Author Archive for Waldo Jaquith

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More Candidates Declare for Council, BoS

Published by Waldo Jaquith on June 3, 2011 in Politics. 2 Comments

Developing bronchitis during the campaign declaration season turned out to be a fast way to get behind on the news. Catching up—thanks to antibiotics—here’s who’s running.

A pair of candidates have announced for the seat being vacated by conservative Democrat Lindsay Dorrier. Scottsville’s Chris Dumler is running for the Democratic nomination. The 26-year-old attorney and U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General Corps officer says that he intends “to follow in the footsteps of Lindsay Dorrier,” supports closer collaboration with Charlottesville, and is a believer in building a dam rather than dredging. Just today a Republican announced he’s running for the Republican nomination in the district: James C. Norwood, also of Scottsville. The 67-year-old retiree used to run a chain of Virginia shoe stores. He praised Dorrier in his campaign announcement, and said that he wants to promote small businesses and improve the school system by rewarding teachers. He has not taken a position on either the water supply or the western bypass (are we still talking about that?), saying that he has to learn more about those matters.

And a pair of candidates have announced their candidacy for City Council, too. Andrew Williams is taking another bite at the apple, running as an independent candidate. He ran as a write-in candidate last time around, after he failed to get enough signatures to get on the ballot. The 24-year-old is a student at Averett and a claims adjuster at State Farm. He says he would work to deal with racial issues in the city, and on the topics of the Meadowcreek Parkway and the water supply, he says that “there are some things I don’t know, but I’ll use my energy to find the information I need to make the right decision for residents.” The other candidate is Paul Beyer, the 29-year-old son of homebuilder Rick Beyer, with whom he works at R.L. Beyer. He’ll make it official on Wednesday, but says he’ll be promoting job creation by small businesses, as well as “fostering the music scene, biking community, gardening movement, [and] creative classes.”

Primaries are late this year, due to redistricting—expect more candidacy announcements in the next few weeks. Nominations will be in August, and elections are in November.

Celebrate 250

Published by Waldo Jaquith on June 1, 2011 in In Brief. 2 Comments

The city has set up a website for next year’s 250th anniversary of Charlottesville’s founding.  #

Virginia Oil Sold

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 26, 2011 in In Brief. 2 Comments

Charlottesville’s Virginia Oil Company and its Everyday Café gas stations are now owned by a North Carolina company.  #

Halsey Minor’s Cost to the City Keeps Adding Up

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 26, 2011 in In Brief. 5 Comments

The Charlottesville Fire Dept has a new $1.9M truck with a 95-foot ladder, a height useful only for the currently non-flammable Landmark Hotel.  #

Measles Outbreak in Charlottesville

Published by Waldo Jaquith on May 26, 2011 in General News. 29 Comments

Lots of local media outlets are reporting on a local woman hospitalized with measles. Presumably unvaccinated, the woman had just returned from India, where she unknowingly contracted measles. Two of the people she came in contact with now also have the measles. The health department is trying to track down everybody who could have been exposed, so they’re releasing a list of the time and places of her travels around town. Those are the Charlottesville Waldorf School last Friday and the Downtown Mall between 4:30–9:00, specifically The Paramount, Marco & Luca, and Chaps Ice Cream. If you have cause to think that you or somebody who know was exposed, watch for flu-like symptoms that may or may not include a rash. As soon as they develop, isolate the patient and call—don’t visit—a doctor.

This is not an overreaction. Measles are mind-bogglingly contagious—it’s possible to contract it by simply breathing within dozens of yards of somebody who is infected. While the disease is often merely unpleasant, complications are common—pneumonia, encephalitis, partial blindness. Anybody who has had their MMR shots is immune.

Here’s hoping that Waldorf parents aren’t the sort who refuse to immunize their children—if they are, this outbreak could get a great deal worse. Measles were basically unknown in this country until the past few years, when well-meaning but ignorant parents started refusing to immunize their children (there’s a well-debunked urban legend that vaccines cause autism), leading to 118 cases in the U.S. so far this year—plus these three—some of which were among groups of children whose parents denied them immunization. Get your kids vaccinated, folks.