The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority has debated what to do about the Central Virginia water shortage for years. Expand the reservoirs? Build a new reservoir? Pipe water from the James River? Do nothing at all? In today’s Daily Progress, Jessica Kitchin breaks the news that the RWSA has decided to expand the Ragged Mountain reservoir and build a pipeline between it and the South Fork Rivanna reservoir. That will capture the 97% of the precipitation that flows right over the dam on the Rivanna and store it in the 133-acres-larger Ragged Mountain. No timeline is described in the article; presumably this will take many years. At $130.5M, it’ll certainly be expensive.
cvillenews.com
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Seventeen student living wage activists are in their second day of staging a sit-in at Madison Hall, Stephanie Fees and Sarah Peeden report in the Cavalier Daily. It was just a month ago that UVa agreed to raise their minimum wage from $8.88 to $9.37/hour, but the newly reestablished living wage campaign at UVa is demanding $10.72 for the 809 UVa workers below that threshold. The students claim to be prepared to stay for the next couple of weeks. A rally was held at the rotunda, featuring NAACP chairman Julian Bond, and Professor Wende Marshall was arrested for trespassing yesterday evening when she attempted to enter Madison, the building that houses the office of President John Casteen.
PVCC students have long been told that there’s an unofficial standard of UVa accepting all applicants who have completed the “transfer module,” the set of courses that UVa wants to see transfer students have under their belts. Now the schools have made it official—UVa will guarantee admission to any Virginia Community College System student that meets a basic set of requirements, Melanie Mayhew reports in today’s Progress. Those requirements include a 3.4 GPA, a grade of C or better in every course, and 54 transferrable credits distributed among seven types of courses.
This is a part of a statewide restructuring of higher education, so that more students can start off at a less-expensive community college before moving on to a four-year university. It saves students money, it saves colleges money, and it saves the state money. One likely effect will be students that would otherwise have started at a state university choosing to spend their first two years at their local community college, and those community colleges will need to have their capacity increased accordingly.
The Hook reports on the 15-year-old would-be bomber’s punishment:
Amid the sobbing of family and friends, Judge Susan Whitlock committed the Albemarle High student found guilty of conspiring blow up two high schools to the Department of Juvenile Justice for 60 days, with a review May 23.
And in another development, sources revealed that the conviction was based not on any physical evidence or online communications but on a lawyerless interrogation between police and the 15-year-old boy. In court, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Darby Lowe asked that the boy be committed, citing his statement to the police that “We were just going to go to school and kill everybody we saw who wasn’t our friends.”
One would think that 60 days would include time served, but apparently not.
As the trees turn green and my wife and I prepare to transfer our seedlings into the garden, I’ve found myself wanting to sign up for a share in a Community Supported Agriculture program. Having a weekly supply of fruits, vegetables, herbs and meats would be great. I see that Best of What’s Around is full up for the season, so they’re out. Does anybody have any experience with area CSA programs? Any recommendations?
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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