Quake casualty? Council candidate claims knock-out blow
-
James Halfaday posted this photo on Facebook and told his 1,100 Facebook friends about his earthquake injuries. -
Halfaday posted this photo of his sunroom after the earthquake.
James Halfaday was unlucky in his run for City Council, and his bad luck seems to have continued, apparently making him the only person injured in Charlottesville in the August 23 earthquake.
According to a post on Facebook, Halfaday allegedly suffered a concussion after his sunroom ceiling fell on him, knocking him unconscious. Halfaday writes that after regaining conciousness and staggering out from under the ceiling debris, he found his chihuahuas hiding in a corner. He posted a photograph of his damaged sunroom ceiling– and of himself wearing a neck brace.
Halfaday did not immediately respond to a request to tell his harrowing story to the Hook.
Charlottesville Fire Chief Charles Werner says he is unaware of anyone being injured in the 5.8 earthquake in the city, nor was he aware of any emergency calls for citizens trapped in collapsed or damaged buildings.
Meanwhile, since the August 20 City Council primary, where Halfaday finished seventh out of seven candidates, Halfaday alleges fear for his life on another matter, according to an NBC29 report.
An openly gay candidate, Halfaday claims a volunteer for a Democratic opponent approached him romantically. NBC29 reports that since August 10, Halfaday allegedly received 134 text messages and numerous harassing phone calls from Nina Gregory, a married woman who was helping the campaign of one of the eventual nominees, Kathy Galvin.
Halfaday claims to NBC29 that on August 23, the same day as the earthquake in which he reported being knocked unconscious, Gregory left a message saying, "I love you. I want to be there. I've got a knife for us."
He swore out a magistrate-approved emergency protective order. On August 26, however, Judge Robert Downer refused to grant Halfaday's petition for a longer protective order, according to General District Court documents.
Halfaday alleges that two days later, Gregory made contact that violated the existing protective order, which would have expired after 72 hours. She was arrested the next day.
The former candidate, who co-owns a franchised location of the Snap Fitness gym, was the subject of criticism early in his campaign for alleged alcohol infractions, but he candidly discussed his college-era beverage transgressions– as well as his 200-pound weight loss.
Halfday went on to assert that he received messages during the campaign disparaging him for his homosexuality. Before the Democratic primary, he declined to show the alleged homophobic emails to the Hook, and, citing the pending criminal case, he has declined to discuss the alleged behavior of Gregory.
"He's someone I find difficult to understand," says Charlottesville Democratic Party co-chair James Nix, who looked into the missives and found scant evidence beyond a single incident of spoofed, or bogus, emails.
"It looked like an outsider impersonated him and Kathy Galvin and was up to no good," says Nix. "It only happened once."
As for Gregory, she has been a Democratic volunteer for years, says Nix. His reaction to Halfaday taking out a protective order?
"I was very surprised," says Nix, "especially about his accusations of threatening behavior by Nina. I found that unbelievable."
Gregory appeared in court September 6 with her attorney, Andrew Sneathern. She declined to comment afterward, and her next court appearance is September 30. But on August 29 she told the Hook, "There's absolutely no truth to these allegations. I have no further comment."
42 comments
C'mon! Where is everyone? This is prime stuff, lol!
deleted by moderator
"Alright now we got a situation" - Situation
Deleted by moderator.
@Shame on Nix,
Give me a break. If it was so obvious that Halfaday was a fraud (and I'm not disagreeing with you on that point), why did Jim Nix or anybody else need to do anything? Seems like the voters picked up on that without any help. And what exactly was the Party "brass" supposed to do? Forbid Halfaday from running? That's not exactly legal, genius.
Besides, could you imagine the poop-storm that would have ensued had it gotten out that the Party leadership tried to pressure someone out of the race? Get real.
It isn't like we don't have an obvious fraud or two currently sitting on council.
Well they should have done something. By their inaction and by making excuses for him they let Halfaday drag our city's reputation through the mud and make it sound like charlottesville is a hotbed of homophobia. That was vile on his part and in my mind they are at least partially complicit. And the fact that people like Cornelia johnson and Julian Taliaferro and the Cville coffee guy and others all endorsed him is just sad sad sad.
I am SO glad this guy did not make it to the finals for Council. That have been scary. And not because of this incident, it's for other questionable behaviors, things that people here don't even know about, though this is certainly the icing on the cake. Seriously though, who could even be surprised that the only earthquake injury in the entire city is.....James Halfaday. Complete with cowering chihuahuas and a neck brace. bwwahahahahaha! And a crazed knife wielding homophobic stalker waiting for him in the shadows! Oh, the drama..........
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's more like it!
boooo:
If you have a specific allegation regarding Mr. Halfaday, make it. Alluding to "other questionable behaviors, things that people here don't even know about," while hiding behind a silly fake name, is just plain wrong.
I don't know, or much care, about Mr. Halfaday. He sounds a little nutty.
But it's *not right* to make assertions like yours in a public forum without backing them up. I apologize for calling you out specifically for doing this, but this sort of thing bothers me a lot.
Sorry Hawkins Dale, no can do, but I understand your annoyance. I don't need to elaborate because the voters saw through him, being that he came in absolute last place. All I'm doing is saying that I have my own reasons for why I feel he had no business being a Council member. And then leaving it at that. There's no need to go further, because it's a moot point now anyway. But you are right though in that I probably should have left that particular part of my post out. Should have just expressed my amusement at this eye rolling situation, without the rest of it. My apologies.
Mr. Dale, boooo also happens to be a "truther." Don't hold your breath waiting for any sort of logical back up to his/her allegations about Halfaday.
http://readthehook.com/100568/commemorations-planned-tenth-anniversa...
The person who took the photo of him in the cervical collar should be able to tell us more. I know The Hook will keep after him until we get the truth. Let's hear it for good journalism!
@ cookiejar
You failed to either notice or mention that I actually did provide "logical back up" in my first 9/11 comment on the thread you reference, giving people links they could click on for stories and videos that illustrate various points that I made. Nice try though.
That you chose to ignore this reflects poorly on you, not me. Means you're either not too bright, or you just skip over anything that doesn't mesh with your predetermined worldview. In the meantime, I won't be holding *my* breath waiting for you to post something that actually utilizes logic.
The picture with the "dollar collar" is hilarious. Who is he going to sue, god for the earthquake or his landlord for not making the sun room earthquake proof? He would have been perfect for city council of the People's Republic of Charlottesville. I hope the chihuahuas weren't traumatized. I didn't think anyone but rich old ladies owned those dogs anymore.
As someone who thought he was worth a look in the primary, and at the risk of sounding insensitive, I have to say all of this post-primary activity is starting to smell like some kind of a need for media attention, but then again, he would not be the only candidate in the primary with that motivation, at least he didn't get elected. If it all happened as offered, its a serious run of bad luck and I hope he is doing better. I didn't believe for a second that the Gregory allegations had anything to do with the primary or Galvin, if they happened as alleged. It is just as probable an explanation that someone was causing technological mischief. I have not seen any hard evidence that Gregory actually did what was alleged. Cville is never short on political spectacle.
This is so not a story. Is Lisa Provience gonna follow up with the going on of Cannon, Blount and Beyer because no one cares about them either. I am shocked she was able to uncover Halfaday's stint with drinking in college. Who in Charlottesville would think a college student would drink? I think what Halfaday uncovered is how slimey the Cville Dems. The party has two chairs and still hauls water for one term city councilor and wannabe Kingfish John Conover. Oh, by the way, the person who abducted and killed Morgan Harrington hasn't been found. Trying to bring Hawes gossip team to reality. This story sucks.
I have it on good authority that Mr. Halfaday was the third man on the grassy knoll in Dallas.
Crazy ... Just saying.
That is amazing (that he lost 200 lbs, not so much for the rest). The viral internet post of a table and 4 white plastic chairs with one turned over backwards with the caption "Virginia/Charlottesville we will rebuild" (from the earthquake). We can now add Mr. H's picture behind the fallen white plastic chair. Charlottesville will recover from this earthquake and Mr. H. will also, however forget a political career.
I hope somebody will get to the bottom of this by checking the facts. It shouldn't be that hard to access the SMS logs and medical records.
I am surprised Lisa Provence would write such a slanted article without facts to support the position. Especially when the point of the article is to accuse Halfaday of doing exactly that. Ironic.
This is a legal issue (not just a political one) so we all need to withhold judgement until the facts are revealed. "Innocent until proven guilty" holds even in the court of public opinion. As far as journalism, this article is borderline irresponsible.
Da Hook need ta have a captiun contest for dis photo mane...
My entry - "Im Hurt, Dawg" Halfaday, 2011
Photo Caption: "Who knew earthquakes were homophobic?"
Reminding Mr.Halfway that auditions
For the LIVEARTS production of THE PRODUCERS
Are coming up.
Wear comfortable clothing, and staff will help
If you are stumped for a vocal audition choice.
Live moment to moment in those imaginary
Circumstances and you will shine !!!
My apologies on the spelling
Of Mr.Halfaday's name.
My understanding is that Liveaets
Does proof read those bio details
Before they publish the playbill for
The production.
Photo Caption...
James Halfaday: "Note to self... Don't cancel on the Schilling Show!"
I must say, you editors need to proof read some of your articles better - I've read several grammar errors and wording that just didn't make sense on this silly news Website. Also, to the one who wrote this article: who knows, maybe he likes attention. Maybe? It's possible. Or perhaps maybe the building was weak, old as many are in that area, and not ready for a 5.8 earthquake. Sort of like an old roof that gets a little too much snow and caves in. My point is, don't ya'll have anything better to report on in your town, rather than obtaining photos from a (former candidates') Facebook page and trying to make him out to be a liar without obtaining any facts to make a case, as well as an article worth reading?? I hope the "reporters" on this Website have no career ambitions for a larger media outlet. Don't plan on moving to a civilized area, or large city such as NYC with this sort of crap. LMAO. By the way, I'm not Mr. Halfaday, I just read this "article" and feel sorry he has to be subjected to such ignorant people.
Photo Caption...
Halfaday to EMTs: "Hang on a second fellas. Even though I am seriously injured and in a great deal of pain, let's take a quick pic for Facebook before we head to the hospital."
Thank the Good Lord that the chihuahuas made it. They're the real victims here.
Caption... JH: "Make sure you get a shot of the chihuahuas in their tiny little neck braces too!"
Hi I'm Facebook. Charlottesville did you just fall off a turnip wagon? Don't post on me unless you want it to be public knowledge.
1) If you have any lawsuit going for anything just stay off Facebook. Ask Murray (formerly Esq.) or Mr. Lester in town about that.
2) Halfaday probably just wanted to intertain his loyal followers on Facebook, not thinking the Hook would pick it up and he ends up looking like..... for it
3) Etc.
I hear the chihuahuas were going to spill the beans but Halfaday found another gullible Magistrate to issue a restraining order against them.
What people don't get is MR HALFADAY DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN THIS STORY. Which makes me wonder why The Hook threw this story together. It also makes me wonder why people call Halfaday attention seeking? It starts with a knock out from the earthquake and ends with a stalking charge Halfaday got against a woman. Does anyone know how hard it is to get a protective order? You have to have alot of evidence. The National Inquirer wouldn't take a story with no source...but Hawes Spencer's waste of paper would.
So back to the topic..............
Is Mr. Halfaday OK?
Caption: "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
@ HarryD, ...define OK...
"The National Inquirer wouldn't take a story with no source"?
Um.... REALLY?
Well, I guess now we know WOW's periodical of choice...
omgitspaul- is Mr. Halfaday in good health? Survive the neck injury?
Halfaday? More like Halfabrain...
@WOW:
To answer your recently deleted query about Mr. Halfaday being a fraud...
http://readthehook.com/100744/oh-snap-halfaday-gym-ownership-disputed
James Halfaday is clearly a professional victim; someone or something is always out to get him. Having said that, The Hook is buying right into his routine by pulling this photo and story off of his Facebook page. I have to agree with the earlier posters; this is not a story. And if it is, why don't you follow up with what Brevy Cannon had for breakfast, or photos of Paul Beyer tuning up his mountain bike? (By the way, that is just dramatic license; I have no idea if Paul actually owns a mountain bike.)
Even his own Facebook friends question the veracity of this story; see some of the later comments here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1904499820358&set=t.1477629424
Seriously, just look the other way and maybe he'll go away.
@HarryD, I'm not naive enough to believe there IS a neck injury. I believe Mr. Halfaday didn't want his 15 minutes to end, however unsatisfying they were.