Tuesday, November 15
VFF gets a shot in the arm
Today, the Virginia Film Festival announced that it was to receive a $15,000 grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—its second. VFF is in good company, as the Academy awarded a total of $300,000 to 19 separate film festivals, including New York, Chicago and Nashville. “This grant is supposed to be applied to create more community-outreach events,” Festival Director Richard Herskowitz says. “We’re considering doing a workshop with high school students at Light House Studios, as well as hoping to do more [programming] at The Paramount Theater.” The 2005 festival, themed In/Justice, boasted the highest attendance in the festival’s 18-year history, selling 13,087 tickets.
Wednesday, November 16
Charlottesville—a D.C. suburb?
The local Chamber of Commerce released a report today indicating that a majority of their members do business in Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C., and that they say they would use a commuter train to do business in that area. Out of 231 respondents to the survey, 63 percent do business in NOVA several times a month; 66 percent said they would ride a train there. The Chamber is behind an effort to build such a commuter rail to NOVA/D.C., and suggests that a rail would stimulate the local economy. Others say a commuter train to D.C. would foster unwanted growth in Charlottesville.
Thursday, November 17
UVA student found dead
Shortly after 10am this morning, Char-lottesville Police found 20-year-old Michelle Elizabeth Collier of Hackensack, New Jersey, dead at 3 University Ct. A housemate discovered her body, and investigators say there is no evidence of trauma, assault or foul play. Police declined any further comment until they see results of an autopsy to be conducted by the chief medical examiner in Richmond.
DMB serves up more Thanksgiving turkey
In case the Thanksgiving turkey coma isn’t enough to put you to sleep, you can digest some of DMB’s adult contemporary pop on Thanksgiving night. Today WVPT, Virginia Public Television, announced they would broadcast a DMB performance from Red Rocks amphitheater in Colorado at 10pm on Thursday, November 24. Former Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio is also scheduled to perform on the show. Watching Dave on television can’t compete with seeing the boys themselves on a desert island, so die-hard fans can also pay between $1,000 and $2,400 to take a luxury cruise to the Bahamas for a combination DMB concert/Super Bowl Party in early February.
Friday, November 18
Court Square now officially tourist-friendly
“The vision of some is now the pleasure of many,” Charlottesville Mayor David Brown intoned early this evening as a small crowd of top-coated dignitaries huddled on the southeast corner of Court Square for the historic site’s official dedication, some two years after the groundbreaking for the federally funded renovation project. Brown, former Vice Mayor Meredith Richards, County Supervisor Ken Boyd and others were joined by actors in pantaloons, tricorner hats and hoop skirts as the ceremony also kicked off the annual Jefferson Thanksgiving Festival. The weekend-long re-enactments included a parade of soldiers and statesmen and a red-coat attack on Charlottesville.
New shopping center headed for Pantops
Today the Albemarle Planning Com-mission gave developer Richard Spurzem approval to build a new shopping center on 37 acres near the intersection of U.S. 250 and I-64. Last year, Spurzem sued the County after the Commission denied his proposal for the center to be known as Gazebo Plaza. The Commission’s denial had been based on concerns from the State about road access to the site, but Spurzem and the County worked out an agreement while the case was pending in Albemarle Circuit Court. According to The Daily Progress, Spurzem originally declared that today’s hearing was not valid, but apparently changed his mind after the planners approved Gazebo Plaza after all.
Saturday, November 19
Local athletes publicly spanked
Virginia Tech rolled into Scott Sta-dium today and destroyed the Cavaliers 52-14 in their final home game. UVA fans had high hopes for the game against the 7th-ranked Hokies, but instead Tech handed UVA its first loss at home this season. Some of the notoriously boisterous Tech fans snuck into Scott Stadium before the game and painted a huge letter “T” next to the orange-and-white “V” at midfield, but the prank was covered with green paint.
Sunday, November 20
Crappy governor now aims at Senate
Today Daily Progress political columnist Bob Gibson reported that former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, the Republican who plunged the Commonwealth into fiscal crisis by cutting the State car tax, would like to either run for John Warner’s seat in the U.S. Senate, or perhaps make another run for governor. A strident no-taxer, Gilmore’s announcement comes as Virginia Repub-licans squabble about whether GOP gubernatorial candidate and right-winger Jerry Kilgore lost because he wasn’t conservative enough. Former Albemarle Delegate Paul Harris is also aiming at Warner’s seat, as the moderate Republican is said to be contemplating retirement.
Monday, November 21
Council set for marathon meeting
Tonight’s City Council meeting promises to be lengthy. Council is set to discuss the new elected school board initiative, affordable housing, and changes to vendor fees for Downtown Mall merchants. Also slated for the meeting is a discussion of financial trends by City Manager Gary O’Connell, who has recently learned how to add a techno soundtrack to his PowerPoint presentations.
Written by John Borgmeyer from staff and news reports
Staph retreat
UVA lab beats back disease with sea critters
Staphylococcus Aureus, better known as “Staph,” is a bacteria that is normally on human skin but can be fatal when it enters the bloodstream. Common forms of Staph infections are usually treatable with penicillin. However, there is one particular form of Staph called Meth-acillin-resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA) that is resistant to all antibiotics except for one drug called Vancomycin. The danger in this situation is if the bacteria become resistant to Vancomycin also, there is no known alternative treatment for MRSA.
But that may soon change. A group of five UVA scientists, headed by chemistry professor and President of Pinnacle Pharmaceuticals, Sydney Hecht, are working at a furious pace to develop new antibiotics to treat MRSA, among other things. In order to develop these antibiotics, the group works with natural products extracted from marine plants and animals.
The research is part of UVA’s investment in medicine and biotechnology. In the past two years, UVA faculty have disclosed 311 inventions to the school’s Patent Foundation, and most of those aim to reap profits in the market for biomedical and pharmaceutical products. In 2003 and 2004, UVA patents brought in a total of $11.6 million in license fees and royalties to the school.
Currently the Pinnacle team is working with eight to 10 strains of bacteria. Besides MRSA, they are also trying to develop antibiotics to treat pseudo-monas—a common infection in im-muno-compromising diseases such as AIDS and cancer.
“The national impact we are hoping for is that we [could] be the next Penicillin or a nice antimicrobial soap,” says research scientist Brad Day, who has been with the company for more than three years.
Pinnacle is barely in the preclinical trial stage, but that’s no impediment to a broad vision.
According to Day, Pinnacle has obtained provisional patents for their discoveries that will in part belong to the UVA Foundation, which has provided the equipment and office space in their Northfork Research Park. Although the initial research was done at UVA and all members of the team are affiliated with the University, Pinnacle is an independent company.
The company is being funded mainly by small-business initiative research grants from National Institutes of Health.—Priya Mahadevan
Plan this
C-VILLE solves some UVA problems. No big whoop.
It seems UVA’s got some traffic problems, and the Office of the Architect wants to get some undergrads on the case. Last week architecture profs inquired whether their students could put in some time helping with the road projects listed below. What’s C-VILLE, chopped liver? Who knows more about traffic engineering than alternative newspaper writers? No harm, no foul. We’re going to share some of our brilliance with UVA, anyway. Watch and learn, eggheads.—John Borgmeyer
UVA’s Problem: Critical nonfunctioning intersections such as Stadium Road/JPA/ Emmet Street; Emmet Street/University Avenue; JPA/University Avenue; JPA through the hospital to Main.
C-VILLE’s solution: If we’ve learned nothing else from Bush (and we haven’t) it’s that problems can be erased with a little Orwellian wordplay. “Nonfunctioning” is such an unpatriotic way of thinking about traffic jams. After all, every minute you spend in stop-and-go traffic is another donation to Exxon’s record-setting profits. That’s good for America. It’s not a traffic jam. It’s a “freedom line.”
UVA’s Problem: University Avenue as it passes through the Corner.
C-VILLE’s solution: The majority of traffic slowdowns on the Corner are caused by frat boys slowing down to check out girls. Our solution is a no-brainer—UVA should stop admitting so many hot chicks.
UVA’s Problem: Larger context issues of traffic flow through Grounds.
C-VILLE’s solution: UVA needs to think outside the box—or, in this case, outside the road. Put that Lawn to good use and allow all those Wahoo SUVs to go off-road on campus. It’s what Jefferson would have wanted.
Oppression, Aisle 9
Wal-Mart Watch lays it on thick in Charlottesville
Wal-Mart Watch was in Charlottes-ville last week, hoping to incite our town to cast off the shackles of the nation’s largest retailer.
A “town hall” gathering held in the cafeteria of Burley Middle School (and directly under a thundering basketball practice) on Wednesday night, November 16, attracted about 30 Charlottesville residents concerned about the business practices of uber-mega-retailer Wal-Mart. The gathering drew far fewer people than the 300-plus who packed the Jefferson Theater on Monday night for a free screening of Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices.
The film is yet another example of the new genre of propaganda documentaries that are created with the obvious intention of producing a specific public reaction, increasingly popular since Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine. Wal-Mart is the second such film directed by Robert Greenwald, who also directed Outfoxed, a similarly styled documentary that was critical of Fox News.
A new activist group, Wal-Mart Watch, which seeks to unite the myriad anti-Wal-Mart movements across the country, sponsored the free screening and “town hall” meeting as part of their nationwide “Higher Expectations Week.”
The movie’s broad arguments focused on the irresponsible corporate behavior behind Wal-Mart’s commitment to low prices—from discrimination, workers’ rights and the devastation of local economies, to the incredible cost to the public. According to Wal-Mart Watch, Wal-Mart’s “evil” practices cost the American taxpayers $1.5 billion annually, just at the federal level (state and local subsidies given to Wal-Mart substantially add to the cost).
The panel, comprising local representatives all supportive of the Wal-Mart Watch effort, focused on the wage issues related to Wal-Mart. In Virginia, the average wage of a Wal-Mart employee is $9.40/hour—given that Wal-Mart defines “full-time” as just 28 hours a week, this is far below a sustainable living wage. Panelist Joe Szakos from the Virginia Organizing Project urged residents to push for legislation that ensured full-time workers were paid above the poverty level.
Local Assembly Delegate Mitch Van Yahres and former Vice Mayor Meredith Richards, also panelists at the meeting, supported Szakos’ arguments from another angle. Although educated workers are in high demand in the market, the same cannot be said for unskilled workers, often without a high school diploma. By increasing educational standards and resources, communities like Charlottesville can reduce the number of people who have no other option but to work—and shop—at Wal-Mart.—Dan Pabst
Crossing the Mall
Business owners, Mall denizens debate car crossing
At the Charlottesville City Council and Planning Commission joint public hearing on Tuesday, No-vember 15, a rousing debate about adding a vehicular crossing to the east end of the Downtown Mall took the stage. The Planning Commission unanimously de-ferred the decision after hearing residents and business owners fight it out.
Since last winter’s closing of the Seventh Street crossing, east end Mall merchants have claimed a loss of customers and revenue. The City touts new crossings at Fourth or Fifth streets as an option to remedy the problem, with City staff favoring Fifth Street because it would be situated farthest from the current vehicular crossing next to the Regal Cinema on the west end of the Mall. The engineering costs of upgrading surfaces on the Mall itself and sidewalk improvements to the cross street would put the price tag for the project at $900,000.
Peter Kleeman, a transportation activist who also happens to play his melodeon on the Mall, pointed out that a City-sponsored study has examined the peak times during the day for automobiles, but not for people, on what is rated one of the best pedestrian malls in the country. “There’s been very little consideration of pedestrian safety,” he said at the meeting. Afterward, Kleeman pointed out that the study was conducted by RK&K Engineers, the firm that is also performing a $1.5 million study of the Meadowcreek Parkway interchange, a fact confirmed on the City’s website.
Bob Stroh, co-chair of the Downtown Business Associa-tion, pointed out the widespread support of local storeowners for what is basically a replacement crossing. “Cars circle the Mall and never see what is a significant destination,” he said. Rod Gentry of Guaranty Bank added, “Pe-destrians are not the issue. Economic vitality is.”
David Repass pointed out that the busier west end of the mall is the result of a movie theater, ice rink and hotel. “What’s at the east end? Rock concerts at night? Why not study the real issues and concentrate on parking at the east end?” he said.
As City Councilors weighed in, Kevin Lynch expressed his concern. “When we start [re]construction of the Avon Street bridge, whether we keep a couple of lanes open or just close it, we would not want a Mall street crossing to serve as an alternative,” he said. Lynch suggested that investing $100,000 in signs pointing visitors to the Mall might be just as beneficial as an added crossing.
Planning Commissioner William Lucy questioned statements that the west end is busier than the east by reporting on his own counts taken the day before the hearing. The winner was clearly the east end with 1,080 pedestrians per hour versus the Second Street total of 720 per hour. “What we have here is a pedestrian-free zone, more like a European city,” Lucy said. “Clearly, signage is the next step,” he said.
Commission Chair Cheri Lewis took very seriously the safety factor and the Mall’s increasing popularity. “I would favor a crossing, but we should move with caution and see it not as a quick fix for businesses but for connectivity,” she said. Lewis pressed the need for more professional analysis and asked, “Can we look at how Colonial Williamsburg works? Stanchions with ropes or pots might provide safety without spending a million dollars.”
Commissioner Craig Barton thought they were going about the problem the wrong way. He thinks the solution is to provide more bulk and convenience parking, and stressed a design factor that would ensure drivers know that any crossing is a meeting of two modes, pedestrian and vehicular. “We owe it to the community to make the right decision,” he said.—Jay Neelley
Press releases we love
Building the Warner legacy, one official statement at a time
As if being rich, handsome and one of Time Magazine’s Top Five Governors in America were not enough, in the twilight of his administration, Democrat Mark Warner has been busy securing a few extra feathers in his cap with a series of fairly self-congratulatory press releases.
Take his November 14 state-ment that announced, “Governor Warner Helps Construct a Water Line in Giles County to Bring Water to 80 More People.” Water- line construction, eh? Color us skeptical, but we seriously doubt that
our high-tech tycoon governor can tell his Ray-Bans from his welding goggles.
But then again, who can blame Warner for wanting to embellish his legacy—if anybody is entitled to a little horn tooting it’s the guy who turn-ed Virginia into the No. 1 best- managed state in America. So keep sending them down the pipeline, Mark. We want to have a hefty reserve of fond memories of you once the 2008 presidential election rolls around.—Anne Metz
Murder was the case
Inside the interrogation of convicted killer Rocky Fugett
On Tuesday, November 15, Albe-marle County Circuit Judge Paul Peatross sentenced William Rocklin “Rocky” Fugett, Jr., 22, to 75 years in prison for the murder of 41-year-old Nora Annette Charles and her 3-year-old son, Thomas. In February 2003, Charles was found dead in her Crozet home. The killers duct-taped her to a bed, stabbed her, beat her and slit her throat, then burned the house in an apparent attempt to destroy the evidence.
In 2004, Robert Paul Davis, 21, was sentenced to 23 years in prison after entering an Alford plea in Charles’ murder, acknowledging that the court had enough information to prosecute him while not admitting guilt. Davis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges in the death of the 3-year-old, who died of smoke inhalation.
On Thursday, November 10, Rocky’s 18-year-old sister, Jessica Fugett, was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder. She will be sentenced on February 7. Charges against another suspect, Tygue Herrmann, were dropped for lack of evidence.
Among the evidence entered in the trial was a transcript of Rocky Fugett’s 2003 interrogation by an unidentified Albemarle County Police de-tective. It gives no indication of the presence of Fugett’s attorney during the interview, though Fugett was apprised of his legal rights. The excerpt below provides a rare glimpse into how real-life cops lean on a suspect when they’re certain they have the goods on him.—John Borgmeyer
Detective 1: We talked a little bit earlier. Do you remember what we said?
Fugett: Yeah.
Detective 1: We talked to the other people and whatnot. There are some issues that have come up, O.K.? We’re not being told the whole truth. You’ve been through this before… There are some things you left out, and that’s because you’re scared.
Fugett: I know.
Detective 1: And you’re nervous, and I can understand that. But some of the… it’s not going to get any better for you. We can keep you. You’re going downtown.
Fugett: I ain’t going home?
Detective 1: No.
Fugett: O.K.…
Detective 1: So there’s nothing else to hide. I’m telling you that now because with what we got, and what we’ve come up with in the preliminary tests we’ve run, it puts you in certain places. And I know exactly where it puts you. Right now I’m waiting for you to stand up and be a man and speak the truth… I want to hear the planning, and I want to hear exactly what took place Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
Fugett: As far as the planning goes, I didn’t have much to do with that. It was Jessica and Robert and Tygue. He was brought in later. As far as the actual planning, it was supposed to be the three of us at first… me and Robert and Jessie. We were only supposed to go in, take money and leave. The first thing that happened, Robert and my sister, Jessica, went upstairs. They said that if Anne was up there, they would tie her up, which wasn’t no part of the plan. They went upstairs. Jessica gave me the details. Jessica put the knife to her face and told her to be quiet or she would kill her.
Detective 1: I want you to stop right there. Do you take me serious?
Fugett: Yeah.
Detective 1: Son, you must not be…
Fugett: This is honestly what happened. I swear to you.
Detective 1: Your first mistake is saying that you had no idea that we were going to tie this woman up.
Fugett: It wasn’t supposed to be that way. Jessie…
Detective 1: But yet, you take a roll of duct tape with you.
Fugett: Jessica had the tape.
Detective 1: Yet you bring a knife with you.
Fugett: Jessica had the knife.
Detective 1: Come on Rocky, it ain’t going to work. You know that tape you put on her legs and around her? On the inside it has sticky residue. The fire didn’t do the damage it was supposed to do. The inside, that sticky part, when you put tape on, it leaves fingerprints. It grasps fingerprints better than anything else in the whole world. All right? So we’re going to back up and you’re going to try this again. Stop the BS. I’m getting tired of all this shit…. Stand up and admit your mistakes and stop putting it all on everybody else. Do I make myself clear?
Fugett: Yeah.
Count on me
Lawyers square off in Deeds/McDonnell recount
A recount is imminent in the Common-wealth’s attorney general race, with the margin dwindling to less than 400 votes. The initial election tally on November 8 favored Republican State Delegate Bob McDonnell over Democratic State Senator Creigh Deeds by 2,023 of more than 1.9 million votes, but the ongoing tally of absentee and provisional ballots has closed the gap. While neither campaign can petition for a recount before the official vote count is announced on November 28, both sides are gearing up for a contest.
The recount will pit two lawyers who fought over Virginia’s last recount, in 1989, when Democrat Douglas Wilder won the governor’s race over Republican Marshall Coleman by 7,000 votes.
Joseph Kearfott and Larry Framme will handle the ensuing recount for Deeds. Framme is the former Virginia Chair of John Kerry’s presidential campaign. McDonnell’s recount team is being led by former State Solicitor General William Hurd, who represented Coleman in the 1989 recount.
Matt Smyth, director of communications at the UVA Center for Politics, notes the similarities between the two state-wide recounts, but makes the distinction that “[the 1989] race was decided by about 7,000 votes out of approximately 1.8 million votes cast, making this race much tighter.”
This razor-thin divide is likely to go under intense legal scrutiny, with the candidates taking a back seat. The recount process can take weeks, but with both candidates preparing to become the next attorney general, they are hopeful for a speedy decision. “There are a lot of unknowns” says Janet Polarek, McDonnell’s campaign manager, but “we expect the recount to be completely over by year’s end based on previous timelines.”
Another consideration for the candidates is their incumbencies in the General Assembly. Depending on how the recount turns out, either Deeds or McDonnell will vacate their General Assembly seat. There’s been much local buzz about who would succeed Deeds in his 25th District Senate seat. If he wins the recount, local Dems will hold a special firehouse primary to quickly fill his seat prior to the Assembly’s January 11 commencement.—Doug Black