Month: June 2018

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Knife & Fork Magazines

Most amaizeing: Junction’s street corn celebrates the best summer veggie

Background of young sweet corn. Close-up.

Corn-lovers unite: It’s summer and officially the best time to dig into the sweet, versatile veggie.

But what’s the best way to enjoy corn this summer? Well, how much time you got?

According to Junction chef Melissa Close-Hart, corn can be used “all over the place” and shows up in cuisine across the globe. But it’s particularly prevalent in Southern and Tex-Mex cooking, she says.

“I’m from the Deep South, and we looked forward to corn season,” Close-Hart says. “My uncle had a small family garden, so we were always eating fresh corn.” It’s the perfect vegetable, she says, because it’s also a starch—kinda like munching on a baguette and claiming it’s kale.

Since launching Belmont-based Junction early last year, Close-Hart has been able to expand on her love of corn through the restaurant’s Southwestern specialties. Junction features corn in tortillas, pupusas, salads, a braised chicken dish, Johnny cakes and more. Deeper into the corn calendar, she’ll roll out her peach tart with corn ice cream.

“It turns up so often in Mexican cuisine because it’s indigenous and so versatile,” Close-Hart says. In addition to garnishes and stand-alone dishes like elote street corn (see sidebar for Close-Hart’s recipe), corn can be processed for oils and flour.

Corn’s also quite prevalent in Virginia, and farmers are beginning to embrace many of the previously forgotten heirloom varieties, Close-Hart says. She scores bushels of those babies when she can, but Junction goes through so much elote—about 30 percent of diners order the dish of cobbed corn, Duke’s mayo, queso, cilantro, lime and spice—she has to bulk source a “good bi-colored sweet corn.”

“Mexican street corn has really gained in popularity as street food in general has become popular,” Close-Hart says. “It’s easy to do on food trucks and markets, and the public has grown to appreciate it.”

Photo: Tom McGovern

Junction’s Mexican street corn

Serves 6

6 ears corn, shucked

1 cup Duke’s mayonnaise

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

3 tbs. garlic, minced

1/4 cup Junction spice mix*

3 tbs. lime juice

3/4 cup queso fresco, crumbled

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, half of the cilantro, garlic, half of the Junction spice mix, lime juice and 1/2 cup of cheese in large bowl. (Dressing can be kept in refrigerator for up to two weeks.) In another large bowl, combine oil, salt, pepper and the remaining half of the Junction spice mix. Add the corn and toss until it’s coated evenly. Grill or broil corn until lightly charred on all sides. Place corn in a bowl with the dressing; toss to coat evenly. Serve immediately. Garnish with remaining cilantro and queso fresco.

*Available at The Spice Diva

Corn ready

Sweet corn has been grown in the Virginia earth since long before English settlers landed here. The state’s rich soil is ideal for the crop, which must be planted in blocks of three or four rows to allow it to pollinate in the wild, according to Virginia Tech ag experts. Other conditions necessary for proper corn cultivation include:

  • Sunny climate.
  • Average moisture.
  • pH of 6.0 to 7.0.
  • Warm temperatures between 60 and 75F.
  • Manured or composted soil the fall
    before planting.
  • Seeds planted two weeks after last
    spring frost.
  • Planting 1.5 to 2 inches deep, 4 to 6 inches apart; rows planted 30 to 36 inches apart.
Categories
Real Estate

Independence Day 2018: Honoring History Where it Happened

By Ken Wilson –

An Albemarle County landowner named Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. James Monroe, had a place just up the road and James Madison, mentored by Jefferson and hailed as “the father of the Constitution” settled in nearby Orange County.

These men made history—our American history—and their memory adds richness and depth as we celebrate Independence Day in Central Virginia. Here is a look at some of the ways we’ll observe the holiday.

Charlottesville and Albemarle County
Some of the area’s fastest 5K times have been recorded at the Kiwanis Independence Day 5K, sponsored by Better Living and hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Charlottesville and the Charlottesville Track Club. The 35th annual race will step off at 7:30 a.m. from Hollymead Elementary School, and more than 250 runners and walkers of all ages are expected to take part. Awards will be given out in all age groups, beginning with kids 10 and under.

For the 13th straight year, proceeds will benefit Camp Holiday Trails, a camp for children with special health needs. “Because of the long-time support of special friends such as the Kiwanis Club of Charlottesville, the camp continues to empower, encourage, and educate campers with chronic illnesses,” said Tina LaRoche, CHT, Executive Director. Over the years the Kiwanis Independence Day 5K has donated more than $130,000 to this charity.

Of all the inspirational places in Virginia to celebrate the Fourth of July, the greatest is surely Jefferson’s home, Monticello. At the urging of John Adams, Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence declaring our intent to separate ourselves from our mother country and seek “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” on our own.

Since 1973 over 3,600 immigrants from around the world have taken the oath of citizenship and become Americans at Monticello, and approximately 70 more will join their ranks this Independence Day, on the 242nd anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration.

Monticello’s 2018 Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony will take place from 9:00 a.m. to noon and is free and open to the public. The Charlottesville Municipal Band will play patriotic favorites including “America the Beautiful,” “Stars and Stripes Forever,” and the “Armed Forces Salute.”

Andrew Tisch, prominent businessman, civic leader and co-author of the new book, Journeys: An American Story, a collection of 72 essays recounting unique and diverse stories of the immigrant experience, will deliver the keynote address and sign books along with co-author Mary Skafidas.

“One of the most powerful aspects of Monticello’s naturalization ceremony occurs when the judge invites the newly sworn American citizens to speak,” said Leslie Greene Bowman, President and CEO of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello. “The real meaning of Independence Day—and what it means to be an American—is found in the mosaic of stories shared by these individuals.  In the spirit of that tradition, we are honored to welcome Andrew Tisch and his new book of American stories to Monticello.”

One of the only 26 surviving copies of the Emancipation Proclamation will be on display in Monticello’s David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center, and, as an homage to Jefferson who opened his home to the public on July 4, free walk-through tours will be offered from 11:15 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. following the ceremony. House tour reservations are first-come, first-served.

Parking will be available at Piedmont Virginia Community College, where shuttle buses will depart for the grounds. Shuttle reservations are recommended and guests are requested to arrive by 8 a.m. to allow time for parking and security.

James Monroe gave his country 50 years of public service, beginning in 1776 as an eighteen-year-old lieutenant under General George Washington. In 1782 he was elected to the Virginia General Assembly. Subsequently he served in the Confederation Congress of the United States and in the first United States Senate; twice he was our Minister to France, and later Minister to England and to Spain.

Monroe served as Governor of Virginia three times, as Secretary of State, and as Secretary of War. His greatest achievement as a diplomat was his negotiation of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Crowning his career as a statesman, Monroe served for eight years as America’s fifth president, from 1817 to 1825.

James Monroe’s Highland estate (formerly Ash-Lawn Highland) will celebrate the Fourth and commemorate the anniversary of Monroe’s death (July 4, 1831) with live music and patriotic interpretive activities. Students from the Heifetz International Music Institute will play a free concert from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Visitors can enjoy family games and activities from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and are invited to bring picnic lunches. The grounds themselves will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Admission is free.

Charlottesville’s neighbors to the west will celebrate the nation’s birthday a little before the rest of us this year, on Saturday, June 30. The Eighth Annual Crozet Independence Day Parade, to include horses and livestock as well as floats and fire trucks, will begin at 5:00 p.m. at Crozet Elementary, head down Crozet Avenue to Tabor Street, turn left, and continue to Claudius Crozet Park.

After the parade there will be live music by Crozet Jam Band, as well as bounce houses and games for children. Traditional American favorites will be available, including barbecue, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza,  popcorn, apple pie, and sno-cones, plus tacos and vegetarian and vegan fare.

Starr Hill Brewery, Blue Mountain Brewery,  Pro Re Nata Farm Brewery and Bold Rock Cider will provide liquid refreshment. The whole event will culminate with a fireworks show at 9:30 p.m. Pets will not be allowed. Donations of $4 per person are requested and will benefit non-profit civic groups in Crozet. Children 12 and under get in free.

Stinson Vineyards in Crozet will celebrate Independence Day (and its own fifth anniversary) on Saturday, July 2 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Barbeque will be served beginning at 1:00 p.m. and music begins at 2:00 p.m. Charlottesville’s premiere boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues dance band, Chickenhead Blues Band will play.

Stanardsville and Greene County
Stanardsville celebrates each Fourth with a festive parade down Main Street. The little town’s historic downtown boasts buildings that were standing during our nation’s beginnings. The Parlor Preachers kick off this year’s festivities from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. with old-timey folk and gospel. The parade begins at 3:00 p.m. and is expected to finish around 3:45 p.m. The schedule for the rest of the day is as follows.

In the Nathaniel Greene Elementary School Parking Lot:
3:00 p.m. –6:00 p.m. –Eddins Ford Cruise In
4:00 p.m. –6:00 p.m. –Cheap Whiskey Band
5:00 p.m. –5:15 p.m. –Mayor’s Choice Award & Eddins Ford Best in Show Award

At the WMHS Football Field:
4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.   –WMHS Jazz Band
4:45 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.   –DJ Goody Goodloe
5:15 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.   –High Horse Cloggers
6:00 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.   –Presentation of the Flag & Singing of the National Anthem
6:15 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.   –Announcements and Prize Drawings
7:15 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.   –Rogue Magic
8:15 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.   –Groove Train Band
9:30 p.m. – 9:45 p.m.   –Raffle/Door Prize Drawings and Announcements
9:45 p.m. – 10:15 p.m.  –Capitol Sheds Community Fireworks Display

Staunton and Augusta County
The Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton will hold its annual Independence Day celebration on Wednesday, July 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is “Pay What You Will—a lot, a little, or nothing at all.” No advance ticket purchase is required. The museum promises fun and educational activities for the entire family, including the opportunity to experience living history with special July 4th activities on the 1820’s American Farm.

Artisan craft vendors will also be on hand. Area food vendors will provide breakfast & lunch options. Vendors will include The Lovin’ Crab, R&R Concessions, Flavor Savor BBQ, and MJ’s Kettle Corn & Fresh Lemonade. Alternatively, visitors are welcome to bring picnic lunches.

The 1740s American Farm will feature woodworking, militia drill and firing while Ganatastwi, showcases hidework and trade. The 1820s American Farm will hold its traditional reading of the Declaration of Independence at noon, followed by Toasts and Volley. The 1850s American Farm and Barn will have historic games, a ham and fried potatoes cooking demonstration, sack races around the house, melon seed spitting, and two-man sawing in the barn, a pie eating contest, and a “Who Likes Pie! Event.”

The West African Farm will feature two traditional drums and dance performances. The English Farm will have games and woodworking and a 1630s English militia mock battle. The Irish Forge will hold ironwork demonstrations. The Irish Farm will offer textile work demonstrations. The German Farm will have Kegelspiel (bowling).

Louisa County
The Louisa Volunteer Fire Department will hold its 76th Annual Firemen’s Fair from Wednesday, July 4 through Saturday, July 7 at the Louisa Firemen’s Fairgrounds located off of Fredericksburg Avenue behind Navarre’s Auto (the former Kip Killmon Ford). Gates open at 6:00 p.m. and rides start at 7:00 p.m.

The Great Tasting Classic Fair Foods prepared by Louisa VFD Staff and Auxiliary will offer corndogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, barbeque sandwiches, French fries, nachos, funnel cakes, ice cream and more.

Families can enjoy carnival rides; adults can play Black Jack or Bingo. The Money Giveaway takes place Saturday night; tickets will be available at the Fairgrounds and ahead of time at local businesses. The fireworks display is scheduled for Friday July 6 at  9:30 p.m. Due to state laws governing fireworks they will not be launched from the Little League ball field, but will be best viewed from inside the fairgrounds.

The Fireman’s Parade will be held on Thursday, July 5 beginning along Ellisville Dr. (Rt. 669). The lineup starts at 6:00 p.m. and the parade starts at 7:00 p.m.

Madison County
Admission to the annual Independence Day celebration at Graves Mountain Lodge is free as always, but the Madison Volunteer Fire Department and the Madison Volunteer Rescue Squad will accept donations for parking.

The Graves Mountain Sycamore Picnic Pavilion will offer dinner for purchase from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. No reservations are needed. The menu will include hot dogs, pork barbeque, chicken tenders, ice cream, funnel cakes, kettle corn and more.

The Graves Mountain Lodge Dining Room will serve a sit-down dinner from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Reservations are required. The menu is to be announced. There will be live music by South Canal Street from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Sycamore Picnic Pavilion. Graves Mountain will offer pony rides and face painting from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. The fireworks will begin around 9:00 p.m. Celebrants are invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets and enjoy the fireworks.

Nelson County
The Nelson County Parks and Recreation Department and the Lovingston Volunteer Fire Department along with support from the County of Nelson will present the Nelson County 4th of July Parade from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This year’s theme is Parade of Stars.

The parade will follow the same route as the County’s 2017 Christmas Parade:  from Court Street in Lovingston to Northside Lane, then onto Front Street. It will conclude at Front and Main Streets. Food vendors will be on hand with traditional American fare. Churches, schools and civic groups will celebrate the nation’s birthday with floats, marching groups, antique cars, and more.

There are many ways to celebrate our country’s birthday, and no place more fitting to celebrate in than Central Virginia.

Categories
Real Estate

Home Buyers Love Walkable Neighborhoods

By Marilyn Pribus – 

These days, people shopping for a new abode often have “walkability” close to the top of their list of wants. Especially as gas prices are again on the rise, the thought of not having to get out the car keys to go places you want to go is appealing.

Walkability basically means an area has safe pedestrian routes to shopping, schools, entertainment, and reliable public transportation. It’s also come to represent knowing your neighbors and having positive health benefits.

Being able to leave cars at home reduces air pollution in the community. In addition, some studies reveal decreased incidence of obesity and diabetes in highly walkable neighborhoods.

Both homeowners and small businesses find walkable communities desirable and this is often reflected in higher property values and higher tax income for the community.

An Internet service called Walk Score calculates the walkability of addresses across the country on a scale of 0 to 100.  It has shown that each additional point can increase a home’s value by as much as $3,000. Visit the site at walkscore.com to enter an address and see its “walkability” score.

Some local neighborhood scores include:
Historic Downtown Mall  99
Venable 76
Belmont 64
Woolen Mills 41
Fry’s Spring 36
Hollymead 14
Lake Monticello 1

The popularity of walkable communities is expected to increase as more millennials move into the real estate market and retirees relocate from the suburbs to close-in urban settings.

Case in point: When Kay (who prefers we don’t use her last name) was widowed last year, she sold her Pantops home of many years (with a walkability index of 0) and sublet a condo apartment near the Courthouse as a trial to see how she liked urban living. She reports she’s happy she did it and plans to stay downtown.

“I don’t have to cope with traffic,” she declares, then counts off on her fingers, “I can walk to my fitness club, the drug store, the bank, the library, the post office, book stores, the movies, the food market, and restaurants to satisfy every ethnic taste.” She pauses, then adds, “Plus all sorts of activities. You can walk to church or synagogue. I really like it.”

She also appreciates the bus service available virtually at her door. “I can go to all parts of the city and even the Amtrak station when it’s time to visit family in New York.”

Charlottesville Has Been Planning
Now all this is not news to Charlottesville. In fact, city planners developed a Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan fifteen years ago.

This master plan sets forth thirteen goals including reducing reliance on vehicles and expensive parking lots, coordinating with other bicycle facilities and trail efforts, and protecting and completing the Rivanna Trails Foundation trails system. Detailed information can be found at Charlottesville.org.

More recently, the City Council passed the 2015 Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan which is the guiding document for bicycle, pedestrian, and multi-use trail connections in the City.

It focuses on integrating the on-street and off-street networks identified in past planning efforts to create non-automobile transportation corridors that will appeal to a wide range of users of all abilities. User safety is an important overall component of the plan.

One example of increased pedestrian safety is the installation of flashing-light crosswalks in busy traffic areas such as the ones on Ninth Street at the Belmont Bridge and between the intersection of  McIntire Road and Preston Avenue and the Federal Courthouse.

Another example of pedestrian and bicycle safety is provided in Albemarle County where the recently constructed Berkmar Drive Extended parallels the very busy Route 29 and includes a paved pedestrian and biking path.

A third example is Lochlyn Hill Green, a mixed income neighborhood which has specific connections to Charlottesville’s greenway system leading to Charlottesville High School, the Meadowcreek Parkway Trail, and the Rivanna Trails System.

In fact, Charlottesville’s overall walkability is markedly improved by its trail systems. This includes loops for walking and biking in city parks and also longer connections between parks, schools, and other public spaces. There are about 30 miles of nature trails plus approximately six miles of paved trails which are accessible for persons using mobility devices. Visit Charlottesville.org for more trail information including Riverview Park, Meade Park, McIntire Park, John Warner Parkway and others. A trail map can be downloaded from the website.

The University of Virginia also has a master plan to make it easier and safer for students and staff to walk and bike between the North and Central Grounds.

The Bottom Line
Walkability was high on the list for Meg and Richard Zakin who recently put their Ivy area house (walkability 0) on the market and have met with a builder to lay plans for their new downtown home, which should be completed by early 2019. 

“We are thrilled to know we’ll be in walking distance to the Downtown Mall and to Belmont,” she says. “I know we’ll take better advantage of all the cultural activities that downtown Charlottesville has to offer. A number of our friends live in town and it will be so nice to meet them for dinner or a concert and we’ll all be able to walk home.”

Marilyn Pribus and her husband live in Albemarle County. Their address has a walkability index of 0 when it comes to shopping, schools, and mass transit, however there is good walking within their neighborhood and in the Biscuit Run area behind their home.

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News

New look: Former asylum turned luxury inn

The Blackburn Inn, a former lunatic asylum turned prison turned abandoned property turned boutique hotel, officially opened last week. Courtesy Blackburn Inn

The place once known as the Western State Lunatic Asylum before it became a medium security prison in 1981 and was abandoned in 2002 opened last week as The Blackburn Inn.

“This building has such a storied past,” says Paul Cooper, the president and CEO of Retro Hospitality, the firm that manages the inn.

Part-time Richmonder and part-time Staunton resident Robin Miller bought the 80-acre property in 2006, and almost immediately turned its abandoned bindery into an apartment complex. The Blackburn Inn sits in Western State’s former administrative building, where original skeleton keyholes still puncture the doors.

Designed in 1828 by Thomas Blackburn, a master builder and protégé of Thomas Jefferson, the inn showcases Western State’s original heart pine floors, whitewashed wood trim, red brick and classical moldings. Sunlight from its many windows floods the wide-arched hallways and vaulted ceilings.

Courtesy Blackburn Inn

It’s in one of those hallways where Cooper bumps into a guest.

“Sometimes these old buildings can feel kind of cavernous and not so friendly, but you guys made it feel good,” Arlington resident Rick Hodges tells him. “It feels very luxurious and modern, but you preserved the charm.”

But its original uses weren’t entirely charming, and Cooper admits that the “direction of care changed,” at what was a resort-style insane asylum after hospital director Francis T. Stribling, a UVA grad who embraced “moral medicine,” died in 1874. It wasn’t long before Western State became known for its forced sterilizations, electroshock therapy, lobotomies, shackling of patients and affinity for straitjackets.

During a recent tour, Cooper set aside a velvet rope on the third floor that is used to block a white spiral staircase. He ascended its 41 steps, pausing briefly in the cupola at the top before opening a glass door and exposing 360-degree views that stretch to historic downtown Staunton, the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind and Mary Baldwin University.

Courtesy Blackburn Inn

Cooper says this same path was taken by the mental patients, and the “serene” view was intended to calm them. Now he shows it off to groups of five or six people at a time, and eventually, he says it would be a nice place to take wedding photos.

In fact, now that the 49-room inn with 27 floor plans, luxurious soaking tubs and its own restaurant is open for business, he says the next phase of the project is redeveloping the old chapel across from the inn, where bricks are sagging and windows are tilting from years of neglect. Miller plans to turn it into a space with bridal suites, a banquet hall, spa, bar and restaurant about a year from now.

On the inn’s terrace, where tables, chairs and matching umbrellas look onto the expansive lawn, Cooper points to a fence around the property. He says rather than using it to keep the patients contained, as some believe, it was used to keep the public out—and the folks behind The Blackburn Inn are ready to let them in.

They hope to use the yard for weddings and other large-scale public events and festivals, he says, including a Saturday barbecue series that kicked off this summer.

While a cookout on the lawn of a former insane asylum may not be appealing to all, Cooper says, “It’s a different opportunity to learn about the history of Virginia.”

And he reports that the property manager, who’s been there 12 years, has yet to experience any paranormal activity, so while “there’s going to be some fascination with the hospital and jail,” says Cooper, you might as well leave your Ouija board at home.

Courtesy Blackburn Inn
Categories
News

Stressed test: Life with the highest health insurance premiums in country

Massage therapist Jane Neldon has been unable to relax about being able to pay for her health insurance. eze amos

A year ago, Jane Neldon thought she was doing well enough as a massage therapist to start working on her own. Then she saw her health insurance premium spike from $280 a month to more than $700.

“My health insurance costs more than the rent for my office,” she says. “In a year that I thought I’d finally be making strides, I was knocked back down.”

Emily Bardeen retired two years ago at 62 years old and in budgeting, she anticipated the $500 a month she was paying for health insurance could double. Instead, she’s paying more than $2,000 a month for coverage with Optima, the only carrier available for individual coverage in Charlottesville. Its rates here for 2018 jumped 300 percent, the highest in the country.

“It’s crushing as a retired person,” she says. “I pay $2,336 for the right to have a $4,600 deductible on my silver plan.”

When she spoke with C-VILLE, Bardeen had just gotten home from the hospital. “I knew going to the hospital was going to cost me $4,600,” she says. “I nearly didn’t go, but I really needed to.”

Neldon and Bardeen are two of the many locals who were gobsmacked by the rates Optima offered here. And they’ve joined Charlottesville for Reasonable Health Insurance, an 810-member group that doesn’t believe Optima’s rates are justified.

Sara Stovall, one of the group’s organizers, raised an outcry last year when she found out insurance for her family of four would cost nearly $3,000 a month. The group filed a complaint May 30 with the State Corporation Commission about the Bureau of Insurance, which okayed Optima’s 300 percent premium increase.

“We have extremely compelling information that the Bureau of Insurance acted irresponsibly,” says Stovall. Optima’s preliminary rates for 2019 are 30 percent lower than 2018, further proof, she says, that the current rates are “unjustifiable.”

The SCC responded that the group’s letter wasn’t enough and it needed an attorney and actuary to file a formal complaint, says Stovall. “They’re sort of circling the wagons,” she says. The group is determined to push the issue and already has an attorney—and Stovall has talked to an actuary.

For Neldon, 31, skyrocketing premiums have been “a huge heavy weight on me,” she says. “It’s a factor in every decision I make. Do I go to the doctor or wait it out? That used to be an easy decision for me.”

She adds, “It’s a new stress about something I haven’t had before.”

“It affects our life in every way,” echoes Bardeen. She and her husband were about $200 above the Affordable Care Act’s cutoff for subsidies. “There’s no sliding scale. You either get help or you don’t.”

Bardeen’s husband is eligible for Medicare, but for her health insurance, they’re paying $30,000 a year—twice as much as their mortgage. “It’s unthinkable,” she says. The couple is considering a move to Waynesboro, and while insurance isn’t the main reason, “it is a factor,” she says.

Bardeen stresses that during her visit to Sentara Martha Jefferson’s ER, her caregivers “were very conscious” about her health insurance concerns. Sentara also owns Optima.

On July 1, a Senator Creigh Deeds bill goes into effect that allows self-employed people like Neldon to get the coverage available for small businesses. And Deeds and Delegate David Toscano are working on other bills, such as one that would require more transparency in hospital pricing, says Stovall.

For Neldon, the new law means “some light” at the end of the health insurance tunnel.

Categories
News

In brief: Red Hen ruckus, ‘white civil rights’ rally, Republican dropout and more

The Red Hen is housed in a historic downtown Lexington building. photo News-Gazette

Red Hen refusal ignites firestorm

When two former C-VILLE Weekly writers opened the Red Hen in Lexington in 2009, they loved everything about the Rockbridge County college town—except its lack of a farm-to-table eatery. Since then, the restaurant has become a renowned fine dining option, and that could be why White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her party of eight came to dine June 22.

Stephanie Wilkinson Facebook

Owner and UVA alum Stephanie Wilkinson, who used to write about literary happenings for C-VILLE and later was publisher of Brain, Child magazine, asked Sanders to leave because of her work for “an inhumane and unethical” administration, Wilkinson told the Washington Post. [Co-founder John Blackburn is no longer an owner of the restaurant.]

Sanders confirmed on Twitter she’d been 86ed, the second Trump administration official to not be welcomed into a dining establishment in a week, although Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, another UVA alum, left a D.C. Mexican restaurant because of protesters chanting, “Shame.”

Outrage—and appreciation—over Wilkinson’s action ensued, and other unaffiliated Red Hens around the country received death threats.

By Saturday night, the Red Hen did not open because of safety concerns, according to [former C-VILLE Weekly editor] Hawes Spencer’s report on NPR. Its Yelp page is going through active cleanup because of non-food-related comments, says the site.

And by June 25, POTUS himself tweeted, “The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders.”

Trump administration employees are not alone in being unwelcome at a dining establishment. Local “white civil rights” agitator Jason Kessler reportedly was banned for life from Miller’s last year when protesters shouting “Nazi go home” became bad for business.

“An all-too-familiar story in my timeline. A beautiful woman’s life cut short by a violent relationship. The only twist today is it’s my child on the other side of the gun. My son is the perpetrator. The very thing I advocate against has been committed by someone I once carried inside me.”—Trina Murphy, advocate for Help Save the Next Girl

In brief

Xavier Grant Murphy Charlottesville police

Another Murphy tragedy

Xavier Grant Murphy, 23, son of domestic violence advocate Trina Murphy and cousin of murdered Nelson teen Alexis Murphy, is charged with second-degree murder in the June 22 slaying of Tatiana Wells, 21, at the Days Inn.

GOP resignation

Richard Allan Fox, co-owner of Roslyn Farm and Vineyard, resigned from his seat on the Albemarle County Republican Committee, because he says he can’t support U.S. Senate candidate Corey Stewart, who has not denounced Unite the Right rally participants, and who has said the Civil War was not about slavery.

ABC settles with Johnson

Martese Johnson, the 20-year-old UVA student whose encounter with Virginia ABC agents during St. Patrick’s Day revelries on the Corner in 2015 left him bloodied and under arrest, reached a $249,950 settlement with the agency June 20. Johnson, now 24, heads to University of Michigan Law School in the fall.

Cantwell calls CPD

On the same night that seven activists were arrested on Market Street for protesting the conviction of August 12 flamethrower Corey Long, “Crying Nazi” Chris Cantwell called the police department to commend it, chat about the rioting “communists” and suggest they be put through a woodchipper. He was recording as a female CPD employee said, “That’s awesome. Thanks for your support.” According to a city press release, the incident is being investigated.

Access denied

Community activists, some reportedly wearing Black Lives Matter shirts, were shut out of a meet-and-greet at the Paramount Theater with new Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney, who was welcomed on the theater’s marquee. Paramount spokesperson Maran Garland says it was a private, invitation-only event hosted by the Charlottesville Police Foundation.

I-64 stabber gets life

Rodney Demon Burnett was convicted of aggravated malicious wounding for the July 11, 2017, attack of a woman driver on I-64. When she stopped the car, he continued knifing her in the neck, pushed her out of the car and sped away, leaving her with life-threatening and permanent injuries. A jury imposed a maximum life sentence, $100,000 fine and seven years for other related charges.

Drafted by whom?

photo Matt Riley

Former UVA basketball guard Devon Hall is chosen by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round as the No. 53 pick.

Whites-righter seeks permit

Speaking of Kessler, the Unite the Right organizer is looking for a place to hold an anniversary rally August 11 and 12. City Manager Maurice Jones denied his application for a permit December 11, and Kessler filed a civil lawsuit against the city and Jones, alleging the denial unconstitutionally was based on the content of his speech.

On June 22, his attorneys filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to force the city to allow his two-day event and to provide security for demonstrators and the public.

According to a memo filed with the motion, Kessler contends counterprotesters were responsible for the violence. “Counterprotester misconduct constitutes a heckler’s veto and cannot be used as a justification to shut down Mr. Kessler’s speech by the city,” says the memo.

Kessler sued last year when the city tried to move his white nationalist rally from Emancipation Park to McIntire, and a judge sided with him in an August 11 decision that was made about the same time neo-Nazis were marching through UVA Grounds shouting, “Jews will not replace us.”

At press time, a hearing for the injunction had not been scheduled.

Many of those who attended the rally last year have said they will not return for a redo, but Kessler is asking those who want to come to be prepared to go to either Charlottesville or Washington.

His application for a “white civil rights rally” in Lafayette Square has received preliminary approval from the National Park Service, but a permit has not been issued.

kessler prelim injunction memo 6-22-18

kessler motion prelim injunction 6-22-18

Categories
News

‘Bittersweet’ bills: Governor signs legislation that could save the next girl

John and Sue Graham were in Charlottesville for Governor Ralph Northam’s signing of legislation that could have saved their daughter’s life. Eze Amos

The parents of two young women who were murdered here were among those in the dignitary-filled room June 21 at Charlottesville’s Central Library, where Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation expanding the collection of DNA for misdemeanor crimes that, had it previously been in effect, could have saved UVA student Hannah Graham and Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington.

Many there remembered the frantic search for Graham in 2014 as the school year began, and despite hundreds of searchers, it was five weeks before her body was found. Morgan Harrington disappeared in October 2009, while here for a Metallica concert. Her body was found three months later in the same part of Albemarle County as Graham’s, an area known to their killer, Jesse Matthew.

Northam’s daughter was at UVA at the same time as Graham. “These tragedies are very difficult,” he said. “We can only imagine.”

But, said the governor, “We can make changes.”

The legislation was spearheaded by Albemarle Sheriff Chip Harding, who’s long been a proponent of DNA databanks, and who originally prodded the state to fund its database in the ’90s. While everyone convicted of a felony goes into the database, Harding has pushed for collection of DNA for misdemeanor convictions, and says that 70 percent of first-time violent felons had a previous misdemeanor conviction.

“Three years ago, [Morgan’s mother] Gil Harrington worked with me and we got nine misdemeanors added, including exposing yourself, which is what Jesse Matthews Sr. did,” says Harding. Familial DNA would have linked to his son, who was convicted of a brutal 2005 attack in Fairfax, “and Morgan Harrington would never have been killed.”

In 2017, the Grahams joined Harding to urge the Virginia Crime Commission to study misdemeanors linked to violent felonies, and it identified seven more. “Of those, we only got funding for two—trespassing and domestic assault,” says Harding. Jesse Matthew was convicted of trespassing in 2010, and had his DNA been collected, “it would have prevented Hannah Graham’s death,” says the sheriff.

Brian Moran, Virginia secretary of public safety, noted, “DNA can convict the guilty, and maybe even more importantly, it can exonerate the innocent.”

The governor also signed a bill that requires fingerprints for those arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Delegate David Toscano, Governor Ralph Northam, Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran and Delegate Rob Bell were here for the signing of legislation to collect DNA for trespassing and assault. Eze Amos

Northam called the bipartisan legislation an example of the Virginia way: “The Virginia way is working together.” House Democratic Leader David Toscano carried the bills, which got support from Republican Delegate Rob Bell, who was present and who chairs the Courts of Justice committee. Republican state Senator Mark Obenshain carried a similar version in the Senate.

John and Sue Graham came to Richmond “again and again,” said Toscano.

After the signing, Sue Graham said, “What happened to Hannah won’t happen to another young woman in the same way.”

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Harrington, who founded Help Save the Next Girl. “So many points along the way, this legislation would have stopped Jesse Matthew. It’s too late for Morgan.”

Categories
Living

Dennis Horton was an innovative pioneer for Virginia wine

Dennis Horton and his wife, Sharon, with their Viognier vines at the Horton Vineyards property in January 2015. Photo by Erin Scala

Dennis Horton of Horton Vineyards died June 19 at age 73, but his enduring vision for Virginia wine lives on. Horton helped shape a generation of winemakers by introducing them to now-iconic Virginia wines made from Viognier, Norton, Rkatsiteli, Tannat grapes and more. In a 2016 article about Horton Vineyards, Horton referenced his “willingness to confront the unknown,” and that experimental ethos that radiates from Horton Vineyards continues to influence winemakers around the state.

Those who worked with him in the early days remember being awestruck by the results.

“The first Viognier that Dennis put in the ground was fantastic,” says winemaking consultant Brad McCarthy, who worked with Horton in the 1990s. “We hadn’t really experienced anything like this—nobody around here had. Back in the 1990s, there wasn’t much Viognier in the world. At the end of the day the tanks du jour that were spectacular—they were Viognier.”

In a 2015 interview, Horton told C-VILLE he had been influenced to plant Viognier after visiting the Rhône Valley, in France, and also after reading a key work about the grape by wine writer Jancis Robinson. The ensuing kinetic excitement around Viognier captured the attention of attendees at the U.S. Wine Bloggers Conference in Virginia in 2011, one of who was Robinson.

“He is a great innovator,” Robinson wrote of Horton in a 2011 article. “He makes a sparkling version of Viognier.”

Things came full circle that year when—exactly 20 years after Horton planted the first and oldest Viognier vineyard in Virginia—the international wine scene recognized Horton’s Viognier, and Viognier became the official signature grape of Virginia.

But it wasn’t just Viognier. “He’s brought us Tannat, Norton,” McCarthy says. “There are whole wineries based on growing Norton now, thanks to Dennis Horton.”

Vineyard expert and wine sensei Lucie Morton remembers his Cabernet Franc, and the time Horton consulted with her about some suspicious Cabernet Franc in his vineyard (most of it turned out to be Cabernet Franc, but she found some Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel erroneously mixed in by the vine nursery).

“I’ll always love him for bringing Cabernet Franc to Virginia,” says Morton, and “for him to get started with grapes that have become so important to us and the mid-Atlantic region.” Morton also appreciates how he introduced “wonderful vinifera grape varieties that have adapted so well, in addition to historic Native American varieties.”

Many winegrowers tend to have strong opinions about which grape species are best. If you’re a wine drinker, you’ve probably tasted many wines of the vinifera species—a European species that includes many international varieties such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Native American species tend to be used mostly as root stocks, though for centuries in the pre-Prohibition era, they had been made into wine in the mid-Atlantic region. Hybrids (crosses between two species) are usually the heartiest to grow in marginal climates.

In his vineyards, Horton nurtured a level playing field for grape varieties of different species. This was an extraordinary thing to do in the 1990s, when vinifera activists vociferously protested the planting of hybrids and, to a lesser extent, Native American grape species. Morton remembers extreme “tension between vinifera and hybrids” when she published her book, Winegrowing in Eastern America, in 1985.

In this heated environment, Horton rediscovered Norton—a grape native to Virginia but at that time no longer grown here—and brought it from his home state of Missouri back to Virginia. He touched off a local pride for Norton, and many Virginia wineries now have a special focus on the grape. The Horton Norton remains somewhat of a calling card for local Virginia wine.

The Virginia wine industry benefited from Horton’s many successes, but learned equally valuable lessons from his failures.

“Dennis Horton probably ripped out more vines in failure than some people have actually put in the ground,” McCarthy says. “That’s what an experimentalist Dennis Horton was. I don’t know how many people really appreciate that about him.”

Emerging wine regions are up against learning curves, and the first wave of winemakers tend to absorb many of the mistakes from which their successors learn. Horton wasn’t afraid of failure, because, to him, it was just another step toward finding something that would work.

“They work,” Horton once said of Norton, Vidal, Cabernet Franc and Viognier. Through his trial and error, he begat some of Virginia’s core wine culture.

He was “this brash, kind of gruff kind of guy who was very forward-thinking and super progressive. I feel very fortunate that I got to work with him at that time,” McCarthy says.

“When you think of Dennis,” Morton says, “you think of the word bold. He had a bold, uninhibited, approach to wine.”

“Restless, opinionated, innovative, relentless—he pursued his vision with unwavering determination,” says Michael Heny, former Horton winemaker who worked with Dennis and Sharon Horton for decades. Dennis “not only worked for the success of Horton Vineyards,” Heny said, “he wanted to build an industry. An open book with his successes and failures, he mentored an entire generation of fledgling viticulturists and encouraged his winemaking team to do the same. His deep influence on the grape varieties grown in Virginia will be felt for generations to come.”

 

 

 

Categories
Arts

ARTS Pick: The Sea The Sea puts us at ease

The Sea The Sea. Saying its name out loud has the effect of an incantation or a lullaby, similar to the experience of listening to the group’s music. Vocalists Chuck E. Costa and Mira Stanley croon in unison on tracks of love, faith and common threads, while soft chords loop in the background forming peacefully happy music that promises to put you at ease, but not to sleep.

Saturday 6/30. $10, 6pm. The Southern Café and Music Hall, 103 S. First St. 977-5590.

Categories
Arts

ARTS Pick: Soggy Po’ Boys bring the NOLA sound

The Soggy Po’ Boys are a lot more appetizing than they sound. The six-man band formed in New Hampshire, but its members are firmly rooted in the ways of NOLA jazz, from vintage outfits to the instruments themselves—among them a piano, two saxophones and a stand-up bass that looks straight out of a 1960s club. The Soggy Po’ Boys will perform twice in one night, with the first show including a brief talk about some of the band’s vital influences.

Thursday, June 28. $10-25, 7:30pm. The Bridge PAI, 209 Monticello Rd. 984-5669, and The Whiskey Jar (no cover, 10:30pm), 227 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. 202-1549.