Former UVa Medical Center employee Rudolph Johnson, after pleading guilty last March to sexually assaulting two psychiatric patients in their hospital beds, has been sentenced to ten years in prison. After the assaults in the spring of last year, the hospital fired nine employees that had been convicted of felonies in the past, touching off protests against the firings before they ultimately settled with the fired workers. The assaults also prompted investigations into the psych. ward by Medicare, which were ultimately resolved. Adrienne Schwisow has the story in today’s Progress.
cvillenews.com
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Jack writes: Throughout Charlottesville and surrounding Albemarle County, few notable events have occurred in the last week. Analysts note that the infrequency of news is striking in comparison with the same period in previous years.
Throughout Charlottesville and surrounding Albemarle County, few notable events have occurred in the last week. Analysts note that the infrequency of news is striking in comparison with the same period in previous years.
Hawes Spencer, editor of a local weekly newspaper shared one view on the trend.
“Sometimes there’s a whole bunch of stuff going on and we can hardly keep up. But lately, stuff’s pretty quiet. There was that bear that somebody saw last week. A pretty small bear, but it was still a bear. And that was almost news, I guess. I wish Matthew Farrell would do something again. Just dance around with a sign or something. That would work.”
While journalists like Mr. Spencer are taking a generally negative view on the lack of news, local citizens have expressed less concern for the trend.
“There’s still the funnies every day, ain’t there?” remarked Luanne Shiflett, a 24 year old cashier at Food Lion. “Plus I read the classifieds. And the personals- not like I, you know, just to see if somebody else might have, ah…I gotta take over register six for Dwayne now.”
“I don’t read no papers no more,” said retiree Leroy Thomas from the porch of his home on Harris Street. “Get the hell off my lawn!” Things are kind of slow. Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe we’re all worn down after the council race, the CHS/UVa attacks, the C-Ville/Hook schism and the Ivy Road parking garage debates. I don’t know. Thankfully, here we just put up stories when there’s something to talk about; there’s no need to put out an issue every day or week, regardless of whether or not there’s anything to write about. Anyhow, keep reading for Jack’s take on the matter.
The Rivanna Trails Foundation is bumping heads with a landowner Shirley Presley. Presley doesn’t want people walking across her property, the edge of which has been used for the Rivanna trail, which forms a loop around the city. The non-profit Rivanna Trails Foundation may need to purchase a right of way, but they’re not sure that they can afford to set that precedent. Presley has erected a barrier to prevent people from crossing her land, so the RTF has set up a temporary detour. Courtney Stuart has the story in this week’s Hook.
The City has dropped their plan to include the creation of public bathrooms in the renovation of the Downtown Recreation Center. The bathrooms would have provided much-needed relief to attendees of events at the Downtown Amphitheater — notably Fridays After 5 — that are currently restricted to portable toilets. The bathrooms are no longer included in the plan because the city estimates that they’ll cost $500,000 to install, well over the city’s budget limit for the overall project. Jake Mooney has the story in today’s Progress.
writes: I went out to the Giant grocery store on Pantops and watched the fireworks from there. It was a great view — in fact, it seemed as though we could see fireworks over in Waynesboro or Staunton (you could see the mountain with the fireworks behind it). Looking at the paper and the list of fireworks, it also appeared that we could see the fireworks at Graves Mountain Lodge from there. There were some fireworks that might have been at Earlysville but I wasn’t sure and maybe some at Crozet (you could tell the difference between the Crozet area fireworks and those over the mountains). If anyone else has any suggestions on where I was seeing fireworks, I’d appreciate hearing about it. For a while I thought I was even seeing some faint ones from Harrisonburg. The crowd at the Giant was really nice and it was a fun way to see the fireworks.
I, too, enjoyed the view of Charlottesville, Crozet, and a few other mystery displays from just outside of town. Can anybody ID the various celebrations visible around town?
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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