Month: November 2010

Rivanna Plaza LLC, a developer of a project planned for Rte. 29, has filed for bankruptcy.

The Daily Progress reports that although the company filed for Chapter 11 on Tuesday, it intends to continue with the $9 million development that planned for the lot between Kegler’s Lanes Bowling and Schewels Furniture.

Just as in the case with Halsey Minor and the Landmark Hotel, Chapter 11 allows a company to file for bankruptcy and give the court a proposal on how to pay debtors over time.

According to the Progress, $3 million in assets are listed in the filing, as are $2.1 million in debts. The largest debt is a lien on a 3.3-acre lot for $1.4 million from Wachovia Bank.
 

Charlottesville’s Octagon Partners is looking to expand its horizon. The developers of the former Martha Jefferson Hospital (MJH) downtown location, purchased for $6.5 million in September, are eyeing a 130,000-square foot historic retail building in downtown Missoula, Montana.

Octagon focuses on rehabbing historic buildings for commercial or residential use.

“We are looking at the building to purchase,” Octagon’s J.P. Williamson is quoted as saying. “There’s a chance that if we move forward on the transaction it could close by year’s end.”

According to the Independent article, at one point, The University of Montana was interested in purchasing the Macy’s building to house the Montana Museum of Art and Culture, but the bid did not materialize.

In Charlottesville, Octagon has recently completed the Gleason building on Garrett Street and the Hardware Store on the Downtown Mall.

One of the things I’d really like to improve on at our house is storage of fall and winter foods. We have a haphazard approach at best.

Right now, there’s a big bag of apples in the fridge, which we bought at Vintage Virginia Apples. They might be fine in there until we eat our way through them, but in years past I’ve found myself eating soft-ish apples as the bag nears its end.

We have bunches of garlic hanging on the wall: again, prone to softening as we get through the supply. I’m not sure how to prevent this–any tips, folks?

There are potatoes and sweet potatoes stored in bags in our dishwasher. (Which we never use.) These are almost guaranteed to start growing eyes before we can eat all of them. Acorn squash is sitting out on the counter; I don’t know what kind of longevity to expect from it. I know butternuts keep very well, and we have many of those stored in the basement inside a small freezer that isn’t plugged in. It’s basically functioning as a rodent-proof box.

Obvious food storage area: the top of a bookcase.

These are the lovely gooseneck pumpkins we grew. They look great just sitting around the house, but they only keep for a month or so. I’ve roasted two of them, scooped out the flesh and frozen it for pies and soups–but we still have more. I found myself googling "pumpkin fennel soup" and found this, which doesn’t sound half bad.

Bottom line: We’ll have to either get that second freezer running, build a root cellar, or both. Our most interesting idea for underground food storage involves an inactive, hand-dug well behind our house. Maybe we could rig up a pulley and basket system to take advantage of its cool, constant temperature.

Anyone out there built (or inherited) a root cellar? How do you use it?

Senior Day was not kind for Marc Verica. The Wahoo signal-caller from Pennsylvania threw 2 key picks in a 42-23 loss to rival Maryland (7-3).

Maryland’s quarterback Danny O’Brien had a solid afternoon as he threw 2 TD’s for 289 yards on 17/28 passing. Maryland scored four rushing touchdowns, led by a 3 TD performance by freshman D.J. Adams.

Doesn’t it always seem that some guy you have never even head of ends up having a huge day against the Virginia defense almost every week?

Virginia’s defense played just short of awful in the loss. I’m almost sad to say that my 3 1/2 month old son Cooper went to his first college football game today. Jim Reid’s defense tackled poorly, defended the pass poorly, and was out of position more often than not.

The Wahoos only ran the ball 27 times Saturday. Tailback Perry Jones left the game early in the first half with an apparent head injury, and it looked to me that he was woozy as he left the field. Keith Payne led the Hoos in rushing with 68 yards on 18 carries. Virginia’s runners did not see the end-zone once in the game.

Virginia (4-6) was 4-14 on 3rd down, and were penalized 16 times for 145 yards. Just awful discipline for an intelligent group of college athletes.

Kris Burd led Virginia in receiving with 68 yards on 5 grabs. Ten different Hoos caught balls, and backup tight end Jeremiah Mathis caught the first TD of his freshman season.

Virginia has two more games remaining in Mike London’s first campaign. They travel to Chestnut Hill to play BC on Saturday, and then finish with the annual "Thanksgiving Weekend Massacre" down in Blacksburg the following Saturday.
 

Mike London’s Wahoos welcome the 6-3 Maryland Terrapins to Scott Stadium Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Maryland is coming off a disappointing loss last weekend to Miami, and we all know the Hoos just lost to Duke for the third time in a row. This game is “Senior Day” in Charlottesville, and 32 Wahoos will play their last home games Saturday.

Virginia (4-5) has won 8 of the last 9 (14 of the last 18) in the series including 3 straight over the Terrapins. The Hoos have 10 players on their roster from the state of Maryland, and this rivalry has often been bitter in the past.

Ras-I Dowling is not listed on the injury report for the first time all season, and if he can give it a go Saturday expect Maryland’s quarterbacks to go right at him testing his leg, as well as his speed and conditioning.

Much maligned quarterback Marc Verica is coming off a huge game statically in his last outing at Duke, but Virginia is most likely looking to pound the ball in the running game if they have a chance to beat the Terrapins. Virginia’s linebackers must improve their play in order to stop the Maryland running attack.

Prediction? Hoos 35, Maryland 31. Go Hoos!
 

Yesterday, a friend was visiting and I wanted to send her home with a few cookies. I started to put them in an old cottage cheese container. "You could just give me a paper towel, if it’s easier," she said. "Probably not, since I don’t have any!" I replied.

Not stocking paper towels is one of those habits of ours that makes our parents think we’re crazy. We do have them sometimes–like if we know we’re going to be frying eggplant and need something to drain it on. But we don’t habitually buy them. I can’t ever remember keeping them around as a kitchen staple.

What do people use paper towels for, anyway? Wiping up spills, I guess–that’s according to every paper towel commercial I’ve ever seen. In my experience dishtowels do a fine job absorbing liquids (and if you’re wiping up something you can’t wash out of a dishtowel, you need to ask yourself what that substance was doing in your kitchen in the first place).

I suppose one might also use paper towels for periodic cleaning, but why not just use a sponge? Even the disposable kind scrub better and last longer. Wadded-up newspaper does pretty well on glass and mirrors.

Of course, cleaning is pretty personal, and people tend to get attached to their own methods. I myself go through more of those disposable sponges than I’d like to admit. (I did buy a packet of washable "sponge cloths," and they worked quite well.)

Anyone want to defend the paper towel?

Beware to “fancy” drivers. Albemarle’s red light cameras are operational today. These cameras are strategically placed at treacherous intersections and are meant to track cars running red lights.

The first intersection in the county to receive these cameras is where Route 29 North meets Rio Road. The timing of yellow lights at this intersection has also been shortened.

Drivers have a 30-day warning period (which began today at 1 am) to get used to this change. Drivers will be mailed but not fined if the camera captures them running a red light. After that 30-day period, drivers will be subject to a $50 fee. Drivers should also know that these cameras will not photograph the inside of vehicles and are said to be more cost effective and efficient than placing traffic officers at the intersections.

If you’re looking for ways to have fun while doing good, then you’ve got options. The most anticipated event of the weekend is the non-return of the Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers. I haven’t checked out the scene yet, but there is not said to be a huge tent behind the Blue Moon Diner awaiting a sundry cast of not brutal women with not bulging biceps. Bring cash—$5 only gets you in the door. Proceeds don’t benefit The Women’s Initiative.

Go here for an insane amount of CLAW multimedia.

As far as stuff that is happening goes, head over to the new location of the Virginia Arts of the Book Center for its big Raucous Auction, from 5:30-8pm this evening. Bid on everything from limited edition prints from artists like Dean Dass, Lana Lambert and Patrick Costello, or bid on a visit to Paris. Whatever you do at either of these events, bid liberally.

Later tonight at The Bridge/PAI, some local radio workers—among them, Jesse Dukes and former Radiolab producer Lulu Miller—will present an audio documentary called "The Lives of Animals," which is about, well, just that: a young farmer learns to kill chickens; grasshoppers become locusts; a calf is born. The event’s Facebook page says that it is free. Also, "Warning: Multiple stories feature direct accounts of animals dying or being killed by humans."

On Saturday night the very ambitious and increasingly famous local pop band Parachute, whose Will Anderson I talked to for this week’s Feedback column, returns to the Jefferson Theater. Read more here.

Lock up your daughters.

What’re you up to this weekend?

Ralph Leon Jackson, the suspect in April’s Blue Ridge Parkway shooting, was indicted yesterday and could face the death penalty if convicted.

The Daily Progress reports that Jackson’s new charges include a count of premeditated murder and a firearms charge in connection with the death of Charlottesville DJ Tim Davis.

In September, Jackson was also indicted on multiple charges in connection with the assault on 18-year-old Christina Floyd, who was hospitalized with a fractured skull and gunshot wounds during the April 5 shooting.

In a filed search warrant, Jackson said his "fuzzy" and "foggy" state was due to male enhancement medication.

A trail has been set for January 14. It could be postponed for prosecutors to decide whether to seek the death penalty for Jackson.
 

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors decided to wait to vote on the final version of the Places29 master plan.

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that Supervisors want the business community to be satisfied with the plan. Earlier this week, both the Free Enterprise Forum, a conservative advocacy group, and the North Charlottesville Business Council vocally opposed the plan as it is currently written.

The issue at hand, says Charlottesville Tomorrow, is the word “necessary,” which appears in multiple parts of the plan, in reference to grade-separated interchanges.

Last year, county planners released an implementation chapter to the master plan that highlighted the top five priorities in transportation and land-use management.
One of the five was the construction of the grade-separated interchange at Rio Road and Rte. 29.

“The Free Enterprise Forum has raised concerns regarding the liability of the maintenance of traffic during construction of the grade-separated interchange,” said Neil Williamson, executive director of the Free Enterprise Forum, then. “We remain concerned that if all the interchanges were built, and limited access to 29 was created, the need would grow to an expressway rather than a main street.”