Monthly Archive for October, 2006

Page 5 of 7

Attempted Carjacking in Court Square

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 13, 2006 in Crime. 5 Comments

Crimes like robbery and even carjackings occur with regularity in the area, but it’s not often that they take place in broad daylight while witnessed by a blogger. WT reports on the attempted carjacking that he witnessed in Court Square this morning. I love seeing citizen journalism like this, though obviously I could do without the carjacking.

10/14 Update: CBS 19 has the story. Check out the picture of the suspect, one Elvis Gene Shifflett. If ever there was a guy who was going to attempt to kill somebody, it’d be him.

Local Reporter Pleads Guilty to Arson

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 12, 2006 in Law and Justice and Meta News. 10 Comments

I thought it was just an odd coincidence that “ecoterrorist” Jack Meyerhoff’s girlfriend was C-Ville Weekly writer / Hook freelancer Lacey Phillabaum. Not so much. Phillabaum has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson, arson, and use of a destructive device during a violent crime, and is facing three to five years in prison, Lisa Provence reports in the latest Hook. The Baltimore City Paper and the USDOJ have more details.

Burney-Moran Principal Wins Milken Award

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 12, 2006 in Education. Closed

Cvilleyankee writes:

Daphne Keiser, principal of Burnley-Moran Elementary School, has won the 2006 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of working with Daphne knows how much she deserves this award. Though how she spends the $25,000 award is unrestricted, she will spend most of it on a broadcast studio and science lab for Burnley Moran.

For those who are wondering like I was, yes, it’s that Milken.

Criminal Trespassing Charges Dismissed Against Collins

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 12, 2006 in Crime and Politics. 5 Comments

Circuit Court Judge Paul Peatross dismissed criminal trespassing charges against Rich Collins, WINA reports, and I couldn’t be more surprised about it.

Collins was arrested while campaigning for House of Delegates in May of last year after he refused to leave Shoppers World. He maintained that it was public property, while the complex’ manager begged to differ. Criminal charges were filed against him, and he filed a civil suit against the shopping center. Collins was convicted a year ago this month, much to his pleasure, since he hoped to appeal the case clear up to the Virginia Supreme Court and get the law changed. (The judge said that he’d have ruled in favor of Collins were he on the state’s highest court, but felt that his hands were tied at the level of his court.) He and his lawyers — from the ACLU and the Rutherford Institute — believe that private property that is provided for substantially public purposes, such as shopping centers, have an obligation to let people express themselves freely, given appropriate time, place, and manner requirements.

I’m certainly no attorney, but I believe that the ruling would need to be appealed by the Commonwealth’s Attorney (Jim Camblos, assuming that Shopper’s World is in the county) in order to proceed up the appeals chain. This, of course, is just the criminal case — I believe that the civil case is ongoing.

10:15pm Update: The Hook has more useful, complete information on their blog.

Hazardous Waste Amnesty This Weekend

Published by Duane Gran on October 12, 2006 in General News. 4 Comments

Do you have old paint, used oil, batteries or other items which aren’t permitted in normal refuse pick-up? Take note that the Ivy Materials Utilization Center will accept these items on Oct 14th from 9am to 2pm free of charge. The county offers details, including directions.

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