Month: May 2010

Message from Craig Littlepage regarding Yeardley Love

The loss of any young person is tragic. When that young person has the talent, personality, and potential of someone like Yeardley Love, the loss goes much deeper.

Yesterday President Casteen wrote a moving message about Yeardley to the University community. His thoughts were presented eloquently and powerfully, summarizing the uniquely talented student that Yeardley Love was. In comments made by her teammates and friends, Yeardley was described as an “angel” and the type of person who would light up any room. She was a dedicated student-athlete and a natural leader.

We are all heartbroken that we will not see the full potential that this wonderful young woman would have brought to our lives and to our community. Our primary focus now will be on Yeardley’s family and the young women and young men on our lacrosse teams.

The students are under tremendous stress and have experienced a huge loss. Our students’ welfare will be continually observed over the coming days and weeks so that we are poised to ensure they are healing and coping as best as can be expected. Beginning with the early morning hours on Monday, the Vice President for Student Affairs, the Dean of Students, and Counseling and Psychological Services deployed staff to assist our lacrosse student-athletes
 

I’m more than a little excited about the new issue of ABODE, just out this morning. While I was putting this one together, I had the fun of visiting an off-grid kit house outside Appomattox. It’s the weekend home (and future full-time residence) of the Casati family: Copeland, Christoph and their two kids.

The Casati family at the cleverly named Casa Ti.

What’s cool about this? 1. These folks plan to inhabit their place without tapping into standard utilities. No electric service, no well. They’ll use solar panels and rainwater collection instead. 2. Copeland sells the Casa Ti and other kit houses through her three websites (start with greenmodernkits.com). 3. There’s a very interesting D.I.Y., tech-savvy, appreciative-of-nature-yet-not-at-all-crunchy vibe going on here. You’ll feel it for yourself when you read the story and see the photos. One more as a teaser:

Nope, it’s not finished. (Can you spot the salvaged basketball court flooring?)

Also in this issue: locally ground flour, the brand-new location of the Blue Ridge Eco Shop, and a treadmill that doesn’t suck down power. Read, comment, let us know what you think!

Check out this week’s Feedback column to read about a couple of local filmmakers for whom acclaim at the Tribeca Film Festival has preceded the finished product. But they’re not sweating it. (Teaser: the film’s about Mexican carnival workers.)

Now onto serious business. The Pavilion announced a couple of exciting additions to their schedule yesterday. The first is an outrageous double bill featuring stanky alt-rockers Primus, the only band with enough audacity to release a record called the Brown Album, and Gogol Bordello, who you may (or may not) recall from their New Year’s blowout at the Jefferson Theater. Catch them in the heat on August 1.

 The ecstatic December 31 celebration with Gogol Bordello. More below.

Also announced yesterday was a visit from the beloved two piece rock duo the Black Keys. The Keys have a new record coming out this month, a follow up to their genre-crossing effort Blakroc, where they collaborated with Mos Def, Ludacris, and members of the Wu Tang Clan. Suffice to say, here’s hoping for some cameos on September 9.

Tickets for shows go on sale Friday.

How much Gogol Bordello is too much Gogol Bordello?

Happy Monday, all. A few points of interest—

• The Artist Farm, the local management agency that represents the Infamous Stringdusters and Jesse Harper, is working to found a new local festival. Most of the details haven’t been announced, but what we do know is this: the lineup will be curated by the Stringdusters, it’ll happen on October 9 and 10 at Devil’s Backbone Brewery, and it’s called The Festy. The Devil’s Backbone website says, "Everything is being prepared to make October 9th-10th the best weekend of your life." 
• UVA is hosting Matmos for Digitalis, the music department’s annual celebration of computer music. The Baltimore-based electronic duo has been mashing pop with musique concrete for 15 years, and—the highest order of legitimacy—they collaborated with Bjork…more than once! They’re lecturing at 3:30 today at UVA, before a performance tomorrow night at 8pm. Not to be missed. Get the details here.
• I checked out hometown heroes Parachute at the Jefferson Theater on Friday. What can I say? They were great. Like the magic dust in Chicken McNuggets, aspects of the Parachute concert experience are scientifically derived to make humans want more. For one, they looked like pros, starting with ecstatic frontman Will Anderson: Though his piano was turned toward the side of the stage, he craned his neck to gaze over the sold out crowd. Stripped of the studio sheen, they sounded almost like the garage band they once were. As "Words Meet Heartbeats" (from last year’s Losing Sleep) crashed to a close, and the lights left the room, I received a stunning, if minor, revelation: I am a Parachute fan.

 Parachute’s "Mess I Made."

What did you think of the show?

Sometimes, an endorsement from Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling just isn’t enough. Over the weekend, the Fifth District Republican Committee elected Bill Stanley as its new chairman, and a leader of the seven-candidate charge against incumbent Democratic Congressman Tom Perriello. Stanley defeated former Albemarle County GOP Chairman Christian Schoenewald in the race; Schoenewald’s wife, Rachel, currently serves as chair of the Albemarle County GOP.

In his endorsement of Schoenewald, Bolling—who has his own next step lined up—said that Sthe former Albemarle County chair "worked tirelessly to help elect Bob McDonnell, Ken Cuccinelli and me, as he has done for so many other Republican candidates over the years."

"Christian is the type of proven, conservative leader that our Party needs at this critical time in our nation’s history," said Bolling.

This morning at 2:15am, members of the Charlottesville Police Departmet responded to a call from an apartment on 14th Street for what City spokesman Ric Barrick calls a "possible alcohol overdose." According to a press release from the City of Charlottesville, police found the unresponsive body of a female UVA student. The release says that attempts to revive the woman were unsuccessful, and that local law enforcement is "treating the case as a homicide investigation at this time."

The identity of the victim has not been released; the press release notes that more information regarding the incident "will be released later today."

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli isn’t new to controversies (see here and here). Now, there appears to be one more to pin on him. On Saturday, the Virginian-Pilot reported that Cuccinelli distributed to his staffers a pin of the state seal with a slight difference in its design.

The Roman goddess Virtus, who is usually depicted with an uncovered breast, appears with an armored breastplate. The news has made the national rounds, including the Huffington Post (where a photo of the pin is featured).

"When you ask to be ridiculed, it usually happens. And it will happen here, nationally," said UVA politics professor Larry Sabato. "This is classical art, for goodness’ sake."

Brian Gottstein, a spokesman for Cuccinelli, told the Virginian-Pilot that the pin was paid for by the AG’s political action committee, and not with tax payers’ money. According to the Washington Post, Cuccinelli later responded that he felt the pre-1930s design was "historic" and "unique."

"My joke about Virtue being a little more virtuous in her more modest clothing was intended to get laughs from my employees—which it did!" Cuccinelli reportedly responded. "Just because we’ve always done something a certain way doesn’t mean we always have to continue doing it that way. Now seriously, can we get on with real news?"

 

UPDATE: 2:45pm

At a press conference this afternoon, Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo said that a phone call received by police at 2:15am reported an alcohol overdose, but it became apparent to the police at the scene that "this young lady was the victim of something far worse."

"There were obvious physical injuries to her body," said Longo. The chief said that Love lived with two roommates, one of whom found the body (in Love’s bedroom) and called the police. At the time of the incident, Love’s roommates were not in the apartment.

Longo said that as far as he knows, there is no weapon involved and related to the incident, and he is not aware of any other suspects, but the case is still under investigation.

According to Longo, Love was dead upon arrival, and Huguely became "the focus" of the investigation "very quickly." By early morning, "probable cause existed for us to take him into custody and obtain warrants for his arrest." Huguely, as previsouly reported, has been charged with first-degree murder. He is currently in custody at the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail.

UVA Chief Operating Officer Leonard Sandridge and Athletic Director Craig Littlepage joined Longo and expressed shock and sadness for the tragedy. Sandridge said that the entire University is in shock because Love "was murdered by one of our own."

Littlepage gave an update on the emotional status of both lacrosse teams and called their student athletes "devastated" and "torn apart" by the news of Love’s death.

The athletic community, said Littlepage, is in mourning for the loss of a member who is "described as an angel by teammates and friends."

Colin Hood, UVA student council president, told C-VILLE about the importance of working with the administration "to make sure that the services that exist like counseling and psychological services are been taken advantage of, and we are making sure that our fellow students are getting what they need."

City Police Chief Tim Longo at today’s press conference

Leonard Sandridge (left) and Craig Littlepage

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UPDATE: 12:30pm

George Huguely, a 22-year-old fourth year student at UVA and a lacrosse player, has been charged with first–degree murder in the death of Yeardley Love, who has been identified as the victim in this morning’s homicide at 222 14th Street NW Apartment Number 9. Love, 22, played for the women’s lacrosse team. She is from Cockeysville, Maryland. According to the city, "preliminary investigation by detectives revealed that Ms. Love is the victim of an apparent homicide. She suffered visible physical trauma, however the specific cause of her death is undetermined pending an autopsy."

Huguely is listed on virginiasports.com as 6’2," 209 pounds. He is from Chevy Chase, Maryland. He and Love are said to have had a past relationship. He is being held in the Charlottesville/Albemarle Regional Jail.

The police ask that anyone with further information on the incident contact Charlottesville Police Sergeant Mark Brake at 970-3970 or Crime Stoppers at 977-4000.

Police cars at the entrance of the 14th Street apartment building.

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UVA President John Casteen and Chief Operating Officer Leonard Sandridge issued a joint statement in response to the death of a female UVA student this morning at a 14th Street apartment building.

"Although we know no details of the police investigation of this death, we note with concern that the Charlottesville Police Department is treating the case as a homicide investigation," says the letter. It urges anyone with information pertinent to the investigation to contact Crime Stoppers (977-4000) or Sergeant Marc Brake of the Charlottesville Police (970-3970).

"Obviously, we take the death of any student very seriously, and we support the police investigation into the causes of this death," says the letter.

A second message, from police chief Mike Gibson, describes the death of the student as "suspicious," offers resident safety tips and directs people to the UVA homepage for updates.

UVA midfielder George Huguely has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of women’s lacrosse player Yeardly Love. Huguely, who attended the Landon school in Bethesda, MD had just been honored along with the other 4th years on Senior Day this past Saturday.

C-Ville will have more information about this tragic death as soon as more details begin to unfold. A press conference will be carried live on WVIR-TV Chanel 29 at 2 p.m..

Kevin Parks, who along with Morgan Moses, is considered to be one of the crown jewels of the 2010 recruiting class at the University of Virginia, was tasered by an off-duty police officer in Mockville, North Carolina on Saturday night. It is not exactly clear why Parks was pulled over and tasered, but he was not arrested. Parks was taken to the hospital at his suggestion in order to be checked out by a physician after the incident.

Virginia coach Mike London was out of the office Monday and not available for comment on this matter.

Parks was the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2009 as he led West Rowan High School to a 3A State Championship. He is one of the most prolific running backs in North Carolina’s history. It’s not clear at this time if this unfortunate incident will effect his scholarship situation at UVA.

We will have more information about this developing story as facts become available.