Goodbye, Robert E. Lee
The statue remains in the former Lee Park, but the park’s name has changed—twice—in the past year. That trend is happening across the state, most recently last week in Staunton and Lexington.
By name
- Lee Park is now Market Street Park.
- Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton will be renamed, pending the results of a survey of city residents.
- Lee-Jackson House at Washington and Lee will be known as Simpson Hall in honor of Pamela Simpson, a dean who helped make W&L coed.
- Robert E. Lee Elementary in Petersburg is now Lakemont Elementary. (J.E.B Stuart and A.P. Hill elementaries there became known as Pleasants Lane and Cool Springs elementaries, respectively, July 1.)
In brief
Johnny Reb petition
Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are not the only Confederates being asked to leave Charlottesville. Activist Matthew Christensen is collecting signatures on a petition that demands the removal of the Johnny Reb statue in front of the Albemarle County Circuit Court. Despite a City Council vote to remove the generals, current state law does not allow localities to make such decisions.
Father/son murder charges
Richard Spradlin, 56, and his son Kevin Moore, 34, have been arrested in the 2004 unsolved murder of Jesse Hicks, who was reported missing in Fluvanna 14 years ago, and whose remains were found in Albemarle County a decade later. The two are charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and using a firearm during the commission of a felony.
R.I.P. Mr. Putt-Putt
Former Albemarle supervisor L.F. Wood, 82, died October 11. Wood owned and operated the Putt-Putt golf course for 58 years and chaired the Board of Zoning Appeals, as well as the Seminole Trail Volunteer Fire Department board and the Albemarle County Police Foundation.
Stay out late
The Market Street and Water Street parking garages will now be open 24 hours, which means parkers no longer have to get to the garage before midnight to avoid turning into pumpkins. The first hour is free and then it costs $2 an hour in both garages.
Fewer boozin’ students violations
The number of UVA students committing liquor law violations dropped by 43 percent last year, according to a recent report by the Cavalier Daily. While alcohol violations referred for disciplinary action totalled 599 in 2016, and dropped to 416 the following year, the number of alcohol-related arrests have been consistent. Police made 54 and 52 of those in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Quote of the week
“I feel that we made a huge leap forward at the most recent rally in terms of presentation, messaging, and holding a high expectation for what conduct should be like at a public demonstration.—Jason Kessler, referring to the Washington Unite the Right2 rally in an email “Seeking White Rights Activists in Washington, D.C.”
Heated market
Folks at the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors say the local home market is hot. In a comparison of the third quarter of this year to that of 2017, fewer houses may have gone up for sale, but more of them were purchased, for more money, and faster. Here are the bricks that built that conclusion.
- Sales climbed by 4.4 percent, with 1,051 homes sold this quarter compared to 1,007 bought this time last year.
- Those homes were more expensive, too. The median sales price soared past $294,007 to $309,000.
- They were also snatched up quicker. The median number of days on the market was 56, or six lower than the third quarter of 2017.
- Perhaps that’s because there were fewer homes to be bought—the inventory of residences for sale declined 9 percent, with 1,297 for sale in the third quarter of this year, compared to 31 more the previous year.
–Numbers provided by CAAR