Cvilleyankee writes:
Daphne Keiser, principal of Burnley-Moran Elementary School, has won the 2006 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of working with Daphne knows how much she deserves this award. Though how she spends the $25,000 award is unrestricted, she will spend most of it on a broadcast studio and science lab for Burnley Moran.
For those who are wondering like I was, yes, it’s that Milken.
Circuit Court Judge Paul Peatross dismissed criminal trespassing charges against Rich Collins, WINA reports, and I couldn’t be more surprised about it.
Collins was arrested while campaigning for House of Delegates in May of last year after he refused to leave Shoppers World. He maintained that it was public property, while the complex’ manager begged to differ. Criminal charges were filed against him, and he filed a civil suit against the shopping center. Collins was convicted a year ago this month, much to his pleasure, since he hoped to appeal the case clear up to the Virginia Supreme Court and get the law changed. (The judge said that he’d have ruled in favor of Collins were he on the state’s highest court, but felt that his hands were tied at the level of his court.) He and his lawyers — from the ACLU and the Rutherford Institute — believe that private property that is provided for substantially public purposes, such as shopping centers, have an obligation to let people express themselves freely, given appropriate time, place, and manner requirements.
I’m certainly no attorney, but I believe that the ruling would need to be appealed by the Commonwealth’s Attorney (Jim Camblos, assuming that Shopper’s World is in the county) in order to proceed up the appeals chain. This, of course, is just the criminal case — I believe that the civil case is ongoing.
10:15pm Update: The Hook has more useful, complete information on their blog.
The results of Albemarle County’s latest citizen survey look pretty good, WINA reports. UVa’s Center for Survey Research surveyed hundreds of Albemarle County residents via telephone, as they did in 2002 and 2004, and this year’s results seem to be a lot like prior results. Ninety one percent of people are happy with county services, and 85% believe they’re getting a good value for their tax payments. I think the most interesting numbers are those about growth: 64% believe that the county is growing too fast, and just a teeny tiny minority — 3.4%, or approximately the number of employees at the Chamber of Commerce — support faster growth.
October 13 Update: Lee Catlin provides the summary results and the entire report, which is really, really detailed. Who wants to dig into the internals of this poll?
The new Proffit Rd. bridge isn’t strong enough to bear the weight of firetrucks, Jeremy Borden wrote in yesterday’s Progress, and the Stony Point Fire Department isn’t particularly happy about it.
Stony Point’s two trucks weigh 15.5 and 16.5 tons, while the bridge can bear just 12 tons of weight. Stony Point is not the primary responder to that area — Charlottesville and Earlysville can get there as quickly as Stony Point — but a three-alarm fire may well require Stony Point to show up. Thing is, the old bridge was only rated at 15 tons (15 < 15.5), and that was dropped to 12 tons a year and a half ago. Jeremy Borden was kind enough to provide some more detail via e-mail. It seems that the Stony Point Fire Department, back when it was being run by arsonists, figured that the bridge would hold twice the posted limit, so they just went ahead and drove over it. When the adults took over in 2002 they brought a stop to that and began seeking an official blessing to use the bridge.
So, nothing has changed, but this does seem like a good example of what can happen when development patterns don’t respect the realities of existing infrastructure and resources. The county shouldn’t provide building permits to structures on the west side of that bridge that could have fires so severe that they’d require a prompt response from Stony Point. But that’s just common sense. Isn’t it?
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 four six 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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