In memoriam
August 12 survivor Marissa Blair died on September 19 at the University of Virginia Hospital due to complications from pneumonia related to metastatic colon cancer. She was 35 years old.
Blair survived the August 2017 deadly car attack that killed her friend and co-worker Heather Heyer when her then-fiance Marcus Martin pushed her out of the path of the vehicle. In the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo by former Daily Progress reporter Ryan Kelly, Martin can be seen mid-air after being struck by the vehicle.
Following the attack, Blair continued her involvement in anti-racist activism, successfully suing Jason Kessler with eight other survivors for his involvement in organizing the Unite the Right rally.
“Marissa brought so much joy to her family, friends and everyone who knew or crossed paths with her,” reads a portion of the obituary shared by Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory. “She was a bright shining light with a true beauty inside and out and will be missed to a degree that words could never express.”
Blair’s service was held on September 28 in Lovingston, Virginia. In addition to flowers, the family requests people plant a memorial tree in her honor. Information on the memorial tree effort can be found in Blair’s obituary (obituaries.tharpfuneralhome.com/marissa-blair).
Cost of business
Charlottesville staple Eljo’s is for sale by Myles Thurston, who has owned the store for 50 years. If the
menswear business is not purchased by the end of the year, the iconic Barracks Road store will close its doors permanently.
Opened by Elliott and Joseph Hyman in 1950, Eljo’s demographic has shifted away from UVA students over the decades. Most of the store’s current clientele are from outside of Charlottesville, with half of Eljo’s sales now custom-ordered clothing.
Thurston became a partner in the business in 1974, eventually buying Eljo’s from the Hyman brothers in 1984.
“After more than 70 years of business, and more than 50 of them in our family, we have decided it is time to find a new caretaker for Charlottesville’s best custom-designed clothing options for our community’s leading businessmen and professionals,” reads a post from Thurston on Eljo’s website.
Anyone interested in purchasing the business and remaining inventory can contact Thurston directly.
Phones down
Emergency and non-emergency phone lines were down for more than nine hours in Fluvanna County on September 28. The Fluvanna County Emergency Communications Center was notified of the interruption at approximately 1:45am, setting up temporary emergency and non-emergency numbers during the outage. Service to both lines was restored the same day at roughly 11:35am.
Underwater
Mint Springs Valley Park is closed following flooding from Hurricane Helene that caused significant damage to the roadway by the park’s entrance. Albemarle County Parks & Recreation shuttered the area indefinitely on September 29. The damage is in a different location than the culvert that burst in early August after Tropical Storm Debby, which closed the park for several days.
Fatal fire
A structure fire in Scottsville killed one person on September 27. Albemarle County Fire Rescue responded to a request for service at about 4:38am in the 4000 block of Jacobs Creek Drive, where crews found a heavily involved fire engulfing a single-wide trailer and spreading to a nearby vehicle. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene and had not been identified at press time. Authorities say the fire does not appear suspicious.
