Kiplinger’s Personal Finance has ranked the best cities in the country to live in and, damn it all, we’re number four. We’re behind Huntsville, Albuquerque, and Washington D.C., and just ahead of Athens, Olympia, Madison, and Austin. (Kiplinger’s apparently has a soft spot for liberal college towns.) It was in 2004 that Frommer’s rated Charlottesville’s the top city to live in, which put Our Fair City in the spotlight and led legions of people to move here from New Jersey, driving up the cost of housing. Then, in 2007, Frommer’s dropped us to #17…because of the high cost of housing. So remember, if anybody asks, Charlottesville’s cost of living, housing shortage, skyrocketing unemployment rate, terrible schools, gang violence, and industrial waste problems all make it an awful place to live. Thanks to SBE for the tip.
cvillenews.com
White supremacist newsletter The Aryan Alternative was left in Crozet driveways this morning, Jenn McDaniel writes for NBC-29, courtesy of the “National Vanguard.” The same group last did this in 2005, leaving the publication around Rose Hill. (Which is probably not the demographic they were going for.) The group appears to consist of one guy, Kevin Strom, who you might remember for his child porn collection, pedophilia habit, wife-beating, and trolling this here website. He was arrested a couple of years ago, had the pedophilia and wife-beating charges dropped, served time for his kiddie porn collection, and got out in September. This all started when National Vanguard became headquartered in C’ville a few years ago. That’s the price that we pay for being a tolerant town.
The shame is that he does all of this for the attention, and here I am, giving him more of it. If somebody could scan in a copy of this rag, I suspect it’d be worth posting here. The foolishness spouted by this no-talent assclown withers when exposed to sunlight and mocked accordingly.
Jim Duncan’s got more from the Crozet perspective at his blog.
05/22 Update: Here’s a PDF of the issue (5.1 MB) for those who want to know what the fuss is about. If you’re easily offended, you’ll want to skip it, but it mostly ranges from laughable to pathetic. These dopes’ heads are spinning on the topic of Israel, because they know what who they hate more: Jews or Muslims. The schtick with this whole thing is that one guy with apparently no more than an hour’s experience with Adobe InDesign puts together an issue (about once a year, by the looks of it), sells them in bulk for a dime a piece, and lonely misanthropic losers across the country buy a few hundred and, under cover of darkness, put them on people’s doorsteps. Then they track the outrage on their website. Remember, we “take offense”—you have to choose to accept it. These guys are lifelong losers who can’t accept that it’s their own fault that their lives suck, and are looking for somebody to blame. Pity them. Ridicule them. But don’t waste energy being offended.
The Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority is raising their rates, Brandon Shulleeta reported in yesterday’s Daily Progress, a result of decreased water usage by citizens. RWSA’s rates are a function of their expenses—people using less water doesn’t significantly reduce the RWSA’s expenses, meaning that they’ve got to increase their rates to cover the difference. Ergo, they’re going to be charging Albemarle County 11.3% more for water and Charlottesville another 7.7%. Each locality will presumably be passing those costs onto customers, translating to a rate hike for everybody without their own well.
Access to city pools costs more for kids who attend private schools, Henry Graff reports for NBC-29. The current policy—set by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee—has tiered pricing for access, with students enrolled in private schools paying between $4 and $19 more for a season pass, on top of the $20 base rate for public school students and home schooled students. It’s not clear from NBC-29’s coverage what the rationale for this policy was, but since city staff have already recommended to the board that they make the rates the same for all kids—and with the board meeting today with rates on the agenda—this may be moot shortly.
05/21 Update: Advisory board member Sean McCord says it ain’t so.
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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