Albemarle County School Board member Gary Grant has, for the second time in as many years, publicly released a listing of teachers whose contracts are being non-renewed. He sent out the listing of 38 employees along with the reason for their non-renewal via his e-mail newsletter that he sends out to his constituents. When Grant did this last year, his fellow board members ended up passing a motion to scold him. His move isn’t much more popular this year: says board member Diantha McKeel, “I’ve had it with this kind of behavior.” Grant argues that it’s public information that is useful to the public. Kate Andrews has the story in today’s Progress.
cvillenews.com
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
The Fluvanna County Supervisors are considering yet another property tax, their third in three years. The 10% increase, say some supervisors, is necessary to compensate for the drastic reduction in state funding. The proposed 2003 budget will be presented on April 10th at 7pm at the Fluvanna County Courthouse. Austin Graham has the story in today’s Progress.
Happy birthday to us. cvillenews.com is one year old…as of Thursday. (Close enough.) In that year, there have been 489 stories, 2613 comments and 180 registered users, plus countless anonymous posters. This year has brought us notable stories like the investigation into UVa students for cheating; the UVa hospital’s firing of convicted felons; living wage protests; the coal tower killings, the standoff with suspect Craig Nordenson, and subsequent chase and capture of Nordenson; September 11th, the police beating of a suspect, the earthquake, the approval of power plant after power plant; the death of Emily Couric; the launch of the Internet free-speech chalkboard; the debut of The Hook; and most recently, the arrest of CHS students for attacking UVa students. I’d like to take this occasion to ask you: what is cvillenews.com doing right, and what is it doing wrong? Are the stories about the right things? Is it useful to you? Oh, and thanks, all. It’s been a good year.
writes: A new study has found all kinds of things in the paint pits at the Ivy Landfill that nobody knew were there, a Friday Progress story reports. It’s the first ever exhaustive study of the pits’ contents, and they found PCBs, DDT and all kinds of nasty things. Oh, and paint. They also concluded that the pits were the source of much of the pollution on the site and the surrounding properties, though they say the stuff hasn’t spread much since the pits were capped in the mid-1990s.
Jake Mooney has the story in today’s Progress.
The first of the teenagers charged with the January assaults on UVa students has been sentenced. Gordon Lathan Fields was not charged with committing a hate crime. Instead, he pled guilty to assault and battery by mob, and was given a 30-day jail sentence, 50 hours of community service and made to provide financial restitution to the victims. Fields claimed that he thought that his friend was being attacked, and was coming to her rescue. Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman says that there’s no basis for charging any of the nine teenagers with hate crimes, despite that some of them confessed that they’d chosen their victims because they were white. Adrienne Schwisow has the story in today’s Progress.
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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