Monthly Archive for February, 2008

Page 2 of 5

Serial Rapist DNA Lawsuit Dismissed

Published by Waldo Jaquith on February 27, 2008 in Law and Justice. 21 Comments

The lawsuit over the serial rapist DNA testing has been dismissed, CBS 19 reports. Larry Monroe filed a lawsuit against the city in 2004 after being compelled to submit to DNA testing on the basis of his race and sex, even seeking class action status a year later. CBS 19 does not, oddly, say why the suit was dismissed, but does point out that Monroe can still appeal.

It was just yesterday that Nathan Antonio Washington was sentenced after being arrested on the basis of DNA evidence, though that DNA evidence did not result from the widespread testing of black men. The woman who gave police the crucial tip received a $60,000 reward today.

“No Trespassing” at Forest Lakes

Published by Waldo Jaquith on February 27, 2008 in Development and Transportation. 35 Comments

Steve Ashby writes:

The Forest Lakes Neighborhood Association has placed NO TRESPASSING signs at two extremes of the walking trails behind Baker-Butler Elementary School in Proffit. These trails provide access to the school from four subdivisions (Jefferson Village, Chesterfield, Langford Hills, Forest Lakes North) and Proffit Road. The signs prevent legal pedestrian access to Forest Lakes and force non Forest Lakes middle school students from healthy bicycle/foot access to Sutherland Middle School onto buses. The option to bike on Proffit Road and U.S. 29 is just too dangerous for our kids. The streets in Forest Lakes are state-maintained, public rights-of-way. All this seems down right unneighborly.

I have made a short and silly VodCast, “Noise in the Wood“, about this development-developement.

Serial Rapist Sentenced

Published by Waldo Jaquith on February 26, 2008 in Law and Justice. 21 Comments

Nathan Antonio Washington was sentenced to four life terms this afternoon, Rob Seal writes in the Daily Progress. Just before his sentence was read, the notorious serial rapist said to the judge: “I didn’t mean for these things to happen they way they did. I had no self-control. I always thought I was good, until I was tempted.” Oddly, he only pleaded guilty to five rapes, with Seal writing that “a sixth attack will not be pursued.” Lab results will show whether he should also be charged with a 1997 rape in Waynesboro.

Our Relatively Low Foreclosure Rate

Published by Waldo Jaquith on February 24, 2008 in Business. 2 Comments

'We Buy Houses' SignIn today’s Daily Progress Brian McNeill writes that the area is weathering the foreclosure crisis better than most, but it still looks like a bad situation. 0.5% of area homeowners are facing foreclosure, compared to 0.8% for the whole of Virginia and 1.3% for the whole country. Piedmont Housing Alliance reports a 174% increase in people asking for help between ’05-’07. But the most clever figure comes from the Progress itself:

Meanwhile, the number of notices of foreclosure published in the Daily Progress’ classifieds section also jumped significantly. Last year saw a 30 percent increase in the notices over 2006. Moreover, there were 47 percent more foreclosure notices in January than in the previous year.

Why the comparatively low numbers here?

A key reason Charlottesville has fewer foreclosures is because the region has far fewer subprime mortgage loans than elsewhere in the state and region. Roughly 2.43 percent of the Charlottesville area’s owner-occupied homes were financed by a subprime loan, while that figure was 5.66 percent in Richmond, 4.14 across Virginia and 5.62 percent for the nation.

I assume we’ll know if the numbers spike, because foreclosure scam signs will spring up in the median strips like mushrooms after a spring rain.

Craigslist Hookers

Published by Waldo Jaquith on February 21, 2008 in Crime. 22 Comments

Mark Tenia at WCAV called up a Craigslist hooker, who offered him a “Greek” or a “French” for $150/hour. He called back and said he was a reporter, and she did a phone interview, saying the usual things prostitutes say when they’re interviewed. Tenia even called up the Albemarle Police, who said they they’d never even heard of Craigslist.

French? Greek? Am I so unhip I don’t even know the slang anymore?

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