I’m getting overwhelmed by blog spam, so I’ve enabled the Akismet filter. The catch is that it gets some false positives. If your comment fails to appear, don’t take it personally — just e-mail me and I’ll rescue it from the bit bucket. #
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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Yeah, I’ve seen a three-fold increase in the quantity of blogspam getting past *Akismet* in the last month or so. It has tapered off, presumably as Akismet adapts.
It has been paralleled by an increase in email spam that gets past Gmail.
I’m sorely tempted to just move to a knowledge CAPTCHA (is there a better term for it?), such as “The most famous president from Charlottesville is _______ Jefferson,” and have people fill in “Thomas.” On the one hand, it’d be annoying to do that with every post. On the other hand, it’s even more annoying for people having to wait hours or days for me to approve their comment.