The bar held a forum for the judicial applicants last week, and The Hook’s Lisa Provence attended. (And notes that Rep. Rob Bell did not.) She wrote briefly about the event in this week’s issue, and offers a rundown on the seven candidates. You have until the 29th to tell the bar who you prefer.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
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Remember the fire in the Church of Christ on Fifth Street back in May? There’s a guilty plea in that fire now, and it’s a bummer of a story. The perp is a 25-year-old deaf, homeless man who broke in to find food because he hadn’t eaten in the past couple of days, Liesel Nowak reports in today’s Progress. Jason Santos had fired up the church’s stove to cook some hamburgers and, while out of the room, a dishtowel caught fire, which started the fire that burned down the entire wing of the church.
Says the church’s Bishop Rufus Hayes, “I feel sorry for the young man.” Santos is in jail without bond, awaiting sentencing in March. He’s facing twenty years in prison.
A forum was held by the local bar association on Thursday night for the seven candidates for Judge Paul Peatross’ judicial seat, once he retires (NBC 29, CBS 19, Daily Progress). The bar is going to be making recommendations to the General Assembly in a month’s time, and they’re looking for public input.
NBC’s Paul Merrill has a nice little touch added to his piece about this: contact information for the point man for that public input. You can reach him, Donald Morin, at 123 East Main St., Seventh Floor, 22902, or by e-mail at drmorin@morinandbarkley.com. If you feel strongly who should (or should not) get this judgeship, he’s the man to let know about that.
With the state police investigation into the police shooting of Elvis Shifflett wrapped up, Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo is free to explain what happened on that day, as The Hook reports.
An officer saw Shifflett lying sidewise in the cab of a flatbed wrecker and ordered him to show his hands. He sat up and aimed his hands at the officer, as if holding a gun. Believing Shifflett to be armed, the officer shouted a warning to fellow officers, but did not open fire. Shifflett started the truck and jammed down the accelerator so fast that it fishtailed. Another officer then opened fire with his rifle, hitting Shifflett with two rounds from his .223. Another officer shot out one of the wrecker’s tires. It was then that Shifflett was taken into custody.
This no longer sounds to me like a case of police shooting an unarmed man. Sounds to me like Shifflett was driving several tons of weapon, and the officers were acting in prudent self-defense.
VDOT has announced that they’ll be shutting down 87 maintenance facilities across the state, as proposed, except for four locations. One of those four is Free Union, which serves the bulk of western Albemarle. It appears that they spared any location with citizens who were paying enough attention and had the resources to fight back. Jeremy Borden explains in today’s Progress.
The final nail in the coffin for the proposed shut down of the Albemarle location was probably when Ann Mallek, of Earlysville, pointed out to Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer that the only viable route for snow plows to get from the Stanardsville maintenance facility to Earlysville required driving across the Advance Mills bridge — you know, the one that was shut down for many months this year because it’s crumbling, the one that has a three ton weight limit. This was news to VDOT, who was not aware of their own weight restriction, and apparently hadn’t even thought through how they were going to get their equipment from point A to point B.
There’s no reason to think that they thought through their plans any better for the doomed 87 locations across the state. Those facilities will be shut down gradually over the next year and a half in order to save money, saved money that VDOT will then give to private contractors to do the same work.
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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