Month: December 2009

The Commonwealth of Virginia bought the 1,200-acre parcel known as Biscuit Run for $9.8 million, as of yesterday. The property will be used as parkland. Charlottesville Tomorrow reports on the details of the December 30 transaction.

Hunter Craig and other developers bought the land for a reported $46.5 million in 2005 from the Breeden family.

In a news release, Governor Tim Kaine said, “"When developed as a state park, this extraordinary piece of land will benefit the citizens of Albemarle, Charlottesville and the Commonwealth for recreation, natural resource protection and the preservation of open space in a fast growing area," he said.

"This property is a real jewel and I am very pleased to add it to the long list of properties preserved during my Administration."

The sale, Charlottesville Tomorrow reports, is a “bargain sale,” meaning the developer can apply for tax credits that amount to about 40 percent of the appraised value of the land. At present, Biscuit Run is assessed at close to $44 million, making the tax credits worth as much as $17 million or so.

Biscuit Run, which went through the rezoning approval process in 2007, would have been the largest residential development in county history with 3,100 residential units planned and 150,000 square feet of commercial space.

After the video, a few announcements for those of you not busy purchasing sparkling wine at the moment. And, for those of you who are buying sparkling wine, may I suggest Donaghy?

Just heard that The Southern booked a few gigs for next week, including a rescheduled Vaden Cox show for January 10 and a free midnight set by The Cinnamon Band on January 9. You certainly want to be at that latter gig; Cinnamon Band’s Buena Vista EP is one of my favorite local releases of the year. More on that in next week’s paper, though.

Other brief items of note: Join the debate on the cultural merits of The Big Lebowski, and, if you’re spending New Year’s Eve indoors tonight, may I suggest TCM’s Thin Man marathon?

Virginia Men grab first win over a ranked opponent of the Tony Bennett era.

The Wahoos earned the first big win of the Tony Bennet era Wednesday evening at the John Paul Jones Arena by beating UAB 72-63. The win was the first for the Bennet led Cavs over a ranked opponent. Virginia was led by super second-year Sylven Landesberg who was 6-16 shooting and added 19 points in the effort.

UAB was led by Elijah Millsap who had a huge first half and finished with 27 points in the loss. The Wahoos trailed for most of the game, but after Sammy Zeglinski added a rare four point play at the 7:17 mark the Hoos never relinquished the lead again.

Virginia next plays Texas-Pan American on January 5th at the JPJ at 7 p.m. Go Hoos!

Ken Boyd, an Albemarle County Supervisor and now Republican primary candidate for the Fifth Congressional District race, has just announced that he won’t seek to become chair of the county board.

Boyd explains that since former Chairman David Slutkzy was ousted by Republican Rodney Thomas in the November election, county residents had asked him to consider becoming chair for the remainder of the term.

“This would also allow the Vice Chair to fulfill the customary two year term in that position, as all previous Vice Chairs have done in recent times,” said Boyd.

Residents, he said, were “eager for change in the way County government will be run and wanted someone who would champion their concerns.”

Yet, since the Republican Party has opted for a primary to pick the nominee to run against Congressman Tom Perriello later this year, Boyd said the time he will spend touring the district would have diminished the time he’d have to  chair the board.

In the statement, Boyd said that the controversy that arose from weekend news that Vice Chair Ann Mallek might be denied her turn “has become an unnecessary distraction that is not in the best interest for County government and delays the hard work of getting Albemarle County open for business. It is for this and other reasons I have already mentioned that I am withdrawing my name for consideration for the job of chairman.”

Reached for comment, Mallek says, “I have talked to Mr. Boyd a month ago about this and actually raised the issue that at that time that I was concerned the citizens might feel that they were being kind of secondary to his run and he needed to be careful about what their perception was, that citizens really want their board to be devoted to their best interests.”

“I am glad to know that this is resolved from his perspective and we will certainly have our discussion," she says. "I have had other who said they would vote to have me be the chair, so, perhaps this will be smoother now.”
 

More than two months after the disappearance of VT student Morgan Harrington, Virginia State Police said in a press conference this afternoon that Harrington was drinking and not acting normally on the evening when she was last seen.

According to a statement from police, based on eyewitness accounts, Lt. Joe Rader said that Harrington was drinking on October 17, the night she disappeared at a Metallica concert outside John Paul Jones Arena. "Those accounts also describe her behavior as irrational, in a way that would have been very unusual for Morgan," reads the statement.

Furthermore, state police say it is unknown whether Harrington had been drugged or injured.

The statement also says that investigators are looking for a red digital camera, possibly Kodak or Sony, that Harrington had with her the night of her disappearance.

For more coverage of the Morgan Harrington case, click here.
 

Feeling a little slow on the uptake this morning? Perhaps you partied a bit too hard last night. Ah, no matter. Here are a few things to help you shake off the night before.

• The New York Times covers The Year’s Work in Lebowski Studies, which features an essay from Richard Gaughran, a professor of English at James Monroe? Stewart? Madison University. Since I’m decidedly pro-Dude, I aplaud the spirit of Gaughran’s thigh-baring photo in the Times. I may need to pick up the book for the brilliantly titled essay "The Really Big Sleep: Jeffrey Lebowski as the Second Coming of Rip Van Winkle."

•  This has been Feedback’s year of compulsive podcast listening. Podcasts on long walks! Podcasts while cooking! Podcasts while shoveling snow! And the folks at Secretly Y’all recently offered a few selections for the snowstorm that will get you through the forthcoming post-New Year’s Eve letdown. Exhibit A, and Exhibit B. And have I told you to meet these people? (I have.) Make sure to catch the next Secretly Y’all event at Random Row Books on January 17, 7pm.

• Borrowed Beams of Light caught a write-up on the tongue-in-beard—er, in-cheek—music blog White Guys with Beards. Adam Brock’s EP is one of the most enjoyable things I heard this year, shaven or stirred. Give it a listen and, when you see him, ask him to get another show together.

"Virginia’s governor-elect Bob McDonnell is showing his Pat Robertson stripes," says Bob Johnson, who posts at blog called the Tampa Design Examiner.

The evidence?

McDonnell is examining a directive that keeps state police chaplains from making public prayers that name a specific diety. McDonnell’s spokesperson is quoted as saying, "The governor-elect is a strong supporter of religious liberty and the right of religious officials to freely practice their faiths, unimpeded by government. He is reviewing the directive from that perspective."

McDonnell is a graduate of Pat Robertson’s Regent University and a right-wing Christian. Robertson’s brand of evangelism includes such by-now classic declarations like hurricanes and tornados are "the birth pangs of a new order" prophesied in the bible.

Johnson decries what he calls McDonnell’s "true desire to corrupt America into a theocracy."