At last night’s City Council meeting, the second and final vote was held on the matter of moving City Council elections to November, approving the measure with the caveat that the move not take effect until 2007, WINA reports. Newcomers David Brown and Kendra Hamilton sided with Rob Schilling, who had protested having his term cut short. (Note that all councillors terms are cut short by this change.) Like all such election-procedure modifications, the change must be approved by the Department of Justice before it takes effect. 5:20pm Update: The Progress has Liz Nelson’s story on-line now.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for July, 2004
Page 2 of 3
Last night, a hundred people went to the Albemarle Board of Supervisors to ask that Planned Parenthood be barred from opening a new office on Hydraulic Road, and their request was denied. After a group prayer — which Progress writer David Dadurka writes “went unanswered” — a series of speakers requested that the zoning permit be yanked, preventing the family planning center from providing contraception, birth control, prenatal care, abortions, HIV testing, and other services at the location. They objected to the location, which is a mile from Albemarle High School and on the same street as a pair of churches. The BOS said, simply, that they lack any legal authority to make any such restriction. David Dadurka has the story in today’s Progress.
In May, Waynesboro High School named Moreko Griggs the graduating class valedictorian. This was noteworthy because it was the first time in the history of the school that black student had been named valedictorian. A few hours before graduation, after objections were raised by parents, there was another first: two more students were named valedictorian, both of them white, and the motives for doing so are fuzzy, at best. Since then, the local press has bubbled over, with the AP having run a story that has appeared nationally today. At the rate that this is snowballing, it’s likely to get worse before it gets better.
Last night, the Greene County Board of Supervisors approved a 75-acre residential and commercial development in Ruckersville, which stands to change the town considerably. “Ruckersville Village” is slated to include 121 houses and 24 acres of commercial space, all fronted on Route 33, just off Route 29. The developer, oddly, promised that there would be no car washes or car dealerships on the land. Ruckersville Village is just one of three developments up for approval at the meeting, along with “MountainVu” (I swear I’m not making that up), with 650 homes, “WoodPark,” with 400 homes, and “Preddy Gables, a 350-apartment complex; the vote hadn’t happened by press time, but all were presumably approved. Olympia Meola has the story in today’s Progress.
Council has gone back and forth on the issue of moving elections from May to November, but after the election of three strongly pro-November candidates, a move seemed certain. At last night’s Council meeting, the first of two votes (the second will be held in two weeks) was taken, and the measure passed by a bare majority. One of the two dissenters was, of course, Republican Rob Schilling, but the surprise was newly-appointed and newly-elected Democrat Mayor David Brown, who campaigned on the promise of moving elections. Brown voted last, expressing sympathy for Schilling, who is opposed to having his term (like everybody else’s) cut short by six months by the move. If the majority remains, and if the vote happens in two weeks as scheduled, the next Council election will take place in November of 2005. Elizabeth Nelson 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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