Kathy Galvin is joining the race for the Democratic nomination for City Council, she’s declared in a press release (below). The architect will be making her announcement at noon tomorrow (Wednesday). Galvin serves on the city school board, to which she was elected in 2007. Three seats are coming up on Council, with incumbent Satyendra Huja seeking reelection and incumbents Holly Edwards and David Brown retiring from office. Democrats will select their slate of candidates in an August 20 primary. The election is November 8.
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News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Remember the city’s plan to provide every middle and high school student with a laptop? That’s happening, Graham Moomaw writes in the Daily Progress. It’ll start next school year, giving them Windows tablets—which, since they’re really unpleasant to use otherwise, will be supplemented with a keyboard and a stylus, plus a protective case. The cost per system will have to be determined when the bids come in, but the thinking is that the whole thing should run less than $1M.
The idea is to move to electronic textbooks, rather than continuing to use increasingly expensive paper textbooks. Also, some publishers are simply eliminating paper textbooks in favor of electronic ones, and the school system is concerned that they’re going to run out of decent print options. In theory, the bulk of the cost of these computers should be covered by textbook savings.
Ken Boyd is running for a third term on the Board of Supervisors, he announced today. Boyd represents the Rivanna District, which is basically comprised of northeast Albemarle. His announcement comes as a bit of surprise, since it was one year ago that he told Will Goldsmith: “I’ve all but come to the conclusion that this is going to be my last term on the Board of Supervisors.” The “all but” is enough wiggle room for some mind-changing, apparently.
This announcement helps to explain Boyd’s bizarre support of a Tea Party talking point, calling for an end to Albemarle’s reduction in pollution emissions, declaring that the county has been “infiltrated” by agents of the United Nations, and that this “cancer” must be removed from county government. Boyd hasn’t historically been prone to conspiracy theories, and presumably is talking this up to establish his bona fides with the far right, whether to avoid a primary challenge or just to get their support.
Democratic Clerk of Court incumbent Paul Garrett has a second challenger—Charlottesville School Board member Llezelle Dugger is running for the nomination. (County circuit court deputy clerk Pam Melampy declared last month, and Garrett has declared for reelection.) Dugger is an assistant public defender. Garrett had just one challenger last time around—his history of chicanery surely has something to do with the surge of interest in opposing him.
A couple of weeks ago, the Virginia Law Weekly published a letter from a UVA law student alleging that he was a victim of police misconduct and racial profiling. Johnathan Perkins—who is black—provided a detailed story about how he was stopped by two white university police officers, questioned and searched, and when he asked for their badge numbers, they refused to tell him. Now he admits that he made it all up, Sharon Fitzgerald writes in the Daily Progress. The 25-year-old says that he “wrote the article to bring attention to the topic of police misconduct,” but that “the events in the article did not occur.” UVA police had opened an investigation in the matter, but as they looked into dispatch records and tapes of radio calls, they found that his story didn’t add up. Perkins will not be charged with filing a false police report, says Chief Michael Gibson, because the department doesn’t want to inhibit people from coming forward with legitimate claims of misconduct.
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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