Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith

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County Eyes NGIC Expansion Plans

Published by Waldo Jaquith on March 4, 2007 in Development. 56 Comments

The National Ground Intelligence Center is planning on expanding substantially, and Albemarle County is trying to figure out how to handle it, Jeremy Borden writes in today’s Progress. The Army intelligence organization (made famous for their faulty Iraq intelligence) currently employees 1,200 people at their facility on 29 North, but they intend to expand to 2,000 employees come 2011. It’s a part of a push on the part of the federal government to decentralize federal services so that an attack on Washington D.C. would not leave the nation defenseless.

All of those 820 jobs will be filled by people moving here from D.C. and around the nation, and many of those people will bring families, all of which requires more schools, homes, emergency services, roads, etc., etc. The county is trying to figure out how to handle the growth, which would be sudden and difficult to control. The feds have no obligation to coordinate with the county at all — or even tell Albemarle what they’re up to — which makes the task all the more challenging. All of this will translate to higher tax bills for all of us in Albemarle, because more money will be required in order to fund the expansions necessary to accommodate the thousands of new residents that will arrive nearly simultaneously.

African-American Cemeteries in Albemarle

Published by Waldo Jaquith on March 3, 2007 in General News. 1 Comment

Lynn Rainville is getting some national attention for her new website about area cemeteries, thanks to an Associated Press story that hit the wires this morning. Her website, African-American Cemeteries in Albemarle and Amherst County, has detailed records about all 29 historically black cemeteries in the two counties. For example, the record for Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Ivy lists 21 markers and 17 individuals, features photos of every marker and text transcripts of the fading words carved into the stone.

Lynn also runs a new blog, LoCoHistory, dedicated to the history of Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

Questioning Red Light Cameras

Published by Waldo Jaquith on March 2, 2007 in Law and Justice. 11 Comments

In this week’s Hook Dave McNair writes about the General Assembly allowing localities to install traffic cameras, presenting convincing evidence that they’re just trouble. VDOT’s own study concluded that red light cameras increase injury rates at intersections, and they found that simply lengthening yellow light times resulted in staggering drops in accident rates. McNair quotes county spokeswoman Lee Catlin supporting red light cameras, meaning that they may be coming to an intersection near you.

Nobody answering The Hook‘s question of the week supports red light cameras. I feel better — I was starting to wonder if I was the only Democrat in the state who thinks red light cameras are a terrible idea.

PEC to Promote Local Farms

Published by Waldo Jaquith on March 1, 2007 in General News. 4 Comments

UVa’s Department of Urban and Environmental Planning released a fantastic study last year about where Charlottesville’s food comes from — it was one of the most interesting things that I read about the area all year. Blackberries So I was pleased to read Brian McNeill’s piece in Tuesday’s Progress about Piedmont Environmental Council’s new “Buy Fresh, Buy Local” campaign, which will promote the importance of buying local food. They’ll be sending a guide to buying local fruit, veggies, cheese, meat and wine to every home in C’ville and Albemarle. No doubt they’ll explain that it’s better for the economy, for your health, and for national security (believe it or not). For more about local agriculture, see my June blog entry about how when you’re interested in “organic” foods, you probably mean “local.”

Speaking of which, if you’re looking to sign up with a community supported agriculture (CSA) program, now’s the time. At least a few Charlottesville bloggers (myself included) signed up with Horse and Buggy Produce last year, and I intend to do so again this year. Anybody want to plug their CSA?

MACAA Announces Dental Program

Published by Waldo Jaquith on February 28, 2007 in General News. 2 Comments

I wrote a really long blog entry about indigent dental care in Virginia back in August after many hours of research into the topic, and came away convinced that we have a terrible, terrible system for dealing with what is a far bigger problem than I ever would have guessed. (For example, one in five Virginians don’t have a single tooth in their head. Wow.) For most low-income Virginians there is no relief for dental problems, and resulting health problems can easily leave them crippled or even dead.

Now comes news that the Monticello Area Community Action Agency is coordinating a dental program to serve these individuals, Brian McNeill reports in today’s Daily Progress. Private dentists and the Charlottesville Free Clinic will provide the actual care. It seems unlikely that they’ll be able to meet the significant demand (especially demand for adult dental care), but this is an enormous step forward for a very big problem.

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