As of this morning, the Albemarle County Service Authority indicates that the reservoir is at 87% capacity. Should it remain at 85% come Wednesday, November 20th, Charlottesville will likely lift its restrictions. Gov. Mark Warner yesterday lifted the August 30th statewide ban on the washing of cars and watering of lawns, reports the Progress.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for November, 2002
Page 3 of 4
Jaunt has come under fire from private transportation company City Cab for favoritism, and Jaunt, in turn, has accused the state of strong-arming them into forcing them to use City Cab competitor Yellow Cab. The charges are being denied all around, but that’s not calming anybody down any. Courteney Stuart has the story in the current Hook.
With reservoir levels up to 83.4% and nearly a solid week of rain in the forecast, it’s reasonable to assume that we’ll hit the golden 85% level in the next couple of days and maintain that level for a week, thus ending the water restrictions. (One climatologist thinks that the reservoirs will be at 100% within a month, WINA reports.) Despite this good news, water rates are about to double from their pre-drought levels. This is because the 50% cut in water usage has resulted in a 50% drop in water revenue, requiring that overall 100% increase in price. Thus, there is a direct correlation between consumers’ conservation habits and the amount of money that they must pay for water. In today’s Cavalier Daily, their lead editorial laments this conflict, going so far as to suggest that people ignore the restrictions and increase their water consumption to encourage City Council to lower the rates.
The loss of the car tax and the recent cut of state funds has left the county with a $2.8M deficit from their ~$200M annual budget. $2.7M of that is from decreased car tax revenues, a tax that provided a great deal of funding directly to localities. The county is trying to figure out what to cut, with $1.3M from the schools and $400k from the Conservation Easements Program making up a significant part of the current proposal. Peter Savodnik has the story in today’s Progress.
Vice Mayor Meredith Richards lost the Fifth District Congressional race to incumbent Virgil Goode in yesterday’s race with just 36.5% of the vote. Though Richards carried Charlottesville (with 66% of the vote) and Brunswick County (a poor, largely black district on the North Carolina border known primarily for Brunswick Stew), Goode won by 65% to 70%+ throughout the remainder of the district. Richards has gone on record saying that she intends to run again in 2004, though, as Democratic party chairman Lloyd Snook said, the percentage that she got is “not real encouraging.” Bob Gibson has the story in today’s Progress.
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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