An Albemarle police officer is under investigation by Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman after charges that he beat a detainee. 21-year-old Corey Faison (who was arrested on a bizarre sexual assault charge) was taken to the hospital with three broken ribs after an attack that was apparently captured on videotape. The Daily Progress has the story in today’s paper, but you can read a brief version on WINA’s site.
Archive for September, 2001
In Bob Gibson’s Sunday “Political Notebook,” he expresses a rare partisan opinion in criticizing the Virginia Republicans’ anti-homosexual advertising campaign. “The Old Dominion,” writes Gibson, “allows its politicians to engage in gay bashing, gay baiting and the somewhat queer habit of kissing off the gay vote while conveniently cleaving the rest of the electorate.” This is the first major public reaction to the GOP’s anti-gay campaign, based around the “Virginia is not Vermont” slogan. If you can get ahold of Sunday’s Progress, be sure to check this out.
Folk musician and noted union activist John McCutcheon just gave me a call from the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport. He tells me that the US Airways flight attendants are picketing, and intend to go on strike in eleven days. The Association of Flight Attendants have been negotiating with Piedmont Airlines (a corporation wholly owned by US Airways, serving the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport) for 15 months in an attempt to even up their pay and work hours with US Airways flight attendants. The AFA has been warning that strikes are possible anytime after 12:01am on September 16th. Piedmont Airlines provides the bulk of the flights in and out of CHO, including the daily nonstop runs to Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Philadelphia and New York. A strike would likely severely cripple CHO’s ability to function. For more information, see the AFA’s recent press release.
The Charlottesville Area Bicycling Alliance has simplified their free-bike plan for the town, asking the city for $5,000 to start it up. They plan to sprinkle 30 bright yellow bikes along East and West Main (their original plan was to have them in more locations around the city) for anybody to hop on and ride around. There are a number of similar programs around the country, though perhaps the most well-known programs are Portland’s Yellow Bike Project and Copenhagen Free City Cycle. If CHABA gets the funding that they need from City Council tonight, bicycles will be out there by next month. Jake Mooney has the story in today’s Progress.
The Health Care Financing Administration, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid services, found problems during their July 12th full-hospital inspection of the UVa Medical Center. UVa has until Friday to provide a plan for correction of these problems. After this step, HFCA will release a report providing a list of the hospital’s deficiencies. The Daily Progress has the story in today’s paper.
For the past few years, the lyrics to UVa’s “Good Ol’ Song” have been sung differently by many students at football games. After the line “where all is bright and gay,” many students shout out “not gay,” which has resulted in no small amount of turmoil over the years. However, today’s Cavalier Daily reports that Saturday’s game had very few people chanting “not gay,” the quietest within recent memory. This may mark the beginning of the end for “not gay.”
writes: I visited the Albemarle County Fair for the first time this weekend, and it will be my last visit as well. The fair itself was fun, and I especially enjoyed the fiddling contest and the many llamas that were there strutting their stuff. Unfortunately, the day took a dark turn when we left. As my girlfriend waited for a signal to turn out of the parking area onto the road, a friendly traffic management “volunteer” pointed out that the registration tags on her license plate had expired. Two minutes down the road there was a police car behind us with the lights on. You can guess what he pulled us over for. My girlfriend asked him if he was working with the Fair folk and he wouldn’t deny it, saying only that, “they were having a lot of problems.”
The police used the Fair as an opportunity to look for violations and to nab people on the way out. That’s a huge violation of the goodwill of the people who work hard to make the Fair come together. The Fair should be a place where we can all feel a sense of pride in our community. Being picked over by the police department does not give me that sense of pride. We won’t be back next year.
Charlottesville’s W. Alton Jones Foundation, quite surprisingly, has announced that they’re dissolving the organization. Its $400M in assets will be distributed among three new charitable organization, each to be headed by a member of the Jones family. In their press release, the foundation describes this as a step forward for the organization, saying that it “will help build upon the tremendous accomplishments of the W. Alton Jones Foundation, while providing the opportunity to explore additional areas of philanthropic activity.” The W. Alton Jones Foundation was founded in 1944 with a goal “to promote the well-being and general good of mankind throughout the world,” and is known nationwide for their charitable acts and regularl sponsorship of National Public Radio.
City Council unanimously approved the free-bike program last night after learning that Dave Matthews Band was providing the $4,500 needed to get the program started. City Director of Strategic Planning Satyendra Huja, who is working on the program, said that they made the donation because they liked similar programs that they’d seen while on tour in Europe. Though it was likely that the city would have funded the program, this private donation prevents makes that public funding unnecessary. The story is in today’s Progress.
Albemarle Supervisors have approved a fenced-in area for dogs in Darden Towe Park. Darden Towe is unusual, in that the 110-acre park is co-owed by the City and the County but covered by Albemarle Laws. Providing this dog run will hopefully quell the debate over leash laws. WINA has the story.
If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to pick up this week’s C-Ville Weekly to read Mary Jane Gore’s “New Faces in Town,” an impressively-lengthy article about the area’s burgeoning Latino population. For various reasons, the local Latino population is largely ignored by businesses, the media, and even much of the general public. Gore explores who makes up the Latino population, and what contributions that they’re making to Central Virginia.
There have been reports from New York to Virginia of a fireball sweeping over the east coast around dawn this morning. On WINA’s 10:30 news update, they reported that they’d received a number of calls from baffled Charlottesvillians who had seen the large, slow-moving comet-like light during their morning commute. The Naval Observatory reports that it was most likely a large meteor moving northward from Virginia until it burned up in the atmosphere. Update 3:13pm: Turns out it was a Russian rocket that had been orbiting Earth since 1975.
There’s a new community news and discussion site in town: CrozetVirginia.com. Operated by Crozet website developer Jim Starkweather, the two-week-old site is just getting started, and in need of a few good users. If you live in Crozet, or are just interested in the goings-on of our neighbor, be sure to spend some time on the site. You’ll also notice that we’ve added CrozetVirginia.com’s headlines to the left hand side of the page so that y’all can tell at a glance what new stories they’ve got up. Welcome, neighbor!
The Progress has a great article today about runaway livestock up 29, near Fashion Square. An anonymous user tells us it’s “about two escaped cows and the fate they met. To quote one of the interviewees from the story, ‘Cows ain’t dumb. Cows are smart.’” Take two irritated cows, several hours, heavy traffic, a tranquilizer gun, some police, and what do you get? Apparently, about 1,050 pounds of beef.
This year’s US News and World Report college ranking puts UVa as the 21st best college in the country. It’s also ranked as the #2 public college, losing last year’s #1 position to Berkeley.
An 86-year-old man in Waynesboro wired $100,000 to a Canadian bank account after being told that he had to provide it in order to claim a $1,000,000 prize. The Better Business Bureau has issued an alert about US/Canadian sweepstakes scams, as this is apparently an ongoing problem. The story is from WINA.
Albemarle County Police Chief John Miller supports the idea of a citizen review board, an idea put recently forth by disgrunted local Daley Craig. Miller will submit a formal proposal to the county, supporting the creation of a board that will be able to review police actions, but not have access to internal investigations. Kent Willis (director of the Virginia ACLU) told the Progress that “no citizen review board will be able to effective do its job without access to internal investigations.” When asked by the Progress if any Albemarle officers should be off the streets, Miller replied that he’d “better leave that one alone.”
Jefferson Theater owner Hawes Spencer pointed us to a recent article in the Cav Daily — turns out that the Jeff has bumped their prices from $2.99 to $3.00. Says Spencer, “The criticism of the 99-cent cheesiness recently expressed on cvillenews.com was also quite a strong factor in my decision.”
Former CHS teacher Jeffery Hutchinson has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for having sex with a 15-year-old student. The 46-year-old teacher pled guilty, and had 60 days of his 90 days suspended and was ordered to have no contact with the girl. Hutchinson resigned from his job at CHS toward the end of the 2000-2001 school year. WINA has the story.
Charlottesville Fire Department has promoted firefighter Lisa Carpenter to captain. Carpenter is the first-ever female captain. WINA has the story.
Now that UVa has sold QualChoice to Coventry Healthcare, 145 local employees are being laid off. They’ll lose their jobs gradually over the next year, receiving 60 days notice and a bonus to stay on until their termination date. Claudia Pinto has the story in today’s Progress.
Two hijacked planes have been crashed into the World Trade Center, destroying one of the buildings. Another plane has been crashed into the Pentagon, and there are currently unconfirmed reports by ABC News that there have been a similar attacks on the Capitol Building and the White House. We will, of course, make no attempt to cover things here — just get thee to a television. (And if you’re reading this from D.C, come home to C’ville!)
Virginia Blood Services is having an emergency blood drive at Fashion Square Mall from 5pm - 9pm this evening. Fashion Square will be shut down, operating only for the purpose of this drive. For more information, call 804-213-4105. If you can give blood, please go to Fashion Square this evening to do so.
In order to provide coverage of today’s attacks, an extra edition of the Daily Progress has been printed up, and is being distributed around Charlottesville this evening. I have not yet gotten a copy of this paper, so I can’t provide any specifics of the additional coverage. This is the first time in recent memory that the Daily Progress has provided an extra edition, though this is something that many regional newspapers (including the Richmond Times-Dispatch) are doing.
munk writes: In light of the tragic events of Tuesday, September 11, the
University will suspend classes from 10:00 a.m. to Noon
tomorrow, Wednesday, September 12, to provide the University
community with a common period for reflection and mourning.
In Meditation 17, John Donne reflects on the experience of a world shattered:
“Who casts not up his eye to the sun when it rises? But who takes off his eye from a comet when that breaks out? Who bends not his ear to any bell which upon any occasion rings?
But who can remove it from that bell which is passing a piece of himself out of this world? No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main? Any man’s death diminishes me, because I
am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
This tragedy affects us all. Some of us have lost family, friends, colleagues. We have all lost fellow human beings. Our world has been impoverished by this terrible loss.
It will take time to make the world and our lives whole again, but there are ways in which we can begin the process of healing.
Tomorrow morning, the University’s schools will provide locations around the Grounds that will be available to the University community between 10 a.m. and Noon for quiet meditation, group discussion, and perhaps a time for us to assert our common belief in the dignity of human life and the horror of terrorism. Old Cabell Hall Auditorium and
the Chapel will be open in the morning. Notices about other sites will be posted on the University’s Web home page. We urge you to participate in at least one of these observances.
Also, buses will be available throughout the day tomorrow to take students from the University to Fashion Square Mall for a Virginia Blood Services blood drive. Buses will depart
from McCormick Road in front of Peabody Hall on the hour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., returning on the half hour until 7:30 p.m. Please note that the buses will transport only as many persons as VBS has the capacity to accommodate at each hour.
Finally, please stay here unless urgent family concerns compel you to travel to the Washington area or to New York. Disaster relief workers need time and open roads to do their work, and at best travel is hazardous at this time.
We stand together in times of crisis. Each of us feels profound distress at this time. All of us know others who need our compassion and human concern.
Sincerely,
John T. Casteen III
President
Abby Fifer
Student Council
The Thomas Jefferson Health District discovered a dead crow on Garth Road on September 5th, and have now confirmed that it was infected with West Nile Virus. West Nile made its first American appearance in New York in 1999, and has been spreading down the east coast ever since. The rare disease, which affects birds, horses and humans, is spread by infected mosquitos. There is neither a vaccine nor a specific treatment. The county has stressed the importance of removing all sources of standing water, where mosquitos are likely to spread. It ia also important to report dead birds to the county so that they can be aware of any further infections. WINA has the story.
Two weeks ago, the Progress reported that inmates are filing a class-action lawsuit against the state for being housed in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail instead of in state prisons. The inmates believe that their improper imprisonment amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. They point out that, as of July 17th, 104 of the 450 inmates at the local jail are supposed to be housed in state prisons. In an editorial on the 4th, the Progress supported the inmates, saying that it’s important that “Virginia be forced to halt a callous, dangerous and unjust practice.”
Ben writes: John Casteen just sent out a letter to the University community, writing: “President Bush has designated Friday, September 14, a national day of prayer and remembrance, and has called for noonday memorial services to be held across the country. To honor the dead, most still uncounted, unknown, and unrecovered, the University will cancel all classes
tomorrow.” For more information, go here.
The University has been stunned and saddened by the senseless acts of terrorism that took place in the morning hours on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. No response is entirely appropriate to all that we feel in such a circumstance. We-faculty, students, staff-share the nation’s (indeed, the world’s) grief in this time of loss, of tragedy, even as we recognize our own bafflement, anger, and enforced awareness of the fragility of human life and dignity.
Family members and friends of members of this community are inevitably involved in these events. As the lists of victims begin to be known, these singularly vicious assaults against humankind itself begin to take lasting shape in the faces and lost lives of family members, friends, and acquaintances of many of our alumni, students, faculty members, and staff members.
Students here in Charlottesville and also at other University locations are receiving support and counseling as necessary. Counseling services for students have been made available through Newcomb Hall and also around the clock by way of calls placed to 924-5556. Faculty and staff are encouraged to contact Employee Assistance Programs at 924-9296.
Memorial events have been held throughout the University, and the Medical Center has taken part in the national mobilization of emergency service providers. Blood drives are in progress. Students have access to special bus service to take them to and from temporary blood banks in various parts of the community. In addition, our people and support units are responding in organized ways as requests for assistance in New York and Northern Virginia come to us through the disaster relief agencies.
Virginia’s state agencies have remained open, and most classes here have met, although often for purposes of discussion and mutual support rather than for strictly academic purposes. Students, faculty, and staff gathered on the evening of Tuesday, September 11, at vigil held on the south Lawn. Many of the religious organizations that serve students scheduled their own events, and most have also taken steps to provide counseling and support for students who turn to them.
Following a careful examination of how best to address the special needs and circumstances of large numbers of undergraduate students living away from home in a time of national emergency and distress, we suspended classes throughout the University from 10 a.m. until noon on Wednesday, September 12, so that students and others could gather in various places around the Grounds for the purpose of consoling each other for the losses incurred today and acknowledging our determination to stand together as a community even in the worst of times.
I was able to attend three of these observances. In the Old Cabell Hall auditorium, Mr. Ayers, the dean of the College and Graduate School, and Ms. Rue, the Dean of Students, stood with students on the platform while the students spoke of their concern for those lost in the attacks, of their grief and awareness of the grief of others, and of their need to assemble with others for the purpose of seeking ways to understand what has happened. In the Chapel, I sat with several dozen students who came simply to sit or kneel in silence. In the Nursing School’s auditorium, near the end of the scheduled hours, I sat with students while Katie Couric reported on the FBI’s early investigative findings.
Throughout the day, students have wanted to stop to talk briefly on the sidewalks and pathways that cross the Grounds. Their honest acknowledgment of bafflement as the news has become known and both sympathetic and personal pain and their conviction that they need to be together at this time has recurred in these conversations.
In this period of distress, we are taking steps to ensure the safety and well being of students, faculty, and staff. Because travel at this time is difficult and may be dangerous and particularly because visitors coming to look will inevitably interfere with disaster relief workers, I am urging students to remain here and not to travel insofar as possible. Because public safety officials have cautioned against large public gatherings, we have sponsored or taken part in small gatherings where students could talk directly to one another and to their deans or faculty mentors.
As new information becomes available, it will be posted on this web site and on recordings at 924-SNOW and 243-SNOW, which are our regular numbers for information in times of emergency. Read on for President Casteen’s letter.
writes: Fridays after 5 has been canceled this week. CDF had planned a very uplifting, reverential program for this evening and regrets that this opportunity for the community to come together will not occur. CDF strongly urges all who were planning to attend to take part in the Red Cross fundraising that was scheduled for this event to please support the Red Cross disaster relief and blood collection activities that are ongoing. You can reach the Red Cross at 295-LIFE. Tell them Fridays After 5 sent you!
A Charlottesville man was hit by a car on Route 29 around 11pm last night, and died before he could be taken to the hospital. Albemarle County Police have charged a 25-year-old woman from Gordonsville, who was driving the car. The identities of both are being withheld. WINA has the story.
Yesterday’s Progress led with the confirmation of 21-year-old Corey Faison’s allegations that he was savagely beaten by several Albemarle County police officers last month. Progress staffers viewed a lengthy videotape of police attempting to interrogate an unresponsive Faison. Police grew increasingly frustrated, but finally snapped when Faison hit a camera out of their hands. Faison was thrown to the ground and punched dozens of times by several officers, despite his protests. One officer then commented that Faison should be a little more willing to talk at that point. County police maintain that their actions were warranted, and even believe that they could have beat him with nightsticks, should they have seen fit.
patrick writes: Looks like C’ville landmark (and Dave Matthews Band fan mecca) Miller’s has been sold. Steve Tharpe, the man who took the former Miller’s Drugstore building and converted it into a bar just over twenty years ago has sold to one Scottie Kaylor. There’s an application for a new ABC permit posted prominently in the front window, with the name of the new owner. This comes mere months after Mr. Tharpe held a 20th anniversary celebration for former employees and associates of Miller’s on July 27th.
It looks like last month’s meeting between Governor Gilmore and President Casteen paid off. Due to state budget shortfalls, educational funding has been slashed, including the $7M that Virginia had committed to the construction of UVa’s $26M Special Collections building. Casteen has apparently changed the mind of Governor Gilmore, as he has now agreed to provide UVa with the promised funding, meaning that construction can begin early next year. UVa’s special collections are truly impressive, consisting of 12 million manuscripts and 300,000 rare books, including the only complete manuscript of “Leaves of Grass” and a copy of the Declaration of Independence, printed July 4th, 1776.
Margaret Edson’s “Wit” is now playing at Live Arts. They describe it as follows: ”
Vivian Bearing Ph.D. is a renowned professor of literature in the fight of (and for) her life. Her diagnosis of Stage 4 of ovarian cancer transforms her from teacher to object of study in this dazzling and humane Pulitzer Prize winning play. In turn heartbreakingly funny and devastatingly sad, Vivian’s journey from intellectual brilliance to simple human kindness will move, astonish and illuminate. A play you will remember till your dying day.” Starring Linda Zuby, “Wit” runs through October 6th. The Cav. Daily has a review, and you can call Live Arts at 977-4177 for more information.
The UVa Medical Center has submitted a plan of correction to the Health Care Financing Administration as a result of their analysis of the hospital’s ongoing problems. Erin Montgomery at The Cavalier Daily provides the story.
After years of on-again off-again interest, WINA is reporting that Charlottesville City Council formally adopted a downtown noise ordinance last night. It starts at 10pm Sunday through Thursday, and midnight on Friday and Saturday night.
Student number two of 122 accused of honor code violations in Professor Bloomfield’s class earlier this year has been expelled. The first student was found expelled in July, but the rest of the investigations appear to be coming along slowly. It’s thought that a large number of accused students wrote “source” papers that the remainder of the accused used to write fraudulent essays. WINA has the story.
Albemarle County Supervisor David Bowerman, described in Peter Savodnik’s Daily Progress article today as “the bridge between the six-member Board of Supervisors and the county police department,” has endorsed the concept of a citizens’ review board to oversee the police department. He envisions the same restrictions that Chief Miller does, to some people’s regret, restrictions that can only be lifted by an act of the Virginia General Assembly. An odd dynamic has popped up here, too: Detective K. W. Robinson, who is accused of beating a prisoner during questioning last month, has told the Progress that he supports a review board. This is likely related to the fact that Detective Robinson was once fired by Chief Miller, for excessive use of force, only to find his job reinstated by an appeals board.
The schedule for the 14th annual Virginia Film Festival is being distributed around town today, and the website should have it tomorrow. Ticket sales start Monday for the October 25th - 28th event. The theme this year is “Masquerades,” and thus features films like like Tootsie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Phantom of the Opera.
munk writes: Whether an explosion, an earthquake or a sonic boom, something loud and jarring occurred at 12:00 or 12:01. It was felt on the Mall, on Millmont Street, at Albermarle Square, and out River Road. Once before, Charlottesville had an earthquake that news sources insisted was a sonic boom for days, but this seemed like neither. We’re trying hard to find the source; it was short, loud, and local.
Update: Sonic boom? Military jet? Earthquake? Underground explosion? We’ve heard a lot of theories and no answers.
Coleman Johnson, recently convicted of the December 1997 murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend via pipe bomb, has been sentenced. Judge Moon gave him life in prison, as per the recommendation of jury. After Johnson’s murder of Tammy Lynn Baker and her unborn child, much of Louisa went on alert, unsure if more pipe bombs might explode in the area. WINA has the story.
It’s confirmed: Saturday’s 12:00pm big boom was, in fact, an earthquake. WINA reports that a Virginia Tech seismologist has deemed Saturday’s Big Boom to be an earthquake that measured 3.2 on the Richter scale, slightly larger than our 1998 quake, which measured 2.8. The epicenter was located in Albemarle County.
Yesterday investigators in Louisa found the remains of who they believe to Shantay Latrice Wheeler. The 18-year-old went missing in April under rather surprising circumstances: her boyfriend dropped her off at the Fork Union Motor Lodge to meet her sister, and she walked to a nearby pharmacy. She never got there. The remains of the 8-month-pregnant Fluvanna girl were found in the woods near the intersection of 15 and 22 in Boswells Tavern. The Progress has the full story, though you can read a brief version on WINA’s site.
The National Institutes of Health has given the Medical School $38 million to study cell migration. It’s what’s known as a “glue grant,” one that combines researchers from a varity of institutions to collaborate on a single research project. The study will hopefully reveal information about how cells migrate between parts of the body, which would, among other things, reveal how cancer spreads. For more information see UVa’s press release or David Glynn’s article in the Cav. Daily.
WVIR reported this evening that 81-year-old Fulton Scruggs was carjacked and murdered in Charlottesville this afternoon. The elderly man was giving a ride to 20-year-old Robert Preston Taylor and a 16-year-old juvenile when they attempted to carjack him, shooting him twice in the head in the process. The two suspects escaped on foot, though they were quickly apprehended by police. Scruggs died at the hospital early this evening. WINA has a brief story.
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