Tuesday, November 29
For once, Dulles looks good
Travelers headed for Charlottesville were still stranded today, thanks to bad weather and a computer glitch. The Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport cancelled flights yesterday and today due to a combination of heavy rain and the malfunctioning of the airport’s instrument landing system, which helps pilots land when there is limited visibility.
Wednesday, November 30
Hope you sold your stock in Albemarle First last week
Shares in Albemarle First Bank dive-bombed to $11.15 today, down from nearly $14 on Monday, when news broke that the locally owned bank will not merge with Reston-based Mi-llennium Bankshares. The boards of both banks approved the merger in June, with Millen-nium offering Albemarle stockholders $15.82 a share, but Millennium’s shareholders re-jected the deal.
Shut yer sinkhole
Commuters who live just north of town were greeted with an unpleasant surprise this morning—lots of traffic. Tuesday’s heavy rains caused many streets to flood, but did quite a number on one of the region’s busiest thoroughfares. Virginia Department of Transportation had to close the southbound lanes of Route 29N between Airport Road and Timberlake Drive because of a 20′ deep and 15′ wide sinkhole. Lou Hatter, the former Daily Progress editor who is now spokesman for VDOT, says that the rain was the straw that broke the camel’s back: “There must’ve been erosion going on for quite some time before the road actually collapsed.” Hatter says VDOT is fairly certain that the hole was caused by the deterioration of an underground pipe. Water must’ve seeped out of the pipe into the soil, weakening the ground until it was unable to support the road surface. Luckily, the faulty pipe can be fixed without tearing up the entire road.
Thursday, December 1
Police arrest alleged assault perp
Today the Charlottesville Police Department arrested Ro-bert Terrell Haskins and charged him with assault and battery, breaking and entering, and grand larceny, relating to an incident that took place on Saturday, November 26, when a young man followed a 30-year-old woman back to her home on Little High Street. According to police, after he asked to use her bathroom and the woman let him in, he assaulted her. When she told the man to leave, he complied, but later attempted, unsuccessfully, to re-enter the house.
Friday, December 2
Creigh thinks positive
Bath County senator and attorney general hopeful Creigh Deeds took an optimistic step today, announcing a meeting of his “transition committee,” which will, according to the release, “assist Senator Deeds in preparing to be Virginia’s next attorney general.” That’s bold, since Deeds, a Democrat, is currently 323 votes behind Del. Robert McDonnell of Virginia Beach. The State Board of Elections certified McDonnell as the winner of the November 8 election. But the Republican’s razor-thin margin of victory—the smallest in modern Virginia history—prompted Deeds to request a recount, which could last until December 20.
Supporters rally for Bowers
In a fervent display of protest for the recently fired Dena Bowers, more than 50 people gathered in front of UVA’s Madison Hall today. While speakers like UVA professors Susan Fraiman and Corey Walker delivered fiery speeches, people carrying picket signs and other rally participants intermittently shouted “reinstate Dena” and “shame on you” in the direction of Madison Hall. Bowers was fired by UVA on November 22 after sending an e-mail criticizing UVA’s charter plan through her work account. The e-mail was inadvertently circulated widely among UVA employees.
New Yorker author hits Miller Center
At today’s Miller Center Forum at UVA, author George Packer answered questions about his new book, Assassin’s Gate: America in Iraq. “Everything that’s happened since the fall of Baghdad was set in motion by key officials in the [current] administration. In many ways the failure was deliberate,” he said referring to the “criminal negligence” of the departments of State and Defense, and the CIA. Currently touring the country, Packer says he finds the public serious about wanting the truth.
Saturday, December 3
Ewert ready for Goode, Weed
Bern Ewert—former city manager of Roanoke and deputy city manager of Charlottesville—announced plans to run for the Democratic nomination in the 2006 Fifth District Congressional race against incumbent Republican Virgil Goode. In the primary, Ewert will face Nelson County farmer Al Weed, who lost by 28 percent to Goode in 2004. Whoever wins the Democratic primary will be in for a tough race against Goode. Ewert, however, might be trying to appeal to the district’s southern residents by advocating a new Route 29 bypass around Charlottesville.
Sunday, December 4
Bullet hits Ivy home
Today Joseph Miller was thanking his lucky stars after a bullet shattered a plate glass window in his Ivy home on Saturday. Miller, who suspects the bullet came from hunters in the woods near his home, said in an e-mail to local media that “it must have missed my head by inches.” Since hunting season started in early November, Miller reports hearing gunfire around his home at all hours of the day, as hunters try to bag the deer feeding on shrubs and flowers in suburban lawns.
Monday, December 5
Slow down on Monticello
Tonight City Council is scheduled
to approve a change in the speed limit on Monticello Avenue near Blenheim Avenue, to 30 mph from 35. Council will also consider giving the Piedmont Housing Alliance $150,000 for a housing trust fund to benefit would-be city homebuyers.
Written by John Borgmeyer from staff reports and media sources.
Talking diversity
Can UVA openly discuss race and still attract black students?
In 2003, a yearlong UVA commission on diversity recommended creation of a chief officer of equity and diversity. The position finally came to fruition this fall with the appointment of Bill Harvey, who for years has worked on racial and ethnic diversity at the American Council
on Education in Washington. Last week Harvey talked to C-VILLE about his role in mitigating the effects of recent racial incidents on campus.—Will Goldsmith
C-VILLE: Based on your experience on the American Council on Education, are the sort of racial incidents that have happened recently at UVA happening at other schools?
Bill Harvey: Unfortunately they are. At the American Council on Education, we represented 1,600 colleges and universities—I got to a lot of campuses. The circumstances that happened here are not unusual in their frequency and are not limited to any geographic area. A few weeks before coming here I was asked to comment on incidents at Syracuse University. The kind of incidents that happened here are reprehensible but they’re not unusual, and that speaks to the work we have to do at the institutions to make sure that when people come here they unlearn some of the prejudices and stereotypes that they bring with them.
Is there tension between a policy of full disclosure of racial incidents and attracting top minority students?
Earlier this year, I attended an activity for prospective students, Fall Fling. Saturday morning, 8 o’clock, I look out and not an empty seat in the house, all African-American. Admissions Dean Jack Black-burn suggested to me that this was the largest crowd we’d ever had, and this was in the wake of the incidents. He thinks that people are appreciative that when the circumstances occurred, we didn’t try to cover it up, we admitted that there were some problems here.
What does UVA have to offer African-Americans and other minority students that other top-tier schools do not?
I had a revelation recently. A few weekends ago, I had an activity at my house outside of Washington, with a couple hundred African-American alumni and parents of current students in the area. There was a range of folks—older graduates, recent graduates, law and business graduates—and to a person every one of them talked about this being a great institution. I was floored. It was like they had all been through some cathartic experience. People really feel like they’re stretched here, and though parts of the environment are not everything they’d like them to be, their perspective is much wider than when they came here.
This is an important factor: You have one of the highest four-year graduation rates of African-American students here, 87 percent, which is phenomenal.
Yee-haw!
Wahoo diehards, seen here getting pumped before the team’s crushing defeat at home to Virginia Tech on November 19, got another chance to celebrate with Sunday’s news that UVA will play in the Music City Bowl in Nashville on December 30. UVA, which has a 6-5 record this year, will play Minnesota (7-4), for the first time ever. It’s good news for head coach Al Groh in a week that saw the departure of two of his assistant coaches—the Nashville location means that many Wahoo fans could make the eight-hour drive for the game.
Miller high life
Former UVA tight end Heath Miller gets his props in the NFL
UVA’s football team may not be the national powerhouse that Craig Littlepage and John Casteen dream of, but the Cavaliers still turn out their fair share of superstar players. The latest Wahoo to make a mark in the big show is former tight end Heath Miller.
Last January, Miller decided to forego his final year of eligibility at UVA and enter the NFL draft. Miller left Charlottesville with a reputation as one of the best tight ends to ever play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the first tight end in conference history to win unanimous All-American honors in 2004, and he set UVA tight end records for most receptions (144), yards (1,703) and touchdowns (20) in a career—all despite leaving school a year early.
The Wahoos could have used Miller this year, but he’s on to bigger things after getting picked in the first round by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He recently got props in ESPN Magazine’s December 5 issue, which reported that in mid-November, Miller had already racked up more receiving yards (258) than any Steeler tight end in 11 years.—John Borgmeyer
Warner spares Lovitt
Capital punishment could be an issue for Guv in presidential politics
On Tuesday, November 29, Robin Lovitt was one day away from becoming the 1,000th prisoner to be executed in the United States in the past three decades. But just hours before the Sussex 1 State Prison inmate was scheduled for execution, Governor Mark Warner granted him clemency, reducing his sentence to life without parole.
Eleven executions have taken place in Virginia since Warner took office in 2002 and—with just two months remaining in office—this was the first time he has granted clemency. The death penalty could be a hot issue in the 2008 presidential election, and Warner, a Democrat, is a potential candidate.
By granting clemency to Lovitt, Warner kept a potentially devastating blemish off his record. (The 1,000th execution still took place, when Kenneth Boyd was executed at 2:15am on December 2 in North Carolina.)
Virginia has executed 94 people since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The only state with more executions is Texas, with 334. Since the death penalty was reinstated, every Virginia governor who could do so has granted clemency to a prisoner on death row.
Robin Lovitt was convicted in 1999 of murdering Clayton Dicks during a robbery in Arlington. In a decisive twist, a court employee erroneously destroyed all evidence of the case before Lovitt had exhausted all appeal attempts. Forensic evidence presented during Lovitt’s trial was inconclusive and with no evidence of the case remaining, further forensic tests—with better technology—became impossible.
Warner cited this mistake as his reason to commute Lovitt’s sentence.
“The Commonwealth must ensure that every time this ultimate sanction is carried out, it is done fairly,” Warner said in a press statement.
The popularity of the death penalty in the United States has started to decline since reaching a peak in the mid-’90s. According to statistics provided by the Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (vadp.org), opposition to the death penalty in Virginia has grown to more than 25 percent in 2001 from 13.2 percent in 1996.
The growing national press coverage resulting from the 1,000th execution could increase opposition to the death penalty heading into the 2008 presidential election, and Warner’s last minute move may later prove to be crucial in his political career.—Dan Pabst
Adventures in County spending
The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors recently approved the following budget
appropriations:
$26,253
From a Department of Justice grant to cover police overtime.
$135,650
The majority of this appropriation will cover increases in the population of the Juvenile Detention Center ($61,200) and an expansion of the County’s social service department ($56,000).
$202
From a Virginia Commission of the Arts grant to Murray Elementary ($37) and Jack Jouett Middle School ($165) to help fund a theater performance at each school.
$2,704,934
To cover school capital projects scheduled
for 2005 that remain incomplete.
$1,440,385
To cover uncompleted stormwater capital projects.
Faulconer appeals County development restriction
Neighborhood, construction company await judge’s ruling
Last week Albemarle Circuit Judge Paul Peatross heard arguments in a case that speaks to the ongoing conflicts between private-property rights and local government’s power to regulate development.
Faulconer Construction and County politicians were before Peatross on Wednesday, November 30, for a hearing over the company’s right to store its trucks and equipment on a 27-acre parcel on Morgantown Road in Ivy. The major issue is how far the County can go in requiring Faulconer to make sure Morgantown and other adjacent roads are safe for its big trucks.
The company is appealing a Board of Supervisors’ de-cision to deny Faul-coner the required approval of its site plan for the Ivy storage yard. Among eight conditions that Faul-coner must meet to win approval, the Board included a requirement that “Pavement widths and strengths of both internal and external roads shall be adequate to accommodate projected traffic generated from the site,” according to meeting minutes.
Faulconer, which built the Dunlora subdivision and UVA’s Scott Stadium, argues that the County’s requirement is a cave to political pressure. The company’s at-torney, M. Bruce Wallinger, argued that the County’s road condition is “unconstitutionally vague” and a “violation of Dillon’s rule,” the 150-year-old State law that forbids local governments from taking any action not specifically permitted by the State.
The County is responding to parents of Murray Elementary schoolchildren. The school is on Morgantown Road near Faul-coner’s property. In 2001, parents, led by Ivy activist Brian Wheeler, formed the Ivy Community Foundation to oppose Faul-coner’s relocation to their neighborhood. They first challenged the County’s decision to zone the site “light industrial,” which gave the County less oversight over how huge trucks moving in and out of the storage yard might affect the neighborhood. “It’s in the best interest of the community for local government to have more authority over how the community develops,” says Wheeler, who is also an at-large member of the County School Board.
Wheeler says the State legislature should grant that authority. In fact, both the City and the County plan to ask the General Assem-bly for more power to control development—a move that the powerful homebuilding and development lobbies likely will oppose.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Judge Peatross seemed to sense that his hands were tied. He questioned whether a court has the purview to approve or disapprove a site plan, and asked the lawyers to give him more information about exactly which point of law he should rule. The lawyers have 10 days to answer, and he said he would rule as soon as possible after getting their responses.—John Borgmeyer
Love me, build me
Empty buildings long for fulfillment
There’s plenty of new growth heading for Charlottesville and Albemarle [for more on this, see p. 25]. Yet an ample supply of prime commercial real estate still sits vacant around the area more than one year after C-VILLE first investigated the glut of empty retail boxes. Here are two lonely properties that need a guiding hand.—Robbie Saville
Wachovia Buildings
Address: 101, 105, 107, 111 E. Main St.
Area: 19,900 square feet (estimate)
Empty since: Various dates
Price: Bought in July 2003 for $1.8 million
Status: Woodard is planning to renovate the old buildings and create a mixed-use development with a restaurant and retail on the ground floor. One floor will be offices, and the rest of the space will be condominiums. “We’re in the design phase,” says Woodard, adding that his company, Woodard Properties, has done some design work while he negotiates to hire an architecture firm. “We hope to have something for review in the spring,” says Woodard.
K-Mart Plaza
Address: 1801 Hydraulic Rd.
Area: 41,414 square feet
Empty since: Food Lion closed in Septem-ber 1999
Price: Vacant building sites assessed at $3,836,000
Status: Site owned by K-Mart Corporation. Gold’s Gym scheduled to open in the former Food Lion space by January 1, 2006. Terrace Theater building still vacant.