Posted by Scowly on July 15th, 2008

A little birdie told us that she saw Lynne Cheney this morning at the Starbucks grabbing a boatload of drinks. She was in town visiting several presidential monuments with her family. Apparently, even the Vice Lady has to do coffee runs for the fam’.
The birdie explained that Lynne was very nice, down to earth and personable.
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Posted by Thor on June 25th, 2008
The Charlottesville Police Department is investigating the suspicious circumstances related to a reported robbery that occurred in an upper floor of an apartment building in the 1400 block of Grady Avenue.
On June 25, 2008, at 3:32 a.m. Charlottesville Police responded to a call from the Emergency Communication Center for a reported robbery. Officers arrived at the residence and spoke with two University of Virginia students who stated that they were robbed and assaulted. The Charlottesville Albemarle Rescue Squad arrived and treated the two men for injuries at the scene and later transported them to the University of Virginia Medical Center where they were treated and released.
The students gave a general description of the suspects as two black males, 5’-8” to 6’-0” tall and about 20 – 22 years of age. Charlottesville Police are currently investigating the incident to determine the precise circumstances surrounding the report. Investigators do not believe that this was a random event and are exploring a possible relationship between the suspects and victims of the attack.
Anyone with information about this incident may contact Crimestoppers at 977-4000.
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Posted by boonies on June 18th, 2008

Not sure if this is news, but I haven’t seen any mention of it since the Apple Store/Downtown Mall posting a while ago. I was in the University Book store (on top of Newcomb parking garage) this afternoon and they have a bunch of renovations/new construction taking place next to Cavalier Computers. While Cavalier has always stocked Macs and kept a dedicated display, this looks to be quite the upgrade. Plastic sheeting was hung, but it appears that the new space will double or triple the size of Cavalier Computers (roughly a 20′x20′ room now).
I asked what was going on and the guys behind the counter told me that it was going to be an apple store; I can’t answer as to whether or not it’ll be staffed by Apple or University employees, presence of a genius bar, completion date, etc
If someone wants to call Cavalier Computers/hound them for more information, please step up to the plate!
[See This Thread for More Rumors on the Apple Store] [pic]
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Posted by Scowly on June 12th, 2008

From a little birdie…
According to a friend who works at UVA hospital, there’s some huge fire right now going on on Cherry Street - the smoke is wafting over to the hospital and setting off all of their fire alarms in the buildings.
Thanks, birdie! Please send in pics to gossip@cvillain.com if you have them!
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Posted by Thor on June 12th, 2008
Guan Yu Lu:

Bai Chuan Shu:

Perhaps you remember when the UVA engineering students got busted for kidnapping someone in Northern Virginia.
According to the Washington Post, these former students will receive 4 years in the slammer. One of the kidnappers, Shu, said:
I’d like to apologize for my actions. It was outrageous, immature, irresponsible. I never intended to hurt Paul. I thought if I didn’t hurt him physically, I wouldn’t hurt him at all. I was wrong, so wrong.
It’s not fun kidnapping people when you get caught! Do you think they will spend time in US jail, or will they be sent back to China? Still, the question remains.. is this an Honor Code violation?
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Posted by Lu Sid on May 22nd, 2008
Oh Charlottesville’s pride and joy. The former UVA football player, J’Courtney Rydell Williams charged with credit card fraud, plead guilty and was sentenced to four days in jail. He began serving his sentence today after his trial. Lester Guy Spellman III also plead guilty and was handed the same sentence. The most important detail not to be forgotten: they must pay $42.40 in restitution. Wow! Imagine the hours of work it will take to pay off such a debt.
Read the full story here.
Pics and Links to MySpace & Facebook here.
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Posted by Thor on May 15th, 2008

Some University of Virginia students go on to do great things like be famous politicians, run Fortune 500 companies and book hookers.
Or, wait… There is Tameka Lewis who just plead guilty to money laundering and promoting prostitution. She’s 32 and has an English major from UVA. While Tameka’s family couldn’t believe that she did anything wrong, it looks like they have believe, differently.
Tameka is part of the investigation that involved former New York Governor, Eliot Sptizer.
[via NBC 29, NY POST]
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Posted by Thor on May 14th, 2008
On May 17th and 18th, this Friday and Saturday, Charlottesville will face The University of Virginia Graduation Weekend 2008. If you haven’t noticed, zombie week is really just calm before all hell breaks loose. In fact, graduation weekend is such a hellish time, that UVA even has an office devoted to it called (cue deep scary voice) “The Office of Major Events.” I’m not kidding, check out the website. I heard they wanted to name it Office for Hell on Earth, but that offended the religious right.
Oh and if you want to graduate virtually, you can even watch a live internet broadcast run by the Office of Major Events.
So despite this impending nightmare, Charlottesville residents, future worker bees and their relieved parents all storm Charlottesville like it’s June 6th, 1944, only this time it’s May 17th, 2008 and we’re going to call it G-Day. Why do they do it? Who knows, but maybe we can help you out a little…
»Read More
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Posted by Thor on May 6th, 2008

Well, we got the hat tip and apparently, Orbits new owners plan to upgrade the space that formally held Orbits into a “Gourmet Burger Restaurant.” Ooo, sounds sweet, but will it work on the Corner?
Maybe you’ve heard of some of the hot chains out there like “NYC Burger Co.,” “The Counter” or “Pop Burger.” It’s all the rage right now.
J.R., one of the new owners wanted to let cVillains know that they are holding a naming contest for the burger joint AND there is a $500 award to the person that names it!
Please submit name ideas to: namethenewplace@gmail.com
Oh, and after you submit the ideas, come back here and let us know what you submitted!
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Posted by Thor on April 24th, 2008

**Please read the update to this thread**
I recently stumbled upon a site by the name of Legistorm. If you go to the site, you will discover that does strive to be “transparency’s sidekick” as an informative resources about congressional staff salaries and many other things.
As a sister site to our recently reviewed Richmond Sunlight, you can find all sorts of crazy things on Legistorm. You can learn about salaries of congressmen and their assistants, you can learn about trips they took and you learn that most expenses are not itemized and, I quote, “good faith estimates.”
While the good faith estimates opens a whole can of worms, I was searching around and apparently, you can see all tax payer money that has sent politicians on trips to Charlottesville.
You can also see who invited the politicians and the reason for the event. Take for instance a trip on May 22nd, 2005 in which Senator Evan Bayh spoke at the UVa Law Graduation Ceremony. He charged taxpayers $821.41 for this trip.
Shouldn’t UVa have paid for his trip, not the federal government? It seems like a waste of money to me and somehow doesn’t seem right.
Check out the list for yourself. You can see taxpayers have given politicians almost $100,000 to come to Charlottesville since 2000. What do you think? Did you find anything else interesting on the site?
Important Update: LegiStorm chimes in and lets us know that this trip and many others were paid for by the sponsor… although it isn’t very clear on the site. Sorry for the mixup!
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