Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith

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Boyd Abruptly Reverses Stance on Rezoning for Wendell Wood

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 2, 2010 in Development, Government and Politics. 5 Comments

At a November 11 public hearing, the Board of Supervisors denied Wendell Wood’s request to have 140 acres of his land on Route 29 added to the growth area. Forest Lakes residents opposed the expansion en masse and, at the conclusion of the hearing, Ken Boyd said that though he personally favored Wood’s request, he would bow to the overwhelming public opposition. With a majority of the board opposed, that was the end of that.

So, as Sean Tubbs writes for Charlottesville Tomorrow, it came as rather a surprise when Boyd said at yesterday’s meeting that he’s changed his mind. “There’s some additional information that’s been brought to my attention that’s made me reconsider what I said. And I’m perfectly willing to take the political heat for that.” No additional public hearing is even required—the board could simply take a new vote and make Wood’s relatively worthless land enormously valuable. As a fellow from the Forest Lakes Community Association said: “A community rose up overwhelmingly and indicated that this is a bad thing. As soon as the spotlight is off, an elected official tries to go back and do the same thing… You do not develop these parcels until you have the infrastructure.” Boyd’s fellow Republican board member, Duane Snow, admonished Boyd at the meeting, saying that “to have everyone here and take a vote and then change it in the back room, I don’t think is fair to the citizens.”

No decision was arrived at about whether they should revisit the topic or not. Audio, maps, and details are available from Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Strom Found Not Guilty of Stalking

Published by Waldo Jaquith on December 1, 2010 in Law and Justice. 9 Comments

Elisha Strom has been found not guilty of charges of stalking, the Daily Progress reports. The white supremacist and ex-wife of child pornographer Kevin Strom was arrested in July of 2009 for harassing local undercover police officers, in the form of her blog, where she describes stakeouts of their stakeouts, posts photos of the officers leaving their homes, provides dozens of surveillance photos of the detectives, and relates stories about how she goes about stalking them. It turns out that to be convicted of stalking, state law says that one must be somebody who:

on more than one occasion engages in conduct directed at another person with the intent to place, or when he knows or reasonably should know that the conduct places that other person in reasonable fear of death, criminal sexual assault, or bodily injury to that other person or to that other person’s family or household member…

Since her target could not be shown to be placed in reasonable fear of bodily injury, Judge William Barkley found her not guilty. The judge did agree that her behavior is bizarre, though, and granted the police officer a protective order to keep Strom away from him. Strom informed a reporter that she simply never knew that the officers felt threatened by her actions, but that she intends to carry on anyhow.

NBC-29: Jones Offered City Manager Position

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 30, 2010 in Government. 102 Comments

Interim City Manager Maurice Jones has been offered the job on a permanent basis, Henry Graff reports for NBC-29. The city isn’t talking, as contract negotiations are said to be underway, and Graff cites only “two city hall insiders” as his sources. He goes on to say that “sources inside city hall say Jones is the choice and has been at the top of the list all along.” After last week’s Progress story saying suggesting that Richard Brown was the top pick, one person involved in the hiring process e-mailed me, insisting that the paper had jumped the gun, and that the offer hadn’t gone to anybody at that point. Assuming that Graff’s story is right, I suspect that we won’t hear anything else until the city makes this official.

12/03 Update: The city made it official in an announcement this afternoon.

Salvation Army Bell-Ringer Robbed

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 30, 2010 in Crime. 5 Comments

Somebody attacked a Salvation Army bell-ringer and stole the kettle of donations today, Jessica Jaglois reports for CBS-19. Outside of Sam’s Club early this afternoon,, a guy in a black leather jacket, jeans, and—weirdly—a bright green traffic vest approached the 43-year-old bell-ringer, pushed him to the ground, grabbed the kettle, and made his escape in the back seat of a gold Mercury Sable. It was captured on surveillance video.

Somebody’s getting coal in his stocking.

Supreme Court Turns Down Alcohol Ad Ban Case

Published by Waldo Jaquith on November 30, 2010 in Law and Justice and Meta News. Closed

The Supreme Court has denied an appeal of the Cavalier Daily’s alcohol advertising case, Shirley Park writes in today’s issue of the paper. State regulations prohibit newspapers (at private and public colleges alike) from running ads for alcohol, or even ads that acknowledge the existence of alcohol. The Cav. Daily and the Virginia Tech’s Collegiate Times sued two years ago, in an effort to overturn the ban, with legal representation provided by the ACLU of Virginia. Although the district court ruled in their favor, the state appealed the case up to the appeals court, which ruled for the state. The Supreme Court turned down the case, as it does with hundreds of cases every year. However, the decision was remanded back down to the court, and the ACLU announced in an e-mail today that they intend to continue to pursue the case, so the matter is ongoing.

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