The Albemarle Planning Commission gave the thumbs-up to windmills, Fania Gordon reports for Charlottesville Tomorrow. In a unanimous vote, they directed staff to come up with an ordinance to let people put up small-scale windmills to generate power. County engineer Mark Graham explained that the conflict will come from wanting to preserve viewsheds and trees, but also wanting to generate sustainable energy. (For a windmill to be useful, it’s got to be above the treetops, whether by making it tall or chopping down some trees.) And four members of the public attended, all speaking out in favor of allowing wind energy in Albemarle. There’s no law in place yet, but there’s a consensus that they need to move towards allowing windmills. The next step is to massage a proposal from county staff into something that’s politically tenable, which will likely come in the next few months.
Monthly Archive for January, 2009
Page 2 of 4
Should city and county schools consolidate into a single school system? That question gets raised periodically, and Will Goldsmith is chewing it over in the latest C-Ville Weekly. The city’s recent school efficiency study didn’t address the topic, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth considering. City school board member Llezelle Dugger tells the paper that it’s just not viable, but Albemarle school board member Brian Wheeler thinks it’s well worth spending some time looking at it.
The notion of combining services has been around for a long time, as has the idea that we should just combine the two entities entirely. The word “reversion” still prompts shudders in the veterans of the mid-90s township wars, when some folks were pushing to have the city demoted to a town in order to force cooperation between the entities. Some sort of large-scale collaboration may allow the revenue sharing agreement to be set aside, or at least absorbed into the largest costs of running joint services, and that might be good for everybody.
Charlottesville Sheriff Cornelia Johnson won’t be running for reelection, CBS 19 reports. First elected in 1998, the former down beat cop became the city’s first black, female officer in 1976 and was only the second female sheriff in the whole of the state. Her third term wraps up at the end of this year.
Reader J.L. tells me that Capt. Mike Baird, who works for Johnson, will be running for the seat, announcing his candidacy on Friday at 11 AM at the circuit court.
UVA Dean of Admissions Jack Blackburn has succumbed to liver cancer. The 67-year-old held the position since 1985, and was popular and respected enough that $1.5M was just raised to establish scholarships in his name, the university points out in a statement on his death. He’d planned to retire in June.
The memorial service will be held at Westminster Presbyterian at 11 AM on Saturday, followed by a reception at Alumni Hall.
A reader who wishes to remain anonymous writes:
The hotel is coming to a stop again. All the workers came by a store at break today for munchies and said it was on hold for at least three months and the crane was actually coming down. Drove by Mid-AM and everyone was loading equipment on a truck.
The story is that the new developer will take three months to get up to speed before they can start again.
The saga of the Landmark Hotel has been tough to keep up with. Here’s hoping that they open up that lane on Water Street during this work stoppage. And I don’t know what the deal is with 2nd St. SE being closed between Water and South, but if that’s got anything to do with the Landmark, it sure would be helpful if that would open again, too.
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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