Monthly Archive for August, 2008

Sign Spam Bounty Proposed

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 27, 2008 in Government, Law and Justice and Taxes. 27 Comments
Old School Spam

By Tom Taylor, used with permission.

I despise sign spam, those wireframe-cardboard signs illegally (ยง18-4.15.7) stuck up along roadways. Anecdotally, the scourge of these eyesores has increased quite a bit in the past year or two. One needs only spend a few minutes driving on secondary roads in northern Virginia to know how really, really bad things could get if nothing changes. So I’m glad to see that Albemarle and VDOT are considering teaming up to solve the problem, paying a $25/sign bounty to folks who pull them up and turn them in. VDOT imposes a $100 fine against the advertised business for each sign posted illegally, so the math works out on this. Here’s hoping that the Board of Supervisors (and City Council!) has the wisdom to make this happen. I’ll be the first in line to collect on it, my car piled high with signs.

09/02 Update: This story just isn’t true. Keep reading for the explanation and the correct story.

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Canary in the Underwater Coal Mine?

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 26, 2008 in In Brief. 8 Comments

Alarming news: The wells have gone dry in an Earlysville subdivision.  #

B&N Looking to Move into Goody’s

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 26, 2008 in In Brief. 7 Comments

Barnes & Noble is looking to move into the old Goody’s space in Barracks Road, though it would require a tear-down.  #

Fourth Area Brewery Opening

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 25, 2008 in Business. Closed

A fourth brewery is being built in the area, Brian McNeill writes in the Progress today. The Devil’s Backbone brewery is preparing to open near Nellysford, complementing Afton’s Blue Mountain Brewery and Farm, Charlottesville’s South Street Brewery, and Crozet’s Starr Hill Brewery. This newest brewery intends to offer a Helles, a Vienna lager, a hefeweizen and an IPA. We’ve got lots of folks drawn to the area in part to visit wineries, so the prospect of beer tourism is certainly an attractive specter, and that’s precisely what local breweries are planning.

Albemarle Facing Revenue Shortfall

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 24, 2008 in Taxes. 51 Comments

The county is trying to figure out what to do in the face of declining revenues, Brandon Shulletta wrote in the Progress a few days ago, so they’re surveying citizens about whether we’re willing to pay more taxes for services. Though the numbers aren’t in yet, Albemarle anticipates a steep drop in income, what with declining property values, so either services have to be cut or taxes have to be raised. The state is facing the same shortfalls, which may well result in a cut of funding to localities, as happened in 2002. Ultimately, it’s up to the BoS to make the call on what to do, but survey results will help them figure out what the public wants.