Monthly Archive for September, 2006

Spivey Accused of Improper Sexual Contact

Well-known and well-liked CHS choral director Jonathan Spivey has been accused of improper sexual contact with a student, Lisa Ferrari reports for CBS 19. The accusation was reported to the school by the student, and then reported to police. The police searched the school for evidence a week ago, and he has not reported to work all week, presumably indicating a suspension during the investigation. Spivey also serves as minister of music at Mount Zion Baptist Church. No further details have been made public.

Fireball Over C’ville

A big ol’ fireball hurtled through the air sometime between 8:20pm and 8:30pm this evening, Morgan McLeod reports. It sounds crazy, but Morgan also reported last year’s fireballs, not to be confused with the 2001 fireball that turned out to be a Russian rocket falling to the ground.

Did anybody else spot this? It’ll be interesting to figure out if this was a meteor, space junk, or what.

The Polo Grounds Road Underpass

In yesterday’s Daily Progress, Jeremy Borden wrote about the Polo Grounds Road underpass, where the road goes to one lane while it goes under the CSX tracks. In the daytime a brief tap on the horn ensures that nobody is coming through, while a headlight flash does the trick at night. Traffic was increased considerably there while Proffit Rd. was closed, so the VDOT set up a temporary traffic light to handle the flow through the one-lane underpass. Rivanna district supervisor Ken Boyd was disappointed to see the light come down when Proffit opened up again, and is advocating for a permanent light there.

I drive through that a few times each week, as do many friends and family members, some of whom have done so their entire lives. I’ve never heard anybody complain about it. If there’s ever been an accident there, I’ve never heard of it; in fact, VDOT says it has a flawless record for at least the past five years.

Student Hospitalized with E. coli

This seems bad:

A University of Virginia student was hospitalized this week with what family members believe was an E. coli infection he contracted after eating a salad made from bagged mixed greens purchased in a local grocery store.

C’ville Market tells the Progress that one of their suppliers called them and had them put all of their spinach in a trash bag, and the supplier event sent somebody out to pick it up. This national outbreak of spinach-related E. coli just seems to be getting worse.

Proffit Bridge Reopens

The Proffit Road bridge opened up again yesterday, with VDOT and CSX officials saying it finished right on time. Which is true if, by “right on time,” they mean months later than advertised.

VDOT should win some kind of an award for the alternate route they had set up in the meantime. Reasonable human beings who want to get from 29N to 20N simply take Polo Grounds Road rather than Proffit, a detour of maybe five miles, depending on where you’re going. VDOT, on the other hand, used signs to direct people south on 29, onto the 29/250 bypass, then onto 64 to wrap around town, then off of 64 onto 250 east of town, and then finally on 20N. It’s probably twenty miles long.

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