Month: October 2008

City and county police released statements today about two separate incidents that left two men dead and one injured.

Yesterday, a stabbing in the area of Second Street SE and Garrett Street at the entrance to Friendship Court left one dead and one injured.

According to the city police statement, Joshua Lee Gibson, 20, of Charlottesville was found lying on the ground at the entrance of Friendship Court with stab wounds in the chest. Gibson was treated at the scene, but was pronounced dead at the UVA Medical Center a short time later.

The second victim is a 44-year-old Charlottesville resident. He has been transported to the UVA Medical Center and is in stable condition.

Police say that Lamont Jermaine Blakey, 26 has been charged with first degree murder and malicious wounding. Blakey, a Charlottesville resident, is currently being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail with no bond.

In Albemarle County late last night, one man was shot and killed during an altercation in an apartment in the 2200 block of Commonwealth Drive, according to county police. Two other men were found injured and transported to the UVA Medical Center. The names of the victims are being withheld pending notification of family members.

The suspect reportedly fled on foot from the area. He is described as a white male, approximately 6 feet tall, mid 20’s in age with shoulder length blonde hair. He is said to have a prominent mole or markings on his face.

Lamont Jermaine Blakey, 26, has been charged with first degree murder and malicious wounding. He is being held without bond.

The "new face of evil," as C-VILLE has dubbed him,  is looking for a facelift. Kyle Redinger of Spicy Bear has just posted on cVillain.com that the business is for sale.

cvilleStyle and cvilleMUSE, also part of the so-called Spicy Bear network, are also on the block.

The post says that the new media company has hit a wall with regard to what it can do alone, without people working on it full-time: e.g. “better reporting."

Redinger writes that it is time to explore options, because “we recognize that we’ve taken it as far as we can without bringing in a professional team.” Spicy Bear has approached local companies, presumably a few old media types, with the intent to sell.

Before venturing in the media blogosphere, Kyle Redinger worked for Microsoft.

This afternoon, Tees Overseas, a student campaign to promote University tradition and help those in need abroad, officially announced this afternoon its endorsement of the sign-ban protest at Saturday’s football game.

Students are encouraged to wear blue instead of orange in an effort to contradict the University’s recent "Power of Orange" campaigning. In addition to moral support, Tees Overseas will provide donation bins for those who want to do away with their orange apparel altogether.

The sign ban was announced in early September by the school’s athletic department, and was protested once before when students held up blank paper at a game against Richmond.

This latest protest attempt at Saturday’s game against Maryland promises to be a bit more colorful. The press release mentions, "If you don’t have blue, anything but orange will do."

In early September, UVA students executed their first sign-ban protest by holding up blank sheets of paper.

NBC29 reports today that Fifth District Congressman Virgil Goode has cancelled his debate against Democratic challenger Tom Perriello that the news station was sponsoring, originally slated for live broadcast on October 7 at 7pm, a prominent spot preceding the second presidential debate. Goode cited a scheduling conflict. The debate has been in the works since April.

“We are working with Mr. Goode and the Perriello campaign on possibly rescheduling this debate for another date,” says Neal Bennett, NBC29 news director. “We hope to have some answers by the end of the week.” According to NBC29, Goode says he will commit to a third debate, though he wouldn’t specifically commit to a televised debate.

“There’s just no excuse for this,” says Perriello in a press release. “We’ve been working with NBC29 and WSET for over six months on scheduling and setting rules for the debate. I call on Congressman Goode to tell his constituents what other event would be more important than a televised debate for the benefit of the voters. …This is cowardice, not leadership.”

Linwood Duncan, Goode’s press secretary, was not immediately available for comment.

Perriello has presented the strongest challenge to Goode since he was first elected in 1996. The pair have debated twice—the first time in Charlottesville, and the second time in Danville. The second debate, sponsored by the Sorensen Institute, has been aired on public radio.

Tom Perriello is calling out Virgil Goode (above) for cancelling the debate slated to precede the presidential debate on Tuesday night. "This is cowardice, not leadership," says Perriello.

Sorry to go a bit left of the dial for a few days, folks, but it’s been a busy one—Rhino reissued the final four albums by The Replacements (more on those next week, but here’s a primer), and VH1 is currently showing "100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs." Unfortunately, I’m only at Digable Planets’ "Rebirth of Slick" and I’ll have to wait through an hour of "Behind the Music: New Kids on the Block" until I find out which song is No. 1. Fortunately, that gives me time for a public service announcement:

Gold soundz: One of Charlottesville‘s finest contributions to rock, Pavement, in an old press photo.

 Last year, local radio station WTJU started "Rock and Roll Movie Night," held every Monday night for free at Olsson Hall (map here). Last year, the group screened the Fugazi documentary Instrument and Dig!, one of the greatest rock meltdown flicks I’ve seen. Monday night, WTJU’s Nick Rubin screened Slow Century, Matador Records’ documentary about Pavement.

It was a great pairing—a movie that gave a once-local rock act a fan’s reverence, screened for about a dozen Pavement-loving locals who seemed to share the outlook. The last 15 minutes of Slow Century, in fact, are given over to the last three songs of Pavement’s final performance in London; the credits roll as the band packs its gear up, a nice touch.

I’m not a Pavement nut, necessarily—I love Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but one of my favorite songs on the record has always been "Newark Wilder," and the song isn’t exactly held up as a fan favorite, which always made me feel like I was missing something integral. But the film was the right tune for the right night, and with a few other good ones coming up—Dave Chappelle’s Block Party (your only chance to see the Fugees, really) and 24-Hour Party People, about the Manchester music scene that centered around Factory Records and Joy Division/New Order.

Come check out Block Party on Monday night! The rest of the schedule can be found here. What other rock flicks should WTJU screen?