The Army Corps of Engineers needs to be convinced that there aren’t better ideas than the Western Bypass, Sean Tubbs reports for Charlottesville Tomorrow. The news organization learned about this by a FOIA request. The road will impact about three acres of wetland and seven thousand feet of stream frontage, and the Corps’ job is to make sure that this causes as little harm as possible, which means providing a permit only for the solution to the transportation problem at hand that has the least impact on those resources. Although some studies along these lines have been performed, they were done two decades ago, and are quite possibly no longer meaningful. The Corps wants to know why they decided not to use grade-separated interchanges, and what parts of the Places29 project are actually going to happen. VDOT’s rushed approval process provided no time to deal with concerns like these, requiring that they be handled as they’re raised, rather than anticipating them. It’s possible that VDOT will conduct another study, although it’s also possible that they’ll persuade the Corps that it’s not necessary.
cvillenews.com
At long last, the old Jefferson School has been rehabilitated, Lisa Provence writes for The Hook. There was nearly a decade of talk about the proper use of the long-time blacks-only school, especially given its great location on 4th Street NW. A group got an $18M loan to overhaul the facility and turn it into a community resource, and it now houses Carver Recreation Center, the African American Heritage Center, and Martha Jefferson Hospital’s new wellness center (helpful now that they’ve moved out of the downtown area). PVCC, JABA, and Literacy Volunteers are also due to occupy the building, as well as a café. The public grand opening is next month.
Rodney Thomas is running for re-election to the Board of Supervisors, Sean Tubbs writes for Charlottesville Tomorrow. The Rio District representative is at the tail end of a four-year term, the Republican’s first since defeating incumbent Democrat David Slutzky in the 2009 election. Independent Dennis Rooker and Republican Duane Snow are also coming to the end of their terms, though neither have said whether they’ll be seeking re-election.
On Saturday afternoon, there was what sounds like an attempted child abduction at Fashion Square Mall, NBC-29 reports, but the real story is how badly Fashion Square security handled the incident. A couple was walking through the mall with their two-year-old daughter when a guy picked the girl up and tried to walk off with her. The father chased the guy down, of course, and mall security intervened and…let the guy go. And didn’t so much as call the police. Hours later, presumably starting to doubt that Fashion Square had handled things correctly, the parents called the cops. Now police are looking for a “light skinned black male with glasses…approximately 6′ 3” tall, weighing 220-235 pounds”—oddly, there is no photograph, despite the presence of security cameras throughout Fashion Square. Media outlets just get “no comment” from Simon Properties, the global real estate conglomerate that owns Fashion Square, so there’s no explanation as to why they just let the guy walk, and why there’s no photo.
11/29 Update: A suspect has been arrested.
Remember the county woman who wasn’t allowed by zoning to have miniature goats? Now a county man is suing the city for the right to keep chickens, Samantha Koon reports for the Daily Progress. A.J. Miller lives on Bennington Road, which is in the suburban neighborhood just off Barracks Road, sandwiched between Georgetown Rd. and Emmett St. He had a flock of them in the spring of 2010, but after a neighbor complained about the smell, the Zoning Board of Appeals affirmed that county zoning regulations simply don’t permit chickens to be kept in the growth area. Miller has sued the county, arguing that his constitutional rights have been violated. (Although the fourteenth amendment declares that “no state…shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, there’s just not a case to be made here that there is a lack of due process of law here.)
It is strange that keeping chickens and goats is legal in the city, illegal in the urban ring, and then legal in the country. I’m not aware of any kerfuffles over goats and chickens in the city since that became permissible a few years ago. The county ought to emulate the city’s approach, and perhaps improve on it to deal with complaints about noise (i.e., no roosters) and smells (chickens shouldn’t smell at all.) I’ve got chickens and ducks, all hens—they don’t make any noise but quacks and clucks, and they certainly don’t smell like anything.
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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