Minor Family Hotels—owner of the stalled Landmark Hotel on the Downtown Mall and a limited liability company overseen by CEO Halsey Minor—filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday.

According to a news release, the company filed for protection in order to expedite the construction of the hotel and settle legal woes with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the lenders in possession of the hotel’s loans.

"Our goal is to complete this project, save taxpayers additional costs, and provide much needed jobs for the community as well as bolster local businesses by completing this first-class hotel," Halsey Minor said in the release. "I am committed to seeing this through and the Chapter 11 process allows us to resolve the legal disputes delaying this important project for my hometown."

"It is unfortunate that our lenders and the FDIC have forced us to take this step. However, the Chapter 11 process provides us with the most expeditious manner in which to resolve the litigation that has effectively shut down the project and put people out of work," said Minor.

Last month, C-VILLE came into possession of a document that allegedly shows the loan for the Landmark Hotel divided among eight banks. The document's list of banks includes Old Dominion National Bank, in North Garden.

Check back for updates on this developing story.
 

Grab your spyglass and trench coat: The Jefferson-Madison Regional Library will host several events celebrating The Maltese Falcon as part of the annual Big Read program in March and April 2011. The JMRL is one of only 75 not-for-profit organizations to receive a $5,000 grant for Big Read participation from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Dashiell Hammet’s famous detective novel is the fifth selection by the JMRL for Big Read; previous titles include The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and A Lesson Before Dying. You can learn more about the program from brochures which will appear in all branch libraries early next year. Bring your love of Humphrey Bogart and whodunnit plots.

Former UVA basketball star Monica Wright was named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team. Wright scored an average of 11.1 points per game for the Minnesota Lynx, second only to Connecticut Sun’s Tina Charles.

Wright scored a career-high 32 points on June 1 when the Minnesota Lynx defeated the Phoenix Mercury. Wright was second overall pick by the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA draft, second, again, to Charles.

To read more about Wright’s accolades during her tenure at UVA, click here.