Yearly Archive for 2006

Page 11 of 71

Election Tomorrow: Know the Amendments

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 6, 2006 in Politics. 15 Comments

Y’all know there’s an election tomorrow, y’all know you’re picking sides in the U.S. Senate race, between Republican George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb. But don’t forget that there are three proposed amendments to the state constitution.

Amendment 1 has gotten lots of attention — that’s the proposal to prevent two people (of any sex) from forming a contract that provides any of the privileges of marriage. Its advocates say that it would bar gay marriage, although it’s already illegal. Its opponents (including me) say that it’s a terribly-written bill that’s way too far-reaching, and will create huge hassles for folks like you and me who are looking to start a business, buy real estate, create a living will, or engage any many other routine legal transactions.

Amendment 2 would permit churches to incorporate. Currently the state constitution bars church incorporation, but the courts have ruled that unconstitutional. The goal is to make the constitution (code law) match the courts’ interpretation of it (case law). If anybody objects to this, I don’t know who they are.

Amendment 3 would allow localities to partially exempt real estate value from taxation for the purpose of rehabilitation or conservation. The amendment itself would do nothing — it would only give localities the power to provide tax breaks to encourage development if they decided to do so. Again, if anybody objects to this, I don’t know who they are.

Bob Gibson explains these in more detail in today’s Progress.

Adelphia Becomes Comcast

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 3, 2006 in Business and Entertainment. 14 Comments

Adelphia has begun the transition to Comcast, John Yellig writes in today’s Progress, the result of Comcast’s$17.6B acquisition of Adelphia that went through this summer. Much like the current Sprint/Embarq switch they’ll gradually rebrand everything and move people on old plans onto new plans. They promise everybody rainbows and ponies and that we’ll all just be the best of friends, they just know it. I’m confident that we’ll all soon think of ironic applications for the trademark-verb “Comcastic” very soon.

JMRL to Build in Downtown Crozet

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 3, 2006 in Education. 4 Comments

A new regional library will be built in downtown Crozet, the County Board of Supervisors decided on Wednesday. They chose that site rather than the old school site, where Charlottesville Waldorf is now. The county has already set aside $6M to replace the tiny old railroad depot that they’re in now.

Spending $6M on a new building is nice, but how about the BoS ponies up a little extra cash so that the branches can be open reasonable hours? The county hasn’t increased spending on library operations to keep pace with inflation and cost-of-living increases, so the hours just have to keep getting cut back. The Crozet library doesn’t open until 1pm on Monday and Tuesday, closes at 5pm Wednesday through Saturday, and isn’t even open on Sunday. Northside opens at noon on Monday and Tuesday and is only open for four hours on Sunday. What’s the point of a $6M library if it’s locked and darkened? (Greene County, I’m looking at you.)

Man, “Waldorf” is a word that just freaks me out to write. I type “Waldo” and keep right on going…with an “rf.” Waldorf Waldorf Waldorf. Woah…dorf.

Evan Almighty Trailer

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 3, 2006 in Entertainment. Closed

The trailer for Evan Almighty is now available. It’s very weird seeing the instantly-recognizable Crozet view of the Blue Ridge in the movie, though I expect it’ll be weirder still seeing so many familiar faces as background characters.

Evan Almighty screenshot

(Via Old Trail Village News)

The Daily Progress “Uptown” Insert

Published by Waldo Jaquith on October 31, 2006 in Business and Meta News. 9 Comments

Brian Wheeler writes for Charlottesville Tomorrow about a curious advertising insert that appeared in the Daily Progress last Friday that turns out to be funded by the Progress. Entitled “Uptown,” it promoted “shopping,” “eating,” and “living” in Hollymead, Forest Lakes and 29 North, mixing promotion of the Places29 master planning process with the advertising. Brian asked the advertising department what the deal was with this, and they explained that they just want “to boost traffic towards that area which is not getting the attention it deserves.” What, it’s so crowded that nobody goes there anymore?

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