Charlottesville Breaking News
Vendor bender: Will the City Market stay or go?
The Charlottesville City Market on opening day this year. Will it ever get a permanent home?Courtesy Charlottesville City Market
The 35-year old outdoor market brings hordes Downtown every week from spring into fall. There are over 100 vendors now, and officials say they receive request from 40 new vendors a week.Courtesy Charlottesville City Market
People come to see vendors like Ignacio Becerra and Lupe Vargas, whose homemade tacos are legendary.Courtesy Charlottesville City MarketFor as long as the Charlottesville City Market Saturday extravaganza of local foods and crafts has existed on the City parking lot along Water Street–over 20 years, though the popular outdoor market has actually been around for 35 years– there's been discussion about relocating it. Earlier this year, a consulting company called Market Ventures, whom the City paid $100,000 to study the possibility of creating a "market district" downtown, presented two possible ideas: keep it in its current location with some design improvement or move it to a lot that could be leased at First and Garrett streets.
But wait. Didn't the City sponsor a $150,000 design contest to generate ideas for creating a market district in 2007? Didn't City Council have a big discussion about finding a new home for the City Market back in 2010, during which then-mayor Dave Norris noted that the market "needs and deserves" a permanent location?Indeed, Council is scheduled to discuss the issue again in June, based on the new study. But even if a decision is made, Chris Engel, the city’s Economic Director, points out that there's no time frame on when the new market relocation or improvement would be completed.
After all this time, the consensus seems to be to keep the market in its current location and make improvements– such as adding water, electricity, and seating o...
Ranunculus
Bill EmoryButtercups. Pretty but poisonous.
Ingestion causes burning of the mouth, abdominal pain, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. Skin redness, burning sensation, and blisters following contact with cell sap. ––NCSU
~
Commentator Bill Emory puts up a new photo nearly every day at billemory.com/blog.
Bucking tradition: Does Democrat Terry McAuliffe have what it takes to beat Ken Cuccinelli?
Former President Bill Clinton stumps for McAuliffe at the 17th Street Farmers' Market in Richmond in April 2009.Scott Elmquist
McAuliffe, with Democratic strategist Paul Goldman and former Republican Gov. George Allen, addresses a meeting of the Richmond Crusade for Voters after the election in November 2009.Scott Elmquist
Scott Elmquist Terry McAuliffe and Glen Besa, director of the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club, celebrate at Democratic headquarters at the Richmond Marriott on election night.Scott Elmquist
Terry McAuliffe speaks to a political science class at the University of Virginia in April as longtime professor Larry Sabato looks on.Scott Elmquist
After explaining the key planks of his gubernatorial campaign in early April, McAuliffe greets students of Larry Sabato's introduction to American politics class.Scott Elmquist
To win the election, McAuliffe will have to overcome a perception that he's an outsider.Scott Elmquist
Terry McAuliffe kicks of his campaign for governor May 6 in Charlottesville-- and Richmond and Harrisonburg.photo by lisa provence
Dorothy and Terry McAuliffe were in Charlottesville May 6 for a multi-city campaign kickoff. In his 1997 book, he details leaving Dorothy in the delivery room while he went to a fundraiser.photo by lisa provenceby Peter Galuszka
Easter Sunday blows rainy and cold while the cell phone buzzes at 12:58 p.m. It's a surprise email from Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Terry McAuliffe. "Peter," his message reads. "My family and I are about to head out to Easter brunch but I wanted to make you aware that today's the last day we have to file our first financial report of the year." McAuliffe asks for a $5 donation.
The campaign continues through the holiday. At 2:58 p.m. another email blares from Emily Aden, McAuliffe's research director, asking for $5 or more. At 7:24 p.m., another McAuliffe staffer, finance director Andrew Smith, chimes in with his pitch for five bucks.
McAuliffe's data-mining prowess is impressive, but it also shows remarkable tone deafness. Many Virginians prefer their holidays uninterrupted by cash solicitations. Nailing the point, Larry Sabato, longtime political analyst at the University of Virginia, tweets later that evening: "Returning to email after pleasant Easter to find 11 obnoxious pleas for $$$. Now know answer to age old Q: Is nothing sacred?"
And that, in a nutshell, may be McAuliffe's biggest challenge. Can a hard-charging, if not bombastic, Washington fundraiser and businessman with no experience in elective office become governor in a tradition-loving state that he doesn't seem to understand?
It's a crucial question, because McAuliffe is going up against Republican Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, an experienced...
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...
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