Monthly Archive for January, 2003

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Owen Young Missing

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 10, 2003 in Politics. 5 Comments

Tracey Linkous sent out an e-mail this morning regarding an unusual missing persons case, which I feel compelled to reproduce here. Owen Young — who is known locally for his involvement with the Rotary Club, the Unitarian Church, the Company of Friends, the United Way, the Chamber of Commerce, volleyball coaching and lots of other stuff — has been missing since January 1st. Friends, family and police are trying to find out what’s going on, of course. Keep reading for Tracey’s full e-mail to get more information, and you can also see a picture of Owen.

Date: Wed, 8 Jan 2003 17:25:11 -0500
From: Tracey Linkous
Subject: Have you seen Owen Young?

This is not a “Where’s Waldo”, but indeed an earnest request for information to the whereabouts of Owen Young based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Many of his friends and family are concerned as he has not been seen or heard from since January 1, which is highly unusual. No return phone calls from home/work or cell, no return emails, he has missed appointments, and his neighbors have not seen him recently.

The Albemarle County police are now involved, and together we are searching for information from anyone who can help us find Owen. Through this grassroots effort, we are hoping to learn he is okay.

Owen drives a burgundy/dark red VW Passat with the license plate VACoach. He Is involved in a local chapter of the Rotary, Unitarian Church, Charlottesville Company of Friends, United Way Board, International Coaching Federation, National Center for Non Profit Boards, Girls Volleyball Coaching through Albemarle County, the Charlottesville Fatherhood Initiative, the Chamber of Commerce, and many other groups.

We would sincerely appreciate any information any one can offer to help us locate Owen. Attached is a picture of Owen. I can be reached at the following numbers: 434-817-2394 / 434-242-5886 / 434-974-1557. And via email at mailto:Tracey@caar.com.

Warm regards,
Tracey

Census Corrected: Population Shifts to County

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 8, 2003 in General News. 16 Comments

The U.S. Census Bureau has agreed to adjust their population data for Charlottesville and Albemarle County after providing contested 2001 results. The census indicated that Charlottesville had a population of 45,000 and Albemarle a population of 79,000, figures that both the city and the county knew were inaccurate. The calculations were inaccurate due to a miscalculation in the neighborhoods around UVa, where the borders were unclear. 5,000 people are now included in the county population that had previously been included in the city, giving a revised city population of 40,000 and a county population of 84,000. Amanda Greene has the story in the current Observer.

Charlottesville Man Discovers Speed of Gravity

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 8, 2003 in Politics. 14 Comments

In what qualifies as Very Very Big News in the science world, Charlottesville astronomer Ed Fomalont (who works with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which headquartered in Charlottesville) has confirmed Einstein’s theory of relativity by demonstrating that the speed of gravity is roughly the same as the speed of light. In September, Fomalont monitored the light from a quasar as it was eclipsed by Jupter. If the speed of gravity were infinite, as some thought that it might be (notably Newton), the quasar would have appeared as a circle; if gravity were finite, the quasar would have appeared distorted. Fomalont worked with University of Missouri’s Sergei Kopeikin on the project. Kate Andrews has the story in today’s Progress, though a more detailed article can be read in New Scientist.

Albemarle Steeply Increases Assessments

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 7, 2003 in General News. 22 Comments

It appears that Albemarle has increased tax assessments pretty sharply, if cvillenews.com submissions are any sort of a metric. Writes mmike87: “It seems that Albemarle’s money troubles are over. With little fanfare, Albemarle County raises real estate assesments 20-30% for everyone I talked to. For many , this amounts to a tax increase of over $200 a year. Not bad – a 20+% tax increase with no press, no fuss, and no arguments from the general public.” And Big_Al writes: “We received our “Notice of Reassessment” yesterday, which introduced us to a whopping 26-1/2% increase over the 2001 assessment, and an equally startling 17% increase over our mid-2001 purchase price. I find it hard to believe that our property has experienced that much of a value increase in such a short time, and we’re not looking forward to the tax increase. Apparently, we’re not alone, as co-workers (and other posters on cvillenews.com) have related similar experiences. Am I wrong in thinking that this is an obscene attempt to raise revenues on the taxpayers’ backs without actually raising taxes? Surely, if the Board of Supervisors had attempted to raise ANY tax by 27% they’d be shouted down and possibly face difficult reelection prospects. This way, they can mask the increase by proclaiming Albemarle County is a great place to live with alarmingly rising property values.” Has anybody else had similar experiences? Aren’t Albemarle’s property values, like Charlottesville’s, simply based on market value, and not subject to forces of government whim? Or is there room for a sneaky tax hike?

UVa Employees Want VA to Raise Taxes

Published by Waldo Jaquith on January 4, 2003 in Education. 41 Comments

Indie writes: The Daily Progess is reporting that a contingent of UVa employees is lobbying the state to raise taxes. With the University not able to compete on the salary scale with “peer institutions,” threats of professors and other employees leaving because they haven’t gotten a raise in TWO years, legislators are now contemplating a variety of tax increases. Sure the states budget is in a sad state of affairs, but are they actually spending our money wisely? I imagine there is still a lot of fat, pork, and waste in the budget that they can cut before they raise taxes. A potential increase would just shift the burden to keep UVa running to non-UVa employees, mainly middle-class workers who don’t make as much as university workers.

Tax me ’til I blee– oh. never mind.

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