Jefferson Trail Treatment Center for Children is going out of business, and the building is being demolished, CBS-19 reports. You might remember Jefferson Trail under any of its prior names, which it kept changing every time they were found to have beaten or raped their young patients: Millmont Center, Brown Schools, or Whisper Ridge. They changed their name three years ago after the director of operations pleaded guilty to attempting to have sex with one of the children in her care. (For more on how terribly that kids were treated at the facility, see examples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.) But I’ll say this for Jefferson Trail: there’s no evidence that they ever abused their patients while they operated under that name. So, uh…good job?
cvillenews.com
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
City Council has OKd the fifty-year water-supply plan, Graham Moomaw writes for the Daily Progress, which means that the new dam at Ragged Mountain Reservoir is going to happen. Though they voted for a dam a year ago, rather than dredging, it remained to sort out the funding and to fit it into the long-term water plan, and that’s what culminated in this evening’s 3-2 vote. Councilors Dave Norris and Dede Smith voted against it, and Mayor Satyendra Huja, Kathy Galvin, and Kristin Szakos voted for it. Construction should begin in the spring.
Former Charlottesville Clerk of Court candidate Pam Melampy died suddenly of an aneurysm on Monday. On Sunday, having a terrible headache, she got checked out at Martha Jefferson Hospital. After a CT scan and an MRI, they sent her to UVA’s neuro ICU, where she died the next day. Melampy was 50 years old. A memorial service will be held at First Baptist Church on Sunday morning at 10 AM.
My family and I have spent a great deal of time in UVA’s neuro ICU in the past two weeks. My mother-in-law likewise experienced a terrible headache exactly two weeks ago, and she also went to Martha Jefferson, which also sent her to UVA, although in her case Martha Jefferson kept her in the waiting room for three hours while her brain bled out. Her body and mind shutting down, UVA diagnosed her with a cerebral hemorrhage (basically an aneurysm). They removed a big chunk of her skull to remove the clot from her brain. And then we waited. The neuro ICU waiting room is a terrible place. Nobody is there for a minor problem. Many people are facing terrible choices of what to do for loved ones. The best news anybody’s liable to get there is “she’s alive right now.” But we got lucky. She lived, she’s regaining functionality, and tomorrow she’ll be moved to HealthSouth to start what’s likely to be weeks of therapy.
There are no warnings for aneurysms, cerebral arteriovenous malformations, or cerebral hemorrhages. If anybody you know ever suddenly experiences the worst headache of his life, get him to the UVA ER immediately, no matter his objections. Tell the ER that it’s an aneurysm, and insist on a CT scan. The odds of surviving an aneurysm isn’t great, but by reacting quickly, the odds improve. Surgery can stop the bleeding, relieve the pressure, and save a life.
Nineteen-year-old Jamel Tucker broke into the wrong house. Michael Brown, of Charlottesville, woke up to his wife screaming from the living room, where she’d found Tucker attempting to steal their flat-screen TV. Brown, who has three teenaged sons and a 150-pound Great Dane, decided that it was him or Tucker. Demure coverage says that Brown “subdued” the burglar, but Tucker’s mugshot really says it all. Tucker was taken the hospital before being booked at the jail.
Observer founder Kay Peaslee has died, Bryan McKenzie writes in the Daily Progress. The well-known firebrand and her husband established the weekly in the the seventies, selling it in 1988. (The Observer folded in 2004.) In the mid-nineties, Peaslee spearheaded the unsuccessful movement to revert Charlottesville to a town, to share services with Albemarle County. She moved to Indianapolis in March of 2010, to be near family. She died there, on Tuesday. Kay Peaslee was 89 years old.
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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