We don’t live here anymore.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

Fewer than two years ago, WHTJ hosted a splashy kick-off party for its Terri Allard-hosted program, Charlottesville Inside-Out. Today, the public broadcasting station licensed for Charlottesville still has Allard, but the rest of its local programming has gone dormant— along with its local office space.

One of the hard-hit Community Idea Stations out of Richmond, WHTJ— which once had five employees— recently closed its office at 528 East Maint Street, across from City Hall. The payroll has shrunk to two, and they both work from home. Former general manager D.J. Crotteau left (more)

Comments(1)

Construction on the Meadowcreek Parkway will continue after Judge’s ruling, for now.
FILE PHOTO BY GORDON BLOCK

After waiting for nearly six weeks, a group of Charlottesville citizens fighting against the Meadowcreek Parkway finally heard the judge had ruled against them in their lawsuit to stop the controversial road.

The plaintiffs argued May 19 that the city of Charlottesville illegally sold a nine-acre stretch of land east of Melbourne Road to the Virginia Department of Transportation by evading a three-fourths super-majority vote required by the Virginia (more)

Comments(20)

Bel Trio: Jim Baldi, Dave Simpson, and Gareth Weldon bring “Munsch” and the “Window on the Belmont Riviera” to Downtown Belmont.
FILE PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

C&O Restaurant owner Dave Simpson and the folks at Bel Rio appear to have invented a word. The word is “munsch,” and besides being a surname, we could find no other uses for it. Simpson, though, is using it to describe a new dining concept  (a combination of lunch and brunch, he says) at Bel Rio, the Belmont eatery and music joint he opened with two partners last November. Basically, Munsch will be a family music and food event held on Saturdays from 11:30am to 1:30pm, the first of which will begin on July 11.

“We want to make it affordable for families to bring kids, ” says Simpson. “There will be latin bands, stuff for kids to do…and hopefully it will give adults a chance to talk.”

Simpson says the series is being organized by Estela Knott, a singer and director of Blue Ridge Music Together, a music program designed for kids and adults. (more)

Comments(0)

Have you seen this man?
PHOTO COURTESY ALBEMARLE POLICE

Police are looking for a man who went on an $8,000 Nikon-camera-buying spree June 12 using stolen credit cards lifted earlier at Farmington Country Club.

The cards were used at Wal-Mart, Sears, Ritz Camera, Finish Line, and at Best Buy, where police retrieved security video. Police describe the person in the two released images as a white male between 5′4″ and 5′6″, about 150 pounds, and between 40 and 50 years old.

“Within a couple of hours of the theft,” says Farmington GM Phil Keister, “$8,000 was charged before the victim even realized the theft.”

After a call to the credit card company, the camera equipment spree was halted.

“The credit card company shut them down,” says Keister of the cards, noting that they were presented at a couple of additional locations.

The country club had hosted a golf tournament that day for members and guests. Is it possible the thief is a member?

“It’s entirely possible,” says Kiester. “The only people we can eliminate are women.”

It appears to Keister, however, to be at least a two-man job because no one who has seen the pictures recalls seeing that individual at Farmington.

“We looked at security photos from Best Buy,” says Kiester. “I would guess the person who stole the cards is not the person in the video.”

Keister says he thinks the thief is someone who would feel comfortable walking around the Farmington locker room and notes theft at the club is “pretty unusual.”

In 2002, Farmington locker rooms made the news when a naked man allegedly strolled into the women’s locker room and pretended it was an accident, the same M.O. that allegedly was used across the street at Boar’s Head Sports Club.

–last updated 11:31am June 29

Comments(0)

The splashing has begun at Onesty Family Aquatic Center, and neighbors say parking’s not a problem.
PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART

After weeks of worrying about parking problems at Onesty Family Aquatic Center, pool neighbors say a smooth opening weekend has slowed the ripples of anxiety.

“I was shocked that cars weren’t in my yard,” says Eleanor Wilson, who lives three houses away from the $3.8 million complex on Chesapeake Street and had feared her street would be lined with the cars of poolgoers.

According to Wilson, who doesn’t have a driveway and thus relies on street parking, her fears weren’t realized. In fact, she says cars never parked farther than her next door neighbor’s house.

Bob Manners, the City’s supervisor of aquatics, says the opening weekend was “a huge success.”

(more)

Comments(38)

I-64 shooter Slade Woodson listens to testimony in court Tuesday.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

“If you were a monster, this would be easier,” said Judge Cheryl Higgins before pronouncing sentence on the teen who terrorized two counties for two days last year, closing Interstate 64 for six hours and Albemarle County schools on March 27, 2008.

“I’d like to apologize to all the people affected by this,” said Slade Woodson, 20, in Albemarle Circuit Court June 23 before Higgins sentenced him. “There’s no reason to justify what I did. If I could take it all back I would… I do take full responsibility for my actions.”

Still, Woodson appeared stunned after Higgins gave him 15 years. His attorney had suggested 8 to 10 years; Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford requested 20 years. On the 14 counts Woodson faced, a maximum sentence could have put him away for 150 years.

Initiially, said Lunsford, police didn’t know if they were dealing with a gang initiation or another DC sniper. “I felt like with what happened to this community, 20 years were appropriate,” she said. “Mr. Woodson has a lot of support in the community. But it’s important for the community to see a substantial sentence and a deterrent.”

“I think he’s taking it hard right now,” said defense attorney Jessica Smith. (more)

Comments(8)

Parking may be an issue for residents around Onesty Pool, which opens June 20 at 10am.
FILE PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART

Kids may be thrilled that the new Onesty Family Aquatic Center is opening, but some neighbors of Meade Park, where the pool is located, have a different kind of feeling.

With capacity for 225 swimmers and only 36 parking spaces, pool neighbors fear that after opening day, June 20, the streets around the park will be filled leaving them nowhere to park in front of their own homes. Their concern mounted on Monday, June 15, when City Council delayed plans to issue street parking permits to residents.

“They used no forethought at all about any of the residents,” says Eleanor Wilson, who lives on Chesapeake Street, three houses away from the park.

“I feel betrayed,” says Kevin Cox, who lives on Fairway Avenue and notes that it’s not just the pool but also the City Market held Wednesdays at Meade that puts a strain on parking in the area. According to the city website, the pool will close on Wednesday’s at 2pm to prepare for the market, which begins at 3pm, offering a half price daily admission.

“It’s shocking to me,” Cox says of Council’s permit delay. “I think they care more about (more)

Comments(58)

Despite rainy weather, “Save McIntire” supporters gathered in a shelter for the Picnic in the Park series.
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE GARCIA

“What’s the most important phrase in real estate?” asked Albemarle County resident and Save McIntire member Clara Belle Wheeler. “Location, location, location!” Wheeler, alongside Mala Cunningham and Bob Fenwick, hosted the first “Picnic in the Park,” a Wednesday night series this coalition hopes will boost awareness of the impending changes, including a private YMCA recreational facility, coming through McIntire Park in the months to come. According to Wheeler, McIntire’s location is great for one thing only: public parkland.

“”We’re not against the Y,” says Wheeler. “We just don’t think (more)

Comments(3)

DNA belonging to Butch Morris was found on a cigarette at the Southwind Grocery where Roger Shifflett was slain.
FILE PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

At a pretrial hearing that stretched all day, the man accused of killing Roger Lee Shifflett 21 years ago argued that the length of time between the slaying and the trial violates his Constitutional rights to due process.

Alvin “Butch” Morris was charged in May 2008 with the murder of Shifflett, who was found shot execution style early June 20, 1988, at the Southwind Gas and Grocery on Route 20 that he and his wife Barbara co-owned and that he usually opened before heading to his job with Norfolk Southern Railroad.

Barbara Shifflett Morris, who later married the man accused of killing her husband, and her mother, Mildred Haney, took the stand and demonstrated how faulty their memories were of the day the father of five was brutally slain at the store where they all worked.

Haney, who closed out the register and took the money home every night, initially was unable to recall talking to police after Roger Shifflett was found dead.  She later acknowledged (more)

Comments(0)

Last summer, the Hook examined the secret of UVA President John Casteen longevity, but today Casteen announced his retirement.
COVER PHOTO ART

UVA President John Casteen today announced his retirement from the university he’s headed since 1990. At a meeting of the Board of Visitors, Casteen announced his plans to step down on August 1, 2010.

“These years have been all but magical for my family and me,” Casteen said in an official release. “We have had the pleasure of living and working among students, staff members, faculty members, alumni, other backers of the University, and the women and men of a community that we see as America’s best. These have been years of working with legislators, board members, and others who care about the roles of universities in promoting and sustaining the common good, and of imagining with them how to cultivate a University capable of making Virginia’s and the Republic’s future worthy of their past.”

Rarely smiling and attired in an orange tie in the Dome Room of the Rotunda, Casteen received a standing ovation from the Board of Visitors and those gathered there for the announcement.

During his tenure, Casteen has increased the university’s endowment and its diversity, and he cites AccessUVA, the financial aid program that assures low-income students the means to attend the university without having to take out loans, as one of the accomplishments of which he’s most proud.

Presidents of the top 50 schools hold their jobs on average six years. Casteen, 65, has spent most of his adult life at the University of Virginia, starting with his enrollment there in 1961 as a 17-year old.

Casteen talks to the press after his announcement, and says he has no regrets about the amount of time he spent fundraising.
PHOTO BY CAMERON FELLER

“John Casteen will be remembered as the person who understood Jefferson’s vision of this place and catapulted it into the 21st century. He will leave an indelible mark and will be remembered as the father of our modern University,” said University Rector W. Heywood Fralin.

Fralin said that a “community-wide commemorative celebration” is being planned for Casteen to recognize his accomplishments. Fralin also said that Casteen will serve as a consultant for a year for the new president, and then return as a faculty member after a sabbatical leave once he steps down next August, when he becomes president emeritus. Fralin says the search for a new president will begin in late July.

Updated 5:05pm

Comments(19)

PHOTO COURTESY THE PICKFORD FAMILY

The obituary for Herbert A. Pickford III tells very little about the man, nothing about his occupation, his accomplishments, his hobbies, his age, where he was born, who his parents were– the usual information contained in an obituary.

He wanted it that way because he wrote it himself, says his wife of 48 years, Ann. “He was very modest. He achieved a lot, and he didn’t need to tell everyone about it.”

That’s why readers of his obituary won’t pick up that Pickford was one of the most respected judges around who, during his 17 years on the bench, handled low- and high-profile cases, such as the conviction of Glen Barker for the murder of 12-year-old Katie Worsky– only the second murder conviction in Virginia without a body– and earned the praise of fellow attorneys who appeared before him.

“I consider him the model judge,” says lawyer Fred Payne. “He had a terrific judicial demeanor. He was calm, fair, and smart.”

“He had a great judicial temperament,” echoes Public Defender Jim Hingeley. “He concentrated, he listened and was decisive. He had it all. Any case in front of him was good.”

Pickford, 75, was born in Griffin, Georgia, where his father worked in textiles. His grandfather owned a farm at Mechums River, land to which Pickford returned and where he died at home June 7. (more)

Comments(6)

A jury found a landlord owes $250,000 for burning an African-American couple’s possessions.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

When their landlord burned their possessions in a conflagration a witness allegedly described as looking like a “Ku Klux Klan rally,” Betty Ann and Tyrone Johns contend that it was racially motivated.

Nobody ended up testifying to the KKK claim, and a federal jury didn’t buy that the conflagration was racial discrimination under the Fair Housing Act, but in its May 27 verdict in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville, the jury did believe landlord Eugene Stillwell violated state law on four counts, and awarded the plaintiffs, who are African American, $200,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages.

Stillwell rented the six-bedroom, six-bath house on 2767 Lindsay Road near Gordonsville to the Johns in 1999. The lawsuit claims (more)

Comments(3)