The specifics of how the Biscuit Run deal went down have been trickling out over the past couple of months, but The Hook got a real break recently when somebody gave them some confidential documents detailing some of the finances behind it. In this week’s cover story, Hawes Spencer writes about the ever-increasing cost to taxpayers of the state’s acquisition of the failed housing development. Hunter Craig, Coran Capshaw, and Boyd Tinsley were all investors (among others) in the 3,100 unit housing development on 1,200 acres just south of town. But spending $46.2M to buy that land only made sense in the crazy logic of the housing bubble. They put the planned “Fox Ridge” development on hold two years ago, and wound up selling the land to the state for $9.8M. Which is probably about what it was worth. But then they started negotiating tax credits—which is to say, taxpayer dollars—and that’s where the latest story unfolds. We’ve got a suspicious appraisal ($87.7 million), ever-increasing valuations, developers who may manage to turn a profit on this boondoggle, and what generally looks like a serious lack of accountability. Although it looks like the state should really investigate this apparent abuse of the open space donation system, both the governor and the attorney general have close ties to Craig, so that’s probably not going to happen. Read the article—it looks like quite a story is unfolding.
Monthly Archive for January, 2011
Page 2 of 2
The county is going to study whether and how to move the courts, Matt Talhelm reports for NBC-29. They’re spending $36,000 on a six month study to figure out how to get another 25,000 square feet of court and office space by 2041. That’s how much space they’ll need at the current rate of population growth. So either we need to not grow that much, prosecute fewer people, or expect to spend millions on new court facilities. They may build a new structure entirely, they may move across the street to the old Levy Opera House, or they may decide to do something else entirely. The study will help to determine that. Results should be in by fall.
Oliver Kuttner got his day in court, Chris Dumond writes for the Lynchburg News & Advance, though he surely wishes that he did not.
He was arrested in October on charges of obstruction of justice, accused of behaving belligerently towards a Lynchburg police officer after being pulled over for driving with an expired registration. This came less than a month after his team won the X-Prize, making Lynchburg famous in the automotive world, so his accusation that he was mistreated by the police resulted in an immediate internal probe at the police department.
It turns out that, upon being pulled over, Kuttner angrily walked over to the police car. (A big no-no.) He had to be told more than a half dozen times to return to his car before he finally did so. In the process, he informed the officer that he was “so tired of the dumb people in this town.” After going back to his car, more officers arrived as backup, sending Kuttner out of his car again. That went very badly. He was handcuffed, shouting for somebody to “get the news out here.” In court today, he was pretty chagrined, admitting fault. At worst he’ll pay a fine and be charged with a lesser crime, though the court is trying to figure out how to come up with a lemons-to-lemonade punishment that will allow everybody to save face.
For anybody who knows Oliver Kuttner—even just slightly, as I do—it’s hard not to grin while reading all of this. It’s all so Oliver.
Fluvanna County is being sued for their ordinance limiting the use of the county seal, Tasha Kates writes in the Daily Progress. Bryan Rothamel, the proprietor of Fluco Blog, is being represented by the Rutherford Institute in his lawsuit, in which he accuses the county of violating his constitutional rights, specifically his right to free expression and the equal protection clause. The Fluvanna Board of Supervisors adopted the ordinance just a few months ago, in response to Rothamel’s occasional use of the seal on his website, where he has used it as an icon indicating news about the county. Here’s the relevant bit of § 2-7-2 of the Fluvanna County Code:
The seal of Fluvanna County is and shall remain the property of the County. No person, entity or organization shall exhibit, display, or in any manner utilize the seal or any copy, replication, facsimile or representation of the seal, whether in printed, electronic or other format, unless such use shall have been expressly authorized by the board of supervisors.
The state has a similar law regarding the seal of Virginia, § 1-505:
The seals of the Commonwealth shall be deemed the property of the Commonwealth; and no persons shall exhibit, display, or in any manner utilize the seals or any facsimile or representation of the seals of the Commonwealth for nongovernmental purposes unless such use is specifically authorized by law.
The Secretary of the Commonwealth has long enforced this, preventing anybody from using the state seal (outside of the context of the state flag, on which it appears) that appears to imply endorsement. The logic, as I understand it, is that a seal is a government entity’s equivalent of a signature—it’s how they put their stamp on something (often literally). But the difference here is that the state doesn’t seek to stop people from using the state seal for legitimate purposes, whereas Fluvanna County appears to have passed this law for precisely that reason.
Given that Rothamel promotes on his site that the site receives 65 visits per day, it’s particularly bizarre that the county would bother to craft a law to target him. Note that, in the Daily Progress’ article, they include a prominent reproduction of the Fluvanna County seal, in flagrant violation of this new law. Good for them.
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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