Yearly Archive for 2006

Page 16 of 71

Local Reporter Pleads Guilty to Arson

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

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

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

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.

Survey: We’re Growing Too Fast

The results of Albemarle County’s latest citizen survey look pretty good, WINA reports. UVa’s Center for Survey Research surveyed hundreds of Albemarle County residents via telephone, as they did in 2002 and 2004, and this year’s results seem to be a lot like prior results. Ninety one percent of people are happy with county services, and 85% believe they’re getting a good value for their tax payments. I think the most interesting numbers are those about growth: 64% believe that the county is growing too fast, and just a teeny tiny minority — 3.4%, or approximately the number of employees at the Chamber of Commerce — support faster growth.

October 13 Update: Lee Catlin provides the summary results and the entire report, which is really, really detailed. Who wants to dig into the internals of this poll?

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