Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith

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So, Who Hit Whom?

Published by Waldo Jaquith on June 1, 2005 in Crime and Meta News. 5 Comments

In today’s Progress, John Yellig writes:

An Albemarle County police cruiser collided Tuesday with a Hyundai Elantra and a Honda Civic at the intersection of East Rio Road and Hillsdale Drive.

[…]

When the cruiser, driven by a female officer, turned left from Rio to head south on Hillsdale, it struck the eastbound Elantra, said Mary Shifflett and Lewalta Haney, both of Louisa.

After striking the Elantra, witnesses said, the cruiser hit the Civic, which was waiting at the Hillsdale stoplight to turn west onto Rio Road. Damage there appeared minor.

[…]

The police officer was conscious after the accident, as witnesses said they saw her make a phone call immediately afterward. She was loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher and driven away to an unnamed hospital.

Police on the scene declined to speak to the press.

(Emphasis mine.)

OK, so a police car accidentally collided with two cars, and then the police wouldn’t talk to the media. That’s understandable, though — they hadn’t had a chance to talk with their just-injured officer, and no doubt an investigation will be in order. The really unfortunate bit is the side story of the girl who was hit — she got her license mere days previously, her car just one day previously, she was apparently doing nothing wrong and then, bam, she’s in an accident.

So, it’s a straightforward story — police officer’s car strikes two citizens’ cars.

Then we have WINA’s story today:

An Albemarle Officer’s Vehicle is Struck on East Rio

An Albemarle police officer is recuperating from a Tuesday night accident. Officer Caroline Morris was attempted to pull over a motorist for a traffic violation at the intersection of East Rio Road and Hillsdale Drive. While she was making a left hand turn, her vehicle was struck by a 1994 Hyundai. The Hyundai was driven by a 17-year-old Charlottesville motorist. This incident also involved a third vehicle, which was driven by a Fluvanna County resident. Officer Morris was transported to the University of Virginia Hospital. Her injuries were NOT life-threatening.

Again, emphasis mine.

It’s rare that two local media outlets run conflicting stories — something’s wrong here. Are the police now contradicting the witnesses? Or has WINA gotten the story wrong? There’s a story to this story — I’m just not sure what it is.

Bodo’s Opening in June?

Published by Waldo Jaquith on June 1, 2005 in Business. 1 Comment

I’ll be the first to admit that this is getting a ridiculous, but The Hook reports that Bodo’s is opening on or about June 13:

[T]he signs are all in place, and owner Brian Fox confirms he’s the reason for these freakish occurrences. According to Fox, June 13 “or thereabouts” is the day bagel-lovers believed would never come, the day the Corner Bodo’s opens.

[…]

The soda fountains are hooked up, the iced tea is flowing, and all that’s left to do now is finish hiring the 45 or so employees it takes to run a single Bodo’s.

I want to be the first in line.

Sunday Morning Wake-Up Call Podcast

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 29, 2005 in General News. 4 Comments

Charlottesville Podcasting Network has a new series — they’re running WNRN‘s “Wake Up Call,” the Sunday morning talk show hosted by Rick Moore. Episodes will be podcast weekly, on an evaluation basis. This week’s show is described as such:

Rick gives a passionate salute to Memorial Day and then talks politics with Steve Bragaw of Sweet Briar College. Rick and Steve talk about the filibuster controversey, George Allen’s political future, and the race for governor in Virginia.

NGIC Source of Faulty Iraq Intelligence

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 28, 2005 in General News. Closed

It seems that just about everything of any merit in this country ties back, in some way, to Charlottesville. To that end, consider Walter Pincus’ story in today’s Washington Post, “Analysts Behind Iraq Intelligence Were Rewarded“:

Two Army analysts whose work has been cited as part of a key intelligence failure on Iraq — the claim that aluminum tubes sought by the Baghdad government were most likely meant for a nuclear weapons program rather than for rockets — have received job performance awards in each of the past three years, officials said.

The civilian analysts, former military men considered experts on foreign and U.S. weaponry, work at the Army’s National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC), one of three U.S. agencies singled out for particular criticism by President Bush’s commission that investigated U.S. intelligence.

To many folks — myself included — the role that Charlottesville’s NGIC plays in the intelligence world is a mystery. I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that they did anything this high-level.

Only once in my memory has NGIC been in the news, and that was just a few days ago, when they headed up the “Silent Horizon” internet war games.

McCrystal Declares for 57th HoD

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 27, 2005 in Politics. Closed

According to an e-mail sent out by Charlottesville Republican chair Bob Hodous (and a conversation with the candidate), Tom McCrystal has pre-filed for the Republican nomination for the House of Delegates. As the only guy to do so, that makes him their man. He’s the vice president of Creative Perspectives, a media shop located downtown. McCrystal will be going up against the winner of the Democratic primary, to be held on June 14, which is a three-way race between Rich Collins, Kim Tingley, and David Toscano.

Disclosure: I’ve volunteered my time for Rich Collins and I’ll inevitably volunteer for whomever wins the nomination, but I might also write Tom a little check because then he can’t say that I never did nothin’ for him.

(Via Rick Sincere)

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