In September, Bill Moses and Patricia Kluge cut the ribbon on the science building at PVCC that bears their names. Now the winery that bears her name faces foreclosure.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

The upscale wine businesses built by Patricia Kluge are under foreclosure, according to a pending legal notice, and although this marks the second forced auction this year on a Kluge property, this one— at nearly $35 million— looms much larger and could dismantle the award-winning winery founded 11 years ago by a billionaire’s ex-wife.

The latest foreclosure notice claims a total debt of $34,785,000 and lists assets of the Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyards to be auctioned off, including 907 acres in southern Albemarle, 164 of which are vineyards. The sale would also include the well-known Farm Shop and tasting room, as well as offices, production buildings, six employee houses, and a 34,000-square-foot former carriage museum.

The December 8 sale takes place at noon at the vineyard office building on Grand Cru Drive in the southeastern part of the county. Another auction on December 11 in Madison would sell off 15,000 cases of Kluge Estate wine, including its 2005 New World Red and sparking wines. (The Madison sale is open only (more)

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President Barack Obama appears in shirtsleeves on a chilly October evening in Charlottesville to rally support for Tom Perriello. —>SLIDESHOW
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

They waited for hours. By 4pm— an hour before the gates to the Pavilion opened— the line of people waiting to see President Barack Obama stretched to the Omni on the other end of the Downtown Mall, soon to wrap around to Water Street.

More than two hours after the gates to the Pavilion opened, at 7:40pm, a roar went up from the crowd as Congressman Tom Perriello came on the stage to introduce the man he hoped would inspire voters to say “yes we can” in the hotly contested 5th District Congressional race.

“I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by to make sure you go vote Tuesday for the best representative Charlottesville has ever had,” said Obama to the enthusiastic crowd.

The President acknowledged that he and Perriello, who is seen as one of the most vulnerable congressman in this year’s midterm elections and has trailed his Republican opponent, (more)

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Candidate Obama at the Pavilion in 2008.
FILE PHOTO BY TOM DALY

The last time Barack Obama came to the Pavilion on the Downtown Mall he set an attendance record for the facility. And he was just a candidate for President.  This time, as President, his visit could turn the Downtown Mall upside down.

(The County has also issued traffic advisory concerning the President’s route from the airport to the Downtown Mall.  The information is at the bottom of this post)

Indeed, as the following list of street closures and restrictions indicate, it’s going to be a challenge to get to see the President (Arrive early!).

Several streets will be closed during the visit, and pedestrian and vehicle access may be restricted to accommodate the security needs of the Secret Service. The majority of closures will occur between 6:30pm and 9pm. Most notably, the area typically used for Pavilion events by pedestrians will be closed at 2pm. (more)

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Richard Brown and Bruce Kirtley object to plans for another gas station across the street on U.S. 250 in Crozet. PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

For decades, “Protect the rural areas” has been the veritable mantra of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. That spirit has helped anyone driving on U.S. 250 west of Charlottesville view grazing cows instead of the clustered subdivisions that been popping up around Crozet, a designated growth area. But sometimes the ideals of the Comprehensive Plan collide with reality.

Take, for instance, the strip of U.S. 250 between Western Albemarle High and Interstate 64. Long dotted with commerce, it includes gas stations, an auto body shop, a chain-fenced equipment storage yard, the Moose Lodge, and a lumber mill. And yet it’s zoned rural.

That’s why when Will Yancey tried to a build a light industrial park behind the heavy industrial R.A. Yancey Lumber site two years ago, he (more)

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October 28 Hook cover image.

It seems like a simple question: How much will taxpayers pay to make Biscuit Run a Virginia park?

Nearly a year after the state’s under-the-wire purchase of the 1,200-acre tract that had been slated to become Albemarle’s biggest subdivision, the would-be developers and state officials appear to have successfully deflected inquiries about the value of tax credits that made the deal possible— even as the Virginia state senator who penned the legislation establishing such tax credits now calls the secrecy “disturbing.”

Meanwhile, tranquility-quashing plans remain to build 100 houses within the new park’s perimeter.

Such revelations come as sources point out that the 850-acre Panorama Farms– a recreation-ready tract owned by a family eager to protect scenic terrain from development– was passed over for the honor of becoming Albemarle County’s state park. Yet, it’s the secrecy surrounding the Biscuit Run deal that has drawn fire from both sides of the political spectrum.

“It ought to be transparent,” says State Senator Creigh Deeds, who served as patron of the land preservation tax credit system that became law a decade ago. “People ought to be able to judge for themselves whether its a good deal or not.”

In a rare occurrence during politically polarized times, conservative radio show host and former Republican city councilor Rob Schilling agrees.

“It would be one thing if the developers just decided they weren’t going to build it,” says Schilling. “But for the state to get involved, and then start wheeling and dealing behind closed doors? I don’t think that makes many people very happy.”

***

A carved wood sign marks the entrance to Biscuit Run, which for decades was the site of a weekly get-together that brought artists, musicians and others to David and Elizabeth Breeden’s home.
PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART

Located south of Charlottesville, sprawling Biscuit Run farm was purchased in 2005 for a record-shattering $46.2 million by a group of investors called themselves Forest Lodge LLC. Publicly headed by developer Hunter Craig and including Dave Matthews Band manager Coran Capshaw and at least one member of the Dave Matthews Band, the team justified the gasp-worthy price by the promise of a 3,100-home development inside the County’s designated growth area. The plan promised— in addition to giving the developers a return— to give Albemarle $41 million in proffers (deal sweeteners such as money and roads) in addition to a 400-acre park and a permanently expanded tax base.

But as the real estate market tanked in the years following the purchase, Forest Lodge found itself shouldering an immense debt load and unable to move forward on the development. By November 2009, Bluefield, West Virginia-based First Community Bancshares alerted shareholders that the Biscuit Run loan was in “early stage delinquency” but assured that it was “adequately secured” by the large tract of undeveloped land.

Were wealthy developers about to get bailed out by high-level politicians? (more)

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Jefferson School Community Partnership prez Martin Burks, Vice Mayor Holly Edwards, and Congressman Tom Perriello stoke hopes for a revitalized Jefferson School.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

You’ve seen photos of giant check presentations, but that shot wasn’t available at a recent Jefferson School event because the $850,000 heralded for the African-American Heritage Cultural Center hasn’t exactly landed in anyone’s happy hands. The appropriation has passed a House of Representatives subcommittee, and while it’s expected to pass the full House, it’s still got to get through the U.S. Senate.

Despite that uncertainty, several dozen Jefferson School alumni and supporters showed up October 19 to celebrate with Congressman Tom Perriello, who has been pushing the appropriation.

Martin Burks, president of the private citizen-owned entity that’s going to rehabilitate the school into a multi-purpose civic center, announced that some demolition will start in November and that a $3 million private donation has been made to the Heritage Center foundation. Anticipated occupancy date: spring 2012.

“Soon it will be a destination for people coming to Charlottesville,” said Vice Mayor Holly Edwards.

Already, the City has committed nearly $6 million in economic development funding, and last month, City Council approved an option that will let the Jefferson School Community Partnership buy the historic school for $100,000, an amount the city is funding through another economic development pot.

The city will rent back the bulk of the space as a renovated Carver Recreation Center. According to an October 18 letter of intent, the City’s rent will start at $32,442 a month for 33,133 square feet, a price of $11.75 per square foot.

PVCC president Frank Friedman and the YMCA’s Dennis Blank, whose non-profit organizations plan to become future tenants of the so-called Jefferson School City Center, were among the several dozen attendees. Still needed, however, is an $11.5 million construction loan.

“We hope to have it wrapped up this week or next,” says Partnership member Frank Stoner.

The celebratory event came just four days after Perriello wrecked his 2005 Ford Ranger (and was charged with an improper lane change). So how did the barnstorming incumbent get there? The old-fashioned way: he borrowed his brother’s Mercury Mountaineer.

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Superintendent Pam Moran (left) listens to one of more than a dozen parents decrying an Albemarle  School Board move to save money.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

In a county where over 60 percent of the high school students receive advanced studies diplomas, anything that gets in the way of relentless achievement can send angry villagers, er, parents, to confront the creators of the Frankenstein creature known as block scheduling.

The Albemarle School Board got a more than hour-long earful during an October 14 meeting, as 16 parents and students denounced block scheduling— also known as 4×4— and demanded that the board renounce classes compressed into one intense semester.

“I don’t want the kids to be guinea pigs,” protested pediatrician Lori Balaban.

“My daughter cannot keep up,” said Dawn McCoy of her ninth grader.

“I see no clear justification for this program, which has been abandoned by many other school systems,” said parent Mark Echelberger. Invoking Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, he added, “I fear teachers and students have been left standing on the shore.”

At press time, 369 people had signed an electronic petition on the website of the organization formed to fight squeezing a formerly year-long class like algebra 2 into just one semester.

The plan gives students four 90-minute classes every day for a semester instead of spreading out shorter classes every other day throughout the school year, and it has created something of an uproar— at least among a group known as CASE: Citizens of Albemarle Supporting Education.

“We knew it would be difficult,” says Superintendent Pam Moran. In the face (more)

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Although UVA President Teresa Sullivan allowed VQR editor Ted Genoways to keep his job, she’s called for University-wide changes by which “employee complaints about their supervisors can be taken, registered, and followed up.”

FILE PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

The same day the Hook published a cover story [Conflicting Tales: The unfolding tragedy at the VQR] on the conflicting tales surrounding what went on at the Virginia Quarterly Review before the July 30 suicide of its managing editor, UVA released an anticipated audit report (with responses written by UVA President Teresa Sullivan) on the magazine’s finances and management that presents even more conflicting information.

While editor Ted Genoways and other staff members will not be losing their jobs, unspecified “corrective action” will be taken regarding Genoways’ handling of VQR finances, his poor management style, his failure to provide his staff with the information they needed to do their jobs, and his failure to adhere to UVA policies in the treatment of his staff.

While Genoways hasn’t yet responded to the Hook for comment, he told the New York Times that the report lacked “a clear statement of the facts.”

“I suppose they don’t want to state my innocence too plainly, because it makes their actions — cleaning out my office, canceling the winter issue — look panicked and ill-considered,” Genoways told the Times. “But I think moving on will require greater honesty.”

The report concludes that while complaints were received about Genoways’ management of the magazine, no “specific allegations of bullying or harassment” were made before Morrissey’s death. However, as the report later recommends, “the current structure for receiving employee complaints needs to be re-evaluated by the University.”

In addition, what was revealed about the inner workings of the magazine has prompted the creation of a University-wide “task force” to “strengthen the institution’s policies and structure with regard to acceptable workplace conduct,” which includes “developing a structure within Human Resources in which employee complaints about their supervisors can be taken, registered, and followed up.”

Essentially, the report appears to have ignored the numerous complaints made after Morrissey’s death, as well as charges of harassment made by one former VQR staff member, 30-plus-year veteran Candace Pugh, in 2005. However, as UVA spokesperson Carol Wood points out, the audit report covers operations at the magazine only during the last two years.

“I can’t see any situation in which Molly [Minturn] and I would work with Ted [Genoways] again,” says VQR assistant editor/circulation manager Shelia McMillen.

FILE PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO

The report did cite reports of Genoways “not being courteous or respectful with some contributors and colleagues,” and “problems with certain employees” in the past, but concluded that no reports “ever seemed to rise to the level of a serious, on-going concern.” However, that conclusion appears to conflict with comments made by Genoways himself, who has said (more)

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The smash trimmed the canvas— but not the enthusiasm— of the Virginia Dance Company, whose members gathered before 8am Thursday to tout their Sunday night “iDance.”
PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

A University Transit Service bus driver who reportedly failed to secure the brakes on the vehicle while attending to some sort of cleaning operation resulted in extensive damage to a sidewall of historic Beta Bridge on Wednesday, October 21. The Bridge, which carries Rugby Road over the CSX railroad tracks, has long served as a canvas for student messages uttered in paint.

Moments after this photo was taken the following morning, a two-bulldozer crew from the Charlottesville Public Works Department arrived to stop traffic and— with industrial-strength chains— pull down the damaged section.

A photo and video captured by the Newsplex shows that the bus missed the adjacent fire hydrant (currently wearing a silver coat of paint) by what appears to be just an inch or two. The Newsplex is also the source for the cause of the crash.

Too many layers to count.
PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

According to the unofficial UVA historian Coy Barefoot, Beta Bridge got its first documented freelance paint job in 1926, three years after the steel-reinforced concrete structure was built. The current paint layers— as revealed in the massive bus-caused crack— appear at least two inches thick.

Most poignantly, the bridge served as a months-long condolence to Virginia Tech after the 2007 massacre on the Blackburg university’s campus.

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