Greene County‘s Board of Supervisors have decided to take Sheriff William Morris to court over his refusal to write tickets to people without county stickers on their vehicles. Morris recently ordered his deputies to cease writing tickets to motorists that lack a county sticker, because he believes that his office’s role is not that of tax collector. The BOS disagrees. The Progress has the full story, but you can read WINA’s on-line.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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Well, since no one has any comments, I will step into the breach….
It’s a bit hypocritical of Morris to suddenly decide which laws he wants to enforce based on what he thinks is fair. How does he know for sure whether people can afford to pay their taxes? It’s very very possible that the people who can’t pay their taxes have real financial problems but it’s just as likely that they just don’t want to (and I have met some people from just plain folks to physicians at UVa who think that personal property taxes are just beyond them).
What’s funny is that he (Morris) was really gearing up the speed traps up on Route 29 and collecting money but as soon as the county refused to give him more money for a deputy, he tried (did he succeed?) to change where the speeding ticket money went. Instead of the county getting the money, he wanted it to go to the educational fund (and he may have succeeded in doing so).
It’s just a squabble between him and the county supervisors and he’s pretending to be a Robin Hood type character in taking care of the poor.
It’s rather childish and in the long run, if the county doesn’t collect taxes, how will the sheriff’s office continue to operate? The property taxes pay for all kinds of services. And there ain’t so such thing as a free lunch.
Walking Tall- We have our own version of “Buford Pusser”. Maybe this should go under the heading of “are we really the south?”. Sheriff Willie and The Dukes of Hazards in Sperryville, DAMN I might even try the grits at the Waffle House.