Dede Smith is the latest Democrat to declare her candidacy for the party’s City Council nomination. The Fry’s Spring resident and former Charlottesville School Board chair doesn’t lay out any specific campaign promises in her candidacy announcement announcement, but presumably will have more to say on Monday afternoon when she announces formally. Her press release follows.
Continue reading ‘Dede Smith Running for Council’
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News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Developing bronchitis during the campaign declaration season turned out to be a fast way to get behind on the news. Catching up—thanks to antibiotics—here’s who’s running.
A pair of candidates have announced for the seat being vacated by conservative Democrat Lindsay Dorrier. Scottsville’s Chris Dumler is running for the Democratic nomination. The 26-year-old attorney and U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General Corps officer says that he intends “to follow in the footsteps of Lindsay Dorrier,” supports closer collaboration with Charlottesville, and is a believer in building a dam rather than dredging. Just today a Republican announced he’s running for the Republican nomination in the district: James C. Norwood, also of Scottsville. The 67-year-old retiree used to run a chain of Virginia shoe stores. He praised Dorrier in his campaign announcement, and said that he wants to promote small businesses and improve the school system by rewarding teachers. He has not taken a position on either the water supply or the western bypass (are we still talking about that?), saying that he has to learn more about those matters.
And a pair of candidates have announced their candidacy for City Council, too. Andrew Williams is taking another bite at the apple, running as an independent candidate. He ran as a write-in candidate last time around, after he failed to get enough signatures to get on the ballot. The 24-year-old is a student at Averett and a claims adjuster at State Farm. He says he would work to deal with racial issues in the city, and on the topics of the Meadowcreek Parkway and the water supply, he says that “there are some things I don’t know, but I’ll use my energy to find the information I need to make the right decision for residents.” The other candidate is Paul Beyer, the 29-year-old son of homebuilder Rick Beyer, with whom he works at R.L. Beyer. He’ll make it official on Wednesday, but says he’ll be promoting job creation by small businesses, as well as “fostering the music scene, biking community, gardening movement, [and] creative classes.”
Primaries are late this year, due to redistricting—expect more candidacy announcements in the next few weeks. Nominations will be in August, and elections are in November.
Lots of local media outlets are reporting on a local woman hospitalized with measles. Presumably unvaccinated, the woman had just returned from India, where she unknowingly contracted measles. Two of the people she came in contact with now also have the measles. The health department is trying to track down everybody who could have been exposed, so they’re releasing a list of the time and places of her travels around town. Those are the Charlottesville Waldorf School last Friday and the Downtown Mall between 4:30–9:00, specifically The Paramount, Marco & Luca, and Chaps Ice Cream. If you have cause to think that you or somebody who know was exposed, watch for flu-like symptoms that may or may not include a rash. As soon as they develop, isolate the patient and call—don’t visit—a doctor.
This is not an overreaction. Measles are mind-bogglingly contagious—it’s possible to contract it by simply breathing within dozens of yards of somebody who is infected. While the disease is often merely unpleasant, complications are common—pneumonia, encephalitis, partial blindness. Anybody who has had their MMR shots is immune.
Here’s hoping that Waldorf parents aren’t the sort who refuse to immunize their children—if they are, this outbreak could get a great deal worse. Measles were basically unknown in this country until the past few years, when well-meaning but ignorant parents started refusing to immunize their children (there’s a well-debunked urban legend that vaccines cause autism), leading to 118 cases in the U.S. so far this year—plus these three—some of which were among groups of children whose parents denied them immunization. Get your kids vaccinated, folks.
Democrat Peter McIntosh is the fourth to seek the party’s nomination for City Council, Graham Moomaw writes in the Progress. The retired attorney is campaigning on a platform of economic development, building the Meadowcreek Parkway, building the YMCA in McIntire Park, and building a new dam rather than dredging the reservoirs. McIntosh has served on loads of boards for decades, and is a well-known name around town.
This makes a total of seven candidates for the three seats. The election is in November.
D.S. writes:
Last time gas prices spiked, there was a hue and cry about prices in Charlottesville being higher than other parts of Virginia. Well, in my driving to Richmond for the Picasso exhibit and to DC via Orange, F’burg and I-95, prices in Charlottesville are lower than those locations, even in the expensive areas (Pantops, 5th St by I-64).
We also considered the high price of fuel here back in September 2006.
I drove to DC a few weeks ago, and Clarke County on Saturday, and everywhere I went, gasoline was more expensive than in Charlottesville. Gasoline might have been pricier around here in 2006 and 2008, but it looks like we’re getting our turn at lower rates. GasBuddy.com’s Virginia section says that the average price in the state is $3.87/gallon, which is more than all but one gas station in Charlottesville is charging—our prices seem to be clustering around $3.79/gallon.
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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