Monthly Archive for July, 2008

Page 3 of 6

City Gets $328k for Walking to School

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 20, 2008 in Education, Taxes and Transportation. 20 Comments

VDOT has given $328k in funding to C’ville to get more kids to walk and bike to school, the Daily Progress reports. This is the third year running that the city has gotten a big chunk of change for this ongoing project. For decades we’ve built our transportation infrastructure in support of vehicles, but largely ignored pedestrians. Simultaneously, childhood obesity has become a major problem. That’s no coincidence. It just hasn’t been safe for kids to walk or bike to school, but that’s changed, and it’s continuing to change. The city has been using the money to build bike paths and trails, and this year’s allocation will go for new sidewalks and crosswalks.

I used to bike to school regularly in middle school. I’d show up awake and ready to learn, rather than groggy from a the soporific morning bus ride. This Safe Routes to School is a great way to get kids doing likewise today.

City Energy Savings Mean Spending Cuts

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 17, 2008 in Government and Taxes. 11 Comments

The greening of Charlottesville is saving the city money, Henry Graff recently reported for NBC 29. (Weirdly, they don’t seem to date their stories on their website.) Conservation is fundamentally about reducing the consumption of resources, and consuming resources costs money. The water is reused when washing buses, they’ve replaced drafty windows, installed motion sensors to activate lights in some buildings, and, of course, installed a green roof on city hall. The city has spent $1.3M on energy-saving measures in the past five years, and it’s already recouped $561,000 in energy bills in the last two years alone.

Media General, in an uncredited story, reports today that the county office building’s green roof is actually a tourist destination. Lee Catlin says that hundreds of folks are visiting it each year, including representatives from other municipalities coming to check it out.

Casey’s Milford Hideaway

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 17, 2008 in In Brief. Closed

The New York Times has an article all about John Casey’s Pennsylvania cabin.  #

Twin Oaks Founder Dies at 77

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 16, 2008 in In Brief. 1 Comment

Twin Oaks founder Kat Kinkade has died. To learn more about Kat and Twin Oaks, I recommend the Post’s 1994 profile.  #

Burglars Beaten

Published by Waldo Jaquith on July 16, 2008 in In Brief. 5 Comments

Two Waynesboro morons stage a home invasion twice. Neighbors beat them senseless. With photos!  #