Monthly Archive for April, 2005

Purnell Demoted

Published by Waldo on April 30, 2005 in Education and Politics. 15 Comments

Charlottesville assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Laura Purnell — who blew the whistle on superintendent Scottie Griffin in February — has found herself demoted to “coordinator,” whatever that is. The school board says that they’re “top-heavy in the administration,” which many parents have criticized them for recently, and saw that as a a position that should be eliminated. Purnell has been offered the new, lower position, presumably entailing a pay cut. James Fenald had the story in yesterday’s Daily Progress.

The question, of course, is whether this has anything to do with her central role in taking public the internal criticism of Griffin. It was a month ago now that Griffin tried to fire Purnell, and just a week ago that Griffin resigned. Is Purnell being punished? Or is the school board just responding to an often-heard and reasonable criticism that the school system spends too much money on central office staff and not enough on teachers?

Two Plead Guilty in C’ville Police Corruption Case

Published by Waldo Jaquith on April 30, 2005 in Crime and Law and Justice. 2 Comments

The two guys accused of bribing a pair of Charlottesville police officers with cash and sex have pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges, reports Reed Williams in the Progress. The really amazing bit is this:

According to [U.S. Attorney Thomas J.] Bondurant, [police officer Charles] Saunders once drove to [Jason] Madison’s house in a police wagon while in uniform and had sex with a blindfolded, underage girl.

It’s one thing to watch strippers while on duty and in uniform. It’s another altogether to pay to have sex with a blindfolded minor while on duty and in uniform.

Light Posting on Exam Week

Published by Waldo Jaquith on April 30, 2005 in Site News. 5 Comments

In the next week I’ll be taking my final exams, which are the only thing standing between me and my degree from Virginia Tech. Studying and writing has kept me busy for the past week, but I plan a more hermit-like existence in the coming week. Posting will be accordingly light.

Turner’s Tutoring Turnout

Published by Waldo Jaquith on April 28, 2005 in Education, Politics and UVa. 7 Comments

Cecil writes: “Since we’ve been talking about him so often, this story about Rick Turner’s efforts to get more UVa students involved in tutoring city school kids might be interesting to the cvillenewsians. Presents somewhat of a rebuttal to those who claim that M. Rick just parachutes into various controversies and then skedaddles when the cameras leave.”

C’ville Podcasting on Progress March

Published by Waldo Jaquith on April 27, 2005 in Meta News. 3 Comments

The Charlottesville Podcasting Network has a story today about Paul Richards’ “Daily Progress” march, which debuted at the Charlottesville Municipal Band‘s Spring Concert at PVCC last night. The audio story is available as an MP3, complete with excerpts from the performance. It’s a good-sounding song, too, FWIW.

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