Sen. Robert Hurt (D-Chatham) won the seven-way race for the Republican nomination for the 5th District, Brian McNeill writes in today’s Daily Progress. The Southside resident won much of the district, but he lost Albemarle, Buckingham, Greene, Fluvanna, and Nelson. Board of Supervisors member Ken Boyd won a plurality of votes in Albemarle, Michael McPadden—of North Garden—got a plurality in Nelson, and Feda Kidd Morton won her county of Fluvanna. The narrative here was that Hurt was the establishment Republican, with the other six candidates representing, to varying degrees, the interests of the far-right “Tea Party” group. Today begins the general election, pitting Hurt against freshman incumbent Tom Perriello (D-Ivy). The election is in November.
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Albemarle is using GPSs to crack down on drivers whizzing by stopped school buses, Brandon Shulleeta writes in the Daily Progress. No longer willing to tolerate people who ignore the flashing red lights and the prominent “STOP” sign displayed on the side of school buses when kids are climbing on or going home, the county is putting to work the $213k worth of bus-tracking systems that they bought a year ago to optimize bus routes and track their locations in real time. By having that trail of data, it becomes much easier to get a conviction against the drivers in court, although it remains necessary to get the car’s license plate number.
Consider this a reminder: Save for on a road with a median, you always have to stop for a school bus—on either side of the road—when it stops to discharge or pick up passengers. And while I’m handing out reminders, pull over to the far lane when an emergency vehicle is parked on the side of the road on a four-lane road, and, for God’s sake, how hard is it to pull over and let emergency vehicles pass?
Several congressional campaigns are placing signs in the public right of way, Brian McNeill writes in today’s Daily Progress, and at least one has no intention of stopping. Of the seven candidates vying for the Republican nomination to challenge Tom Perriello, four of them have been placing signs by the roadside illegally over the last week or two: Michael McPadden, Jim McKelvey, Feda Kidd Morton, and Laurence Verga.
This sort of thing is common in elections, generally a result of young, overzealous given a pickup full of signs and insufficient instruction. McNeill got quotes from two of the campaigns. McPadden says that one volunteer had put signs up illegally but is remedying that. But, amazingly, McKelvey’s campaign manager says that they’re simply not going to follow the law. The campaign of Ken Boyd—another candidate in the race—is crying foul, since by following the law, they’re left at a disadvantage. Seven Six losing campaigns are going to find themselves without staff or volunteers on Wednesday, after the nominee is chosen on the 8th, meaning that it’ll likely be up to VDOT to remove the signs, which is to say that we taxpayers will be funding their removal and disposal.
Who wants to vote for a candidate who thinks they’re above the law?
The battle over the volume of music at Belmont’s Bel Rio restaurant continues, Rachana Dixit writes in today’s Daily Progress. City Council overhauled the noise ordinance a few months ago just to deal with Bel Rio, and city staff seem to be spending a lot of time on the matter, but a technical problem seems to be hampering the efforts: the fact that decibel meters have a hard time measuring the sort of deep, thumpy bass that can make life miserable for folks who live next to music-playing neighbors (though the maker of the meter they use disagrees). Neighbors on the formerly sleepy street are infuriated by the two-year-old restaurant’s behavior, saying that it’s really reduced their quality of life there.
We dealt with the same scenario back in the mid-nineties with the Jewish Mother, a restaurant on the Downtown Mall that featured noisy live music until very late at night, which was awfully frustrating for downtown residents. As with Bel Rio, the city had to consider proposed changes to a city-wide noise ordinance just to deal with the one rude restaurant owner. Luckily, the Jew Mom went out of business, and that was the end of that. When I lived on South Street in the mid-nineties, the South Street Brewery opened up next door, and my quiet apartment was rendered uninhabitable on Friday and Saturday nights, when they featured live music about twenty feet from my head until the wee hours of the morning. I moved out when my lease was up. I’ve got nothing but sympathy for Bel Rio’s neighbors.
The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority is looking at building an earthen dam for Ragged Mountain Reservoir, Brian Wheeler writes for Charlottesville Tomorrow. It would be built downstream from the existing dam, but taller, allowing an extra 45 feet of water in the reservoir. This is instead of the prior plan, which called for a concrete dam. That would have cost between $70M and $100M; this new one would run between $29M and $37M. The RWSA has not yet determined if they’re going to build a dam, extend the existing one, dredge the reservoir, or do nothing at all.
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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