Charlottesville Breaking News
Fore! Trump golf course faces hazards
Donald Trump and Eric Trump want to turn land that Patricia Kluge put in conservation easement into a public golf course.file photo by hawes spencerDonald Trump is aiming for a hole-in-one with reported plans to build a public golf course on the former Kluge estate in southern Albemarle, but several hazards stand in his way. For one, the 217-acre would-be golf course in the front yard of Albemarle House is under conservation easement– and it's also under litigation from the John Kluge Jr. Trust, which claims Trump stiffed it on the purchase price.
Get Out! events, shows, things to do
NEEDTOBREATHE's Seth Bolt, Joe Stillwell, Bear Rinehart, and Bo Rinehart come to rock the Pavilion on May 9.fanart.tv
Video still“I think the age of being too cool for things is so incredibly over. If you’re a real artist out there, you don’t care who your fans are. If people connect with your music, what more could you ever want?” – Bear Rinehart
Band of brothers
Gritty, lyrical Southern rock courtesy of the sons of a preacher man. That's what you'll get at the Pavilion when NEEDTOBREATHE takes the stage this Thursday, May 9.
While at work on a new album, their last offering, The Reckoning, debuted at number 6 on the Billboard Top 200 chart in 2011 and captured the attention of Rolling Stone, MTV, USAToday, the New York Times, and David Letterman, who had the band perform their song "Drive All Night" on his late-night show.
The band of brothers, Bear and Bo Rinehart (along with Seth Bolt and Joe Stillwell) have a story that's hard to make up. Raised in South Carolina by a hard-core Christian pastor father who did not allow the boys to listen to anything but Christian music, they had to sneak around listening to the likes of the Black Crowes and Weezer.
Bear, named for Alabama football coach Bear Bryant, ended up a star wide-receiver at Furman University, where the band formed. Indeed, Furman's quarterback at the time, Justin Hill, was not only throwing passes to Bear, but, as a musician himself, also serving as a musical ment...
Vast ambition: Bundoran dream still alive
"I think the concept is fantastic," says local realtor Jim Duncan about Bundoran Farm. "There isn't a comparable neighborhood in Albemarle or any of the surrounding areas that I am aware of."File photo by Dave McNair
Purchased in 2006 for $31 million, Bundoran Farm sold at auction in June 2011 for just $7.5 million.File photo by Hawes SpencerTalk about a development vision that won't die. Despite some enormous setbacks, including the fiery plane crash on Bundoran Farm that killed one of the original developers and an associate, and a real estate market collapse that saw the 2,300-acre property auctioned off on the steps of the Albemarle County Courthouse, the original vision for the property as a "preservation development" appears to be intact.
On May 1, the management of Natural Assets, a British company with offices in Charlottesville, announced that they had purchased Bundoran from Wells Fargo Bank for an undisclosed amount. In a recent statement, and on the company's website, Matthew Spence, the company's founder and CEO, has been emphatic about preserving the original vision for the development.
Indeed, not only is original vision for the property alive, but the new owners seem even more ambitious than the previous owners.
"We are committed to ensure that over the next 10 years, Bundoran Farm will become the number one
The week in review
Best sign racism is alive and lurking: Some miscreant paints a racial slur and crude pornographic image on Beta Bridge May 1 that's condemned by UVA President Teresa Sullivan, the Student Council, and the Black Student Alliance, according to a release. Meanwhile, a university group holds a discussion April 29 on declining African-American enrollment.
Worst girlfriend slaying: Eighteen-year-old Alexis Artice Rose is stabbed to death in the Farmer's Food parking lot in Dillwyn April 30. Her boyfriend, Christopher Jerel Moseley, 20, is charged with first-degree murder, and her family says Rose was pregnant, according to NBC29
Worst Gator attack: Daniel Roe, 59, is suing an Albemarle
Charlottesville Regional Jail inmate, superintendent Colonel Ron
Matthews, and staffer Terry Hughes for $10 million for injuries he
claims came from being mowed down by a utility vehicle driven by
inmate Sean Wesley Sapin on a trail along the Rivanna River in
Pantops last October. K.
Burnell Evans has the story in the
Progress.
Worst news for Charlottesville residents who have to go to the bathroom: City staff is asking City Council to raise sewer...
May Day rally: Housing authority hides from protesters
"Ain't no power like the power of the people 'cause the power of the people don't stop," was one of the popular protest refrains during the march up the Downtown Mall.photo by lisa provence
The Rally for Dignity and Justice began at the U.S. Western District Court.photo by lisa provence
Long-time public housing activist Joy Johnson called housing authority actions, such as evicting a mother of six, "shameful."photo by lisa provence
City Council candidate Wes Bellamy (in suit) was the only candidate to show, and no elected officials were spotted in the crowd. Organizer Brandon Collins (far right) has his bullhorn at the ready.photo by lisa provence
Donna Gasapo lent support from the Anarchist People of Color Collective.photo by lisa provence
Although PHAR residents arrived during normal business hours, lights in the housing authority offices were out.photo by lisa provence
Even police initially couldn't get cowed housing staffers to open the door.photo by lisa provenceNothing says May Day quite like a protest. Around 50 public housing residents and supporters, chanting, "C-R-H-A, stop evicting us today," marched the Downtown Mall on May 1 to deliver a message to the city housing authority– only to find that the agency had locked the doors, cut off the lights, and were pretending they weren't home.
The Rally for Dignity and Justice in Public Housing, led by red t-shirted Public Housing Association of Residents members who were joined by anarchists, socialists, living wagers and Legal Aiders, gathered in front of City Hall. By then it had swollen to around 75 people. Noticeably absent: elected officials. Only one City Council candidate showed up.
Several in the crowd carried signs that said, "Evict Connie Dunn," referring to the executive director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Angry residents denounced what they called "disrespectful treatment" by the housing authority.
"They treat people like animals," decried march leader and PHAR staffer Brandon Collins. "Are you animals?"
"No," shouted the protesters.
Crescent Hall resident Miss Mary Carey, as she was referred to by other residents, said she's been complaining about mold in her building for...
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