Monthly Archive for December, 2005

Page 4 of 5

Local Boy Makes Bad

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 10, 2005 in Crime. 10 Comments

From the AP:

A Virginia college student was ordered held without bail Friday on federal charges he was part of a group of radical environmentalists who toppled a high-tension electric line and firebombed a lumber mill office and a tree farm.

Dressed in jail fatigues and shackled around the ankles, Stanislas “Jack” Meyerhoff, a student at Piedmont Community College in Charlottesville, Va., responded in a quiet voice, “Yes, your honor,” when asked if he understood the 17 counts of arson, conspiracy and destruction of property that could send him to prison for life. About 5-foot-6 and 140 pounds, Meyerhoff was clean-shaven with short brown hair.

Meyerhoff, 28, was one of six people arrested Wednesday in five states on federal charges they took part in a series of attacks in Oregon and Washington state dating back from 1998 to 2001.

Given that he was named an honor role student at Central Oregon Community College just last June, we (happily) can’t claim him as a local.

Rio/29 Most Dangerous Alb. Intersection

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 9, 2005 in Transportation. 10 Comments

At the Daily Progress, Jessica Kitchin has reviewed traffic accident reports and found that the Rio Road intersection with Rt. 29 is the most dangerous in town:

Rough police numbers show that, through Dec. 1, there were 55 accidents at the Rio Road and U.S. 29 intersection this year. The Hydraulic Road and U.S. 29 intersection was second with 26 accidents, followed by Airport and Proffit roads and U.S. 29 with 19 accidents and Woodbrook Drive and U.S. 29 with 18 accidents. The U.S. 250 and Route 20 intersection in Albemarle rounds out the top five with nine accidents this year.

[…]

Observation of the intersection during 30 minutes of rush hour traffic showed that not a single rotation of the traffic lights was without at least one driver moving on a red signal.

[…]

In a 30-minute time frame, drivers in at least three cars appeared to slam on the brakes at the Rio Road and U.S. 29 intersection because the car in front of them stopped at a red light.

The good news is that the traffic lights on 29 have been synched up. The bad news is that doing has all but eliminated flexibility for intersecting roads; that Rio light lasts just 10 seconds, including the yellow.

New Albemarle Superintendent: Moran

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 9, 2005 in Education. 1 Comment

The Albemarle County School Board has appointed Pamela Moran as the new superintendent, Sarah Berry reports in the Daily Progress. The search began in June, when Kevin Castner announced his resignation, ending with the selection of the twenty-year veteran of the albemarle school system. She spent a decade as the principal of Stony Point, and has been the assistant superintendent for the past few years. She’s been the acting superintendent since Castner announced his resignation. Moran is the first-ever female superintendent of the county school system.

C’ville No Longer “Extremely Overvalued”

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 9, 2005 in Business and Development. 2 Comments

No longer does Charlottesville’s real estate market make the cut as “extremely overvalued”, at least in the estimation of the City Housing Valuation Analysis. That dubious distinction was awarded to us last August, when we were ranked 71st in the nation for having real estate prices inflated an estimated 24%. Now we’ve been dropped from the ranking (107k PDF), along with Essex County, MA; Worcester, MA; Jackson, MI;, Portland, ME; and Bay City, MI.

Albemarle School Closings RSS Feed

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 9, 2005 in Education. Closed

On their school closings page, Albemarle County has an RSS feed of closings. Totally cool.

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