City Council approved an additional $3.8M in appropriations for the $6.7M (now $10.5M) transit center under development at the east end of the Downtown Mall, but just barely. On 3-2 vote, Kevin Lynch and Rob Schilling dissenting, Council voted to appropriate the additional state and federal funding to the project. Lynch and Schilling said that they were surprised by the overrun, and hadn’t been kept abreast of any need for the additional funds. Councilor Blake Caravati, always the diplomat, accused the two of “misleading the public,” “demagoguery,” and “factual ignorance.” John Yellig has the story in today’s Progress.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for June, 2005
Page 4 of 7
Charlottesville superintendent Scottie Griffin is being paid $291k to stop being superintendent, James Fernald reports in today’s Daily Progress. That’s $19k in benefits, $15k for her attorney, $7k for moving expenses, and $250k to go away. If all goes well, that should end the 11-month-long Scottie Griffin saga.
Also at last night’s school board meeting, assistant superintendent for administration Bobby Thompson was named acting superintendent — he’ll step up on July 1, the day after Griffin’s time ends.
The impossible happened: Bodo’s opened a Corner location yesterday, as planned (and planned, and planned, and planned). They cast their doors open to waiting throngs — they had 1,000 on the first day of business. The Cavalier Daily has the story.
Long-time readers know that one of my frustrations with the site is that I run it. So while anybody can comment, what appears on the front page is still based on what I think is important. And what the hell do I know?
So I’ve established an aggregator for Charlottesville blogs. It’s updated every 3 hours, and lists all of the latest blog entries from bloggers in and around Charlottesville. It turns out that there’s a surprising variety in what people are talking about, and some of the views on what’s going on around town I’ve found to be really interesting in the few days since I set it up.
If you’re a blogger, or you know of a Charlottesville blog that isn’t listed, just let me know and I’ll add it to the blogroll. Bookmark the site or add it to your news reader and see what people are talking about.
06/16 Update: I forgot to point out that I really hope that a local blog aggregator will encourage others to start blogging, knowing that they’ll have an immediate audience. Some of the easier services include Blogger, LiveJournal, and TypePad. It takes just 5 to 10 minutes to get set up.
Sheriff Ed Robb is concerned about the jail. Not about people breaking out but, rather, about terrorists attacking the jail. He’s issued a report recommending that security fence be built around the…er…security fence and, around that, build camouflaged cement walls, put barbed wire on the roof of the building, have a video monitoring system for the jail to see what’s going on outside of the facility, and build large pillars at the entrance to prevent cars from driving into the building. None of this is to ensure that people don’t break out — it’s all to keep those nefarious terrorists from leveling an attack on the jail. The proposal is reminiscent of the Albemarle County office building’s installation of boulders for the same purpose, only a whole lot more expensive — at least $60,000, presumably a lot more.
Some may recall Ed Robb’s last brush with the media. In March of 2003, his deputy, Stephen Shiflett, claimed to have been shot at by a mysterious black man, which Robb immediately declared to be a “hate crime.” Shifflett turned out to have made up the whole story, which prompted his resignation. Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Camblos refused to file charges against him. It emerged that Shiflett had attacked and arrested a couple who had reported an unlocked convenience store when Shiflett was a Louisa deputy in 2000, with a federal judge consequently awarding half a million dollars to the couple for having their constitutional rights violated. Robb refused to admit any problem with his having hired this guy, pointing out that Shiflett was very punctional, and concluding that that he’s “ready to put this behind us.” Reed Williams wrote a damning profile in the Progress, speculating that Robb could lose reelection in November of ’03 as a result of it all. But Robb had two challengers who split the vote, and he won with 49% of the vote.
Liesel Nowak has the story about Robb’s proposal. Remember: if we don’t build a new fence around the jail fence and a new fence around that, then the terrorists have already won.
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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