http://www.readthehook.com/blog From the Hook newsroom Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:05:16 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en During a call-in to Coy Barefoot’s radio show on Friday, recently elected County Supe Rodney Thomas(R) was asked if he would support a controversial “flow control” ordinance in conjunction with the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority’s plan for a new privately operated Ivy Transfer station, which would essentially give monopoly control ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/07/thomas-shows-support-for-flow-control/ In a first for a key official in Albemarle, Supervisor-elect Rodney Thomas--- who refused to sign a campaign-time pledge to support the controversial $200 million water plan propounded by the Nature Conservancy--- indicated on Coy Barefoot's WINA radio show Friday that he's willing to modify or kill the plan due ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/07/supe-elect-thomas-eyes-water-plan-for-ax/ The new faces of the GOP on the Albemarle Board of Supervisors are area old-timers Duane Snow and Rodney Thomas. PHOTOS BY WILL WALKER Four years ago, Creigh Deeds lost a statewide race to Bob McDonnell by one of the smallest margins-- 360 votes-- in recent history. In glaring contrast, his 18-point ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/07/republican-resurrection-margin-stuns-dems-and-the-gop/ The downtown Bodo's has recently joined Charlottesville Radio Group as a business embracing the no-water urinal from Sloan, as this photo of the overhauled men's room indicates. Perhaps this kind of move bears some responsibility for low water sales by the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority (though the chair ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/07/snap-water-saving-at-bodos/ Ponzi-schemer John M. Donnelly will serve seven and a half years for running a Ponzi scheme. FILE FAMILY PHOTO John M. Donnelly walked out of federal court Friday morning a free man--- but not for much longer. The  man who pleaded guilty last spring to running a decade-long multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme from ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/06/donnelly-sentenced-ponzi-schemer-john-donnelly-gets-7-12-years/ Beta Bridge, swathed in pink and gold paint, welcomes filmmaker John Waters, who brings his sold-out "This Filthy World" one-man show to Culbreth at 4pm today. Other Waters' works on tap at this year's Virginia Film Fest: Hairspray screens at 7pm and Pink Flamingos at 10pm, both at Newcomb Hall. ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/06/snap-o-the-day-pretty-in-pink/ Famed author Earl Hamner Jr. joins cast members of The Homecoming, the dramatic holiday tale whose 1971 television version launched the long-running and still syndicated show The Waltons. Hamner, whose tv writing includes several classic episodes of The Twilight Zone, gave a reading Thursday night, November 5, at the named-for-him ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/06/playwright-launches-gets-homecoming/ Untitled image by Hilary Wilder. I don't want to hear anybody say, "I'm bored—there's nothing to do," this Friday because from where I stand (or sit) there is way, way too much to do. Having First Friday coincide with the Virginia Film Festival means a veritable cornucopia of visual pleasures for ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/06/first-friday-timeout-from-the-film-festival-edition/ A major search effort to find Morgan Harrington launches Friday morning, November 6, and continues through the weekend. PHOTO FROM STATE POLICE The Jefferson Room at the Cavalier Inn at the corner of Emmet Street and Ivy Road was filled to capacity tonight--- and then some---  as hundreds of Charlottesville residents and ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/05/hundreds-turn-out-for-harrington-search/ Your county supervisors--- a group that includes a financial planner--- could use a clue about financial planning, as this report of an ever-widening deficit appears to demonstrate. http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/05/doh/ Among the items allegedly purloined September 22 from Antiquer's Mall in Ruckersville that led to the arrest of Raymond J. Devere-Austin, the Baron of Delvin, are cast-iron statues of Humpty Dumpty, a dog and a horsehead, according to the felony warrant. Devere-Austin, 76, a writer, actor and stuntman, also directed ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/05/humpty-dumpty-listed-in-barons-arrest-warrant/ Proper services for fallen local drummer Johnny Gilmore will proceed tomorrow now that the impromptu memorial is behind us. At 10:30am, a gathering at the Free Speech Wall on the downtown mall near the Charlottesville Pavilion. At noon, the funeral, at the Covenant Church of God located at ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/05/johnny-gilmore-services-on-friday/ The City’s mar-com department has won a Savvy Award from the City-County Communications & Marketing Association for a Public Service Announcement discouraging residential speeding, which asks citizens to “help keep Charlottesville residential roads safe.” Coincidently, the award comes just days after the city released a police video of an 85mph ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/05/racy-city-speeding-psa-gets-savvy/ Heartthrob crooner John Mayer announces a stop at Charlottesville's John Paul Jones Arena during his upcoming North American tour in spring 2010 with a March 16 concert. The seven-time Grammy winner hit the music scene in 2001 with Room for Squares, as his single "No Such Thing" and boyish good looks ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/05/john-mayer-to-make-jpj-a-wonderland/ When Woodbrook Elementary School third-grader Carson Raymond died in October of complications related to H1N1, his parents, John and Jennifer Raymond, urged calm and announced plans to start a foundation in Carson's name to improve the t-ball fields at Woodbrook. One month after the loss of their oldest son, they've ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/05/carsons-legacy-two-events-raise-funds-in-h1n1-victims-honor/ Over on Old Ivy Road, a new futuristic car wash is taking shape, which will eventually look like this. Owner Matt Bascomb, who also owns Clean Machine Car Wash on Pantops, hopes the new high-tech car wash will be open by the end of November. In the meantime, he says the ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/05/wash-portal-rises/ Minor: "I am taking on these guys because I'm the only one who can." FILE PHOTO BY JAY KUHLMANN He has just lost another lawsuit--- this time a $21.6 million judgment for Merrill Lynch--- but Halsey Minor vows that legal setbacks won't deter his quest to complete the Landmark Hotel, an incomplete ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/05/merrill-loss-but-halsey-minor-vows-to-fight-on/ Smart brought a message of hope to Morgan's parents, Gil and Dan Harrington. PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER "We will stop at nothing until she is found," says the father of missing Morgan Harrington, as he and his wife were joined in Charlottesville Wednesday by the father of once-abducted but miraculously recovered Utah ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/04/still-missing-ed-smart-joins-harrington-parents-new-details-emerge/ The once-a-year event that bargain-conscious skiers and snowboarders dream about happens this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday--- as Freestyle, the sports shop on Westfield Road, holds its annual swap and yard sale. The event lets people who have excess/old equipment drop it off until Friday, and then the folks at Freestyle ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/04/bizbrief-freestyle-yard-sale-this-weekend/ About 15 feet above Ridge-McIntire Road, Randall Bowling eyes his Wednesday-morning handiwork. PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER Just two days after Halloween, three and a half weeks before Thanksgiving (not to mention seven and a half weeks before Christmas), City crews began installing holiday lights downtown on Monday, November 2--- in what may ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/04/record-early-christmas-lights/ Kristin Szakos and Dave Norris won in the city. FILE PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE Democratic machine candidates Dave Norris and Kristin Szakos held off a challenge by independent Bob Fenwick to retain an all-Democratic Charlottesville City Council, according to data from State Elections Board. But in the more politically diverse Albemarle County, ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/03/slutzky-ousted-machine-coasts-to-victory-in-city/ Like bunch of latter day Darwinesque explorers, Charlottesville doctor Randala Lakkis, center, just came back from a 10-day cruise to the Galápagos Islands with her husband, Alfredo Arcila Jr. (left) and Jeopardy host Alex Trebek (right). The doctor was one of 25 lucky winners in a contest celebrating the ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/03/doctor-wins-jeopardy-cruise/ Remember local Grammy Award-winner Christopher King? How about famous comic artist R. Crumb? The two recently met (with Charmagne Dutton in between) after Crumb spoke about his latest opus, an illustrated Book of Genesis, in Richmond. (reader-submitted photo) http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/03/snap-crumb-and-king/ Mockingbird, Staunton's newest restaurant and music hall, rebounds from an August fire. PHOTO BY KEVIN BLACKBURN First it sang, then it burned, and now it has risen again. Mockingbird, Staunton’s new restaurant and music hall, caught fire before it even opened back in August when two trash cans ignited during the renovation ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/03/mockingbird-rises-from-the-ashes/ Six months before she died, Justine danced with her father at her wedding to Eric Abshire. FILE PHOTO COURTESY SWARTZ FAMILY While national attention focuses on the Charlottesville disappearance of Metallica concert fan Morgan Harrington, the parents of another young woman are quietly marking the third anniversary of their daughter's death and ... http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/11/03/no-justice-but-special-grand-jury-for-justine/