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Daily Progress Sold to Berkshire Hathaway

C-Ville links to Media General’s non-pay-walled press release. The Daily Progress’ pay-walled iteration of the press release is here.

We need local news reporting; here’s hoping the Berkshire Hathaway purchase provides better local news writing and reporting by the DP.

For those of you interested in the residential real estate market, today’s interest rates (~4%) look pretty good in comparison, don’t they?

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Hyperlocal News Manifesto – An Area in Which Charlottesville Excels

Local news reporting matters.

Charlottesville is lucky to have great local news and great local blogs that serve to make Charlottesville a better place.

I believe local journalism, local government and local economies are the linchpins of a vibrant, healthy nation. For decades, as conglomerates swallowed up independent news outlets across the nation (our own local paper, Bay News, is owned by News Corp. – the same company that owns Fox News and the New York Post, for example), local coverage was watered down because community reporting is expensive, and stockholders want dividends. And because corporations can view employees as easily replaceable cogs, one reporter who lives in the community and has covered it for decades is just as valuable as one straight out of journalism school three states over.

But community reporting requires more than cogs. It requires more than an academic familiarity of those it covers. What meaningful local reporting requires is a personal investment. If the reporter doesn’t stand to benefit from a healthy community, his coverage will serve to dramatize and exacerbate problems rather than solve them.

When Sheepshead Bites ventures to cover the community, we do it because we’re neighbors. Our writers live here. Our business is based here. And we endeavor to support and uplift our neighbors for all of our benefit.

Thanks to Charlottesville Tomorrow, The HooK, Cville and all the local Charlottesville blogs that keep me (and my clients and the community) informed.

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Tom Tom Founder’s Festival in Charlottesville



Tom Tom Founders Festival.jpg

If you haven’t seen or read about the Tom Tom Founder’s Festival, now would be a good time to start. Inspired by South by Southwest (SXSW), it aspires to be something it seems Charlottesville has not yet seen. Offering various tracks from biotech startup  to a locavore expo to Charlottesville as a startup hub, there’s something for any and everyone interested in being and becoming involved in Charlottesville.

(what’s this have to do with Charlottesville real estate? Nothing other than this is but one more thing that makes living in Charlottesville fantastic … if one can make time to participate and get involved. “Real estate” is about life and lifestyle. This Festival looks to complement and accentuate life in Charlottesville – for the better)

Have a look at their various Tracks –

TTFF’s Music Track

TTFF’s Arts Track

TTFF’s “City as a Canvas” Track

– And then there’s the Tom Tom Founders Festival Music Track offering a remarkable lineup of music.

– The one about which I’m most excited – TTFF’s Innovation Track, in which they seek to explore Place Based Innovation, something about which I think Charlottesville really does (and should) excel. The Sustainable Design panel looks to be exceptional:

Our “Place Based Innovation” continues with an acknowledgement of the ways the well-being of future generations will be built on this generation’s choices. Charlottesville is home to groundbreaking pioneers looking at design, infrastructure, and resource development. These decisions not only help achieve ecological and cultural diversity; they help us stay productive. This discussion focuses on local innovations in sustainable design and product development, revealing the successes and barriers to increasing sustainable practices in our community.



Panelists:


Oliver Kutner, CEO and Founder of Edison2


Joey Conover, CFO of Latitude 38, LEED Professional


Andrew Greene, Sustainability Planner at the University of Virginia


Teri Kent, Founder of Better World Betty and the Better Business Challenge

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