Month: August 2010

A new street fair next month will shut down West Main Street from the Sacagawea statue to Seventh Street on September 11, says Blue Moon Diner co-owner Laura Galgano.

Galgano said that she finalized plans with the city this morning for the fair, which will include a waitstaff olympics and a BBQ cookoff. There will, of course, be music: the tentative (and great) lineup includes Jim Waive and the Young Divorcees, Mister Baby, Pantherburn and the kid tested, mother approved We Are Star Children.

The Midtown Street Fair, as they’re calling it, is sponsored by the Midtown Business Association and will involve businesses restaurants along West Main extending to the 12th Street Taphouse. "I’ve never been so pleased with the city," she says.

 Van Halen. Live. ’84. "Dancing in the Street." ‘Nuff said.

"Break out the champagne!" exclaims People magazine. "Chelsea Clinton is a married woman." What the lucky bride sipped on the day of her nuptials, we’re not sure; however, a few days before, Clinton and company opted for a few bottles from Kluge Winery and Vineyard.

Spokeswoman Kristin Moses Murray tells C-VILLE that the former First Daughter served two of Kluge’s wines—the sparkling Blanc de Blancs and Rosé—to guests at a rehearsal dinner held days before her recent wedding to Marc Mezvinsky. Maybe Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heard about Patricia Kluge‘s winery during her 2008 trip to Charlottesville?

At 11am on Sunday, the Charlottesville Lions’ wild weekend at the Street Soccer USA Cup in Washington, D.C., came to a close. This year’s tournament featured 23 teams (from 19 different cities) made up of 200 homeless that converged on the nation’s capitol to play four-on-four futbol. For the seven men comprising the locally based Hope Community Center’s team, the tourney began on Friday with a couple lopsided losses but then followed with two wins in three games the next day.

A victory in a qualifying match on Saturday night sent them into a quarterfinal where they bowed out with a 3-4 record—not bad, considering half of Hope’s players had never kicked a soccer ball before this spring. Plus, it’s not supposed to be about winning anyway—the players were told again and again—but an encouraging, exciting experience they could take back home with them. More after the photo.

The Charlottesville Lions, a team assembled by the Hope Community Center and led by captain Darryl Rojas (left), qualified for the Street Soccer USA playoffs before losing a quarterfinal match.

“If you used all the energy you just spent in these two games on a week in Charlottesville,” Darryl Rojas, the Lions team captain, told his fellow teammates on Friday afternoon, “you’d have a car, a house, and a wife.”

It was hard to grasp that after just suffering a 10-2 defeat, but by Sunday it seemed possible. “It’s a great thing that happened,” said one player (who asked not to be identified), reflecting on the weekend’s events. However, Sunday also meant the team would be returning to Charlottesville and reality. “Tonight we’ll be in the same situation as before, struggling to make it.”
 

Police responded to reported gunfire near the coal tower at the end of Water Street to find that Kevin Morrissey, 52, managing editor at the Virginia Quarterly Review, had taken his own life on July 30. Morrissey was part of the small staff that, under editor Ted Genoways, helped gain national recognition for the 7,000-circulation journal.

VQR’s web editor, Waldo Jaquith, has a personal note on his blog at cvillenews.com.

Fall football practice begins for Mike London’s Wahoos Friday August 6 at 3:45. The first five practices (Aug 6-10) are free and open to the public. London reminds fans that no electronic devices, including cell phones and cameras, will be allowed to be turned on during the practices. Each session is expected to last around two hours.

Virginia practices (most of the time) at the turf field behind U-Hall and the McCue Center.

The Hoos will hold their annual Meet the Team Day at Scott Stadium on Sunday August 15th. Gates at the stadium will open at 1:30 on Sunday and admission is also free. The first 500 kids will receive a free UVA-Nike youth mini football. There will be tours of the locker room, and well as many different kid-friendly activities available free of charge for the fans.

Virginia will have 16 practices in August before their first game against in-state rival Richmond on Saturday September 4th at 6 p.m. The Wahoos are coming off a 3-9 season, and they have lost to lowly Duke two years in a row, but there is renewed energy and confidence coming out of the McCue Center.

Go Hoos, beat the Hokies!

Albemarle County released a survey today to gather citizen input in their search to find a replacement for current Police Chief John Miller, who will retire September 30. The survey consists of six free response questions and will be open for two weeks. The county has yet to announce a date for the appointment of a new chief, but the deadline for applications is September 3.

Questions include an evaluation of the current state of Albemarle county police and the amount of experience the new chief should have. According to the job opening posted on the county’s human resources website, the salary for the new chief ranges from $85,826 to $137,320—a difference of as much as $50,000, based on the new chief’s experience and qualifications.

Miller has been the Albemarle County Police Chief for 21 years, during which time he worked with county police on cases including a 2006 plot to use explosives in Western Albemarle High School, Albemarle High School or both.

Charlottesville received $65,000 from Virginia Department of Criminal Justice for the Truancy Prevention Program, reports NBC 29. The city’s program launched three years ago and has resulted in 65 percent fewer absences for the roughly 18 students it helps each year.

Tonight, City Council will vote on whether to use the new money to expand the program to Walker Upper Elementary School. Check back tomorrow for more on the Truancy Prevention Program as well as council’s discussion of the city panhandling ordinance.

Howdy, readers. Some real treats inside this week’s paper: First off is a cover story about Dave Kannensohn who, at 95, is probably Charlottesville’s oldest performing musician, and a genuinely nice guy; a Feedback column local novelist Emma Rathbone’s great debut novel, The Patterns of Paper Monsters, will be released August 9; and a review of Steve Carell’s new flick, Dinner for Schmucks. (Can you guess who plays the schmuck?)

Do you hate tuning into WTJU looking for baroque classics only to find that somebody’s playing brutal Israeli punk? Now you can get the shows you like, when you like them through the station’s nifty new Tape Vault, which allows archived shows to be played two weeks beyond their original air date.

Speaking of nifty stuff, Second Street Gallery announced a call for contributions for a show called "10 x 10 x 10." Would you guess that it’s showing in October? Local artists are asked to "create work using materials procured within a 10-mile radius, spending just $10, and taking no more than 10 days to complete the project." Does Coca-Cola count, if it was bottled locally? No matter—there’s plenty of more pertinent info on the gallery’s blog.

What are some local artmaking materials?