writes: Is there any location in town that is showing the World Cup matches? US/Costa Rica/Portugal/Mexico? Cville is such a big soccer town, I would expect that some bar/restaurant is showing the matches, especially with our large Hispanic population. Anyone?
Archive for June, 2002
A tornado is currently making its way through Free Union at 25 mph, moving towards Charlottesville. I just spoke with my mother, who lives in Free Union, and she reports a low thunder-like rumble that is, unlike thunder, constant. It’s grown louder in the past few minutes, and the National Weather Service reports that the tornado is now directly in Free Union. The last tornado that we had in the area was May 13, 2002, when one ran through town from Farmington to Albemarle High School, along Route 29. Those of you that are in the tornado’s path should seek shelter immediately. Get into your basement and cover yourself with a blanket, beneath a structural support like a door frame. Can anybody offer updates as to what’s going on out there?
6:50pm: Hail the size of golf balls is raining down on Free Union right now.
7:01pm: The storm is now 5 miles northwest of Charlottesville, moving southeast at 20mph. It’s currently forecast to hit the southwestern portion of town (JPA, 5th St., UVa, Fontaine, etc.), according to the Weather Channel. I keep flipping over to WVIR, but they don’t appear to have anything but national news and, now, Wheel of Fortune.
7:10pm: Pea-to-marble-sized hail is falling in downtown, and the rain is coming down like you wouldn’t believe. Lots of thunder and lightning, but nothing tornadic-looking. (To be fair, I can’t see to the south at all.)
7:20pm: The storm has been downgraded to a severe thunderstorm. Presumably, it didn’t hit Charlottesville as a tornado.
7:35pm: A second cell is 6 miles west of Charlottesville, this one a severe thunderstorm and not a tornado. The NWS warns of softball — yes, softball — sized hail. It is moving southeast, and is forecast to impact central and southern Albemarle in the next 25 minutes. From there, south to Fluvanna.
7:40pm: Yay, it’s Robert Van Winkle on WVIR. Where you been, Robert?
11:20pm: Eric Pritchett said, on WVIR this evening, that it’s not yet known if a tornado ever touched down. Despite the NWS’ terminology (”a tornado is currently over Free Union,” etc.), apparently there’s no direct evidence of a tornado. By way of reminder, that’s the same thing that was said after the May 2000 until somebody noticed that all of the severe damage was in a 100-yard-wide swath running through town.
The six CHS students who pled guilty in April to attacking UVa students earlier this year have been sentenced, WINA reports. Four were given a year’s probation (having already served two weeks in detention), one two months in a detention center, and one is under house arrest until December.
In Louisa’s capital murder trial of Russell Adam Pelletier, one of his attorneys — Lloyd Snook — disagrees with the suspect’s friend Shawn Lamb, who claims that Pelletier confessed to the murder the night before the victim’s body was found. Snook says that it was not a confession, but merely freestyle rap about shooting and killing a girl and throwing her body in a lake. The day after the rap/confession, the body of Aimee Marie Meadows was found floating in a lake with a bullet wound to the head. Austin Graham has the story in today’s Progress.
Media General has purchased the nearly-defunct Boxerjam, David Dadurka reports in today’s Progress. Boxerjam, once a C’ville tech success story and successful on-line gaming company, laid off all 25 employees just over a year ago, and has been searching for a buyer ever since. Media General owns over 100 newspapers, TV stations and various publications in the southeast, notably the Daily Progress. Perhaps this means that the Daily Progress’ website will not only cease to be pathetic, but also feature massively-multiplayer roleplaying games. I’ve got dibs on Austin Graham!
The Hook now has a webcam on their increasingly-bad-ass site. It’s pointing out of their window on the second story of the Downtown Mall, showing the intersection of Second Street and the Mall. It appears to be updated at least every few minutes, and shows from Christian’s Pizza down to the far right side of the Regal. This is currently the only Charlottesville webcam that I’m aware of. Anybody know of any others?
Full disclosure: My company, Munk & Phyber, did some consulting on the technical aspects of The Hook’s site. It was designed and is maintained by others.
In this week’s C-Ville Weekly, there’s a column entitled “Blind man’s bluff: the interactive news blues” about cvillenews.com and George Loper’s site. (Sorry, the story’s not available on-line.) Author Kathryn Goodson says cvillenewsers “rarely [offer] interesting insight or an enlightening point of view,” and complains that there are only three regular contributors to the site: myself, Lafe and Cecil. She goes on to say that Loper’s site “works more efficiently than cvillenews.com…because of the simple fact that Loper edits it before posting it online,” and concludes with a question: “But then the question becomes, at point will our self-imposed editor step in?”
Rapping murderer Russell Pelletier has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison, WINA reports. Pelletier attempted to shake the charge by claiming that he had not actually confessed to the murder, but merely invented a freestyle rap that happened to be about shooting and killing a girl, and throwing her body into a lake. Pelletier intends to appeal the conviction.
cvillenews.com is, after a ghastly week of fighting with Network Solutions, back up again. For those that care about geeky whining and pathetic excuse-making, continue reading. For those that don’t care, have a little patience and I’ll get some real news up here.
On Thursday the 6th, in mid-afternoon, I moved the server that cvillenews.com resides on, Tux. Tux is my main server — it hosts most of my websites, my DNS (think of DNS as a sort of an Internet phone book — it matches cvillenews.com to 216.12.86.3), a bunch of e-mail addresses, etc. I was moving out of my office to set up a home office, so the server had to go. I hauled everything into a car and drove it to my apartment, where I set everything back up again.
A consequence of moving the server is that Ntelos — from whom I get my connectivity via DSL — had to assign me a new IP address. So cvillenews.com went from being 216.12.15.168 to being 216.12.86.3. This is sort of like changing your phone number, to use a simplified analogy. I’d notified the proper authorities, notably Network Solutions, the registrar for the domain. Late Thursday afternoon, I left for a business trip, figuring that everything would be updated and ticking along happily by Friday.
It wasn’t. When I came back Saturday evening, nothing worked. That’s when I began a series of attempted updates to the domain name records on Network Solutions site, via e-mail, via fax, and via phone. They simply weren’t updating the DNS — their phone book — to reflect cvillenews.com’s new location. Thus, people typing the address into their browser got nothing, because 216.12.15.168 had been reduced to a bare ethernet cable hanging out of the wall in an empty office.
Yesterday’s telephone call with Network Solutions was particularly exciting. Ruth, with whom I spoke, explained to me that if the e-mail based update forms didn’t work, there was absolutely nothing they could do. She couldn’t help me on the phone. She couldn’t help me via fax. I couldn’t pay them to fix it. I simply had to keep resubmitting the change request until it worked.
Somehow, magically, it worked yesterday. Perhaps it was something that I did differently, perhaps it was something that Ruth did, perhaps it was the goat that I sacrificed to the gods of Media General. I’m not sure. As of today, the updated DNS entry is slowly filtering into DNSs around the world, and the site is gradually becoming accessible to more and more people. Ironically, it’s still not accessible to me via my Ntelos DSL, but I’m hoping that will iron itself out, too.
In any case, this sucked. I’m really sorry that the site was down for so long. (Though it was a nice little vacation.) The moral of the story for me is to never, ever, ever work with Network Solutions. I’ll be transferring all of my domains over to DirectNIC, with whom I’ve had far more luck. Oh, and there is a silver lining to all of this: moving the server was the first step in the Impending Upgrade(tm), which will involve some software upgrades to the site that will allow multiple moderators, discussion boards outside of news responses and a bunch of other fun stuff. God help us all if any other steps in this upgrade suck as much as this one did.
Finally, my thanks to all of the folks from the Neon Guild and Ntelos that were so helpful. I appreciate it.
The University of Virginia has rejected the city’s request for non-binding arbitration over the planned Ivy Road parking garage. The city believes that UVa has violated the Three Party Agreement in their handling of the garage. In the response letter by John Casteen, he dismisses the concerns, neatly summarizing UVa’s perspective in saying that “the Code [of Virginia] does not provide for localities to pass judgment on state agency projects.” In related news, an attorney for the area residents opposed to the project is claiming that UVa does not own a 32′x32′ portion of the planned garage site, as per an 1895 deed. Eric Swensen has stories on each subject in today’s Progress.
In this week’s Hook, Lisa Provence has an account of the recent sentencing of several of the CHS attackers, along with a series of interesting quotes from some of the victims. With official apologies like “I’m sorry if I hurt anybody,” some of the victims are less than pleased with the outcome. You can read the story on The Hook’s site.
Live Arts has announced their final season at their current location. Running from September until June of 2003, John Gibson describes it as “an American season, with all U.S. settings and playwrights.” Best of all, the final show will be Coffeehouse 13, a throwback to the early 90s coffeehouses that made Live Arts so popular in the first place. After that show, the theater intends to move to their new location on Water Street.
Lost in Yonkers
by Neil Simon
Directed by Larry Goldstein
September 13 to October 5
1942, the world goes to war. in a Yonkers apartment above a candy store, 3 generations are thrown together: cold and sharp as steel Grandma Kurnitz; the four children who have each hardened her heart; the two teenage boys meeting this, their extended family, for the first time. America’s greatest comic playwright, his only Pulitzer Prize. A tender memory play about coming of age, laughing through tears and learning to let go.
The Wild Party
by John Michael LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe
Directed by Doug Schneider
November 15 to December 14
From epic poem to smash hit musical. The jazz-mad Manhattan of the 1920s, where anything and everything goes! Bathtub gin and bedroom eyes, bums and bon vivants, the most wild and wicked, eye-opening and jaw-dropping party of them all. Dilettantes, debutantes, has-beens, and wannabes are all clawing for an invite to this sexy singing soiree. A vaudeville with hors d’ouevres, a sloe gin fizz to a fast jazz beat, doilies but no undies- “The Wild Party” has it all.
Ah, Wilderness!
by Eugene O’Neill
Directed by William Rough
January 17 to February 8
No morphine, no tuberculosis, and no foghorns. Instead, a comedic walk down memory lane. A turn-of-the-last-century valentine to a sweeter time. A Fourth of July weekend in a placid New England town. A scrapbook of loving family portraits. A clear-eyed and unsentimental look at the inner life of 17-year old Richard Miller: the future artist as a sensitive, pompous, all-but-insufferable, young man.
Summer Evening in Des Moines
by Charles Mee
Directed by Chris Courtenay
March 14-29
One of the most exciting and wildly theatrical playwrights working today. A free-wheeling cruise through heart and head. A ship of fools looks for a way back to Civilization. (Where one can “sit at a dinner table and watch TV.”) With a stop in Teatimeland or Tuscanyworld. (”Where the fountains brim with chianti.”) The destination keeps changing - grand canyon, Dairy Queen, airport, Devonshire, New Jersey, or the Hamptons. Just don’t forget to pack your catapult for the fruitcake toss!
Buried Child
by Sam Shepard
Directed by Boomie Pedersen
April 18- May 3
“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” or the double-wide set. A young man returning home to the family farm. His family: Gothic in the disheveled darkness of their lives; Baroque in the extravagance of their dysfunction; Medieval in their cruelty toward each other. Shepard: may be our greatest living playwright; this may be his masterpiece. Albee’s sense of craft, Beckett’s ear for language, and Tennessee William’s gift for venom all on display in this Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
Coffeehouse 13
by the Charlottesville All-Star Writers
Directed by Fran Smith
May 30 to June 21
The thrilling days of yesteryear in C-ville. The Downtown Mall was a ghost town. Fellini’s offered all kinds of after hours treats. Live Arts meant Coffeehouse. For our final full production in our cozy home at 609 East Market Streeet, we’re going back to our roots (before we transplant them to Water Street) resurrecting the legendary performance series that put our address on the map. Big laughs, great tunes and wicked gossip: all with a local slant.
Albemarle County assistant superintendent Jean Murray is leaving her job, having been accepted as the superintendent of the Stafford County public schools. Murray was the last of the three Charlottesville superintendent candidates after the previous two bowed out, though she, too, declined the position. (Presumably knowing that she would get this job.) This leaves Albemarle in need of two assistant superintendents for the fall, and Charlottesville remains in need of a superintendent. Kate Andrews has the story in today’s Progress.
Groundbreaking was held yesterday for a 42-unit condominium being built in Belmont, near downtown. The location isn’t clear in the Progress story, but based on the sketch, it’s pretty close to the coal tower. The project is being headed by mega-developers Frank Stoner and Robert Hauser, known mostly for their extensive contributions to development of the suburban ring around Charlottesville. The three-story apartments are scheduled for completion by next spring. Jake Mooney has the story in today’s Progress.
After a scant two and a half years of publication, Richmond’s 64 magazine is going under. The popular arts and culture magazine enjoyed strong support from the business and arts communities, and won several major awards during its tenure. Their July issue will be the final one, unless something happens to save the publication. Bob Rayner has the story in today’s Progress.
Belle writes: WINA is reporting that the hot topic for tonight’s City Council meeting is the proposed placement of the bus transfer station at the east end of the Mall; this placement is part of a larger plan to redesign the east end of the Mall. WINA reports that City Mayor Blake Caravati is confident that more city residents will support the project and its location once they see the plans.
These plans have been debated for a few months now. Presumably, a vote is going to happen before too long.
After the police chief’s recent declaration that gangs are a problem in Charlottesville, the president of the Westhaven neighborhood association is taking issue with that conclusion. The 30-year-old Harold Folley, a former member of Westhaven’s Project Crew, says: “This town’s too small to have gangs. If we had gangs, we’d have killings every day.” Counters Chief Longo: “I don’t care what you call them. I don’t care if they’re a group of Boy Scouts.” Reed Williams has the story in today’s Progress.
betterlife writes: I was curious as to what happened to the following anchors, etc from WVIR: Pedro Echevaria, Carey McCuone (sp), Stacey Horst,
Lonnie Quinn. Now there is some new lady doing the 6:00 news who is doing the job like she is a news [veteran]. Does anyone know anything about her or where she is from?
Fluvanna farmer Leroy Herdon is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of whomever stole 38 head of cattle from him earlier this month. Fluvanna sheriff’s deputies say it would have taken several people using three trucks to haul off the cows. There’s no word of a posse being gathered at this time. Reed Williams has the story in the Progress.
The Albemarle Supervisors voted unanimously to seek a ban on through traffic on Proffit Road by big-rig trucks, WINA reports. The road is often used as a shortcut by trucks going from Route 64 to Route 29 and seeking to avoid the bypass. The problem is that the narrow, twisty road was never constructed with tractor-trailers in mind. With Baker-Butler Elementary School opening on Proffit this August, it’s no surprise that the vote was unanimous. The request will be sent to VDOT, who will make the final decision. Peter Savodnik has a lengthier story in the Daily Progress.
Belle writes: UVa announced today that it will begin to construct the North Grounds Connector without consultation from VDOT. The University will move ahead with this road project, which it sees as critical — like the proposed Ivy Road garage — to its ability to bring vehicular traffic to its basketball/stage entertainment arena and its proposed Arts Precinct. UVa and VDOT aren’t talking about this road design and construction because of a gag order imposed by the judge in the SELC v. VDOT (RE: Western Bypass) suit.
Governor Mark Warner met with Senator Creigh Deeds and Delegate Mitch Van Yahres regarding UVa’s planned Ivy Road parking garage. Deeds and Van Yahres both favor increased local control of UVa’s growth, and sought assistance in improving relations between state institutions and localities. The Governor is concerned about setting a precedent by getting involved in a parking garage dispute, and it’s unlikely that he’ll become publicly involved in resolving the dispute. Bob Gibson has the story in today’s Progress.
After a representative from the League of Women Voters was invited into a recent closed session of City Council, some have started to wonder how closed session should work. Councilor Maurice Cox felt that inviting in the representative was appropriate, given that they’re “a citizen watchdog group.” Asks outgoing Councilor David Toscano, “if you allow one community group in, why not allow other community groups in…?” Councilor Meredith Richards painted it as a consequence of having meetings that are not quite closed, yet not quite open. Jake Mooney has the story in today’s Progress.
A Nelson couple had a pickup truck crash into their house on Thursday. But they weren’t particularly surprised: this kind of thing happens all the time. Earlier this year, three cars drove off the curvy road and into their car in just two weeks. Last July, a tanker full of tar ran off the road and dumped its load in front of their home, killing their dog and causing thousands of dollars in damage to their property. Despite repeated requests, VDOT refuses to put up a guardrail in front of their home, saying that it could be dangerous if a driver crashed into it. Jake Mooney has the story in today’s Progress.
Craig Nordenson, who shot and killed two people at the downtown coal tower last August [1,2,3,4], has pleaded guilty to capital murder. The plea bargain assures that Nordenson will spend his life in prison, with no chance of parole. Adrienne Schwisow has the story in today’s Progress.
I’ve never thought of myself as a water snob. I’ve drunk from some pretty fetid water sources all along the Appalachian Trail. I eschew bottled water, and I’d never met tap water that I didn’t like…until I moved into Charlottesville from Free Union a few years ago. Our water is disgusting. Every now and again, some foolhardy guest will help themselves to a glass of tap water, and they’re invariably disgusted. I’ve discussed this with fellow Charlottesvillians, and people nearly always agree that it’s gross. Do cvillenewsers have the same take on it? Why is our water so awful?
Clear Channel has given the boot to 107.5 FM morning show duo Vinny Kice and Brooke Shealy. A week ago today was their final show; instead, the station will now use voice tracking to import a Texas-based Clear Channel morning team, “Kidd Kraddick in the Morning,” but make it sound as if the show is local. The FCC is investigating the acquisition, as it’s thought to give Clear Channel an unfair dominance over the local market. The Hook has the story in this week’s issue. For more information on Clear Channel from a more jaded perspective, see the brand-new ClearChannelSucks.org.
writes: So I’ve passed by the Marriot on West Main the last few fridays, and guess what? No protesters encouraging motorists to operate their warning sounders! Has the living wage crowd simply given up, or has there perhaps been some progress getting Mariott to pay up?
PorscheDude writes: My neighbor was told recently by Adelphia that it would cost $1700 to hook up cable to their house. I live 60 feet away and it cost me $50 six months ago. We live in a new ‘hood just outside of town, and both houses were pre-wired for cable. Is it any wonder that Adelphia will be out of business by the end of the summer?
The company intends to file for bankruptcy on Monday, but there’s no indication if they intend to withdraw from this or other markets. If they did leave the Charlottesville area, though, city government could get into the business of running the cable system. The city will soon begin a study of area cable needs to see how Adelphia measures up. David Dadurka has the story in today’s Progress.
Phred writes: Charlottesville-Dining.com, an online dining guide with over 250 local eatery listings, is now live. Featuring user ratings and comments, over 20 categories of restaurants, restaurant reviews, and an online forum, Charlottesville-Dining.com is the premier online interactive dining guide for the Charlottesville area. Check it out and start adding your own ratings and comments!
I normally don’t post press releasey kind of things (we get ‘em all the time), but I’ve got a soft spot for not-for-profit websites of local interest.
Belle writes: Bob Gibson’s column in this weekend’s Progress describes the brakes former Governor Gilmore put on UVa’s plans for the Blue Ridge Hospital property. Gibson describes these restrictions as wise, given the University’s increasingly grandiose plans for expansion – on that property, and elsewhere in the City and Albemarle Co. – all to be done up in a architectural style one critic describes as “Jefferson on steroids”.
Belle writes: The current issue of C-Ville Weekly names and describes the 20 local persons whom it deems to most “shape life in our community.” Would perhaps some cvillenews.com folks like to take a crack at debunking the importance of some of the names on the list and suggesting alternatives?
writes: To: The bastard who stole my VCR
It was my VCR, you knew it! But you took it anyway! You bastard! You knew it was mine, but you did it anyway! Your VCR was broken, so you just took mine. You could get your own VCR ya know. Or steal one from someone else. but you NOOOOO! You had to steal mine instead.
Whats wrong with you? What if someone stole your VCR? What would you do without your pornographic videos? Huh? Didnt think of that did you? Someone, somewhere, watching x-files reruns on YOUR VCR while you sob pornlessly in the dark! You make me sick!
Its an evil addiction! You had to steal to get your next fix, you’re no better than a crack addict stealing to get his next rock! You’re just a porn addicted 34 year old bum welfare ghetto white trash honkey bastard.
Fuck you guy who stole my VCR. This is the weirdest thing ever submitted to cvillenews.com, so I figured I’d run with it. It pretty much continues along this vein.
writes: Visit http://www.bookcrossing.com/. This is a “catch and release” site for books - its similar to the Yellow Bike Program. It’s a global sociology experiment that is the brainchild of a group of KC-based computer consultants. bookcrossing.com tries to encourage people to experience “The Karma of Literature”. The idea is that you find a book you like, go to their web site and register it, slap the recommended label inside the book’s cover, and then leave it somewhere! The label says, “Please read me, I’m not lost. I’m travling around trying to make friends.” You can even leave hints to others about where you placed it. I just checked their website and so far there have been 25 releases right here in C’ville.
A trucker drove his tractor-trailor through the Afton Mountain scenic overlook on 64 and straight off the side of the mountain at 55 mph, WINA reports. Astoundingly, neither the driver nor his passenger were seriously injured. WINA has kind of a cool picture of the truck being hauled back up.
Belle writes: WINA is reporting that City Council has made ‘a clean sweep’ of incumbent School Board members who sought reappointment. The new members are: Peggy Van Yahres, Michael Heard, and William Igbani. The news report suggests the ’sweep’ was a result of Council’s unhappiness with the Board’s failed superintendent search.
The annual Nelson County Summer Festival will be held this weekend at the Oak Ridge Estate. There will be music, agricultural displays, artisans’ work, food vendors, wineries and a children’s area. Musical acts include Seldom Scene and Terri Allard Band, among others. It runs Saturday and Sunday, from 11am to 6pm. Admission is $5.
Belle writes: Last Saturday, Leonard Sandridge visited a graveyard in Ivy, following emerging clues that a body thought possibly to be in a grave found on the property on which the University hopes to soon build a parking garage (and, later, perhaps some student housing) might have been exhumed and moved off the property in the 1950s. UVa News Services has the story (and some nice photos).
Cecil writes: There’s a story on the AP Wire about a suspected serial kidnapper who killed himself–there’s a suggestion that he may have been the one responsible for the murders of the Lisk sisters in May 1997.
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