Albemarle County has launched a great new website, the first major overhaul that their website has seen in years. Their old site was clunky, difficult to navigate, and not particularly informative, whereas the new site is nicely laid out and packed with information. The site actually went up about a week ago, but I totally forgot to mention it here.
cvillenews.com
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
At Monday’s City Council meeting, Charlottesville Democratic Party chairman Lloyd Snook introduced a resolution to Council that had been passed by the Charlottesville Democrats at a recent meeting, opposing the USA PATRIOT Act, WINA reports. The Charlottesville Republicans and the Center for Peace and Justice have expressed similar opposition to the PATRIOT Act to Council. Now Council intends to take up the matter at their next meeting to determine if they should pass a city resolution. Back in February, Council passed a resolution opposing war in Iraq, which some decried as a partisan abuse of Council. Does the bipartisan support make this any different? Should Council be in the business of such things?
Full disclosure, not that anyone cares: I was among those that voted to pass that resolution at that Charlottesville Democrats meeting.
Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Camblos will not be filing criminal charges against former deputy Steve Shiflett, WINA reports. Shiflett, a deputy hired by Sheriff Edgar Robb, claimed in March that a black man had shot at him, unprovoked, hitting him in the torso and his patrol car. A suspect was detained, but released shortly thereafter. Sheriff Robb declared it to have been a “hate crime,” although he found himself defending Shiflett in early June after the deputy was accused of inventing the whole story. The police opened an investigation, Shiflett resigned, and Robb declared on Monday that he was “ready to put this behind us.” Camblos predictably agreed with Robb, so what happened will likely remain unknown. Results of the ballstics test and a polygraph of Shiflett by the Albemarle police have not been made available. 07/04 Update: Josh Barney and Elizabeth Nelson have a story in today’s Progress.
On August 9th-ish, I’m moving from Charlottesville to Blacksburg, to attend Virginia Tech for a year and a half. Between being busy as a full-time student and being physically out of the area, I don’t think that I ought to be running cvillenews.com in that time. I just wouldn’t do a very good job of it, I don’t think. So, what should happen to the site in that time?
I figure there are a few options. The first is to shut it down. But that option sucks, and I won’t do it. The second is to try to run the site from afar and, if it works, keep doing it. The third is to switch the site to a less intensive format, perhaps more blog-based with simplified commenting. (Translation: Make the site something that I’d feel was less important to keep timely and relevant.) The fourth is to hand the reins over to somebody else in that time.
It’s that fourth option that’s probably best, I figure, but I’m certainly open to arguments to the contrary or suggestions of other solutions. If the fourth option, who should do it? How do I find or pick somebody?
What do y’all think?
An Albemarle County sheriff’s deputy suspected of making up a story of how he was shot in March (see the recent story and discussion for details) has now been accused by Albemarle police of falsifying information and impeding the investigation, WINA reports. Steve Shifflett resigned from his job as a deputy when the charges became known. The timing of all of this is not particularly good for Sheriff Edgar Robb, who hired and has since defended his hiring of Shifflett, since Robb is currently running for reelection. 07/01 Update: Reed Williams has a story in today’s Progress, in which it’s stated that whether there is an investigation into this bizarre case is in the hands of Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Camblos. Sheriff Robb says that he knew full well of Shiflett’s history at the time that he hired Shiflett, concluding that he’s “read to put this behind us.”
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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