Month: July 2006

Categories
News

American graffiti

Dear Lou: What’s the deal, you ask? You’ll forgive Ace if he’s reluctant to play societal psychologist, since he’s more at home with a pen and a cold one than leather couches and weird dreams about trains and cigars. Freudian jokes aside, however, Ace feels compelled to point out that graffiti is nothing new—scrawled vandalism has been found in sites as old as the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. And yes, our venerable Charlottesville (though not quite so old) has seen its fair share, too.
    One of the more prominent places for plucky painters to put public profiles and prolific punditry (whew!) is on Rugby Road’s Beta Bridge, a longtime billboard of sorts for UVA students. An outdoor wall at Charlottesville High School has served much the same purpose for years. And, of course, there’s the recently erected Community Chalkboard on the Downtown Mall, which actually encourages a chalk-centric version of this expressive act. The stencils that you have in mind, however, are a more recent phenomenon.
    The image of Condi (which, Ace must concede, looks pretty furious) is just one of many stenciled celebrity mugs that have sprung up in the past few years. Bob Saget and Charles Bronson (or at least their likenesses) could be seen in various places off Route 29 a while back, as reported in a 2002 story in The Daily Progress. An inscrutable etching of Dr. Cornelius from Planet of the Apes, accompanied by the word “conquest,” was (and still is) visible in many areas.
    So who, exactly, would risk the law’s wrath for Chuck Bronson? (Besides Lee Marvin, that is.) That, Ace must report, is still a mystery, given the artistes’ understandable desire for anonymity. One follower of local graffiti, though, ventured his opinion as to why they might do it. Carter Felder, administrator of the website charlottesville graffiti.com, says, “It’s mainly all about the art and getting people’s attention.”
    Admirers of these bits of unorthodox local color had best not get too attached, however. Charlottesville officials have a system in place for wiping out graffiti, even when it’s on private property. Jerry Tomlin, of the City’s Neighborhood Development Services, noted that since his office started the program, “we’ve gone from about five [instances of graffiti] a day to two a week.” Bad news for those damn dirty apes, I guess.

Categories
Arts

Bom Beleza

Madeline Sales grew up in Charlottesville, then attended Duke University. After college, she traveled through Latin America. She ended up in Bahia, the northern province of Brazil that is renowned for its music, and there she met Humberto Sales. Humberto began playing guitar as a child, and by the age of 12 he was playing very seriously. He was at the university when he and Madeline decided to pool their talents into a group. The band was so good that they received numerous offers to play abroad. On a return trip from Turkey, the two decided to return to her home here, and they have been performing samba, bossa nova and other styles as Beleza Brasil. They play every week at The Bluebird Café, Bashir’s and Zocalo, and Humberto is busy giving guitar lessons. The duo also have a CD that was recorded in Brazil that is due out this August.  

Spencer Lathrop: Brazilian bands?
Madeline Sales: There is a singer named Cybele, who I think is based in France now, who sings nice, soft bossa nova stuff with just a guitar. In the traditional vibe, I like Rosa Passos, and I like Marisa Monte’s voice. Carlinhos Brown is a very smart, interesting musician. He brings a lot of people together. And a band, Bossacucanova. I love that stuff. We would like to figure it out more but it would take us a lot more tech.
Humberto Sales: Bossacucanova has a good record, Uma Batida Diferente. We get lots of ideas from them. From my town in Bahia comes Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. There is a very famous mandolin player named Armandinho. There is a great musician named Aderbao Duarte, who is the only one who can play like Joao Gilberto. He is keeping that music alive. Jorge Ben, who is Tropicalia era, but he also really likes funk. And Monica Salmaso, from Rio, but she is doing really well in the U.S.  

Samba? HS: I have a lot of great records, but Djavan has an album called Seduzir, and at the moment he is playing really good samba. I admire Joao Bosco, who has had a great influence on my playing. There is a group of samba players called Fundo de Quintal, which means backyard. They would get together in their backyards and bring hand percussion, guitars and mandolin. If you want to hear quality samba, they are a very good band.

Flamenco? HS: First of all, Paco de Lucia. He is very important because Flamenco music was the blues and came from the lower social classes, and he brought it to the concert level. He drew his path in a hard way. He was just a boy and wanted to play soccer with his friends, but he had to stay away from his window playing the guitar. He had a mission “to be the best.” De Lucia has about 35 albums, but Solo Quiero Caminar is a very good one. Tomatio from Spain. He is a real gypsy, and was performing a lot at 12. Vicente Amigo is part of the new generation of players, as is my teacher Gerardo Nunez. And Augustin Carbonell, who is also a gypsy and the nephew of Sabicas. He can play like de Lucia.   

Categories
Living

We Ate Here

Nothing makes a rainy morning feel cozier than running through the drizzle toward the warm light of a bakery, knowing that a beautiful selection of pastries awaits within. We thought hard and chose a blueberry cream-cheese Danish—it just looked so appealing inside the glass case, like a little boat full of berries. The crust was buttery and flaky and dusted with powdered sugar; the cheese was just a little tangy; the not-too-sweet berries were dotted with a crunchy crumb topping. Who says rain is bad weather?

Albemarle Baking Company 418 W. Main St. 293-6456   

Categories
Living

Thousands of tunes at your fingertips (legally!)

    The digital music world has become a confusing jumble of online stores, generic radio stations, and illegal downloading programs (Napster vs. Metallica, anyone?). If rifling through the virtual smorgasbord of choices isn’t your cup of tea, there is a friendlier option out there. Pandora, an offshoot of the Music Genome Project, offers listeners the chance to create and customize streaming audio “stations” according to their personal tastes.         The Music Genome Project is a momentous, user-created database that categorizes 60 years of music, from a wide variety of genres (sorry, classical and world music fans—they haven’t gotten to you yet). It seeks to identify the “genes” that make up the identity of a song—upwards of 400 different attributes based on technical makeup and listener appeal. Now, fueled by this database, the Genome Project geniuses have created Pandora —a Web-based music player that allows users to personalize up to 100 stations that, theoretically, will cater to the listener’s every whim. Here’s how it works: You tell Pandora a song, album or artist you like, and it spits back a radio station designed around the musical attributes of that selection. It even explains the reasoning behind the songs it chooses. Still not satisfied? Well, you can always add songs you like to a favorites list for later reference. And, for all you control freaks out there, there are other ways to refine the station as you listen. Giving a song a “thumbs down,” for instance, causes similar-sounding tracks to play less often.
    Yes, registration is required, but at least it’s free (you can also subscribe to access the ad-free version). Rewinding is not permitted, because that would allow users to play specific songs on demand, which is a no-no for streaming audio sites. Same goes for too many skips in one hour—if you want to find a specific song, Pandora suggests that you buy it on iTunes or Amazon.com. Technicalities aside, the site’s sleek and simple design is sure to steal you away from other pocket-gouging digital music options. Why? Because their goal is to help curious music-lovers discover new tunes—no credit card (or jail time) required. Mission accomplished.

www.pandora.com

Categories
Arts

Culture Bin

Big Head Todd and the Monsters w/ Toad the Wet Sprocket Charlottesville Pavilion
Saturday, July 8, 2006
music
    Music has the great gift of conjuring up memories and reminding us of times long past. Well, over the weekend, two big acts from the ‘90s who have somewhat dropped off the musical map traveled to Charlottesville (via time machine, perhaps?) to remind us of who they were, and why they mattered.
    Taking the stage first was Toad the Wet Sprocket, who broke through on the alternative rock music scene in 1991 with their reverb-drenched single “All I Want.” Led by front man Glen Phillips, the band played all the songs that made them famous, including “Walk on the Ocean,” as well some newer, equally melodic tunes that, at times, recaptured the band’s famous way with a catchy, harmony-laden hook. Although the Toadsters officially parted ways in 1998, they’ve reunited for this summer tour and, if this performance is any indication, they might just have a chance of capturing a new audience.
    Second out of the gate was Big Head Todd and the Monsters, those frat-circuit faves who rose out of Colorado in the ‘90s with their hit album Sister Sweetly. Big Head Todd’s signature R&B sound, coupled with American rock anthems, propelled them to the top of the charts. The Charlottesville crowd definitely hung onto their favorites, including “Bittersweet,” ”It’s Alright,” “Boom Boom” and “Circle.” There was certainly no shortage of energy, and guitarist Todd Park Mohr played his guitar with infectious flair and flavor.
    It was a surprisingly memorable evening at the Pavilion, and many listeners seemed delighted to be reminded of those brighter, less complicated days in the mid-‘90s when Big Head Todd and TtWS filled the musical gap between Seattle’s grunge explosion and traditional American pop. There was definitely some nostalgia in their acts, but, like all of us, these acts just keep looking and pushing forward.— Bjorn Turnquist  

 
Enchanted April
Heritage Repertory Theatre
Through July 15
stage
    Along with my ticket to Heritage Rep’s production of the stage version of Enchanted April, I brought some baggage. I’m a fan of the original 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim—a once famous and now sadly neglected writer, and a fascinating woman whose life was as spirited as the title of her autobiography, All the Dogs of My Life. And I’m also a fan of the 1992 movie version, starring Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, Alfred Molina, Michael Kitchen and Jim Broadbent—a virtual who’s who of inimitable British actors.
    To all this could I add yet another layer of appreciation? Would I encounter a whole new way to engage with the story of four women—two disenchanted housewives, Lotty Wilton and Rose Arnott (Beth Gervain and Ann Talman), a young socialite, Caroline Bramble (Faith Noelle Hurley), and an elderly dowager, Mrs. Graves (Daria T. Okugawa)—in post- World War I England who muck in together to rent a villa on the Italian Riviera? The answer: Act I left me cold, and not just because it takes place in a drizzly London, while Act II warmed me back up, and not just because the lovely villa and the rest of the set designed by Tom Bloom seems drenched in sunshine.
    Veteran Heritage Rep director Douglas Sprigg lacks ideas when it comes to creating tension in Act I. Yes, Lotty and Rose’s husbands, Mellersh and Frederick (John Paul Scheidler and Robert Porter), are just the right shade of irritating, but the wives’ longing to replace a sterile world with a fertile one is more stated than deeply communicated. In fact, the only real tension is between Talman and Okugawa’s subtle and Gervain and Hurley’s overly mannered performances.
    Act II clears the playing field. Sprigg suddenly seems right at home. With little brushstrokes he builds a rich atmosphere that pools the resources of all the actors. And with splashes of color he stretches out the elements of classic British farce— stronger than in the novel and the movie— to garner some genuine laughs.
    In the end, the charming story charmed me once again.—Doug Nordfors 

 
NFL Head Coach
Electronic Arts
PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC Rated: Everyone
Games
I now know why Bill Belicheck seems terminally grim (even when his team is winning) and Marty Schottenheimer and Tony Dungy always look like they’ve swallowed several wads of tinfoil on the sideline.
    Being an NFL head coach is the world’s most tedious job, you see, and they’re dreading the 100-plus hours of micromanagement tasks they’ll be slogging through when the final gun sounds.
    That’s the impression you get, anyway, from playing through a season in NFL Head Coach, Electronic Arts’ debut attempt at a sports-management sim. This is a game that, for better and for worse, puts the minutiae of literally thousands of coaching and management decisions squarely into your twitching hands. Down time? The high life? Not in this league, baby—there are plays to develop and e-mails to read.
    Historically, these sorts of games have been little more than menu-based spreadsheet programs masquerading as sports games. In terms of text-based management sims, football’s fallen on especially hard times here in the States; Front Office Football, that old series veteran, has been MIA since 2003. NFL Head Coach takes what was great about those games, adds enough extra busywork to choke even Vince Lombardi and puts a nifty graphical sheen on the whole affair. Setting practice times, massaging depth charts, hiring coaches and free agents—these are just a handful of things you’ll have to do before even calling the first snap.
    The Madden engine fuels the actual onfield parts of the game, so the plays you eventually develop and call will look as sharp as they do when you’re the one controlling them in Madden ‘06. Unfortunately, you’re not the one controlling them here— you just pick and hope for the best, a goal the game’s AI botches a little too often. Even when you’ve slathered the positive motivation and maxed out attribute points, a well-prepped quarterback will still cough up some seriously puzzling turnovers. Then again, I imagine this is how Brian Billick feels when he’s watching Kyle Boller heft his third interception of the day, so perhaps EA’s nailed this aspect more closely than I realize.
    If you’re the sort who’d rather be the one juking the D for a 70-yard touchdown run in Madden ‘06, run far, far away from Head Coach—you’ll likely be clawing your eyes out before preseason begins. Control freaks, on the other hand, may just have found the foundation for a Super Bowl contender. —Aaron Conklin

Categories
Arts

GALLERIES & EXHIBITIONS

Abundant Life 201 E. Main St., Suite Q (Above Zocalo). Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 9- 11am; Monday and Thursday, 1-5pm; Tuesday and Wednesday, 1-6pm. 979-5433. Through July 31: Paintings and sculpture by Jason Roberson.

Albemarle County Courthouse 501 E. Jefferson Court Sq. Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. 804- 362-3792. Through July 31: Central Virginia Watercolor Guild Members Awards Show.

Anderson and Strudwick 414 E. Market St., second floor. Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. 293- 8181. Through July 31: “Wanderings,” photography by Scott Keith.

Angelo 220 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. Monday- Saturday, 11am-6pm. 971-9256. Through August 31: “Lightness and Weight,” paintings and works on paper by Laura J. Snyder. Art Upstairs 316 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. Wednesday-Saturday, noon-5pm. 923-3900. Through July 31: “Contrast by Design: Highlights and Shadows in Watercolor to Create Realism,” by Richard Gross.

Blue Ridge Beads and Glass 1724 Allied St. Monday-Saturday, 10:30am-5:30pm. 293-2876. Through July 31: New glass pieces, paintings and stained glass instruments by Jerry O’Dell.

Boutique Boutique 411 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm. 293- 8400. Through July 31: “Married Life,” paintings by Baldwin North and Mindy North.

BozArt Gallery 211 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. Wednesday- Thursday, noon-6pm; Friday-Saturday, noon-9pm; Sunday 1-4pm. 296-3919. Through July 30: “Ame-Technique,” a show in oils, spray paint, latex, trash and treasures by Kris Bowmaster.

Café Cubano 112 W. Main St., York Place, Downtown Mall. Monday-Tuesday, 6:30am-5pm; Wednesday-Saturday, 6:30am-10pm; Sunday 8am-5pm. 971-8743. Through July 31: Photography exhibition on Cuba by Tori Abrazo.

C & O 515 E. Water St. Monday-Friday, 9am- 5pm by chance or appointment. Through July 26: “Figures,” a new show by John Hetzel

Charles L. Brown Science and Engineering Library Clark Hall, McCormick Road. Monday-Thursday, 8am-2am; Friday, 8am-9pm; Saturday 10am- 6pm; Sunday 10am-2am. 924-7200. Through January 2007: “Exquisite History: The Land of Wandering,” prints by the Printmakers Left, artists and poets from UVA’s printmaking programs.

Charlottesville Community Design Center 101 E. Main St. Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm. 984- 2232. Through August 25: “Working to Rebuild Pearlington, Mississippi after Katrina,” an exhibit from the Building Goodness Foundation.

County Office Building Second Floor Lobby 401 McIntire Rd. Monday-Friday, 8:30am- 4:30pm. 295-2486. Through August 31: Charlottesville- Albemarle Art Association presents photographs by Charles Battig and paintings by Coy Roy.

Eppie’s Restaurant 412 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. Monday-Saturday, 11am-9pm. Through July 31: Mixed-media works by Julie Garcia.

Fifth Floor Gallery at Keller Williams 300 Preston Ave., Suite 500, Commonwealth Building. Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5:30pm. 220-2200. Through July: Oil paintings by Heliardo Aragao.

Fellini’s # 9 200 W. Market St. Tuesday- Sunday, 5-10pm. 979-4279. Through July 31: “Summertime Watercolors,” by Sunny Leng.

The Gallery at Fifth and Water Henderson & Everett, P.C. and Stoneking/von Storch Architects, 107 Fifth St. SE. Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. 979-9825. Through July 31: “Diving Into Color,” oil paintings by Randy Sights Baskerville and photographs by the uni-monikered Sarah.  

Glo 225 E. Main St. Monday-Saturday, 10am- 6pm; Sunday 1-5pm. 295-7432. Through July 31: New oil paintings on canvas by Christian Peri.

Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection 400 Worrell Dr., Peter Jefferson Place. Monday-Friday, 9am- 5pm. 244-0234. Through August 19: “Mysterious Beauty: Edward L. Ruhe’s Vision of Australian Aboriginal Art;” Through August 23: “Manta Wiru (Beautiful Land): Paintings from Amata.”  

La Galeria 218 W. Market St. Monday-Friday, 11am-5:30pm; Saturday 11am-3pm. 293-7003. Through July 31: “Night Lights,” by Sue Sencer.

Lee Alter Studios 109 E. Jefferson St. 760- 9658. Call for viewing.  

McGuffey Art Center 201 Second St. NW. Tues-day-Saturday, 10am-5pm; Sunday 1- 5pm. 295-7973. Through August 13: “Jean’s Gutsy Abstract Art Show,” oil paintings by Jean Sampson and “Summer Group Show” of members’ works.

Migration: A Gallery 119 Fifth St. SE. Tuesday- Saturday, 11am-6pm; First Fridays, 11am- 8:30pm; Sunday and Monday by appointment. 293-2200. Through August 31: “Elemental Harmonies,” paintings by Suzanne Howes- Stevens and metal work by Jim Martin and “Inside/Out,” paintings by Lynn Boggess and clay vessels and plates by Tom Clarkson.  

Mono Loco 200 W. Water St. Monday-Friday, 11:30am-10pm; Saturday 5:30-10pm; Sunday 11:30am-9pm. 979-0688. Through July 31: “Sand in the Eyes,” by George Andrews.

Mudhouse 213 W. Main St. Tuesday-Saturday, 7am-11pm; Sunday 8am-8pm; Monday 7am- 8pm. 984-6833. Through July 31: New work by Sean Samoheyl.  

New Dominion Bookshop 404 E. Main St. Monday-Wednesday and Saturday, 9:30am- 5:30pm; Thursday-Friday, 9:30am-8pm; Sunday noon-5pm. 295-2552. Through July 31: “Chimeras and Dreamers,” recent oil paintings by Lisi Stoessel.

Sage Moon Gallery 420 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. Tuesday-Thursday, 12-8pm; Friday- Saturday, 10am-10pm; Sunday, 11am-7pm. 977-9997. Through July 31: A new exhibition by oil painter Raymond Chow.  

Second Street Gallery City Center for Contemporary Arts, Second Street SE and Water Street. Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-6pm. 977- 7284. Through August 12: “Love Letter Invitational,” a multimedia installation with works on the theme of love by local writers and artists in the May Dove Gallery. Includes contributions from Gregory Orr, John Casey, Paul Curreri, Rita Dove and the Printmakers Left.

Sidetracks 218 W. Water St. Monday-Saturday, 10am-6pm; Sunday, 1-5pm. 295-3080. Through July 31: “Drawn from Music,” musicinspired drawings by Laura Lee Gulledge.  

Spruce Creek Gallery 1368 Rockfish Valley Hwy., Nellysford. 361-1859. Through August 7: “Party Animals,” paintings by Cynthia Burke.

Starr Hill Restaurant and Brewery 709 W. Main St., Tuesday–Sunday from 5pm. 977-0017. Through July: Photography by Sean Thomas.  

Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church 717 Rugby Rd. Sunday-Friday, 9am-2pm. 293-8179. Through July: “Pants, Puppets and Web Comics,” by Skyler Breeden.

Transient Crafters 118 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. Monday-Thursday and Saturday, 10am- 6pm; Friday 10am-9pm; Sunday noon-6pm. 972-9500. Through July 31: “Body of Work,” stained glass panels by Lynn Windsor.

UVA Art Museum 155 Rugby Rd. Tuesday- Sunday, 1-5pm. 924-3592. Through August 20: “Humanism and Enigma,” oil paintings by Honoré Sharrer in the main gallery. Through August 6: “Art/Not Art,” oceanic art and artifacts. Free to students and museum members, all others $3.

UVA Small Special Collections Library, Mc- Cormick Road. adjacent to Alderman Library. Main exhibit gallery hours: Monday-Saturday, 9am-1pm. Check library hours at www.lib. virginia.edu/hours. Through September: “The Style of Power: Building a New Nation,” with works drawn from the Library’s Special Collections, the UVA Art Museum, Monticello and Mount Vernon. Free. UVA Main Hospital Lobby 1300 Jefferson Park Ave. Monday-Sunday, 7am-11pm. 924-5527. Through July 17: “Observation in Paint,” oils by Joan Ranzini.

White Orchid 420 W. Main St. Monday-Sunday, 11:30am-2pm, 5-10pm. 297-4400. Through August 31: “Photographs of Vietnam” by Georgia Barbour. 

C-VILLE Weekly defines an exhibition space or gallery as a venue that displays art and is either nonprofit, donates space to artists or hosts regularly rotating exhibitions. Gallery listing is at editorial discretion. To have your show considered for inclusion, please provide the names of artists and shows, media used, contact information and show’s beginning and end dates.

Categories
News

Supes defer on Glen Oaks appeal

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday, July 5, deferred a decision on Glen Oaks, a cluster of about 30 new homes to be built near the Glenmore neighborhood south of Route 250 in eastern Albemarle. The plan reached the board on an appeal from the Planning Commission, which in May rejected the rural development plan over groundwater issues.
    “The concern was that the concentration of the cluster was in an area that is a difficult groundwater area and was very close to the Running Deer subdivision, which has experienced some groundwater problems,” Supervisors Chair Dennis Rooker says.
    Sterling Proffitt, who lives in the adjacent Running Deer neighborhood and spoke at the meeting, says one in four residents in the neighborhood has had well problems.
    A groundwater study conducted by hydro-geologists hired by the Glen Oaks developer, KG Associates, showed there wasn’t a problem, says KG’s Don Franco.
    But Rooker says groundwater can be complicated and difficult to predict. “If you have larger lots you’re more likely to find a good well site. As a practical matter it doesn’t make sense to cluster right beside an area [that has had well problems],” he says.
    Wells are the only water option for Glen Oaks, which would sit just outside the County’s public water service.
    The board discussed options with Franco, including reducing the number of houses and building a more conventional development with larger lots. The developer will revise the plans to create five two-acre lots, with the rest being 21-acre lots (where houses are distributed farther from Running Deer).
    To accommodate conventional development, KG Associates may need a special-use permit to cross a stream between the eastern and western sides of the site. This would put the matter before the Planning Commission again in four to six months, Franco estimates.
    Franco also says  KG will drill monitoring wells to gather information about the ongoing groundwater conditions.
    Neighbors are concerned about water, Running Deer resident Proffitt says, but they would be satisfied with a compromise. “Sometimes eating one slice of bread and digesting it is better than choking on the whole loaf,” he says.

Categories
News

Public meetings out the wazoo

Hey citizens! Fed up? Got something civic to get off your chest? Well, stop bellyaching to your barber and get yourself out to a public meeting. After all, someone’s got to keep an eye on these elected officials so they don’t pull a fast one while everyone’s on summer vacation.
    Here, for your politicking pleasure, is a sampling of public meetings on development issues coming up during the next couple of weeks in Charlottesville and Albemarle. Now remember: Only you can prevent democracy fires.

Charlottesville City Planning Commission meets. July 11.

Albemarle County Board of Supervisors meets to hear a report on the proposed Rivanna River Basin Commission. July 12.

Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority hosts a Drought Response meeting to discuss water supply management. (Recent rains should make this one more lighthearted.) July 13.

Charlottesville City Council and Planning Commission jointly host a work session on land use issues. July 13.

Charlottesville City Council meets. July 17.

Albemarle Planning Commission meets for a work session on the Rivanna Village rezoning. July 18.

Albemarle hosts an open house on the proposed Mountain Overlay District (MOD) ordinance. July 25.

Categories
News

City sued for alleged racial bias

A former employee of Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is suing the City of Charlottesville to the tune of $300,000. Angela Estes, who worked as a property manager for CRHA in 2005, claims in her lawsuit that her former employer discriminated against her because she is black.
    Estes alleges that she was denied training, time off, overtime pay and the use of a CRHA vehicle in the execution of her duties. By contrast, the suit claims that white CRHA employees were given the use of official vehicles and training and received overtime pay and time off. The suit also calls the City’s actions “willful, wanton and malicious” and claims they “were calculated to cause her harm.”
    CRHA director Noah Schwartz declined to comment.
    In addition to the $300,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, Estes is seeking compensation for overtime and an official apology from the City.
    “We haven’t been served any papers yet,” says City Attorney Allyson Davies, explaining that the suit should have been filed against CRHA itself, and not the City of Charlottesville.
    “That is a technicality,” countered Estes’ attorney Martin Hogan. “I think there is more than sufficient grounds to bring this cause of action.”

Categories
News

Sentencings continue in local gang convictions

Federal court sentencings will continue into late August for members of Project Crud, also dubbed the Westside Crew, a Charlottesville gang that spread drug violence for more than 10 years. Ringleader Louis Antonio Bryant (a.k.a. Tinio or B-Stacks) will face the harshest penalties at a hearing in U.S. District court August 18.
    A longtime gang leader and crack dealer who was arrest-ed for kidnapping and attempt-ed murder in 2004, Bryant faces mandatory life in federal prison
for running a con-tinuing criminal enterprise.
    The law that helped bring him down, RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) was originally used in the 1970s to prosecute mafia leaders who ordered violent activity; lately it’s been applied to put street gang leaders behind bars.
    More than a dozen other men were brought up on charges related to Project Crud. Claiborne Lemar Maupin pleaded guilty in the racketeering conspiracy and was sentenced to 20 years on June 29. Richard Knajib Johns (a.k.a. Main) was sentenced June 29 to time served for possessing with the intent to distribute 50 pounds of marijuana.
    Many Project Crud members turned them-selves in and several testified against Bryant.
    Sentencings will continue through August for more than a dozen gang members on charges ranging from murder, attempted murder, malicious wounding, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession of firearms while drug trafficking and conspiracy charges.
    The Project Crud arrests mark the largest drug distribution bust in the area. Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement Task Force Detective Brian O’Donnell, a Charlottesville police officer, says that big arrests have destabilized the drug market, but that gang activity is still evolving in the city. Homegrown, geographically based gangs are becoming organizationally based, O’Donnell says, meaning that “there are people moving freely throughout the city doing what they did before in the neighborhoods.”