Auction block
Despite a looming lawsuit, City Council charged ahead and voted 3-2 to sell the statue of General Robert E. Lee and rename the park that bears his name. Councilor Kathy Galvin, one of the two votes against the removal, reminded the public that a move is not imminent until the litigation is resolved.
Worlds collide
After earlier assault charges were dismissed, Jason Kessler filed again, this time against Sara Tansey for allegedly snatching his phone at a February Lee Park demonstration, and he asked for a special prosecutor for the destruction of property charge. Tansey filed assault charges against Joe Draego, the man who grabbed the phone back and who sued City Council over public comment procedures. Draego’s attorney in the civil suit, Jeff Fogel, now represents Tansey.
“I don’t know anything about him except he is a crybaby.”
—Commonwealth’s attorney candidate Jeff Fogel to WINA April 17 about Lee statue supporter Jason Kessler’s latest filing of charges
Grim anniversary
It’s been 10 years since a deranged gunman killed 32 people April 16, 2007, at Virginia Tech, the nation’s worst mass murder until that record was broken last June at an Orlando nightclub.
Back to the merch
Music and real estate mogul Coran Capshaw reacquired Musictoday, the Crozet e-commerce company he founded in 2000 and sold to Live Nation in 2006, Billboard reports.
Housing bubbling up
In 2007, the burst housing bubble wasn’t as bad as it would get over the next few years, but local residential sales were starting to slide from the peak prices of 2005. Ten years later, some homeowners are still underwater, but others are seeing housing prices increase again. Back in ’07, it was a buyer’s market with a huge inventory of houses, and that’s the biggest difference now: “Lack of inventory,” says Anthony McGhee, president of Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors. “Price increases are based on low supply and high demand.” Now, once again, realtors are advising people not to wait to buy because prices—and mortgage rates—are only going up. Here’s what the first quarter of 2017 looks like compared to 2007.
Power of the press
More than 500 members of the Virginia Press Association attended the awards banquet for the 2016 Annual News and Advertising Contest, held April 8, at the Hilton Richmond Hotel and Spa/Short Pump. Local media winners included the Daily Progress, which took the Grand Sweepstakes award in the Daily 1 category and the News Sweepstakes award, and Charlottesville Tomorrow, which won the Online Sweepstakes award. C-VILLE Weekly took home 11 awards in the specialty category:
First place:
- Larry Garretson—Arts writing (“Creative sparks: The value of undeveloped spaces in Charlottesville”)
- Lisa Provence—General news writing (Water Street parking garage coverage)
- Jordy Yager—In depth or investigative reporting (“Searching for solutions: Why are black kids arrested more often than white kids?”)
Second place:
- Best website
- Tom Daly—Pictorial photo (LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph)
- Jackson Smith—Personality or portrait photo (Bronco Mendenhall)
Third place:
- Jessica Luck—Feature story (“Dr. Edward Wolanski has become part of the families”)
- Max March—Specialty pages or sections (Arts picks)
- Ron Paris—Feature photo (World Wrestling Entertainment)
- Ron Paris—Sports news photo (Montpelier Hunt Races)
- John Robinson—Pictorial photo (Albemarle County Fair)