Tuesday, January 25
City death leads to murder charge
Just after 7 o’clock this morning, Artis Wayne Keyton, Sr., 48, died from knife wounds suffered last night in a brawl on Avon Street. City police had taken Joshua Lee Zimmerman, 25, into custody after Monday’s episode. Today charges against him were amended to murder, the city’s first this year.
Wednesday, January 26
Mr. Star Jones’ view
Big-shot investment banker Al Scales Reynolds, better known as hubby of “The View” co-host and wig-shiller Star Jones Reynolds, stopped by Sutherland Middle School today to kick off “A Step Beyond,” an after-school program to help African-American youth close the achievement gap. Reynolds came late but loaded with gifts, including $20, with which he exhorted 40-some students to scream, “Show me the money!” After that the kids listened attentively as the UVA alum explained how they could achieve their dreams: Identify your passions and live them, get plenty of “A&E” (access and exposure to learning opportunities), and go “a step beyond.” Follow this formula, he said in apparent self-reference, and one day you might be the one eating dinner with The Donald, Shaq and Bill Clinton.
Thursday, January 27
County’s first 2005 murder
Phillip Jamar Green, 21, was charged today with the shooting death of 19-year-old Ashley Lanette Toney, following an early morning conflict at Trophy Chase Apartments on Commonwealth Drive. The murder, the first in Albemarle this year, comes two days after the city’s first 2005 murder.
Local man to head Media General
The parent company of The Daily Progress, Media General Inc., today reported a 7.7 percent increase in monthly revenues for December compared to the same period one year ago. The greatest overall gains came in the company’s online division, although classified advertising revenues were very strong, especially in Richmond, thanks to the low unemployment rate. Also today, MG announced that CEO J. Stewart Bryan III, who started his career with the company with a 1954 summer job in Richmond, would step aside on July 1. Marshall N. Morton will replace him as CEO. Both men are UVA graduates. Morton is a Charlottesville native.
Friday, January 28
Homeless census taken
Homeless advocates today begin tabulating the results of the area’s third annual survey of homelessness, which was conducted over the past three days. Last year, the Thomas Jefferson Area Planning Commission found 157 homeless people in the five-county region, which also includes Charlottesville. Evan Scully, who heads the research for the commission, says that while early evidence suggests little indication that “the numbers have gone tremendously up,” women are probably least served this year among people seeking shelter. “In finding shelter for people who were previously sleeping outside we’ve almost managed to treat the symptoms,” says Scully. “Almost. But even sheltering all these folks… it still does nothing about the causes.”
Saturday, January 29
More groovin’ at Mas
The cava was flowing and the paella was going down by the skilletfuls as Mas, the Belmont tapas bar owned by developer-restaurateur-music magnate Coran Capshaw, celebrated its birthday. Two years ago, the opening of the high-style nightspot marked the official debut of cool in the neighborhood, which has led the pack in rising city real-estate assessments. With soul crooner Ezra Hamilton playing the restaurant’s first-ever live gig and DJ Quarter-Roy spinning, scores of partygoers kept it going until the wee hours.
Sunday, January 30
Second icy weekend
Traffic was quiet in the early part of the day due to slick roads caused by freezing rain that began at about 9 o’clock last night and finally tapered off at about 3 o’clock this morning. Although the brief winter storm left only a quarter-inch of precipitation, according to AccuWeather.com, it was enough to prompt area salt trucks to saturate major roads.
Monday, January 31
Belmont puts safety first
Residents of Belmont plan to meet tonight in the Clark School gymnasium for a personal and neighborhood safety meeting after their neighborhood suffered one
murder and two violent break-ins, including one incident that ended in a rape. Scheduled speakers, including Police Chief Tim Longo, representatives from the Sexual Assault Resource Agency and others were to discuss crime-prevention techniques, since crime “is definitely on the forefront of peoples’ minds,” said meeting organizer Heather Higgins. “We can pull our resources together as neighbors and help ourselves out that way.”
BRO turns 10
Blue Ridge Outdoors, a regional sports monthly that first kicked off as an insert to C-VILLE, today publishes its anniversary issue, a retrospective look at a decade of serving the outdoor sports enthusiast. Now reaching “a quarter-million readers from D.C. to Atlanta,” according to a BRO news release, Charlottesville’s Summit Publishing produces the free magazine.
Written by Cathy Harding from news sources and staff reports.
Who’s your daddy?
With Public Policy Virginia, Al Weed tackles the GOP’s “strict father” shtick
No two ways about it: The Democrats got their ass kicked. (Pun intended—Dems? Donkey? Ass? Kicked? Ha!) We kid.
Democrats aren’t laughing, though. Republicans control the White House and Congress, and they’re making rapid gains in state politics, too. For progressive-minded Americans, the conservative ascendancy is no joke.
Al Weed knows how hard it will be for Democrats to kick the GOP off the hill. Despite having raised about $500,000 for his campaign to take Virginia’s 5th Congressional district, Weed lost to Republican incumbent Virgil Goode by a 2-1 margin (Weed did carry Charlottesville, however).
Now Weed, 62, is using the $3,000 left over from his campaign to launch a nonprofit group called Public Policy Virginia. Weed says a website (www.ppvir.org) will soon be up and running, along with a fundraising campaign. We sat down with Weed in his Nelson County winery to get the lowdown on how Democrats might at long last get the last laugh. What follows is an edited transcript of our interview.—John Borgmeyer
C-VILLE: Why do you think you lost in the 5th District?
Al Weed: For the most part, most people don’t think too much about politics. They’re going to vote for the known quantity. I didn’t understand how big a barrier that is. We clearly underestimated Virgil’s name recognition throughout the 5th District. It’s not that people think Virgil is the best Congressman they ever had; it’s just that his is the name they know.
Some people said that I’m just too liberal. But I think it wasn’t necessarily my liberal politics as much as it was a lack of understanding about how conservatives have been selling their message.
A good book to read is Don’t Think of An Elephant by George Lakoff. What he’s saying is that conservatives have spent the last 30 years creating a moral structure that supports the policies they want to pursue. Democrats haven’t done that. We have values, but we haven’t framed them.
How have conservatives framed their values?
Conservatives view the nation as a family writ large, with everyone subservient to a strict father. If you do what you’re supposed to do, you get rewards. If you don’t, you get punished. Their politics follow from that view.
Their moral structure says that if you’re a good person, you will succeed. People who are wealthy are, almost by definition, morally upright. Their view is that people who are poor just aren’t working hard enough, and anything that inhibits a person from getting success in the free market is an affront to their moral structure. That’s why you get George Bush and Virgil Goode telling people, “Just wait, the tax cuts are going to create jobs.” They’re consistent. It’s fascinating.
Do you think the politicians really believe what they’re saying?
I don’t think Virgil really believes tax cuts are going to create jobs in Martinsville, with an unemployment rate of 16 percent. But that’s the only message they have. They had to keep the rest of the people convinced that there was a plan, and the fact is that the Democrats weren’t offering anything more compelling. We were saying, “Without taxes, we can’t do X, Y and Z.” It got too complicated.
How can Public Policy Virginia change this?
Liberals think that if we just tell the truth that will be enough. It’s not. If you can’t connect with people in a religious context, you’re not going to win. You see guys like George Will and William Safire preaching that Democrats need to be more like Republicans. That’s wrong. We need to explain better why we’re Democrats.
Public Policy Virginia is going to have four missions. We’re going to unmask the conservatives. I respect their belief in their moral structure, but what George Bush is doing does not support those morals. He got us into a war that’s weakening us. He’s not a strong leader.
Next, we need to articulate a compelling alternative moral structure. We’re going to be talking about strength through community. Family is inherently exclusive—if you’re not like me, you can’t be part of my family. It’s the basis of tribalism. Liberals, on the other hand, believe in community—we seek to educate our children well, to be inclusive. It’s a very different worldview. We need to talk about strength through unity.
The third thing will be to talk about public policy issues, like single-payer health care, social security, public education, and relate this to the moral structure in a way that people will be able to say, “O.K., I get that.”
Finally, Public Policy Virginia will look to coordinate different kinds of groups, to get environmentalists across the table from abortion rights people and advocates for the poor. Conservatives understood that they all need to sing off the same sheet of music. We haven’t done that.
Maybe Democrats just need to learn how to steal elections.
The reason Republicans have gotten so good at stealing elections is that they don’t have anything to offer to the public. Democrats do. If we get our message right, we’ll be able to win elections straight up.
Warning signs
Sarah Crawford was not the first to fear alleged wife-killer
On May 15, 1992, having just been acquitted of marital rape by a Columbia, South Carolina jury, Anthony Dale Crawford and his lawyer, Wayne Floyd, stopped by CNN’s “Larry King Live” for an interview.
Crawford’s then-wife, Trish, had accused him of rape, using as evidence a video of the couple having sex in which her hands and feet are tied, and her mouth and eyes are shut with duct tape. Crawford and his lawyer argued this was a consensual game the couple played often; the jury agreed. Crawford recounted this in the interview, also telling King that he and Trish Crawford separated the very evening of the alleged rape, shortly before she filed for divorce.
While King let Crawford off easy, callers took him to task. One caller from Columbia asked why when Crawford left the house he had left his wife still “tied up” and “in hysterics.” Floyd responded, calling this an exaggeration and explaining that Crawford left his wife with her legs untied and the ropes on her wrists “loosened.”
More than a decade later, on December 2, 2004, Crawford, a former Manassas car salesman, was arraigned in Charlottesville on four deadly charges. Among them, he was accused of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and abducting and murdering his estranged second wife, Sarah Louise Crawford of Nokesville. On November 22, she had been discovered shot to death at the Quality Inn on Emmet Street. Last week, Crawford’s case was continued until March 25, when he’ll stand for his preliminary trial in Charlottesville Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Contacted by C-VILLE for comment on Sarah Crawford’s murder and the charges his former client faces, attorney Floyd said, “I was surprised and shocked. From my experience with Dale, I was very surprised about the charge. There were no injuries involved in the incident in 1992 and the tape indicated that they were just playing a game.”
While Crawford was acquitted of domestic abuse in Trish Crawford’s case, affidavits for preliminary protective orders filed by Sarah Crawford in Prince William County Juvenile and General District Court point to, at the very least, Crawford’s capacity for roughness. Sarah appealed to a judge in 1997, two years before the couple married, and again just three weeks before her death.
In her 2004 statement Sarah Crawford testified, “Dale only gets violent when he uses drugs,” meaning a fifth of Jack Daniels a day and crack “whenever he can,” adding that he’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She described a time when he repeatedly smashed her head into a light switch, requiring six stitches. Another time, he beat her on the head so hard that the hand she used to protect her head was put in a cast. She also described several occasions when, she said, he forced her to have sex with him.
On October 30 of last year, Sarah alleged Crawford called her and told her he “understands why husbands kill their wives.” That’s when she filed for the second preliminary protection order. Two-and-a-half weeks later, a Prince William County judge dismissed Sarah’s second petition for a protective order at her request, according to court documents.
Experts on domestic violence say it’s not unusual for a woman to submit to the manipulations of her attacker, finding it hard to reject someone who claims to love her and wants to change for her. When Crawford’s case is heard in March, Sarah’s reason for relenting might come to light. But it seems more likely that her rationale went with her to the grave.—Nell Boeschenstein
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HOW TO: Apply for real estate and rent relief Raymond Lee Richards, commissioner of the City Revenue Office, says the relief programs have been around for decades. And if you qualify, it can help a lot; depending on income, homeowners can have up to 100 percent of their real estate taxes covered by grants, while renters receive a one-time check for up to $1,500. Last year, 112 people applied for the rent relief program and the City doled out $57,000 in grant checks. To qualify for real estate or rent relief, you must be either 65 or older or be permanently and totally disabled. The gross combined income from anyone living in the residence cannot exceed $50,000. And the total combined net financial worth cannot exceed $125,000. Meet the criteria? Then fill out the application at the Commissioner of Revenue’s office, Room A-130, City Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22902. Or call 970-3170 for more information. |
Rumblings from below
Are school principals and Dr. Griffin headed for a standoff?
Dr. Scottie Griffin may want to cut back on guidance counselors and gym teachers in 2005-06, but could she lose principals along the way? In public meetings last week about the city school superintendent’s proposed $58 million budget, some parents and teachers challenged her cuts. Many pointed to the loss of P.E. teachers and guidance counselors that Griffin figured into next year’s spending, to save about $312,000. Other objections came up, too: tight salary increases for staff; investing new money in grant writing instead of preschool or after-school programs. And more. “I think the whole budget is terribly misguided,” said parent Ellen Wagner.
Parent discontent has swelled in the six months since Griffin took the district’s top job. Now, could the alienation extend further as she defends her budget?
The city’s 10 principals put in budget requests, but they’re not getting a lot of what they asked for. If budget time would seem perfect for the superintendent to win over principals, well, it’s not happening yet. Principals work with Charlottesville’s 4,400 students every day. That’s demanding enough, but Griffin unsettled things this fall with her fast-moving changes (new achievement tests and reading programs, for instance).
But instead of payback, two of the city’s seven elementary schools didn’t even get the bus monitors they want. “The school administration finds itself dealing with issues that happen on the bus daily…” wrote Johnson principal Dorren Brown, suggesting she’d rather spend her time raising the achievement of “all Johnson students,” echoing a district-wide goal.
Timothy Flynn, who heads Buford Middle School, also talked about discipline; he wants to get back the assistant principal job Buford gave up in 2004-05. “Student discipline is a full-time job at Buford,” he wrote. But so far, no go.
Griffin has earmarked more than $108,000 for a “grant writer” and a beefed-up “public relations” specialist. Another $361,730 is flagged for four additional “coordinators.” No principal listed a coordinator or flak among must-haves in their budget requests, which are included in documents Griffin provided to the School Board, but some principals wanted full-time nurses and library assistants. “The number of children with health plans continues to increase,” said Faye Giglio, the Greenbrier principal.
At last week’s budget forum (the first of four) about 100 people were directed to discuss the budget’s ups and downs, but principals were not speaking out. Some teachers were, however, including Walker gym teacher Kelly Hann, who questioned why P.E. would be on the block when 50 percent of Walker children are either obese or on the way there. Also in that discussion group, Leah Puryear, a former city schools mother who directs UVA’s Upward Bound program, said she liked the salary increase for teachers that Griffin proposed: “I thought 5 percent was really nice.”
Still, the principals are said to be on the outs.
As a group, last week they aired their grievances with two City Councilors and two School Board members (Council appoints the School Board). The principals want another private meeting, but this time with the full School Board present, according to a meeting participant who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
It’s not entirely clear how Dr. Griffin sees things. For six months she has refused all interview requests from C-VILLE.
The budget is the Board’s main focus between now and March 7, when it goes to Council, and there are at least three public meetings scheduled along the way. Can the seven-member Board straighten out the dialogue and avert a confrontation between the tense- talking superintendent and her skippers?
They just might have to. City Councilor Blake Caravati, who attended the budget forum, was disappointed Wednesday night. Would he accept Griffin’s budget, if, as is unlikely, it made its way to Council unchanged? “No, I’d turn it right back around,” he said. “To me, every budget needs to be keyed into a strategic plan and there is no plan here.”
Caravati further said he expects budgets to incorporate “collaboration and communication.” “I see very, very little collaboration with school staff,” he said.—Cathy Harding
As Told To: Conversations with Old-School Business Owners
Brown’s Lock & Safe’s
Margaret Brown
Interview by Barbara Rich
Brown’s Lock & Safe was started by my late husband in 1950. His name was Stewart K. Brown, Jr., and he died five years ago. How many years was this the only business of its kind? I would have to say a LONG TIME!
Our customers are varied. We serve law offices, doctor’s offices, townspeople and those who are from the university. A mix of town and gown. Also technical offices and big plants. And we also serve builders and homeowners.
We get customers from as far away as Luray, and from all the surrounding counties.
Yes, we have family working here. My two sons, Daniel and Stewart, are here, and I am blessed to have them, and we also have eight other employees. One of them retired after working here for 41 years, and we have another employee who has been with us for 32 years.
We do keep our employees, that’s true. And we are good to them, but then they are also good to us.
No, we haven’t always been here on Market Street. Just since 1970. For 20 years before then, we were in the University Shopping Center on Ivy Road. My husband decided to buy this store when the person who was going to buy it decided not to.
Western Auto was here before we were. This is a good location, and we do get drive-by customers because of that.
Oh, what we sell. Well, locks of all kinds, and knives. HASPS—those sliding door locks—and we have small items, like these containers of pepper spray, that you can carry in your bag.
We also have burglar alarms, and we make keys.
It is a different world now. I can remember when we didn’t lock our doors at night. But you can’t do that now. It’s important to be aware of your safety and security at all times.
Yes, I do still come down to the store. I used to do all the bookkeeping, but now I fill in when my sons are out having lunch. No, I don’t wait on the counter, just answer the phones, and do a little office work.
What’s the best thing about this business? I would have to say that it’s providing security. Our motto is: “Customer security is our concern.” Our concern, our main purpose, is seeing to it that we provide for people’s security.
But another good thing about this business is the opportunity to deal with different people. Meeting all kinds of people who come into the store. People who come from here, and also from far away.
We don’t do any advertising. We never have done that. Even our vans don’t have our name on them, although we are going to start doing that soon.
Because of our lack of advertising, I would have to say that our best source of business is by word-of-mouth. Our customers who are satisfied with what we do tell other people about us. That is how our business continues to grow.
