The Charlottesville Planning Commission Awards have just been released for 2010, and Belmont placed first for overall ‘effort’, I’d say we read this as ‘outcry’, but either way it does show dedication.  The release states:

“Over an extended period of months, members of the neighborhood brought energy and focus to the
discussion of ordinance modifications for items related to the Downtown Belmont commercial area.
Noise, definitions of use, and public safety / pedestrian concerns were noted at public hearings regarding
a rezoning application in Hinton Ave. These issues continued to be discussed after the close of the
particular rezoning effort, with enough interest and energy to prompt City Council to initiate a special
research project for the improvement of public space and ordinances associated with small commercial
mixed use zones adjacent to low density neighborhoods. By keeping these issues before the Council, the
neighborhood has helped develop a series of studies and concepts for the Downtown Belmont area that
will help resolve similar issues in other parts of the City in the future.”

Hopefully the lessons learned in the troubled area will help guide future rezoning efforts, and create awareness regarding the possible pitfalls of mixing businesses of this type, with residents who give a damn.

Other notable winners are the “Outstanding Plan Of Development”, for the tie between the Fry’s Spring Service Station, and the Sunrise Court area, with the latter being recognized for “…preserving the ability of existing residents of the redevelopment area to stay rooted in their neighborhood (if they so choose.)”  Which sounds most akin to “letting people live where they currently reside, or not…”

We would like to extend the greatest of thanks to two amazingly talented culinary artist for their hard work, as both Chul Kee Ko (Ten) and Josh Hutter (Blue Light Grill) are no longer with the Capshaw restaurant group.  Both executive chefs brought more than a decade of experience to the table, with Ko having served as Chef de Cuisine for Jean Georges N.Y., one of the cities few restaurants to consistently be ranked four stars by the N.Y. Times, and Josh having worked at Arterra, the Marriott’s flagship restaurant, before returning to Charlottesville to head up Si Tapas, and later becoming the driving force behind the rejuvenation of Blue Light Grill.

The Ten torch is being passed to Pei Chang, who has spent nearly 3 years sharpening his skill in preparation for the challenge, while Blue Light will move from a head chef design, to a team oriented structure.

Both departing chef’s are destined for D.C. pastures, as Ko has accepted the executive chef position for the not yet open Buddha Bar (there is already a 30 day wait, which is rapidly approaching 60), and while Josh is keeping mum for now, he promises to fill us in once settled.

If you never had the opportunity to sample the creations of these two talents, you sorely missed out on some of the best that Charlottesville has had to offer.

An interesting Twitter message started making the rounds yesterday, and we received a few from our friends over at the Newsplex.  The message read “haha. This you???? http://tr.im/PyJZ“, after following the link we were met with a phishing redirect to MySpace.com, and all of the horror that entails.

While the actual risk over having your twitter or MySpace page hacked is relatively low, the true concern lies in other software downloads that are often recommended to friends or mass mailed to buddy lists.  Most malware in todays world consists of either software applications which attempt to convince you to spend money/enter credit card information, or a much less noticeable piece of software, called a Bot.  Bots are simply servers, residing on your computer, which query for commands handed out by a central website or IRC channel.  With massive infections, such as the Conficker Botnet having roughly 10,000,000 estimated PCs under its control, these networks can be utilized for everything from Spam to Denial Of Service attacks (which haven’t made mainstream news for some time).  At it’s peak, the Conficker network was able to send roughly 10 billion pieces of spam e-mail each day, and botnet system like it are the actual culprit behind most of the spam seen in e-mail boxes constantly.

The most effective way to avoid potential infections is to team an up to date anti virus application with the latest browser of your choice, and the knowledge to review your address bar location (as shown above, it certainly doesn’t read MySpace.com) before submitting information.  For a free anti virus/anti spyware application, check out the recent release of Microsoft Security Essentials which has met with solid reviews (4.5/5 stars being awarded on CNET).  [Info]

In an age where Eco friendliness is being embraced by the mainstream, and our national market forecast remains bleak, businesses continue to find new ways to push the envelope with the almighty advertising dollar (even though comedy and sex do soften the blow).

Mobile billboards started appearing in the mid to early 90s in larger cities (we have even passed a roving IKEA bedroom set on the highway before), but the trend seemed to have skipped over Charlottesville, until a few nTelos examples were spotted in the past weeks.

In opposition to arguments over fuel use, & increased eye & road pollution, companies have started turning increasingly towards outdoor advertisements, where station changing and Tivo concerns are alleviated.  Larger locales have additionally seen an upswing in on-sidewalk posters, and projection ads shown on buildings after dark.  Locally, however, Albemarle county previously filed charges against Tom Slonaker, the Forest Lakes Arby’s franchise owner, for improperly parked advertising vehicles, displaying ads in his windows, and affixing flags to light posts outside of his establishment.

A few locales have managed to ban nuisances of this type, while others have had enforced bans marked unconstitutional.  What do you think?  Merely a nuisance, or are you green enough to be concerned?  Whatever the case may be, the first time one of these gets stuck under the railroad bridge on the corner, please snap a pic for posterity.

City Council met last evening (February 16th) in order to further ‘review’ the proposed noise ordinance changes being campaigned primarily by Belmont residents.  The meeting found a 5db upswing over the originally requested 55db after 11:00PM rule, which while residents are apparently comfortable with, business owners claim will be their death knell.  Regardless, the Council acted to push any possible decision out until March 2nd, when they will once again be in session.  You voted on this issue in our last coverage, with 46% agreeing that the current 75db limit is reasonable, while 28% thought limiting to 55db was fair.

While homelessness and alcoholism don’t go hand in hand, anyone who has spent time around an ABC store can certainly attest to the fact that there is an increase in begging for bus/food/gas money with more than a hint of ethanol being apparent.  In an effort to increase this type of panhandling, the House of Delegates has approved a bill allowing ABC stores to offer three half-ounce samples per customer, per day, much in the way that local beer/wine stores offer tastings.

The obvious expected benefit will be increased sales through exposing customers to previously unknown offerings, and with the ever expanding options available, it certainly will allow exploration of store shelves.  It is currently unclear whether this sampling will be by request or by offer, as allowing requests would certainly improve the odds of this concept being abused, with 1.5 oz of 151 proof spirits nearly equal in alcohol content to three beers.

While the idea certainly does have its merit, there is still the odds on chance that many stores will experience an up tick in purchase less consumption, and other yet to be seen issues.  [Photo Credits]

The upper house of Virginia’s General Assembly passed a new measure this week, looking to directly collect taxes from online retailers.  Historically, as long as an online entity conducted no physical business within a state, it was exempt from collecting any form of state tax.  The burden of submitting this taxable transaction fell to the individual during tax time, and we can only imagine that few, if any, note online purchases in preparation for this requirement.  The University of Tennessee published a study in 2009,  assuming nearly $20 billion was lost by state governments due to online shopping. »Read More

Charlottesville’s most recent bout with snow shows a definite improvement over the lack of plowing during round one, and while the streets are certainly clearer, the traffic lights have shown a definite turn for the worst.  While driving over the past few days, we’ve noticed many vehicles being forced to run lights which are refusing to change, with the assumption being that vehicles may not be lining up correctly with the induction loops as the culprit.  This all went to pot last evening, as the left turn arrow from Emmet Street onto Preston refused to operate through three full cycles of the other lights.

Another interesting fact of note was the police presence on the roadways yesterday, as we even witnessed a pizza delivery driver pulled over for who knows what.  In instances where the traffic control system is failing, shouldn’t police make a point to begin flagging traffic, just out of a general interest in safety?

In addition to the recent bill increasing the maximum speed on VA interstates to 70, two other potentially high-impact bills are set to change Virginia motorways.

The first has already passed the Senate, and will enact a ban on holding cellphones while driving.  The new law will will penalize drivers who insist on holding the device while the vehicle is in motion, as opposed to utilizing a hands free device.  The financial hand slap will go into effect July 1st, and range from $20 for a first offense, to $50 for subsequent violations.  This punishment will to a full fledged beating on July 1, 2011, from $100 (1st) to $200 (subsequent).

The second bill seeks to restore a nationwide right, which only Virginia & the District of Columbia still insist upon disregarding.  The new legislature moves to strike the current ban on radar/laser detectors, and has already passed the transportation committee, on it’s way to the Senate.  [Photo Credits]

With the second large snowfall now mostly cleared from city streets, and as a third significant storm system heads our way, Dominion has managed to restore power to roughly 35,000 homes, leaving only 2,000-5,000 in need.  The local teams have tripled in size, with outside crews being brought in to sh0oulder some of the load.

The 5-10″ of ice and snow expected to start this evening around 6:00PM will most likely create further outages, and possibly delay the repairs currently underway.

Fortunately, the Downtown Mall has experienced only brief power flickers, and many bars have remained open even during the worst of it.

Customer Key: Blue circles indicate 1-50, Green 51-250.  [Info]