from behind the stereo at many local nightspots. Regular Mas mixer Quarter-Roy (a.k.a. Patrick Jordan) snags his second win this year over club fixtures Stroud and DJ Frank Rivera. But with Quarter-Roy’s recently announced retirement from the turntables (or was that just a ploy to make us want him more?), there could be new room at the top next year.

 

ARTIST
Monty Montgomery

The founder of Cilli Original Designs and CODG gallery, Montgomery is sharp and focused, yet full of energy and ideas, much like the brightly colored, pop-influenced paintings he produces. He also offers his own clothing line. Runners up were oil-painter Robin Braun and watercolorist Lee Alter.

 

AUTHOR
John Grisham

The quixotic individual who wrote “Not John Grisham” couldn’t cancel out the best-selling author’s supporters, who bestowed on him 100 votes more than his nearest competitor, poet Rita Dove.

 

KIDS ENTERTAINMENT
Virginia Discovery Museum

Parents and kids both can appreciate the educational fun at the Downtown museum’s exhibits, like the current “Circus! Many Faces, Many Places.” Runners-up were Planet Fun and the Charlottesville Ice Park.

 

TOURIST DESTINATION
Monticello

Our Native Guide had absolutely no trouble finding this place, and apparently neither do you when it comes to entertaining visitors.


RETAIL

PLACE TO WORK OUT
ACAC

Long live the king!

 

SHOE STORE

Scarpa

We reported last year that Scarpa might face competition in the designer shoe market from its newly opened sister store, Great State Of. In fact, it was another newcomer, Garrett Street’s Sweet Beets Shoes, which posed the biggest challenge to the North Barracks Road “shoetique,” though Scarpa still enjoyed a comfortable lead.

 

TATTOO/PIERCING PARLOR
Acme Tattoo

The best tattoo parlors may offer none of the ambiance of a good hair salon, boutique or resort. But we’ll gladly give good ink to Acme, your favorite place for that other type of pampering—the painful type—conveniently located on Elliewood Avenue, near all the student bars so you don’t even have to make a special trip.

 

JEWELER
Angelo

Shine on, you crazy diamond stores: Local ring peddlers like Andrew Minton, Hebblethwaite, Keller & George, Reines and Tuel all received strong support. But Lee Angelo Marraccini’s Downtown business took home the gold again.

 

DRESS SHOP
Eloise

Mother-daughter team Cyd McClelland and Amy Kolbrener operate the Water Street favorite. As for the Miss Congenial-ity award, it’s anyone’s guess, with Dixie Divas, Levy’s and Pearl all vying for second place.

 

PLACE TO BUY JEANS
Gap

Apparently, the denim-lifestyle purveyor’s decision to axe “too old” Sarah Jessica Parker from the ad campagin didn’t have any influence on you jeans-wearing readers (what-ever!). Still, others resisted the machine and cast their vote for Judy B., the local boutique that, thanks to owner Judy Bushkin, made famous the phrase “Do these jeans make my butt look famous?”

 

SPA
Oasis Day Spa and Body Shop

Hair salons, massage parlors, boutiques and resorts all pamper you. But a good spa takes a little from each of these. Oasis presents a remarkably mellow and relaxed environment considering its central Water Street location. Body wraps, facials, waxings, manicures and deluxe skin-care products are just a few of its offerings. Runners-up were the Boar’s Head Inn and Rio Road’s Escapes.

 

VINTAGE CLOTHING
Bittersweet

While many businesses are setting up in the “warehouse district” south of Downtown, Shannon Iaculli’s trend-setting second-hand shop seems an especially fitting choice for Second Street’s rehabbed Glass Building. Everything about the place screams hipster—including recent commercials by local guerilla filmmaker John St. Ours.

 

ATHLETIC OUTFITTERS
Blue Ridge Mountain Sports

Save all those “athletic supporter” jokes. When people around here think athletics, they think climbing and trekking and kayaking, and for another consecutive year that adds up to BRMS in the Barracks Road Shopping Center. Runners-up include Downtown Athletic and arriviste monolith Dick’s.

 

DRY CLEANERS
Brown’s Dry Cleaners

With four locations across the city, it’s no wonder Brown’s cleans up every year! You also like “green” dry cleaners Terra Bella and Rudy’s.

 

BARRACKS ROAD STORE
Barnes & Noble Booksellers

Yes, it’s a big bad chain store, and no, you don’t care. Not only that, you love it! Or is that leaf it?

 

WINE STORE
Market Street Wineshop & Grocery

Market Street’s decisive lead over competitors might be attributed to owner Robert Harllee’s friendly personal touch, expertise, selection and a name that says it all—though with its second location near Whole Foods in Shoppers World Court, giving directions can get confusing.

 

HEALTH FOOD STORE
Whole Foods Market

The Texas-based, organic-friendly conglomerate was closely trailed in votes by Preston Plaza-based veggie sanctuary Integral Yoga, with some saying recent changes at IY had caused them to defect.

 

GROCERY STORE
Whole Foods Market

Having another store soon-to-open at Hollymead Town Center could give a much-needed boost next year to Harris Teeter, which followed Whole Foods in a close second-place.

 

FLORIST
University Florist

A rose by any other name is this repeat winner.

 

GARDEN STORE
Ivy Nursery

The greenly named town just west of Charlottesville on Route 250 seems a fitting locale for this seven-acre garden center with floral arrangements, landscape contracting, a Christmas Shop and, of course, plenty of shrubs and vines.

 

HARDWARE STORE
Martin Hardware Co.

Nuts, bolts, they have it all—and those are just the customers! But seriously, Martin’s, as we know it familiarly, must be doing something right, as it consistently beats out Lowe’s.

 

TOY STORE
Shenanigans

Stocking toys for every kid from the teeniest newborn to the brainiest ’tween, including plenty of stylish Euro playthings (Brio, Playmobil, etc.), this North Barracks mainstay took first place for another year. But with its respectable showing as a runner-up, Alakazam, new to the Downtown Mall, seems to have worked some magic of its own this year.

 

CD STORE
Plan 9

Coffee shop, in-store concerts, frequent-buyer discounts, hipster t-shirts, smarty-pants advertising, a great used selection and two locations—what’s not to love? Bonus for you trivia buffs: Plan 9 from Outer Space is the name of a 1959 film by weirdo director Ed Wood, who scrapped the original title Grave Robbers from Outer Space. And music fans have thanked him ever since.

 

YOGA STUDIO
Studio 206

Increasingly, local spaces are hopping on the yoga bandwagon—even the Central Library now hosts regular classes in “ninja yoga.” But the ones who started the boom, Chris Friedman and her gang of more than 20 instructors in yoga, Nia, Pilates, dance and more, still reign over the rest from two locations on Market Street and Monticello Road.

 

FURNITURE STORE
Under the Roof

You were expecting “Under the Board-walk”? Charlottesville loves its modern, Euro furniture.

 

ANTIQUE STORE
Circa

If that perfect conversation piece you’re looking for isn’t in your crazy packrat relatives’ attics, try the Allied Street shop, boasting a constantly changing inventory full of surprise finds, from Elvis busts to typewriters, radios, furniture and other curiosities.

 

BIKE SHOP
Performance Bicycle Shop

Performance takes the yellow jersey trailed by Blue Wheel and, in a tie, Extreme Sports and Basic Cycles.

 

USED BOOK STORE
Daedalus Bookshop

As The Washington Post discovered in a March profile of local shops, Charlottesville truly is a haven for inexpensive and slightly used reading material. Books (numbering approximately 100,000) fill nearly every available corner of the three-storey Daedalus, making it quite easy to lose yourself both figuratively and literally.

 

PLACE TO RENT MOVIES
Sneak Reviews

Whether you prefer Sarah Bernhardt or Sandra Bernhard, the Ivy Road store has the ticket, celebrating all things cinematically obscure in artsy, foreign and independent film.

 

CATERER
Hot Cakes

Sweets may be the starting point for this Barracks Road shop, but its catering menu also offers salads, stews, casseroles and ample hors d’ oeuvres.

 

REAL ESTATE AGENT
David Sloan

The word is still out on whether Sloan can cut you a better deal than the rest on buying or selling that million-dollar Albemarle home. But if you want a dealer who makes you feel at home, the Roy Wheeler agent is your man. Most anyone in town recognizes the Sloan name from the recently closed Millmont restaurant that bore it for more than 20 years, which he and his father co-founded. Sloan, a Charlottesville native and former UVA athlete, also officiates lacrosse games.

 

DOWNTOWN STORE
Cha Chas

Apparently many Downtown shoppers are in need of rhinestone-encrusted cat’s eye sunglasses and novelty bartender sets. And they know just where to go to get them!

 

CORNER STORE
Mincer’s UVA Imprinted Sportswear

The 57-year-old former tobacco shop still “corners” the market when it comes to UVA memorabilia.

 

29N STORE
Whole Foods Market

The grocery store managed to wipe that goofy grin off the face of last year’s winner, Wal-Mart.

 

CAR DEALER
Brown Automotive Group

We have it on good authority that you’ll love the service.

 

MECHANIC
Cole’s Import Specialist

Chris Cole’s Carlton Avenue shop, which last year tied with C’ville Imports, had just enough votes this year to take the lead.

 

BANK
UVA Community Credit Union

An exclusive, money-holding club of which only folks in Charlottesville and surrounding counties can be a part—no wonder we love it. The bank (in fact, a nonprofit cooperative) began in 1954 to benefit hospital workers and later all UVA employees. It received its community charter in 1997.

 


LOCAL COLOR

TEACHER
Greg Thomas 

While Albemarle High School Band Director Thomas runs a tight ship, he also has a knack for bringing out the best in his students. The AHS Marching Patriots, wind ensemble, jazz, concert and symphonic bands continue to blow away statewide competitors with frequent “Superior” ratings. But like all great teachers, Thomas is humble about his achievements: “The main accomplishment… has nothing to do with trophies or competitions,” he says via e-mail. “I think our program has turned a ton of kids on to the aesthetic of rehearsing and creating high-quality music that that really goes beyond the trophy and the director. I am also very proud of the community service aspect of our program—we reach out to the community and play at events that involve us with larger causes—Martha Jefferson Hospital, retirement homes, Save the Fireworks, Tsunami Relief, Armed Forces Day, to name a few.”

 

TV PERSONALITY
Norm Sprouse

What sort of crazy weather will NBC 29’s forecaster pull out of his hat next? Stay tuned to find out. Runners-up included Sprouse’s NBC cohort Beth Duffy and, making her first ballot appearances, WCAV’s Lauren Knight.

 

RADIO PERSONALITY
WWWV’s Big Greasy Breakfast

Rick Daniels, Max “In the Morning” and company brought home the bacon, followed by WNRN’s Jaz Tupelo and WINA’s Dick Mountjoy.

 

PRINT JOURNALIST
John Borgmeyer

Wherever injustice and iniquity reign supreme in Charlottesville, look to the “tallest guy in the room” to uncover the truth. From humble Missouri beginnings, this national award-winner has risen to become C-VILLE voters’ most valued reporter. Runners-up were The Daily Progress’ Bob Gibson and Reed Williams, and C-VILLE’s Nell Boeschenstein.

 

PHILANTHROPIST
Dave Matthews

At its last meeting alone, Matthews and his bandmates’ Bama Works Fund approved grants totaling $217,561, adding to the more than $2 million they’ve given to mostly local charities since the fund’s inception. Take that, Monticello Road.

 

NOISEMAKER
Rob Schilling

We’ll wager our voters weren’t referring to Schilling’s 2003 album of gospel and contemporary Christian tunes, Sing A Psalm, but rather to the lone Republican City Councilor’s uncanny ability to ruffle feathers for City Dems. Former council candidates/music fans Waldo Jaquith and Stratton Salidis rounded out the top three.

 

WANNABE
Coran Capshaw

Developer. Restaurateur. Philanthropist. Manager. CEO. Gym rat. Party guy. Capshaw is a man of many hats and has a publicity photo to go with each.

 

UVA ATHLETE
Ryan Zimmerman

Even after breaking school records and recently becoming the most sought-after UVA baseball player ever to enter the major leagues (a first-round pick for the Washington Nationals), we’re sure Zimmer-man’s success will really hit home now.

 

PLACE TO WORK
UVA

But if stereos are your thing, also try second-place runner-up, Crutchfield.

 

PLACE TO LIVE
Belmont

Alternatively, this city neighborhood could have been dubbed Best Place to Triple Your Real Estate Investment.

 

PLACE TO READ C-VILLE
Downtown

With such a broad and varied field of responses, it may be possible to read your favorite local weekly at first-place winner Downtown, second-place winner Mud-house and sixth-place winner “on the john,” all in one fell swoop. Just remember to give the key back to the barista when you’re finished.

 


FOOD & DRINK

RESTAURANT
Zocalo

Last year’s Best New Restaurant, the Latin-fusion spot in Downtown’s Central Place still has the right recipe for success…and a pretty damn good mojito to boot. Runners-up were C&O and Mas.

 

NEW RESTAURANT
Cassis

Taking culinary ideas and a successful business model from his experiences working at previous “Best Of” darlings Bizou and Mas, chef and owner Sean Lawford has a lot of folks talking about his new French bistro on Water Street. Ryan Martin, owner of second-place contender Martin’s Grill, also has folks talking about his years of experience at Riverside Lunch. And…wait a sec…there’s a Bodo’s on the Corner now?

 

BREAKFAST
The Tavern

The real house of pancakes. A different specialty flapjack each month keeps people coming back, as does the unasssuming but steady service (“What’ll it be, hon?”) and humongous helpings. Other early-morning loves: Bluegrass Grill and Bodo’s.

 

BRUNCH
Blue Bird Café

Your love for this W. Main Street establishment didn’t fly the coop even when new ownership took over earlier this year. Bluegrass Grill made another appearance in the runner-up column (see “Breakfast”), and for the Ralph Lauren set Boar’s Head Inn was the best.

 

LUNCH
Bodo’s Bagel Bakery

That’s right. You heard it here first, folks—Bodo’s now has three locations.

 

DESSERT
Splendora’s Gelato Café

Yet another battle fought in the eternal struggle between ice cream and gelato. Truth is, our voters can’t get enough of either, naming fro-yo palace Arch’s in second and traditional ice cream parlor Chaps in third.

 

CUP OF COFFEE
Mudhouse

As usual, fans of the Mudhouse really poured out for this one. Maybe second-place winner Greenberry’s, with franchise locations open throughout the state, in Texas, Florida and soon, New Jersey, should look to opening a place on the Downtown Mall as well.

 

GOURMET TAKE-OUT
Hot Cakes

Tucked into Barracks Road and best known for decadent desserts, Hot Cakes also scores big for inventive salads and killer lasagna.

 

LATE NIGHT MENU
Littlejohn’s Delicatessen

After you drink all night, you can eat into the dawn at this 24-hour Corner institution. Even if you’re sober, or maybe especially if you’re sober, the Wild Turkey sandwich is worth gobbling down.

 

BAKERY
Albemarle Baking Company

Put down the Pop-Tart and pick up the Linzer Torte. Your palate will thank you.

 

PLACE TO TAKE THE KIDS
C’ville Coffee

Part of the appeal of Toan Nguyen and Betsy Patrick’s Harris Street business is that it’s the only wholesome place we know of to offer an “Adult Zone.”

 

SALAD BAR
Ruby Tuesday

Not a restaurant synonymous with healthy living—have you seen the 30-burger menu? But Ruby Tuesday’s 65 salad offerings topped both Whole Foods and Downtown’s Blue Ridge Country Store.

 

FAST FOOD
Bodo’s Bagel Bakery

We’re gratified to see the local guys take this one home, though the real shocker is how close Wendy’s, with only two locations in town, came to beating Brian Fox’s popular sandwich shop.

 

SERVICE
Zocalo

A man cannot live by bread alone—and a great restaurant’s food can only take it so far. No surprise that Zocalo’s fast and friendly service, even on busy nights, helps make it the best. Hamiltons’ and Bizou also earned high marks.

 

ASIAN
Thai ’99

Last year’s winner, Thai ’99 saw growing competition from Second Street’s Asian-tapas-fusion biz, Bang. Flaming Wok and Downtown Thai…er…thaied for third.

 

MEXICAN
Guadalajara

What’s not to love about endless refills on the chips and the super-frugal lunch special? Con mucho gusto.

 

SEAFOOD
Blue Light Grill

One of the few places to serve tuna-grade sushi on a Caesar salad. At the other end of the spectrum, Tiffany’s, once the only fancy restaurant in town, was a runner-up.

 

PIZZA
Christian’s Pizza

With more than 100 votes separating it from runner-up Mellow Mushroom, the Downtown restaurant known for heaping slices and gourmet toppings still has a secure lead—at least until Five Guys opens up its pizzeria (see “Burger,” page 39).

 

ITALIAN
Vivace

The Ivy Road escape was followed in votes by La Cucina and Carmello’s.

 

BURGER
Five Guys Burgers

The fast-growing Northern Virginia-based franchise with generously greasy burgers fit to eat right out of the bag proved a major upset for local competitors Riverside Lunch and Martin’s Grill. We must say, we’re even a little tickled by the thought of having our plaque grace the walls of the Barracks Road location, alongside Five Guys’ many Washingtonian and Zagat awards.

 

BBQ
Big Jim’s Bar-B-Que

Big Jim is the big man in town when it comes to barbecue, evidently, as he takes the lead for another year. Close on his heels are Jinx’s Pit’s Top in Belmont and Blue Ridge Pig in Nellysford.

 

AFTER WORK WATERING HOLE
South Street Brewery

Somewhere between the Downtown Mall and your parking spot, thoughts of nachos and the taste of a Satan’s Pony inevitably will drift into your mind. Thankfully, South Street won’t be far. Runners-up were Miller’s and Rapture.

 

SPORTS BAR
Buffalo Wild Wings

You can see the big game from anywhere you sit on B-Dubs’ many televisions, which need no longer fear the competition from nearby second-place runner-up Sloan’s.

 

WINGS
Wild Wing Café

Buckets of ice-cold beer and a nice view of the train tracks enhance the sticky-finger experience.

 

DRAFT BEER SELECTION
Mellow Mushroom

Pity the poor keg-changer. Mellow Mush-room’s approximately 40 taps line the whole back of the bar. Runners-up were Michael’s Bistro and South Street Brewery.

 

WINE LIST
C&O

Here in the heart of Virginia wine country, selecting the right bottle can be a critical part of the fine-dining experience. The Downtown mainstay offering French country fare knows its importance and is ready to choose the right wine for the job. Runners-up were Tastings and Zocalo.

 


Worst of 2005
A highly subjective editors’ guide to local stuff that ain’t so great

 

Worst local phrase
“Coran owns that.”

First DMB, then Starr Hill…tomorrow, your soul. In Charlottesville, it’s all Coran.

Runner Up: “Dave Matthews worked/lived/picked his nose there.”

 

Worst thing said about our city
“Isn’t that in North Carolina?”

O.K., here’s the difference: Charlotte loves NASCAR, Charlottesville loves itself. Any questions?

Runner Up: “Charlottesville is ugly and its mother dresses it funny.”

 

Worst place to run into Chief Longo
The gym locker room.

Holy crap, that guy’s ripped!

Runner Up: In the back of his
squad car

 

Worst place to wait in line
For a job at MusicToday.

Face it, you’re never getting one. And even if you do, you don’t get to hang with the band.

Runner Up: The Port-a-John line at Foxfield

 

Worst local collective personality trait
Smugness.

Admit it…we’ve all complained about that No. 1 rating, but secretly we really want to believe it’s true.

Runner Up: Narcissism

 

Worst place to wake up in the morning
The bar you sat at the night before.

You’re a lush, and it’s a problem.

Runner Up: A fraternity house on Rugby Road

 

Worst reason to wake up in the middle of the night
The train whistle.

All of Charlottesville’s old industries have been replaced with art boutiques and coffee shops. What are those trains hauling, anyway? Soy latté?

Runner Up: Realizing that you just finished your Ph.D. in English, you’re $50,000 in debt and the only job you can find in Charlottesville is serving cappuccino, which apparently gets delivered on a midnight freight train.

 

Worst place to get stuck at a red light
Hydraulic and 29.

Runner Up: Park and High streets

 

Worst place to speed
Earlysville Road.

It’s a long and winding road—and look out for those bikers!

Runner Up: Avon Street Extended

 

Worst intersection
Preston and Emmet at 5pm.

You can feel your life slipping away while you wait.

Runner Up: Hydraulic Road and 29

 

Worst-smelling place in town
Hogwaller’s disarming sewage-treatment aroma. Especially in the summer.

Runner Up: The corner of Market and Second streets on a hot Monday morning

 

Worst place to take a first date
A baby store. Need we say more?

Runner Up: The emergency room

 

Worst place to run into your ex
Anywhere Downtown before you’ve had your coffee.

Runner Up: OXO, where he is out with someone new and you are out with your parents.

 

Worst thing said about local girls
“You can’t get laid unless you drive a BMW.”

Damn those girls who come here from NoVA. Don’t they know local guys drive 10-year-old Volvos?

Runner Up: “Duke girls are hotter.”

 

Worst thing said about local guys
“They are a bunch of stuck- up, small-town hillbillies posing as refined, sophisticated urbanites.”

Runner Up: “Duke guys are smarter.”

 

Worst Wahoo nonsense
A capella groups.

This is not the 1920s and you are not cool, even in an ironic sense.

Runner Up: The UVA/Virginia Tech game. So many bad ties…

 

Worst Wahoo fashion trend
Those flipped-up collars.

The only consolation is that 10 years from now, when they see pictures of themselves in college, those fratastic fellas will be forced to confront the irrefutable evidence that they really were conformist preppy jackasses.

Runners Up: Vera Bradley quilted bags and flip-flops in January

 

Worst Wahoo phrase
“Academical Village.”

It’s a freakin’ campus. Get over it. And “academical” isn’t even a word!

Runner Up: “What would Mr. Jefferson say?”

 

Worst part of the student return
The fact that we get older, but they stay the same age!

Runner Up: Power-walking girlswith “UVA” imprinted on the bum of their shorts

 

Worst thing about local restaurants
A $23 entrée that doesn’t come with a salad.

Come on! This isn’t New York!

Runner Up: Tables reserved for “dining only.” Empty tables make your restaurant look bad.

 

Worst thing about local servers
When the wait staff is hotter than your date.

Runner Up: When the wait staff is hotter than you

 

Worst place to eat on the run
While streaking The Lawn.

Well, at least you won’t get ketchup on your shirt…

Runner Up: 29N. Because if you’re in a rush and eating in your car, you’re going to be late anyway.

 

Worst place to pass out
The free trolley.

When you wake up, you’ll still be stuck on W. Main Street.

Runner Up: The bathroom at Pen Park. We’ve been there. It ain’t pretty.

 


INDEX

Entertainment

Best Art Gallery

McGuffey Art Center

201 Second St. NW

295-7973

 

Best Movie House

Jefferson Theater

101 E. Main St.

295-3321

 

Best Outdoor Recreation

Walnut Creek Park

3750 Walnut Creek Park Rd.

296-5844

 

Best Outdoor Event or Festival

Fridays After 5

 

Best Swimming Pool

ACAC

200 Four Seasons Dr.

978-3800

 

Best Place to Dance

R2

303 E. Main St.

293-9526

 

Best Live Music Venue

Starr Hill Music Hall

709 W. Main St.

977-0017

 

Best Rock Music Band

Dave Matthews Band

 

Best Folk Music Band

Terri Allard

 

Best Classical Band

Charlottesville and University Symphony Orchestra

 

Best Bluegrass Band

Hackensaw Boys

Best Jazz Musician

John D’earth

 

Best World Beat Musician

Darrell Rose

 

Best DJ

DJ Quarter Roy

 

Best Artist

Monty Montgomery

 

Best Author

John Grisham

 

Best Kids Entertainment

Virginia Discovery Museum

524 E. Main St.

977-1025

 

Best Tourist Destination

Monticello

931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy.

984-9822

 

 

 

RETAIL

 

Best Yoga Studio

Studio 206

206 W. Market St.

505 Monticello Rd.

296-6250

 

Best Place to Work Out

ACAC

Albemarle Square Shopping Center

973-5856

200 E. Water St.

984-3800

 

Best Spa

Oasis

103 E. Water St.

244-9667

 

Best Tattoo/ Piercing Parlor

Acme Tattoo

9 Elliewood Ave.

293-6730

 

Best Jeweler

Angelo

220 E. Main St.

971-9256

 

Best Dress Shop

Eloise

218 W. Water St.

295-3905

 

Best Place to Buy Jeans

Gap

Fashion Square Mall

973-5026

 

Best Shoe Store

Scarpa

North Wing, Barracks Road Shopping Center

296-0040

 

Best Vintage Clothing

Bittersweet

313 Second St. SE

977-5977

 

Best Athletic Outfitters

Blue Ridge Mountain Sports

Barracks Road Shopping Center

977-4400

 

Best Dry Cleaners

Brown’s Dry Cleaners

510 Preston Ave.

296-6285

Additional locations on High Street, Millmont Street and Ivy Road

 

Best Hardware Store

Martin Hardware Co.

941 Preston Ave.

293-8171

 

Best Wine Store

Market Street Wineshop

311 E. Market St.

964-9463

Shoppers World Court

964-9463

 

Best Florist

University Florist

2123 Berkmar Dr.

973-1381

 

Best Health Food Store

Whole Foods

Shoppers World Court

973-4900

 

Best Grocery Store

Whole Foods

Shoppers World Court

973-4900

 

Best Toy Store

Shenanigans

North Wing, Barracks Road Shopping Center

295-4797

 

Best CD Store

Plan 9 Records

Albemarle Square Shopping Center

974-9999

1419 University Ave.

979-9999

 

Best Furniture Store

Under the Roof

1017 W. Main St.

977-0231

 

Best Antique Store

Circa

1700 Allied St.

295-5760

 

Best Bike Shop

Performance Bicycle Shop

Seminole Square Shopping Center

963-9161

 

Best Used Book Store

Daedalus Bookshop

123 Fourth St.

293-7959

Best Garden Store

Ivy Nursery

570 Broomley Rd.

295-1183

 

Best Place to Rent Movies

Sneak Reviews

2244 Ivy Rd.

979-4420

 

Best Caterer

Hot Cakes

Barracks Road Shopping Center

295-6037

 

Best Real Estate Agent

David Sloan

Roy Wheeler Realty Co.

296-4170

 

Best Downtown Store

Cha Chas

201 E. Main St.

293-8553

 

Best Barracks Road Store

Barnes & Noble

Barracks Road Shopping Center

984-0461

 

Best Corner Store

Mincer’s

1527 University Ave.

296-5687

 

Best 29N Store

Whole Foods

Shoppers World Court

973-4900

 

Best Car Dealer

Brown Automotive Group

Route 250E

977-3380

 

Best Mechanic

Coles Import Specialist

1025 Carlton Ave.

295-2653

 

Best Bank

UVA Community Credit Union

3300 Berkmar Dr.

964-2001

Additional locations on Lee Street, Arlington Boulevard, High Street and Route 250

 

 

LOCAL COLOR

Best TV Personality

Norm Sprouse

WVIR NBC
Channel 29

 

Best Radio Personality

Big Greasy Breakfast
(Max and Rick)

WWWV-FM 97.5

 

Best Print Journalist

John Borgmeyer

C-VILLE Weekly

Best Philanthropist

Dave Matthews

 

Best Teacher

Greg Thomas

Albemarle High School

 

Best Noisemaker

Rob Schilling

 

Best Wannabe

Coran Capshaw

 

Best UVA Athlete

Ryan Zimmerman

 

Best Place to Work

UVA

 

Best Place to Live

Belmont

 

Best Place to Read C-VILLE

Downtown

 

FOOD & DRINK

Best Restaurant

Zocalo

201 E. Main St.

977-4944

 

Best New Restaurant

Cassis

210 W. Water St.

979-0188

 

Best Breakfast

The Tavern

Corner of Emmet Street and Barracks Road

295-0404

 

Best Brunch

Blue Bird Café

625 W. Main St.

295-1166

 

Best Lunch

Bodo’s Bagel Bakery

1418 N. Emmet St.

977-9598

505 Preston Ave.

293-5224

1609 University Ave.

293-6021

 

Best Dessert

Splendora’s

317 E. Main St.

296-8555

 

Best Late-Night Menu

Littlejohn’s New York Delicatessen

1427 W. Main St.

977-0588

 

Best Bakery

Albemarle Baking Company

Main Street Market

293-6456

 

Best Gourmet Take-Out

Hot Cakes

Barracks Road Shopping Center

295-6037

 

Best Cup of Coffee

Mudhouse

213 W. Main St.

984-6833

Additional locations in Bellair, Forest Lakes, Mill Creek and Pantops

 

Best Fast Food

Bodo’s Bagel Bakery

1418 N. Emmet St.

977-9598

505 Preston Ave.

293-5224

1609 University Ave.

293-6021

 

Best Salad Bar

Ruby Tuesday

Barracks Road Shopping Center

295-9118

 

Best Place to Take the Kids

C’Ville Coffee

1301 Harris St.

817-2633

 

Best Service

Zocalo

201 E. Main St.

977-4944

 

Best Asian

Thai ’99

2210 Fontaine Ave.

245-5263

 

Best Mexican

Guadalajara

801 E. Market St.

977-2676

395 Greenbrier Dr.

978-4313

2206 Fontaine Ave.

979-2424

 

Best Italian

Vivace

2244 Ivy Rd.

979-0994

 

Best Seafood

Blue Light Grill

120 E. Main St.

295-1223

 

Best Burger

Five Guys Burgers

Barracks Road Shopping Center

975-4897

Best Wings

Wild Wing Café

820 W. Main St.

979-9464

 

Best BBQ

Big Jim’s Bar-B-Que

2104 Angus Rd.

296-8283

 

Best Pizza

Christian’s

118 W. Main St.

977-9688

 

Best After Work Watering Hole

South Street Brewery

106 W. South St.

293-6550

 

Best Sports Bar

Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar

1935 Arlington Blvd.

977-1882

 

Best Draft Beer Selection

Mellow Mushroom

1309 W. Main St.

972-9366

 

Best Wine List

C&O

515 E. Water St.

971-7044

 

 

Out of the 614 valid Best Of ballots that we received, we picked 18 lucky entrants at random to receive one of our fabulous prizes. Pete Emerson, Joe Jenkins, Marissa Guillen, KeriAn Bicknell, Sarah Johnson, Jason Stanford, Katherine Jenkins, Kristin Cole, James Assante and Sumner Brown all took home $10 gift certificates to Downtown stationary store Rock Paper Scissors! Patty Cornell, Mark Quigg, Amy Matt, Kathleen McGreevy, Jon Zug, Emre Ilter and Gabrielle Mandell received $50 gift certificates to Barracks Road shoe store Great State Of! And Donna Mathes got really lucky as she gets a 20-gigabyte iPod from the fine folks at Crutchfield!

Categories
News

In the dog house

Dear Ace: It’s been a year since the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA moved into the new building. How are things going over there? Is the new facility paid for?—Puppy Love

Pup: To respond to your question about the building’s financial status, Ace can offer you two answers. The first answer is: Yes, the $6 million building has been paid for since the facility was purchased in full last year. The second answer is: No, the building has not been paid for since the local chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had to take out a loan from the United States Dairy Administration to front the costs of the building upgrade. (USDA? Ace was unaware that the SPCA took care of foundling cows!)

   But the new facility on Berkmar Drive is not the biggest change at the SPCA. Bigger than the big new building is the new bigwig in charge, executive director Susanne Kogut. After leaving her job in the banking world, Kogut visited shelters around the United States to assess the new trends in the animal welfare world.

   Kogut’s shelter tour even-tually took her to the Thomp-kins facility in Ithaca, New York, a no-kill shelter that only euthanizes animals deemed behaviorally dangerous or medically un-treatable. (And no, peeing on the rug is not a medically untreatable ailment!) In a no-kill shelter, all other animals brought into the facility are either adopted immediately or fostered until a suitable household can be located. Kogut hopes to make our local SPCA a no-
kill shelter.

   While dog adoptions have been rising over the past six months, the new facility has not exactly translated into fewer animals at the shelter. Intake numbers, especially with the kitties, have actually increased in the last year. Regrettably, Kogut says, “People feel better about dropping animals off at the shelter knowing that they will be in a nice facility.”

   If you want to help the SPCA with its building and general fund needs, Ace reminds his generous readers that the Rummage Sale collection is going on every Tuesday, 3-6pm, at the Grand Home Furnishings Warehouse off Fifth Street Extended. Ace knows that one man’s trash (his) is another man’s treasure (everyone else’s!).

Categories
Uncategorized

News in review

Tuesday, July 26
County wants YOU to weigh in on Supe search

On June 15 Albemarle County school superintendent Kevin Castner announced his retirement. Today, in conjunction with the search for his replacement, the County launched an online survey to get feedback from the community until August 30. Taking a lesson, perhaps, from the City’s debacle with former superintendent Scottie Griffin and her poor communication skills, the County’s survey at www.k12albemarle. org asks people about things like the importance of a doctorate, teaching experience and Virginia-specific work history. The City and County are searching for superintendents simultaneously.

 

Wednesday, July 27
Warner cooks up Parkway pork

City and County officials announced today that Republican Sen. John Warner has secured $25 million to pay for a grade-separated interchange for the Meadowcreek Parkway, effectively ensuring that the long-debated road through McIntire Park will be built very soon. The money comes after a delegation of local bigwigs—including public officials, transportation experts, a developer and, for good measure, former County Supervisor and longtime Warner pal Forrest Marshall—visited the Senator last spring seeking help. Char-lottesville Mayor David Brown says the funding removes the last political obstacle to the road. “A majority on Council determined that the Parkway could be a benefit to the city only if it had an interchange,” says Brown. Warner, a UVA grad, sits on a committee that reconciles different versions of House and Senate bills, and he attached a $25 million earmark to the federal transportation bill currently moving through Congress. Although the bill has yet to pass, “if the Senator’s announcing it, it’s close enough to call,” says Harrison Rue, director of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Com-mission. Rue, who also met with Warner, says, “When you see the City and County and the business community working together, the funders pay attention.”

 

Thursday, July 28
Police ticket track-hopping hipsters

Police continued their crackdown today on people illegally crossing the railroad tracks between Downtown and Belmont. “Every-body crosses those tracks, especially when it’s 100 damn degrees outside,” says John Cobb, one of 20 people who have so far received a ticket for “trespassing on railroad property,” a Class IV misdemeanor. Such a charge is punishable by a fine of up to $250. Police say the Buckingham Branch Railroad, which owns the tracks, asked for the crackdown in early June. “It’s in the interest of promoting safety, and the tracks are private property,” says Tom Thalheim, manager of operating practices and safety for Buckingham Branch Railroad.

 

Be cool

July’s ghastly heat wave let up today when the temperature dropped down to 84 from yesterday’s 96. At final count, July had 12 days of 90+ temperatures and 4.42" of precipitation. Though this month delivered 13 days of rain, the local annual precipitation total (24.18") is still about 14 percent off the average for this point in the year (28.21"). So, all we need now is a bit of rain.

 

Friday, July 29
Locals to benefit from healthy sperm

New Jersey company Princeton BioMeditech Corp. will build a $7 million facility at the UVA Research Park on Route 29N. Partnering with ContraVac, Inc., a UVA spinoff company, BioMeditech will manufacture products to test male fertility, according to a report in The Daily Progress today. BioMeditech, which also manufactures drug tests, will bring 115 new jobs to Albemarle.

 

Saturday, July 30
Heat takes teenage cross-country star

Runner Kelly Watt, 18, died today after collapsing from heat stroke Tuesday while working out on Ridge Road. The Daily Progress reports that in 2005 the Albemarle High School graduate was named Central Virginia Cross Country Runner of the Year. He planned to continue competitive running when he enrolled at The College of William and Mary this fall. Watt, an aspiring sports journalist, wrote a sports column for The Hook.

 

Sunday, July 31
Littlepage: More money, please

He’s helped raise $90 million for the new stadium, but Craig Littlepage, UVA’s director of athletics, wants more. He tells The Daily Progress in an interview published today that, “The biggest concern that I have is what it is that we can do to enhance our endowment.”

 

Monday, August 1
Easy rider

At press time, it seemed likely City Council would appropriate more than $2 million in State and federal grants for local transit at its meeting tonight. To get the money—which will be used for the Charlottesville Transit System’s marketing, operational and capital expenses—Council had to pony up nearly $173,000 in matching funds. Also on Council’s docket: The Board of Architectural Review will award six preservation awards during the meeting. Recipients include the Music Resource Center, Hunter Craig for his new building at 10th and Market streets, the Paramount, Hospice House, Cadogan Square Antiques and Splendora’s Gelato Café.

  

So simple, it just might work
Do we finally have a water supply plan?

   Is this how public planning is supposed  to work?

      Could it be that after 30 years of trying in vain to expand the local water supply, the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority has found a solution to the hotly debated issue that actually will satisfy everyone?

   That’s the way it seems. The RWSA is currently acting on plans to build a pipeline from the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir, just north of Charlottesville, to the Ragged Mountain Reservoir southwest of the city. So far, the idea has received applause from RWSA engineers as well as government regulators. The plan also seems to be a middle path between environmental and business groups that have squared off over how to expand the supply.

   The RWSA has predicted that by 2050 the local water demand will outpace supply by about 9.9 million gallons per day. Since the late 1970s the RWSA has considered building new reservoirs or expanding existing ones, but the Authority could never figure out how to both satisfy demand and meet the approval of myriad State and federal regulators who have say over the project. Ironically, after spending millions on engineering consultants over the years (about $1.1 million since 2003), the RWSA actually got the idea from a citizen at a public meeting.

   In March, RWSA Director Tom Frederick spoke about the water supply plan to members of Ivy Creek Foun-dation, a local environmental group. At the time, the RWSA was considering four potential options: dredging sediment that is clogging the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir; raising the dam at that reservoir by four feet; building a pipeline from the James River at Scottsville to Char-lottesville; or raising the dam at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

   None of the options was perfect. Each option either was too expensive, opposed by the public or unlikely to win regulatory approval.

   The Ragged Mountain dam expansion seemed most promising, but it had a major political shortfall. The Ragged Mountain Res-ervoir happens to be situated high in the foothills near the intersection of Fontaine Avenue Extended and 29N. The reservoir’s elevation means that it has a relatively small drainage area, and thus takes many rains to fill.

   The RWSA planned to pipe water from the Sugar Hollow reservoir to fill Ragged Mountain. That offended The Friends of the Moormans River, a group dedicated to defending the scenic waterway fed by Sugar Hollow’s overflow. “They were going to steal water from the river,” says Bob Gilges, a Friend of the Moor-mans. “We’d never get water over the dam. It would have been a dead river.”

   Gilges also happens to be a member of the Ivy Creek Foun-dation. He went to hear Frederick speak, and to ask a simple question: Instead of a pipeline from Sugar Hollow, why not build one from the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir to Ragged Mountain instead?

   “We began exploring that issue,” says Frederick. “All the feedback we’ve received from interest groups suggests that there is considerable support for this alternative. Maybe it’s fair to say we’ve reached a breakthrough.”

   When it rains, 97 percent of the water that enters the SFRR flows over the dam. Some of that excess water will be pumped into the Ragged Mountain Reservoir, which, after its $37 million expansion, will hold four times more water than it does now. That water will be stored until it’s needed, says Frederick. In coming months, the Authority will be working out plans and cost estimates for the pipeline.

   Gilges says the idea originated from Ridge Schuyler, a member of the Nature Conservancy who is leading an effort to study how much water local streams need to thrive. “In the process of doing that, the idea just hit us,” Schuyler says.

   The idea has also united two groups that have been at odds throughout the planning process —the Piedmont Environmental Council and the developer-friendly Free Enterprise Forum. Environmentalists didn’t want the RWSA to pull water from outside the local area, while developers wanted a plan that satisfied those 50-year demand projections.

   Gilges chuckles at the idea that the solution came from the public instead of big-bucks consultants. “The RWSA has been getting bad advice for years,” he says.

   Frederick, though, says this is an example of planning gone right. “It points to the success of our public outreach,” Frederick says. “We work better when the public is involved.”—John Borgmeyer

 

Is the case really dismissed?
Pro-lifers say Planned Parenthood actually lost

The July 5 decision in the Planned Parenthood case appeared to settle matters. After refuting each of
the complaints filed against Albemarle County, Albemarle Circuit Court Judge Paul Peatross wrote, “The Petition is dismissed.” Most take this to say that the building on Hydraulic Road is all good and legal: Planned Parenthood can stay put under current occupancy and zoning permits.

   But, as with many divisive political issues, the “losing” side is not going down without a fight. Michael Sharman, the Culpeper lawyer who filed the permit challenges, quarrels with the perception of a Planned Parenthood victory. He still claims that Planned Parenthood lost and is currently occupying its building illegally.

   “Planned Parenthood lost, end of story,” says Sharman.

   The case, which has been a rallying cry for pro-lifers and pro-choicers across the state since last fall, centers on how the 7,262-square-foot building is used. County zoning laws allow for “professional offices” in residential areas. The County says that medical offices such as optometrists or ob-gyn clinics fall under this designation. Sharman, backed by a pro-life group called the Central Virginia Family Forum, filed the complaint under the assertion that Planned Parenthood qualifies as a hospital, not a “professional office,” and thus violates zoning laws. Tactics like these were detailed in the 1985 book Closed, 99 Ways to Stop Abortion by Joe Scheidler, director of the Pro-Life Action League.

   Sharman’s contention that he’s the winner in one of two decisions handed down on July 5 is based on a technicality. Planned Parenthood filed a demurrer saying that it wasn’t legal for Sharman’s case to have been brought in the first place. Peatross denied the demurrer and as part of the procedure Planned Parenthood had 21 days to respond. It failed to do so within that timeframe and thus defaulted. Sharman claims that in defaulting, Planned Parent-hood lost the case.

   “Default is de-fault is default. It’s over, you lost the case,” Sharman says.

   As soon as he has an enforceable order from the judge, he says, Sharman plans to use “all avenues” to stop Planned Parenthood’s current usage of the building as a “hospital.”

   “Whether they would leave the building or not is up to them. They are permitted to use it as an office. If it no longer suits their purposes then it’s up to them,” he says.

   John Zunka, who represents Planned Parenthood, dismisses Sharman’s assertions.

   “I don’t know what Mr. Sharman is saying,” he says. “Judge Peatross wrote that the lawsuit is dismissed and that’s the end of matters.”

   Zunka calls the default decision “nothing more than a procedural dispute” and says it has nothing to do with the merits of the case itself. He points to the fact that this second decision, the default decision, is not addressed to all lawyers involved in the case, but only to Sharman and one of Zunka’s colleagues.

   Zunka maintains that Planned Parent-hood’s permit is legit and that they will continue to occupy and use the building just as they have since it opened in August 2004.—Nell Boeschenstein

 

Board of elections
City voters could face a school board referendum on November 8

The August 8 deadline looms for the 2,332 signatures needed to get a referendum for an elected school board on the city’s November 8 ballot, and the petitioners leading the charge say their job is as good as done.

“We have a new batch of petitions that will take us over the top,” says Jeffrey Rossman, a local democrat and UVA history professor who certified the petition back in March. “We’re pretty much done. [The remaining signatures] just need to be confirmed by the Registrar.”

As of Tuesday, July 26, the city Democrats, Republicans and Independents who have banded together over this issue had certified 2,122 signatures. The effort kicked off early June 14, primary day, on which half the John Hancocks needed for the referendum were obtained. The other half were collected in the past six weeks by door-to-door soliciting, as well as by approaching people on the Downtown Mall and at City Market.

   At the time Rossman first certified the petition, the controversy surrounding former superintendent Scottie Griffin was coming to a head. The controversy erupted when Griffin’s FY 2006 budget proposed cuts to guidance and physical education positions while adding ad-ministrative posts in Griffin’s office. The School Board’s poor management of the fallout led many to question how and why decisions affecting city schools get made, highlighting issues of accountability. After serving only 10 months of her four-year contract, Griffin resigned from her post on April 21, with a buyout of nearly $300,000.

   Rossman won’t say whether an elected school board could help avert a similar situation in the future, but allows that, “This year large numbers of people in Char-lottesville came around to [supporting the idea of] an elected school board, so it was a good year to get this referendum on the ballot.” Moreover, he believes that an elected school board would encourage greater transparency in the board’s decision-making processes, a central issue with the Griffin controversy.

   While Mayor David Brown believes there’s an elected school board in Charlottesville’s future, he encourages discussion of pros and cons before the proposal goes to the voters. He says that an elected school board could “narrow the pool of people interested in serving.” He points out that the elec-tion process takes re-sources that not everyone can afford, thereby automatically ex-cluding some talented people.

   Councilor Blake Caravati is more openly skeptical of the proposal in general.

   Albemarle already has an elected school board to which Charlottesville’s board has oft been compared of late. But, says Caravati, “comparing Charlottesville to Albemarle is fool’s paradise. It’s comparing apples to oranges.”

   However, should the referendum pass, Caravati anticipates the school board elections would combine a ward system with at-large seats. In a ward system, representatives are elected solely by members of their districts. Caravati notes that most elected school boards have four or five representatives elected by specific school districts and one or two elected at-large.

   If the city is carved up for a school board election, would a ward system for City Council be far behind?

   Caravati doubts that, point-ing out that school districts are often different from political districts.

   Rossman agrees: “Anyone that says [an elected school board] paves the way to the [ward system] doesn’t know the law.” The City Council would have to request that their State representative pro-pose legislation at the Gen-eral Assembly, and Charlot-tesville’s City Council, says Rossman, shows no inclination to do any such thing.—Nell Boeschenstein

 

Can the Hoos hang?
ACC football bulks up for greater TV gain

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is beefing up again, and UVA could stand to benefit—if they can hang with the competition.

   Last week the ACC announced it would add two new bowl games in 2006, meaning that next season ACC teams, including the Cavaliers, will have up to eight chances to compete in a post-season, nationally televised game—seven bowls, plus one of the four major championship bowls [see our “Name that game” quiz, right]. This marks another effort by the conference to bulk up its profile and TV revenues. Last year, the conference voted to add three new teams—Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech.

   “The ACC wants to keep a leg up,” says Wes McElroy, midday host of ESPN 840 in Charlottesville. “It used to be just a basketball conference, but now the ACC has positioned [itself] as the No. 2 [football] conference behind the Southeastern Conference.”

   In an early-season poll, UVA was ranked No. 3 in the ACC’s six-team Coastal Division. Whether the ACC’s higher profile will help or hurt the Wahoos depends on how they play against powerhouse teams like Florida State and Virginia Tech, last year’s ACC champ.

   The extra bowl games mean that UVA has a better chance of playing in one of the nationally televised contests. Any bowl game—except the national championship—is basically meaningless in terms of a team’s overall standing,
says John Galinsky, editor of TheSabre.com, a fan website. But a bowl berth means more TV revenue for the school, along with more exposure and improved recruiting for the team. “Maybe that means UVA will stop hitting up their fans to build their facilities,” says Galinsky. “Just kidding.”—John Borgmeyer

 

Name that game

Seven of the games below are actual bowls for which ACC teams are eligible. Can you pick out the fakes? Check your answers below.

1. Toyota Gator Bowl

2. Chicken of the Sea Tunafish Bowl

3. Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

4. Kidney Punch Bowl

5. Campbell’s Soup Bowl

6. MPC Computers Bowl

7. Vanish Toilet Bowl

8. Gaylord Hotel’s Music City Bowl

9. Champs Sports Bowl

10. Emerald Bowl

11. Cheerios Cereal Bowl

12. Meineke Car Care Bowl

 

Did you catch the fakes? Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7 and 11 aren’t real.

 

School of rock
Local inventor says he’s got a new way to teach music

Glyn Hall’s world is one of music’s past, present and—perhaps—
its future.

   On one end of the living room in his Fluvanna County home, Hall keeps a pair of acoustic guitars leaning beside an Estey organ, a 1930s vintage instrument. On the other end of the room, a television tuned to a music channel is washing the room in an ambient composition called “An Embryonic Breath.”

   On the coffee table, Hall’s ideas for the future of music are thumbtacked to a large piece of cardboard. He calls it a “photonic sequencer,” and Hall claims it could change the way children learn music.

   “Music is based on very simple patterns,” says Hall, a former country musician turned inventor. “Once you see the patterns, you can play any chord you want. In a very short period of time, you can understand music theory.”

   Hall’s idea is based on physics. Every tone in the music scale is a sound wave with a specific frequency. Middle C, for example, is approximately 262 Hz—that is, 262 waves per second. Light is also composed of waves, except light waves have much higher frequencies. Hall wants to create a keyboard by multiplying sound frequencies by a constant number, thereby turning the sound into light. Hall’s keyboard looks like a palette of watercolors, with each color producing a musical note. Middle C is lime green.

   Hall’s keyboard arranges the note-
colors in a way that makes it easier to
figure out how to build chords. It would help people understand music without cracking theory books, and Hall hopes
his invention will eventually be used
in schools.

   Sibley Johns, executive director of the Music Resource Center, says she would love to see Hall’s device come to fruition. “A lot of our kids have short attention spans and are nontraditional learners,” says Johns. “It’s a real incentive for them to pick up music composition skills without having to learn intensive academic skills.”

   On Monday, July 25, Hall filed his idea with the U.S. Patent Office. It can take up to three years to obtain a patent, and now Hall is knocking on doors, trying to enlist investors for his product.

   When Hall called on Charlottesville Venture Group, executive director Jim Lansing said that big-money venture capitalists, called “angels,” typically want to get a return on their investment within seven years. “It’s a lot of work to get to those people,” says Hall, who has a slew of other inventions—a special wheelchair that allows disabled people to do carpentry or lay floor tiles, a glove that resists needle pricks and a remote control device that carries luggage.

   Making it big in the invention game is a lot like breaking into the music business, so Hall knows it’s a long and winding road ahead. Following Lansing’s advice, Hall is taking his idea for “show and tells” to various companies, and plans to form a nonprofit company. “There’s a lot of creative financing that goes along with developing new technologies,” Hall says. “It’s wearing me out.”—John Borgmeyer

 

Diary of a debut
Pulling it together to open the
Charlottesville Pavilion

Washington, D.C. is not the only city to have joined the major leagues this year. But where the nation’s capital got there with a scrappy baseball team that might still harbor wild-card hopes, Charlottesville went the culture route, enlisting Coran Capshaw to launch the Char-lottesville Pavilion, a state-of-the-art outdoor entertainment venue. With a sweetheart loan of $2.5 million from the City and a 40-year lease to develop the property, Capshaw didn’t waste time. Transferring his iron will to his deputy in this affair, General Manager Kirby Hutto, Capshaw set a grand opening date, July 30. Neither rain, a wind-damaged roof, nor that most lasting of Char-lottesville crops—naysayers—would interfere with meeting that goal. Here’s a glimpse of the final week’s efforts to get there.—Cathy Harding

 

Monday, July 25

Where’s my shrink wrap?

The heat index exceeds 100 degrees. At 1pm, the guy drilling holes into the cement retaining wall is sweating Niagara Falls.

   A fellow who goes by “Big Daddy” and seems to be employed to wave an orange flag all day starts stripping. “You tell Kirby Hutto, it’s so hot we’re taking our clothes off down here!” With that he puts his fluorescent orange vest back over his now bare torso and replaces the white Martin Horn hard hat on his head.

   One hundred workers are on site today at the east end of the Downtown Mall. A few of them are working for the City, extending the Mall with new bricks. Most are working on the Pavilion site, which teems with industry and perspiration. They could be constructing a blockbuster movie set—The Capshaw Empire Strikes Back. They’re excavating and drilling and hoisting and driving CAT machinery. But besides what Charlottesville Pavilion General Manager Kirby Hutto calls “lots of little niggling things” on the punch list, the main push today is to install metal handrails on all of the retaining walls along the Pavilion’s perimeter in time for the soft opening of the $3 million-plus venue 48 hours hence. The City says the Pavilion cannot open without those, so if it means keeping ice chests fully stocked for guys producing waterfalls of sweat while Country 99.7 plays from a tinny boombox, or pulling other superhuman tricks to get the job done, well, so be it.

   “I gave up on sleep two weeks ago,” Hutto says.

   Once the sun goes down, the action will shift indoors to the nighttime worksite, the basement of the Downtown Recreation Center. Over the course of 14 hours (pulled in two shifts), 1,250 cardboard boxes will be ripped open, each holding a pair of chairs, which get hauled out for the Pavilion’s big shows.

   “I had been told the chairs would be stacked on palettes and shrink wrapped. That was a little surprise,” Hutto says.

Tuesday, July 26

“Ladies and Gentlemen…”

About half the 300 feet of handrail is installed by mid-afternoon. Rolls of sod start to get pressed onto the north and south sides of the bowl. The heat won’t quit. The stage is clean and mostly empty. It’s fun to walk out to the edge and pretend you’re introducing the First Lady of Country Music. A couple of riggers hang from flexible ladders adjusting the stage lights above.

   Over by City Hall, the dog pee/toddler splash fountain is now but a mere memory. In its place, the space below the three presidents frieze gets decorated with hopeful impatiens, carefully tucked into fresh mulch. A trio of workers takes refuge in the small patch of leafy shade adjacent to City Hall. But there’s little relief for City types who are meeting daily with Hutto to hash out what he calls “granular level issues.” With Seventh Street anticipated to remain a construction zone for another month, for instance, they have to figure out alternative paths for handling things like garbage and Port-A-Johns, not to mention the siting of what Hutto calls “a true concessions area.”

   “The beauty of it is, everybody bangs on the issue until it’s worked out,” Hutto says.

 

Wednesday, July 27

Go now or forever hold your pees

It’s 10:30am and here come the toilets. Twenty-two Port-a-Johns, what the guy from Cartersville-based Mo-Johns calls the “party units,” get unloaded next to the rec center. Forty feet of handrail remains undone and it’s eight hours until doors open for Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, the funk-jazz road veterans who will headline tonight for the Pavilion’s soft run.

   By 3:30pm, the sod is all but down, with a few square feet left to unroll at the west end of the bowl. Most of the 1,200 chairs that will go out for tonight’s show are in place. Denson’s sound guy is working the board from inside a view-obstructing white tent that has to stay there in the event of rain, which is in the forecast. The jazzy notes of Jonatha Brooke test the system. A luxury rock ’n’ roll bus parks on Water Street. The Lexis-Nexis tunnel serves as a loading dock. Three guys are having an impromptu meeting inside a pick-up truck next to the stage. Hutto is hauling a palette of Pepsi products.

 

T-shirt nation

It’s 6pm, the skies are threatening. TV reporters position their set-ups near the City Hall Annex, where the stage, now crowded with instruments, makes a good backdrop. Ten minutes later, the wind is rising. Cardboard waste cans start their own dance and the newly minted Pavilion event staff (blue t-shirts for ushers, yellow for security) face an early challenge: what to do in the event of thunder and lightning. “Folks, when there’s lightning, you have to get in the tunnel,” says one of the six police officers already stationed at the Pavilion. Sixty early birds and curiosity-seekers do just that. It pours. It stops. The temperature drops almost 10 degrees seemingly in an instant, cool for the first time in days.

   “Two. Two. What’s up, Charlottesville?” At 7:29pm, BJ Pendleton of Man Mountain Jr. utters the first words into the Pavilion’s sound system. A couple-hundred people listen and chat while event staff deploy jumbo packs of kitchen towels to wipe off the chairs.

   By 8pm, the city’s politeratti have joined the growing crowd. Positivity wafts everywhere. Night starts to fall and everyone gets better looking. Beer ticket sales are brisk, perhaps in inverse relationship to the price of admission, which was nothing. Along with what has grown to 3,000 people, Coran Capshaw is on site. For the next 90 minutes he’ll remain tête à tête with Aubrey Watts, Charlottesville’s director of economic development, their backs to the stage (“This guy is the real star here,” Capshaw says of Watts).

   Evan Harris, a Nelson County engineer, stands close to the stage. His t-shirt depicts an evergreen with the legend “Plant trees.” At 8:15pm Denson takes the stage with his six fellow musicians, a tiny universe of good vibrations. The violet lighting scheme on stage and insistent sexy sound of the brass instruments casts an instant showbiz glow on the surroundings. Harris nods his head. Is this cool? “Yeah,” he says. “They need a spot to draw bands like this—an outdoors venue.”

 

Thursday, July 28

Book ’em

“I’m dog tired,” says Hutto, with a soup-çon of sarcasm. “I don’t know why.”

   One day to fix whatever problems materialized last night, and then it will be time to debut Fridays After 5 in its new home. When the Pavilion is fully up to speed, Hutto says, the annual schedule will include 25 to 30 national, ticketed shows (no more Karl Denson freebies!), up to 22 free Fridays shows, several festivals and plenty of community events that the Pavilion is contractually obligated to host (think Charlottesville Municipal Band and First Night Virginia).

 

Friday, July 29

What would Jesus play?

The storm clouds hold off all day. Shortly before 5pm Terri Allard, local folk-country princess, runs a sound check. The usual Fridays crowd ambles in—young parents pushing balloon-festooned strollers, early retirees with lawn blankets and chairs, lonesome guys reading Chinese philosophy to themselves, beer drinkers.

   The Jan Smith Trio looks rather wee on that big ol’ stage. The Pavilion is great for headliners. But opening acts…earn your stripes here.

   As for Allard, the crowd just eats her up. Somebody says she plays perfect county fair music. Themes include Jesus, Elvis, broken hearts and freight trains.

   Hutto can be heard to estimate the crowd at 4,000, and that’s probably not counting the rubber-necking pedestrians on the Belmont Bridge.

 

Saturday, July 30

You’re cookin’ with country

Heat is no longer an enemy. It’s rain, and comes down in spurts all day. But God is evidently on the payroll, because about the time Loretta Lynn, the headliner for the official Pavilion grand opening, is getting her hair done the skies clear, and they stay that way all night. Goodbye, Anxiety! Hello, Country Music!

   Having rested for three days, the lawn is open. So is the staircase in the middle, making it a lot easier for LL faithful from Louisa and Augusta and Buckingham to make their way through. The sold-out concert doubles as a fundraiser for Live Arts, but it’s a toss-up as to who warms the crowd more, Artistic Director John Gibson thanking Capshaw’s many businesses for the support or Patsy Lynn shilling “Momma’s” autographed cookbooks and informing the crowd that this evening marks 44 years of Loretta Lynn performing in concert.

   After Patsy does a couple of numbers herself, backed by her mother’s band, the Coalminers, Sissy Spacek gets called to the stage. “Loretta Lynn is a woman to be reckoned with,” says the Albemarle actress who portrayed her in Coal Miner’s Daughter and earned an Oscar for the effort. “I have learned to do whatever she tells me to do.”

   Which prove to be truer words than any might have imagined. For shortly after the Queen herself walks onstage in a tiered, white chiffon dress that sparkles and sways and surely has a staff of its own, and after she does a couple of numbers, including major crowd pleaser “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” she calls Spacek to the stage where she compels her to stay for the next 90 minutes. It’s thrilling to watch Lynn perform apparently without a set list (“Whadya wanna hear?” she asks the eager crowd), even if she does chide Spacek for not singing along. But the performance slips into family reunion land once she invites Spacek to sit down and jawbone about good times on the movie set 25 years ago. Lynn ultimately performs about 15 songs. For some, the chat between the Famous Movie Star and the Famous Singer is downright charming. Not so for others. (One man instructs a reporter at the end of the show, “Write down that next time there should be less chin and more spin.”)

   But does it really matter? Pavilion management had stressed from the start that the facility would be a flexible space. And in the course of only three short nights, it had already transformed from a nightclub to a living room. Who knows what else the future might hold?

 

Written by John Borgmeyer from staff reports and news sources.

Categories
The Editor's Desk

Mailbag

Finding a better way

In reference to Jennifer Gardiner’s letter [“Choo-choo-choose wisely,” Mailbag, July 12], it’s good to engage the community in debate about the options on the table for the future of our community, and I hope to hear from more people expressing their expectations and concerns about Charlottesville Citizens for Better Rail Alternatives’ proposal for intercity rail connections to D.C., reported in your June 28 edition [“Local motion,” The Week]. But I do not believe these discussions should take the form of distressingly personal attacks that question my motives and fitness for public office and suggest that I should leave town, as Ms. Gardiner did. I don’t know anyone who would see these remarks as being fair to the issue at hand, or to the people who want and need this rail service.

   We must plan our future wisely so that we make transportation investments that offer benefits to the entire community. Such a plan would include a balanced transportation system that provides more choices, makes travel safer, conserves our natural resources and offers attractive alternatives to driving. Intercity rail service is one important way we can provide these benefits for the future.

   Decisions we make in 2005—especially about transportation—will shape how our neighborhoods and street corridors will look and function in the future. Portland, Oregon, is a delightful place to live and visit precisely because of community planning that began 25 years ago and the public investments made in transit (light rail, streetcars, buses) and intercity rail (The Cascades Line) to give people a variety of travel options and reduce the need for cars.

   Since launching our new rail group and website (www.cvillerail.org), we’ve heard from hundreds of people who want a better way to travel to D.C. (as well as Richmond and the Roanoke Valley). Each week, thousands of seniors who no longer drive, families, tourists, UVA students, alums and business travelers will be consigned to remaining on the highway (or staying home) if we don’t seize the opportunity and give them a non-driving alternative.

   “The Rail Alternative” promises a better future for our area: Fewer cars in the city, fewer in the county, fewer on 29N and I-66, significantly less pollution and significantly higher fuel efficiency—all values that responsible Charlottesville citizens support.

   The consequences of each and every transportation decision we make in the coming decade will be significant for our future. We must find a better way.

 

Meredith Richards

Charlottesville

 

Train in vain

In response to Russell Richards’ oddly malicious attack on my character: Geez! [“The little engines that could,” Mailbag, July 19] The only “hate” message I was communicating in my first letter to the editor is that I absolutely hate Meredith Richards’ plan to usher in the end of the tranquility of our lovely city by opening the floodgates of development and southerly flight that would accompany bringing the VRE to Charlottesville.

   While Mr. Richards may naively think that his mother’s “noble” plan is without fault, he fails to see that her intent is based on a utopian concept. Yes, in the best of all possible worlds, adding additional and more far-reaching mass transit services can benefit certain aspects of society. But the grim reality is that where regular train and subway stops go, so goes development, on a massive scale. While Mr. Richards decries the toxic emissions from the D.C.-bound cars along Route 29, he neglects to acknowledge the blanket clear-cutting of tree stands and decimation of farmland that would ultimately result from this scheme. Isn’t that just swapping out one evil for another?

   Additionally, it’s silly to contend that this daily train service would help the elderly, those who are disabled, school children and such. The fact is, a) there already exists a train service to Washington for those who need to go but cannot drive; and b) witness the cost of an existing train ticket to D.C.; the VRE will, I’m sure, be no bargain and thus will likely not benefit those he contends are most in need.

   If Mr. Richards wants to delude himself thinking that people would never consider commuting two and a half hours to a major city to work, then he must have blinders on. People commute into D.C. regularly in bumper-to-bumper traffic from such far-reaching locales as Fredericksburg, Dale City and Culpeper. I’m sure plenty of those commuters would see the charm in a comfortable two-and-a-half-hour train ride each morning versus a nearly two hour stop-and-start car ride alongside irate drivers on Route 29 and I-66.

   Big city sprawl will extend as far as elected officials encourage it to go, and I stand by my argument that Ms. Richards’ plan is sheer folly that will, without doubt, help lead to the Northern Virginia-ization of Albemarle County.

   Mr. Richards has presumed that because I vehemently disagree with a cause that has apparently become a modus operandus for his mother that I am mean-spirited, or have an agenda politically. Nothing could be further from the truth, and in fact I probably ally myself more with his mother politically than with most. And I too am very concerned about protecting our environment. But I also believe that no politician is beyond reproach, and those thin-skinned enough to think their ideas are without flaw really ought to reconsider their role as defenders of such vital public causes.

   Lastly, Mr. Richards dismissed me as one of the “migration [I am] decrying.” Well, as I am in my eighth year living in Albemarle County, I hope I am now accepted as a resident of Central Virginia, and not considered part of the diaspora that is fleeing that area that was once a lovely place in which to reside.          Don’t get me wrong: I have nothing against people who continue to move here as an alternative to the big, impersonal and bloated nature of Northern Virginia. But I also do not want to roll out the red carpet to coax those who would never have considered moving here, were it not for our public officials facilitating the move.

   We chose to move to Charlottesville because of Albemarle County’s intent to embrace slow-growth and it’s determination to preserve neighboring farmland, thus it is greatly disappointing to envision the alternative.

   I stand firm in my conviction that bringing a D.C. daily commuter train to Charlottesville will, without doubt, help to undermine the sanctity of this quaint, pleasant and user-friendly city.

 

Jenny Gardiner

Keswick

 

 

CORRECTIONS

 

Due to an editing error, last issue’s Get Out Now section incorrectly listed the time and price for the Saturday, July 30, performance of Me Too, Mr. Faulkner at the Gravity Lounge.

We omitted the byline from The Directory section of last week’s FLOW. Robbie Saville compiled the information.

 

Richmond recording studio owner David Lowery’s name was misspelled in last week’s Plugged In column.