Month: January 2006

News

The long and winding road

Post author By ace-atkins
Post date January 31, 2006
No Comments on The long and winding road

Ace: Jefferson Park Avenue maintains the same name even though it makes two sharp turns to the left. Can you help decipher why JPA runs as it does?—Street Cred

Cred, confusing street maps have long been a contentious issue for Ace, who has often found himself lost when trailing a case down Main Street, which becomes University Avenue and then Ivy Road, or Emmet Street, which eventually is engulfed by Route 29 (and what is this about a Seminole Trail?). But JPA is unique, in that instead of changing its name while maintaining a straight path like the aforementioned routes, JPA snakes its way south of the University and maintains its name while twice changing course. The road breaks left as it meets Emmet Street near Scott Stadium, and turns left sharply again at its intersection with Maury and Fontaine avenues.

Mr. Jefferson originally conceived the old Lynchburg Road (now JPA) as the entrance route into his new University. This vision was made impossible by University expansion, but JPA is still used as an entrance into Charlottesville, so its confusing course could be a diversionary tactic against invading Hokies and Heels from the south. However, considering that the folks from Blacksburg not only found their way to Scott Stadium this fall, but also made the ’Hoos appear lost in their own backyard during a 52-14 thumping, Ace figures there must be a more compelling explanation for JPA’s unusual trajectory.

Indeed, after sniffing around the offices of Neighborhood Development Services (NDS) and the Albemarle-Charlottesville Histori-cal Society, Ace learned that the three branches of JPA might very well have been different streets at some point. However, these streets were likely unified under one name as they were widened to create the foundation for a steam rail and later an electric trolley. That conveyance carried residents from Downtown and the University area along what is now the median of JPA to the Fry’s Spring Clubhouse resort roughly at around the turn of the 20th century.

Further inquiry revealed a most interesting nugget of info: “Part of the reason Parks and Recreation has had trouble growing trees in the JPA median is that the substructure of the trolley still exists under the grass,” says Neil Currie, who, though only an intern in the NDS office, seems to know a whole helluva lot.

So not only is JPA more than one road, it can support more than one form of transportation (City planners, take note). Still, Cred, Ace knows that life often comes at us with confusing issues. When faced with these dilemmas, Ace has learned that there’s no point looking for a straight answer.

News

What price history?

History matters a lot in this town, where people speak of “Mr. Jefferson” as if the third president were still running the show up at Monticello. This reverence for the past is perhaps most fiercely expressed in the debate over how Charlottesville ought to balance preservation of the old with construction of the new.

The latest chapter in this debate is going on right in Jefferson’s backyard, in the Rugby Road/University Circle/Venable neighborhoods northeast of UVA. Arguments over the proper balance between growth and history are not always civil in Charlottesville, and in this case emotions are running unusually high.

Here’s why: In 2003, City Council voted to rezone much of the land around UVA. The new zoning created what City planners called a “University Precinct,” giving developers the right to build at a much higher density than before—up to 87 units per acre. The rezoning encouraged the construction of large student apartment buildings in parts of the Rugby, University Circle and Venable neighborhoods, as well as along 14th and 15th streets. The apartments, said Council, would bring benefits for the City and UVA as well as developers.

Then, on January 17, Council voted to turn the University Precinct into a historic district, giving the City’s Board of Architectural Review a say over demolitions and new construction. Both developers and preservationists fervently lobbied Councilors before the closely watched vote; now, in the aftermath, developers are accusing Councilors of caving in to preservation interests. They say the historic district sets up too many hurdles for new construction.

“It baffles me,” says Rick Jones. He is president of Management Services Corporation, a major developer and property manager for student housing around UVA. “This great idea got trashed,” he says, speaking of the University Precinct. “It’s all politics.”

Fellow UVA-area developer Wade Tremblay, president of Wade Apartments, is also miffed over Council’s decision. “Color me disappointed,” Tremblay says. He says the historic designation “effectively emasculates the development opportunities.”

Preservationists, meanwhile, say developers’ laments are overblown.

“The University of Virginia is one of two World Heritage sites in the United States that have modern buildings on them,” says Daniel Bluestone, director of UVA’s historic preservation program. “The entrance to that site is important.

“For most people, the buildings that are already in that neighborhood are far preferable to the junk that’s being built in their place,” says Bluestone.

The issue touches on some of Char-lottesville’s most enduring political rivalries: Besides the conflict between preservationists and developers, the issue also pits City against County and town against gown. As the City enters its budget season, the issue also raises a more subtle point about money. Some developers estimate that if the University Precinct were built to maximum capacity, it would add a half-billion dollars of taxable real estate to the City’s coffers. If that’s true, it means that at the current real estate tax rate of 1.05 percent, development around UVA could deliver as much as $5,250,000 in taxes per year.

Councilors hope that through compromise the City can have both high-quality new development and historic neighborhood ambiance. However, this Rugby historic district is bringing to the foreground many hard feelings that threaten to demolish a spirit of cooperation.

Internet, fitness rooms and urban sprawl

Drive around the city’s outskirts along Old Lynchburg Road, Sunset Avenue and Route 20S, and you’ll see the source of planners’ fear.

In recent years, apartment complexes with names like Eagle’s Landing and Jefferson Ridge have sprung up in Albemarle County, just outside the city’s boundary. They offer a host of amenities marketed toward UVA students: shuttle buses to campus, high-speed Internet, 24-hour fitness centers, rooms with desks built in and huge parking lots for all those cars.

For the City, these new apartment buildings represent both problems and missed opportunities.

At a time when traffic ranks high on the list of citizen complaints, far-flung student apartments encourage Wahoos to drive more cars into Charlottesville, soaking up parking spaces in residential neighborhoods around UVA. The City has approved various measures, such as requiring permit parking in residential neighborhoods, to ease the ongoing conflict between students and homeowners.

Even more important to the City is the financial implication of these new student apartments.

While townies enjoy mocking UVA undergraduates, the fact is that student apartments are windfalls for taxpayers. Student apartments are huge, expensive buildings; and in Virginia, where local governments rely heavily on property tax revenues, those buildings mean money in the bank. Furthermore, undergraduates don’t cost very much—they don’t send kids to local schools, they don’t need social services like food stamps or child care.

For the past 10 years, City budgets have grown due to increasing costs for social services, public safety and a growing City staff. According to City Police Chief Tim Longo, who has said paltry City salaries have contributed to officers leaving the force, there are currently 15 vacancies in the police department. “In order to recruit and retain good people, excellent pay and benefits are critical,” says Longo.

These facts prompted City Council to try to lure more UVA students inside the city limits. In 2003, then-Mayor Maurice Cox led a complete rewriting of the City’s zoning codes that included the University Precinct district.

Immediately after the 2003 zoning change took effect, developers moved to start building. Jones and MSC, for example, got the necessary permits for a project known as Sadler Court Apartments between 14th and 15th streets. Tremblay began building the 50-unit Wertland Square (charging $1,600 for a two-bedroom apartment) on a 14th Street parking lot.

Then, last spring, City Council and the Planning Commission began discussing putting a historic designation on the neighborhood, complete with restrictions on demolition of existing structures. Jones and other developers say they were surprised by plans for a historic designation in the wake of the rezoning.

“I don’t really know what happened,” says Jones. “This [rezoning] was a huge deal. There was committee after committee after committee… lots of public participation. People felt like the end result was darn good.”

Cox, however, says that the City always planned to create a historic district to accompany the upzoning. He says planners never wanted the University Precinct to resemble Jefferson Park Avenue, lined with what Cox considers unpleasant apartment complexes. “The ideal scenario would have been to create the district first, then pass the zoning ordinance,” says Cox. “But things don’t always work out in an ideal way.”

Regardless, the debate over the historic designation brought many simmering political tensions to light.

Who really loves Charlottesville?

“This is one of the toughest decisions I ever had to make,” says City Councilor Kendra Hamilton.

On January 17 she found herself in the unenviable position of casting the swing vote on this contentious issue. After initially siding with Councilor Blake Caravati, a builder who favored a historic designation that would be less restrictive on developers, she changed her mind and cast her vote with Councilor Kevin Lynch and Mayor David Brown in favor of more restrictions on demolition rights.

“I was always more interested in what gets rebuilt there than what gets torn down,” says Hamilton. Before the January 17 vote, she favored a compromise plan that would create the historic district as well as a “green zone” where developers could demolish old buildings without having to go before the BAR first.

“But that was not what the people I ran with thought should be done, or what the people who voted for me thought should be done,” says Hamilton. “I was elected to support them.”

Fervent politicking and name-calling marked the weeks leading up to Council’s vote. Preservationists cast developers as out-of-towners who couldn’t care less about the fate of the city, while developers cast preservationists as ideologues who want to stop all growth.

“There’s very little sense coming out of the development community that they are stewards of the landscape,” says Bluestone. “They don’t live in our city. They’ve made their money on development in the city, then decided that the city is too nasty to live in. Our city government ought to represent our city.”

Jim Stoltz is president of CBS Rentals, which houses about 1,200 tenants citywide and bills itself as “The Authority in University Housing.” He is president of University Neighborhood Association, a group of mostly landlords within the University Precinct that he and others formed to represent the view that it is developers, not preservationists, who are really looking out for Charlottesville’s welfare. He says historic preservation will backfire and will prompt more students to rent houses in neighborhoods surrounding UVA.

“The sad thing is that the people who made this decision to make this area historic, not a one of the people own property in the area,” says Stoltz.

“The City had a vision. It was working. Houses on the fringe of this neighborhood were going back to single family because students wanted to live on the Corner. Now the only option will be for the tenants to go back into the houses in JPA, Venable, Starr Hill, Fifeville.”

Developers suggest that preservationists have too much power in City Hall, pointing to the fact that Mayor Brown’s wife, Jean Hiatt, is a member of the group Preservation Piedmont. Brown says that while his wife is a “strong preservationist,” “she didn’t have anything to do with my point of view on this.”

As if that weren’t enough drama, some people think that the City’s apparent turnabout could prompt a lawsuit.

Planning Commissioner Cheri Lewis, who is an attorney, says developers are getting mixed messages from the City. “They were told two years ago to build, build, build to higher density. Now, the guidelines would not allow a seven-storey building at all,” says Lewis. “The City is setting itself up for a lawsuit. There are property owners in this district who have said they’re going to look
at lawsuits.”

City Attorney Lisa Kelly says that while people can sue over anything, she thinks the City is legally in the clear. “As a general rule,” she says, “there are very few challenges to this kind of zoning that
are successful.”

Hope for compromise?

Wade Tremblay of Wade Apartments, who has often worked with the City on planning issues, says the effects will be long-term. The apartment projects that got underway before the preservation vote will probably meet student demand for the next five years or so, Tremblay says.

After that, he says growth at UVA (projected to be an increase of 3,000 to 6,000 students over the next five to 10 years) would create more demand for new student housing. Then Tremblay predicts that the BAR could limit demolition and new construction. BAR guidelines forbid the body from approving demolition of buildings designated as “contributing” to Charlottesville’s historic fabric; developers will be able to appeal BAR decisions to City Council, which has more freedom to consider the economic and social benefits of a development beyond what specific buildings might be lost.

“If you look at the history of the BAR, they don’t issue many demolition permits,” says Tremblay. “What you will not see in the future is developers working together to assemble two, three and four properties to do a significant project. That’s not altogether bad, it’s just not going to achieve the density that was envisioned for that neighborhood.”

Councilors say they’re hoping for some future compromises. One proposal on the table is a system that would rate every house in the area on a 1-4 scale, with 1 equal to “most historic” and 4 equal to “not historic.” The BAR could use such a system to grant more demolition permits, but some doubt such a rating system could actually work.

“I think we can have a historic district and move forward with development,” says Brown. “I don’t think they are mutually exclusive. I’m not comfortable with wholesale demolition, because eventually we won’t have anything left. Once you lose it, it’s gone.

“But,” he says, “if this ordinance really does stifle any further development, we’ll have to look at it again and say we’re not meeting the goals of the City.”

The Editor's Desk

Mailbag

“Contra” dance

Your summary of the 2006 bills that have the potential for ”chipping away at Roe” [“Virginia’s newest battleground,” January 17] was very helpful. However, I can’t understand the language you quoted for House Bill 187, where you say the bill would make it illegal for doctors to assist an unmarried woman in any technology “that completely or partially replaces sexual intercourse as the means of contraception including, but not limited to artificial insemination…” Surely it should say “conception.” Either the bill is worded wrong or you misquoted it. I doubt that sexual intercourse or any of the cited alternatives can be considered to be contraception.

David Miller

Stoney Creek

The editor responds: Mr. Miller is correct. Where were our heads? House Bill 187 forbids using technology that replaces sexual intercourse as a means of conception, of course, not contraception. That miswording was undoubtedly the result of the author’s wishful thinking! Additionally, we misidentified Lynchburg’s new State delegate. Her name is Shannon Valentine.

We care about Caravati!

Mr. John Borgmeyer’s article regarding City Councilman Blake Caravati [“Cara-vati says au revoir to City Council,” 7 Days, January 10] was just forwarded to me. Regardless of one’s political orientation, Mr. Caravati’s selfless dedication to the Charlottesville community has been admirable in every respect. Mr. Caravati’s tireless commitment to Charlottesville is measured in decades, and news of his impending retirement represents a loss for the entire community.

Mr. Borgmeyer characterized Councilman Caravati’s untiring service to the Char-lottesville community as “eight years of uttering indecipherable folkisms.” This simplistic reduction of Mr. Caravati’s service is insulting to all longtime members of this community.

It has been my experience over the years that the wisdom contained in our rich heritage of “folkisms” is invaluable to those blessed with the ability to decipher that treasure trove of knowledge.

One noted politician, Benjamin Frank-lin, was famous for his use of “folkisms.” Franklin, an accomplished journalist in
his own right, made extensive use of “folkisms” in his Poor Richard’s Almanac. Folkisms, like clichés, are often the rich oral tradition of learned knowledge passed from generation to generation. Often this articulated wisdom has stood the test of time over centuries, and
has endured by virtue of the truth contained therein.

It may be that Mr. Borgmeyer finds himself far too sophisticated to trouble himself with searching for the wisdom contained in our rich tradition of “folkisms.” Perhaps Mr. Borgmeyer suffers from a case of “faux” intellectualism in which he finds this rich oral tradition simply “quaint.” I am reminded of a treatise from Herbert Spencer that may be helpful in broadening Mr. Borgmeyer’s selective intellectual curiosity:

“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”

Should Mr. Borgmeyer wish to escape the trap of ”everlasting ignorance” in regard to his reported “indecipherable folkisms,” I would be pleased to assist him in learning to decipher the wisdom contained therein.

Thomas M. Wilson

Woodbridge

Uncategorized

News in review

Tuesday, January 24
Best-selling author offers wannabes sage advice

Curtis Sittenfeld, whose debut novel Prep was named by The New York Times as one of the Top 10 books of 2005, gave a reading and answered questions this evening in UVA’s Newcomb Hall Ballroom. Prep chronicles the high school career of angst-y teen Lee Fiora, a scholarship student at a prestigious New England boarding school. Sittenfeld herself attended Groton, on which she admitted she based her fictional campus, and taught for three years at St. Alban’s in Washington, D.C. However, Sittenfeld affirmed that Prep is a work of fiction. “People always want to think that a memoir isn’t true and that a novel is,” she said to laughter from the crowd. “I don’t know why that is.”

Wednesday, January 25
Tell on that smell!

A small item in today’s Daily Progress alerted the community that the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority is on the case when it comes to “that smell.” RWSA Director Thomas Frederick has announced plans to start a telephone hotline for stankiness, so that when a member of the public catches a whiff of something nasty coming from an RWSA facility, all he has to do is call the 24-hour hotline to complain. According to the report, no specific start date has been set but the RWSA hopes to get the hotline up and running soon.

Thursday, January 26
Local artist makes bank with Greenspan paintings

After more than 18 years on the job, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is handing over his keys to the nation’s economy at the end of the month. In honor of his retirement, local artist and UVA grad Erin Crowe, who made national headlines in October with her art show of quirky Alan Greenspan portraits, is back for a second act. Crowe, who’s currently attending art school in London, has a new show, “Goodbye Greenspan,” of 30 portraits of the Fed chairman that opens tonight at New York’s Broome Street Gallery. Prior to the show she’d already sold six paintings and had been interviewed by CBS News, NPR’s Marketplace, Reuters and New York Magazine. CNBC had plans to film the opening.

Westhaven hosts a “Rent is too damn high” party

Residents, community members, City employees, UVA students and professors were all part of an overflow crowd this evening at the Westhaven Community Center for a panel discussion on housing, “The Poverty of (Re)Development.” The discussion was part of a four-part series sponsored by the Quality Community Council. People shared thoughts on, gripes about, and possible solutions for the city’s shortage of public housing and high rents. The next talk is “The Poverty of (Under)Employment,” on Tuesday, January 31 at 6pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

Friday, January 27
Lifelong civil servant enters Council race

Registered Democrats across the city opened their mailboxes today to Julian Taliaferro’s official announcement that he will run for City Council in May’s election. A 43-year veteran of the City’s fire department, Taliaferro led the department for nearly 34 years. The chief says in his letter that during his career as a civil servant “my only real frustration was that my position kept me out of active participation in the Democratic Party. In the privacy of the voting booth, I have always been a local, state, and national Democrat.” Taliaferro joins public housing and poverty advocate Dave Norris as a Democratic hopeful. The party will nominate its candidates on March 4. A total of two Council seats will be up for grabs on May 7.

Saturday, January 28
City supe search: déjà vu all over again

In an eerie repeat of 2003’s search for a superintendent to lead Charlottesville’s school division, The Daily Progress today reported the names of two of three finalists for the job. Within a day, it came out that one of the candidates, Orange County supe William R. Crawford, had withdrawn his application, bringing the pool of finalists to two. The School Board botched a search three years ago when they publicly ranked finalists before offering anybody a contract and ended up with no one. This time, the board seemed to go to great pains to protect the identities of the new finalists. But in choosing to tour the finalists through schools, including Charlottesville High, early in the week the board might have made it easy for somebody to leak their names. Indeed, the DP’s Bob Gibson revealed the identity of another of the finalists, Rosa S. Atkins, in today’s edition. The third candidate has not been identified. Yet.

Sunday, January 29
Local sculptor wins grant for mature artists

Today we learned that local sculptor Richard Weaver was one of three recipients of a grant from the Franz and Virginia Bader Fund. The three artists will split a $45,000 grant given annually to artists over 40 who live near Washington, D.C. Weaver studied at the National Academy of Design in New York, and now keeps a studio at the McGuffey Arts Center.

Monday, January 30
Technical glitch keeps liberal radio off the air

It’s just a technical glitch, not a vast right-wing conspiracy that has kept progressive radio off the air in Charlottesville. Today The Daily Progress reported that the recently launched WVAX 1450AM has been taken off the air while a “technical issue” is being resolved. The station manager, Dennis Mockler, says the station should be back on air soon.

Written by John Borgmeyer from staff and news reports.

UVA law professor hits big with L.A. Times column
Rosa Brooks got a boost from Bill O’Reilly

Not many liberals can say that “The O’Reilly Factor” furthered their careers, but Rosa Brooks, a fifth-year law professor at UVA, owes her position as a weekly columnist at the Los Angeles Times to her feisty performance on the show in February 2005. As counterpoint to O’Reilly, she so impressed the paper’s editorial editor, Michael Kinsley, that he e-mailed her after the show to ask if she wanted to write a column. “I just thought he had a few too many beers,” says Brooks. “I’ve got to believe that his entire editorial staff must have thought he lost his mind.”

Her columns have ranged from lamentations about the Iraq war to a Dr. Seuss spoof with O’Reilly as the Grinch. We talked to Brooks as she was gearing up for a new semester.—Will Goldsmith

C-VILLE: Did you enjoy being on “The O’Reilly Factor”?

Rosa Brooks: Enjoyment is the wrong word. It’s scary—lots of people are watching you who are predisposed to disagree with you before you even open your mouth. And he interrupts and controls the agenda and controls the questioning, and as any law professor knows with the Socratic method, it’s pretty easy to make a well-prepared person look like a fool if you control the agenda. So you know it’s going to be an uphill battle just to not sound like an idiot, much less to communicate anything.

If it’s that bad, why did you appear three times?

I think I felt it was almost my civic duty. If people who are liberal don’t go on it, then how will the media be balanced if one side just says, “I’m not going to play”? But now I have the column as an outlet to get my views out.

Do you ever worry whether your columns could damage your position with your colleagues and your future in the legal field?

[Laughs]Fifth Amendment. I worried a little that there would be people out there who would say, “Oh, she’s frittering away her time on this popular stuff.” There is such a gap today between the scholarly world and the world of public discourse that sometimes the public world looks at the scholarly world as rarefied and irrelevant and the scholarly world looks at the public world as superficial. I think it’s incredibly important for scholars to try to connect to the broader world—if we can’t do that, then I wonder what the point is of all our scholarship.

All quiet between Dena Bowers and UVA
Fired union member contemplating lawsuit

The uproar surrounding the No-vember firing of 17-year UVA employee Dena Bowers has gone quiet. Bowers’ firing sparked a small uproar among some, with the Staff Union at UVA leading the charge, and culminating with a protest in front of Madison Hall on Grounds.

Since then, things have been calmer. Bowers’ supporters have decided not to push forward with a grievance against the University. Instead, they have set up a defense fund for Bowers’ attorney fees, if and when she files a lawsuit. Bowers and her lawyer have two years to file any lawsuit against the University.

In the meantime, Bowers is not speaking to the press on the advice of her attorney, Debbie Wyatt.

SUUVA President Jan Cornell says the defense fund is the best way Bowers’ supporters can help. According to Cornell, any issue with UVA’s handling of the Bowers case will be most successful in court and not through any of the internal UVA procedures.

As evidence of wrongdoing, Cornell cites UVA’s changing position as to why Bowers was fired and what she regards as questionable practices by administrators during Bowers’ termination.

The whole saga started when Bowers, a recruiter in UVA’s human resources department, sent an e-mail critical of UVA from her employee account, which eventually got forwarded on to the entire staff of the College of Arts and Sciences. Originally, news sources reported that Bowers was fired for misuse of UVA’s e-mail program. However, it appears now that Bowers was fired, in part, because of her conduct during the investigation, which began a month after Bowers sent out the message.

UVA spokeswoman Carol Wood says UVA is not permitted to discuss the specific details of Bowers’ case, but says UVA has maintained the same reasons for firing Bowers from the beginning.

“Our position has remained consistent and there has been no change from the document we gave her. Early reports in the news media were not correct,” Wood says.

Bowers has been unemployed since her termination on November 22. Because Bowers was fired for “misconduct,” she is not eligible for unemployment assistance.—Dan Pabst

Police chief to politicians: Get tough on Toms
Longo says serial rapist also a Peeping Tom

In the past year the Charlottesville and Albemarle police departments have each made three Peeping Tom arrests. While it may not be the most common offense, it’s a serious one, according to remarks City Police Chief Timothy Longo made to the Subcommittee on Crime in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Longo was speaking in support of a bill proposed by Del. Rob Bell (R-Albemarle) that would increase a third peeping conviction from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony. The chief says that the serial rapist, who has been active in Charlottesville for almost 10 years, “is and has been a peeper.”

Should the bill become law, it would require anyone convicted within 10 years of three or more peeping incidents to register with the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. Selected excerpts from Longo’s remarks to the subcommittee follow.—Nell Boeschenstein

Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo’s remarks to the House Subcommittee on Crime:

“Peeping Toms have long been viewed as individuals with a perverted sense of reality, but harmless and certainly not viewed upon as dangerous. I can assure you, nothing is further from the truth… As many of you are aware the Charlottesville Police Department is currently pursuing a serial rapist that has plagued our community for almost a decade. He has left over seven women in his wake. Throughout this investigation, we have sought the counsel of numerous agencies… Each of these agencies introduced a common theme to the investigation: THIS GUY IS AND HAS BEEN A PEEPER. Here are but a few examples of what these notable agen-cies convey:

• ‘It is common for him to surveil his victims in advance. Peeping Tom activities are not uncommon.’

• ‘He spends his time window peeping in an attempt to not only identify future victims, but to satisfy his fantasies as well. During his peeping times, he will be on the outside and while watching the victim, he will be engaged in masturbatory activities.‘

• ‘He may have had prior arrests involving nuisance crimes, sexual offenses, Peeping Tom, etc. This type of offender does not wake up on Monday and decide to begin to rape; rather, he moves up a deviant continuum of “nuisance” type offenses, which include peeping. It is not uncommon for him to have been arrested for these types of offenses in the past.’

“[This legislation] is a perfect example of the potential this law would afford law enforcement.

“One of our rights as a citizen is our expectation to privacy afforded to us by the Constitution of the United States. When that right is taken from us by a voyeur, it is degrading and potentially life-altering for many victims. If we continue to maintain status quo and allow peepers to continue with consequences that yield the same result, we minimize the importance of our constitutional guarantee…”

Bell’s bills target sex offenders who’ve done their time
Can sex offenders ever pay enough for their crimes?

An 11th hour addition to Del. Rob Bell’s (R-Albemarle) 2006 legislative offensive on sex offenders proposes to bar those registered with the Virginia Sex Offender Registry from working at elementary and secondary schools. Moreover, in the most serious cases—such as rape or aggravated sexual battery of a child—the defendant would not be able to volunteer at schools, either.

There are currently 90 cons in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area listed with the State registry. According to the Sexual Assault Resource Agency, however, the reg-istry represents only 10 percent of sex of-fenders: 90 percent are acquaintances of the victim and their crimes are never reported.

Bell drafted the bill two weeks ago after hearing about a case in Madison in which a 10-time sex offender and felon visited a primary school dressed as Santa; school officials did not find out about his criminal past until after the fact. Although no children were harmed, Bell saw a loophole that needed closing.

Bell cites high rates of recidivism; a 2003 study by the Department of Justice, for instance, says 40 percent of sex offenders reoffend within a year of discharge. He also cites evidence that sex offenders don’t “age out” of their crimes, and Bell characterizes continued monitoring of sex offenders not as a “double standard” but as a “different standard.” According to Bell, whereas crimes like armed robbery are “a young man’s game,” a sex offender’s capacity for crime persists throughout his life.

While agreeing that sex offenses are among the most serious out there, UVA Law Professor Anne Coughlin warns that assumptions about those offenders that bar the possibility of rehabilitation are dangerous.

“We’re committed to labeling these people as forever corrupt,” says Coughlin, who believes the laws currently on the books are sufficient. “That’s a very strong statement. Are we confident?”

In addition to the school bill, Bell is the co-patron of another bill that would increase the mandatory minimum prison term to 25 years for sex crimes against children and require a minimum of three years of monitoring by a global positioning system after the offender had served time.

Whereas Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo says it is important to be aware of whether convicted sex offenders are interacting with children on school grounds, he “would rather not get into the whole GPS thing because that takes it to the next level.”

Coughlin agrees and points out that, in light of the recent disclosures that the Bush Ad-ministration has condoned mon-itoring the comments and move-ments of private citizens, the GPS question could create a Fourth Amendment issue.

“Certainly [GPS tracking is] the use of technology to gather information about people’s thoughts, comments, movements,” she says. “And this is all very much in the public eye.”—Nell Boeschenstein

Virginia Oil seeks permit for gas pumping
DEQ accepting public comment until February 8

The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and its Air Pollution Control Board have issued a notice inviting public comment on a permit for the Virginia Oil Company’s bulk petroleum facility located at 1100 Harris St. in Charlottesville.

The Virginia Oil Company applied for a permit that would officially limit the daily “gasoline throughput” at its facility to 75,700 liters, or 20,000 gallons. Janardan Pandey of the DEQ’s Valley Regional Office in Harrisonburg says that the facility has operated at its current location since 1974 and “there is no big expansion going on, this is just a preventative measure.”

Pandey says that the Virginia Oil Company facility already operates below the 20,000 gallon-a-day throughput standard. Still, Pandey says that “if the facility does more than 20,000 they have to meet some additional requirements—they have not exceeded [the 20,000 limit] and they are not going to exceed it; they’re doing this mainly to avoid federal standards.”

Pandey says that while State Operating Permits do not expire and do not have to be renewed, such facilities are inspected regularly. He does not anticipate any significant public opposition to the issuing of this permit.

The DEQ will be accepting public comment or request for a public hearing until February 8; they must be written and sent via e-mail, fax, or postal mail. For more information regarding the permit, contact Pandey at (540) 574-7817 or jrpandy@deq. virginia.gov.—Esther Brown

Places29 stays on schedule
County wants to tell more workers to take a hike

According to Judy Wiegand, Albe-marle County Senior Planner, Places29 is on schedule, as the Northern Development Areas Master Plan will be presented to the Planning Com-mission on February 14.

“We are working on three alternative framework plans for residents and the community to consider,” she says. The goal is to preserve the character of rural areas with good planning in the county’s four northern development areas, which form an 11-mile corridor on Route 29N between the 250 Bypass and the Greene County line.

Some of the County’s goals include: preserving existing neighborhoods; promoting the principles of the County’s Neighborhood Model; and improving the quality, diversity and affordability of new housing. The County Board of Supervisors will decide whether to adopt the 29N master plan sometime this spring.

The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is concentrating on the transportation component of the Places29 Master Plan. TJPDC director Harrison Rue sees Places29 as a “no-excuses plan” that will guide and connect land use and transportation.

“We can do a bet-ter job of design-ing roads for pe-destrians and bikes as well as transit,” he says. This could mean more parallel roads, such as extending Berkmar Drive up to Hollymead Town Center, or the Hillsdale extension that will divert traffic off Hydraulic Road. He points out that in Charlottesville’s more urban areas, between 16 percent to 48 percent of adults can walk to work. In the county this figure drops to 2 percent to 3 percent. Even the proposed Ruckersville Parkway will be considered as part of the planning process.

Brian Wheeler, executive director of Charlottesville Tomorrow, calls Places29 an important process for the County. “We need everyone at the table—property owners, the public and developers—so that expectations can be set and the County can work toward that plan.”

Wheeler says one study put the county’s 10-year need for retail at an additional 1 million square feet. With major commercial centers like Hollymead Town Center, Albemarle Place and Northtown Center all in the development pipeline, he questions whether the County should delay approval of another huge shopping center, the proposed North Pointe project, until the Places29 master plan is complete. The County Board of Supervisors will make the final decision on rezoning North Pointe from rural to highway commercial as part of the designated growth area. Public hearings on that topic are scheduled for March.—Jay Neelley

RWSA plans massive construction projects
Local sewer bills could get stinky unless the State steps in

The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority has announced ambitious plans for new construction over the next few years.

On Monday, January 23, the RWSA—which manages the City and County’s reservoirs and wastewater treatment plants—introduced a five-year, $92 million capital improvement plan. The cost includes a $26 million project to expand the local water supply and $1 million for upgrades to the Crozet and Scottsville water systems.

“We are also watching a disconcerting trend of increasing prices in the construction industry due to higher global demands for construction materials…and very aggressive regulatory demands well beyond what has ever been tested in the marketplace,” writes RWSA director Tom Frederick in a report on the coming expenses. “These pressures will…challenge our efforts to keep wholesale rates competitive.”

A preliminary RWSA analysis predicts that wastewater rates could increase by up to 38 percent to meet the costs of the proposed five-year plan (see www.rivanna. org for more information).

One of the major new expenditures will be upgrades the RWSA must make to satisfy new State pollution regulations.

In November, the Virginia State Water Control Board passed strict limits on the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus that wastewater treatment plants can discharge. The new limits, which have not yet taken effect, are designed to protect the James River and the Chesapeake Bay.

Nitrogen and phosphorus in the water are not toxic to people, but huge concentrations of the elements contribute to algae blooms that can deplete oxygen in water and kill fish.

According to Frederick, none of Vir-ginia’s 125 wastewater treatment plants are equipped to meet the new State regulations. The RWSA is asking the State to help pay for the upgrades, which Frederick says could cost the RWSA $18 million and will be one of Rivanna’s largest construction projects ever.

If the State does not help localities pay for the costs of meeting the new regulations, Frederick estimates that the upgrades could increase wholesale wastewater rates by 50 cents per 1,000 gallons, meaning that an average customer could see his bill go up by an extra $60 per year.—John Borgmeyer

New vendor rules take effect
Impact on the supply of Tibetan wallets yet to be seen

A new vendor policy for the Downtown Mall has now taken effect. Vendors can now buy spots in designated areas spread throughout the Mall. According to City zoning inspector Ryan Mickles, this change is needed because vendors did not space themselves properly, sometimes concentrating around the center of the Mall, sometimes directly in front of stores or along the fire lane.

The vendors can now choose to rent an assigned spot that will be theirs on a yearly basis. The other alternative is to rent unassigned spots that work on the principle of “first come, first served.” In both scenarios there are two types of spaces: one is 10’5"x10’5" and the other is 5’x10’5".

The rents for assigned Mall spots vary from $600 to $800 a year, depending upon location (Central Place is the most coveted, and most expensive) and size. As for the unassigned spots, rent varies from $450 to $500 for the same considerations. This is a change from the $400 rent that vendors paid until last year.

There are 31 spaces, of which 21 are larger and 10 smaller. One six-year vendor, who asked not to be named, said it’s hard to tell how the changes have affected the vending scene. “It looks like there are less vendors, but it could just be the weather,” she says. “I think it was good for vendors who have been here for a long time, but I’m not sure how well it will work for others.”—Priya Mahadevan

Dominion’s proposal meets some anti-nuke demand
New reactor design is kind to striped bass

Earlier this month Dominion Virginia Power submitted a revised proposal for a new nuclear reactor to be built on Lake Anna in Louisa County, 30 miles from Charlottesville.

Dominion runs two nuclear reactors on the 9,600-acre lake. In December 2004, Dominion became the first U.S. company to receive a regulatory recommendation for a new reactorsite permit. Local anti-nuclear activists as well as the Washington, D.C. group Public Citizen protested the new plant. Another group of Lake Anna homeowners, called Friends of Lake Anna, formed to say they were not against nuclear power, but they asked Dominion to mitigate the environmental impacts for the two new reactors the company plans to build on the lake.

It seems the activism has done some good. Dominion’s latest proposal marks a change to a more environmentally friendly nuclear reactor—maybe.

The dangers of meltdown and radioactive waste aside, nuclear reactors have two major environmental impacts—their cooling towers use enormous amounts of water, and they release heated water back into the lake. The low water levels hurt recreation, while higher temperatures can harm fish.

Dominion now proposes to use two different systems to cool the new reactor. One system uses less water, while the other system keeps the water cooler. “We’re in the process of analyzing Dominion’s proposal,” says Melissa Kemp of Public Citizen. “We’re trying to determine whether this would indeed reduce the thermal impacts on the lake.” She says the proposal is vague about how Dominion will use the two new towers, so it is unclear whether the company’s proposal will really solve concerns about lake depth and temperature.—John Borgmeyer

GENERAL ASSEMBLY WATCH
Deeds backs anti-gay amendment

A proposed amendment to the Virginia Constitution that would ban same-sex marriages in the Commonwealth sailed through the Senate last week on a vote of 28-11. Charlottesville’s Senator, Creigh Deeds, a Democrat, voted for the amendment that critics say is unnecessary and dangerously vague.

Conservatives designed the amendment to Virginia’s 230-year-old Bill of Rights to prohibit gay marriage in the state, and prohibit the government from recognizing gay marriages or civil unions performed in other states. The bill is an insult to the spirit of freedom and equality enshrined in Virginia’s historic Bill of Rights, say critics. Virginia already has a law banning gay marriage, and critics say that the proposed amendment’s vague wording could be used to void business contracts and other legal arrangements between people of the same sex.

Supporters say the amendment is necessary because legal gay marriages could “destroy” heterosexual marriage.

The Senate vote means the referendum will go before Virginia voters on November 7.

When they outlaw guns, only delegates will have guns

Just when you thought, Hey, maybe the House of Delegates isn’t wilder than the Old West, here comes pistol-packin’ Del. John Reid. The Republican from Henrico County accidentally shot off his .380 handgun in the General Assembly building last week.

Reid, 63, was unloading the semi-automatic pistol, which he says he carries for protection, when it accidentally went off on Thursday, January 26. By a zany coincidence, the projectile lodged safely in the bulletproof vest that Reid keeps hanging in his office (it was a gag gift from the Henrico County Sheriff).

The 16-year delegate apologized on the House floor. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that a list was circulating among delegates of phrases to avoid in Reid’s presence, such as “take your best shot.”

Presenting the year’s dumbest bill (so far)

Last year it was the so-called droopy- drawers bill that would have required kids to pull up their pants. This year, the “I-can’t-believe-he-did-that” bill is the “Home Serenity and Tranquility Act,” proposed by Del. Robert Hull (D-Falls Church).

Hull apparently introduced the bill at the request of one suburban family who wanted legislators to silence the sounds of children playing near their home. The bill would prohibit the use of athletic fields before 8am and after 6pm, and on Sundays, without the “unanimous written consent of the affected homeowners” within 65 yards of the field. “It’s the bad bill of the year,” says Charlottesville Dele-gate David Toscano.

As written, the bill would have made it almost impossible for children to play organized sports, even on public fields paid for by taxpayers. Not surprisingly, angry letters from soccer moms (and, to a lesser extent, the Frisbee dog lobby) poured into the General Assembly from across the Common-wealth—so many that even Hull himself was forced to say he had put the bill in “by request” and did not necessarily support it, either, according to The Daily Progress.—John Borgmeyer

The Editor's Desk

Mailbag

Straight to the point

Dear Devin O’Leary: I read your glowing review of Brokeback Mountain [Film, January 10], but will not be seeing the movie. I am troubled by the lifestyles Hollywood seeks to support as mainstream.

Richard Smith

Vienna

The definition of “cheap”

Dictionary.com lists several meanings for “cheap,” including: Worthy of no respect, vulgar or contemptible. These adjectives and descriptive phrase aptly describe Erika Howsare’s cover story [“Live cheap,” January 3]. Cathy Harding’s editorial review and commentary [“Read This First,” January 3] are on par with the article—cheap, that is, of poor quality; inferior.

If the Misses Harding and Howsare really wanted to focus on the relativity of “need” and “waste,” discussions of Staunton’s spring cleaning fling, the recycled books at McIntire and Crozet’s Green Olive Tree would have sufficed. There was no need for Ms. Howsare’s discussions of local swimming holes and University schmoozing. A good editor would have seen that, and, at the very least, would have deleted formal mention of the actual proprietors and venues. These two portions of Ms. Howsare’s article were in particularly poor taste. Good humor grows out of actual names and real-life tales but it rarely needs to recite both.

Six pictures accompany the article. Five are obviously tongue-in-cheek. The only one that might be interpreted as serious or ordinary shows a man swimming. Were Ms. Howsare’s suggestions for exercise really meant to be pure humor? One wonders. The layout of the article as well as the accompanying photograph and its caption would seem to suggest that the article offers particularly valid insights for those enjoying a dip in the pool.

Are Ms. Howsare’s suggestions for University eats simply tongue-in-cheek? It doesn’t seem so. According to Ms. Howsare, one or more reporters have already checked out the free eats and shown us all just how cheap a cheat can be. It’s what the editor, Ms. Harding, characterizes as using your imagination. It’s what I’d call cheap.

I usually enjoy reading C-VILLE. It is sad to see its writers and editors start off the new year in such a cheap manner. Cheap thieves are rampant in our society. It is too bad that a publication, which usually does such a good job at using humor to draw attention to questionable behaviors, seems itself to be marked by the same lack of judgment and weakness of moral fiber that afflicts so much of our society.

J.D. Millard

Charlottesville

Start the chorus for Norris

It is truly exciting to see Dave Norris enter the race for Charlottesville City Council [“Good guy Norris set for Council race,” The Week, January 17]. As a public servant of this city, Dave “knows where the resources are,” as he puts it.

Dave is a person who understands the value of building bridges between different organizations, in order to see the best measurable outcomes. He can bring a lot to the table to help Charlottesville move ahead and truly be America’s No. 1 city—for all citizens.

As an advocate for the homeless and disadvantaged Dave has walked the walk in our community and is a true model of community service. His experience with people from all walks of life can bring a richness to his service on Council. I look forward to supporting his effort in any way that I can.

Pete Armetta

petearmetta@yahoo.com

Uncategorized

News in review

Tuesday, January 17
Senators keeping an eye on liberal wackos

Today senators gave grudging approval to a bill that would give Charlottesville more power to help low- and moderate-income residents buy a house. The bill, introduced by Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath County), is similar to one already at work in Alexandria, prompting suspicion from Sen. Emmett Hanger (R-Mount Solon). He and other state Republicans view Charlottesville and Alexandria as “small urban hotbeds of liberalism… that should be neither encouraged nor enhanced,” according to Bob Gibson in The Daily Progress.

Wednesday, January 18
60,000 acres in Albemarle undereasement

Today The Nature Conservancy announced two major conservation easements that put 1,600 acres of rolling county countryside known as Castle Hill into permanent protection from development. The land has links to Revolutionary War history and the easement includes 378 acres where The Nature Conservancy will perform a restoration program for old-growth forests. The easements make for a total of 60,000 non-parkland acres forever off-limits to development in Albemarle.

Thursday, January 19
Major grant for UVA mental health research

Today UVA announced it had received a $4.5 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation to study legally mandated treatment for people with mental disorders. The study, conducted by UVA law professor John Monahan, seeks evidence to help decide whether, and how, courts should require involuntary treatment for the mentally ill.

Enviros appeal to City Hall

Today leaders from local environmental groups delivered a list of ecological priorities including air quality and renewable energy to Charlottesville Mayor David Brown. The list, which was also mailed to State leaders, recommends reducing energy consumption and investing in alternative transportation. The environmentalists also addressed specific matters, such as concern over the Meadowcreek Parkway and new nuclear reactors that Dominion plans to build in Louisa County. The fact that Virginia ranks last in the nation in environmental spending also prompted the display.

Teachers to get what’s coming to them?

Acting Charlottesville Superintendent Bobby Thompson tonight proposed a $61.5 million budget for 2006-07, which includes raises for teachers that average 5.72 percent. Thompson’s budget stands in stark contrast to last year’s proposal, authored by then-Supe Scottie Griffin, who gave teachers far less consideration than administrators. Teacher retention is an issue throughout the region—and some school leaders think it can be addressed through pay incentives. Indeed, last night Pam Moran, Albemarle’s new superintendent, proposed a $157 million budget that includes salary increases for teachers ranging from 3.6 percent to 11.5 percent.

Friday, January 20
Warner whips Allen in poll

According to a survey recently commissioned by the UVA Center for Politics, if Virginians were asked to choose the next U.S. President today, given a choice between former Governor Mark Warner (D) and U.S. Senator George Allen (R), nearly half would lend Warner their support. Close to one-third said they would vote for Allen, himself a former governor, and all of the 1,181 polled are said to have voted last fall. “It’s rare that there are two significant candidates from the same state, especially from a medium-sized state like Virginia,” says Center Director Larry Sabato of the results released today. “The question that naturally arises is, ‘which one is the king of the hill? Which one has more support in the state?’” Characterizing them as “an absolute runaway” for Warner, Sabato says he was surprised by the results. “Of course, it’s very early; anything can happen,” Sabato says. “How much influence [a poll] has is anybody’s guess.”

Saturday, January 21
Free expression monument to get a conscience

The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, the people who will bring you the Free Expression Monument in front of City Hall, today announced the winning quote that will be inscribed on one side of the wall, scheduled to be completed by March 21. More than 850 Charlottesville-area high school students participated in the vote that pitted four highbrow quotes against each other. The winner is by John “Paradise Lost” Milton: “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.” The other side of the chalkboard will reproduce the full text of the First Amendment.

Sunday, January 22
Everybody knows Wladek Minor—do you?

This week we learned that a 1997 paper co-authored by UVA molecular physiology and biological physics professor Wladek Minor is currently the world’s second-most cited scientific paper, according to The Scientist magazine. The paper, “Processing of X-ray Differentiation Data Collected in Oscillation Mode,” describes a software program that creates a 3-D image, or map, of human proteins. In providing a program that creates maps of specific proteins, Minor and his colleagues give those developing treatments for viruses and cancer the tools they need to design better drugs. “When people take a designed drug, 99 percent of the time it’s targeting a protein,” says Matt Zimmerman, a graduate student who works in Minor’s UVA lab.

Monday, January 23
Saga turns both left and right

Left-leaning talk radio fans have something to crow about as the Charlottesville Radio Group has launched a new station featuring liberal figures like Al Franken, Randi Rhodes and Ed Schultz. The station, WVAX 1450, begins its first full week of programming today. The new station complements the slew of right-wing chatterboxes like Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh who appear on WINA, also owned by Charlottesville Radio Group and its parent company, Saga Communications.

Written by John Borgmeyer from staff and news reports

How many are coming to Crozet?
County tries to soothe uproar over conflicting population predictions

After Albemarle County designated Crozet as a growth area, planners began a yearlong public process in March 2002, with the goal of creating a “master plan” for the town. Master planning included nearly a dozen public events, the formation of seven task force groups and the hiring of Renaissance Planning Group as consultants to complete the process. The whole shebang cost $215,000, and in December 2004 the County approved the Crozet Master Plan. Surely there would be no public outcry after such an exhaustive process, right?

Au contraire. Cro-zet activists want to know why County planners seem to have nearly doubled their original estimate to 24,000 from 12,500 residents as the area is built out. Currently, Crozet has a population of about 3,600 living in 4.5 square miles.

“What the document I have and what the residents made clear was a master plan calling for 1,240 units,” says Crozet resident and activist Tom Loach, referring to the Development Areas Initiatives Steering Committee’s final report dated March 22, 2000. “Ask them how the final plan called for 12,000 people but now they’re saying 24,000. That’s half the size of Charlottesville and would destroy the area,” he says.

On Thursday, January 12, about 300 residents met to demand an explanation for this apparent turnabout from Albemarle County Board Chairman Dennis Rooker and White Hall District Su-pervisor David Wyant. An-other Crozet resident, Mary Rice, explained that as a growth area, the allowable 20-year build-out could reach an upper limit of 24,000. The Wickham Pond development was used as an example since the 20-acre parcel was just rezoned from five units to allow for 107 housing units.

“I didn’t support the Wickham Pond rezoning to 107 units because it did not contribute to infrastructure,” said Rooker, alluding to a common complaint that the County allows more development than public facilities such as roads and schools can support. Rooker said that Old Trail Village, with an approved 2,200 homes, includes infrastructure like sidewalks, street trees, a park and the upgrading of Western Avenue. Rooker thinks the 24,000 total is simply a 20-year maximum if every single acre were to be developed on a by-right basis. “The uppermost limit is unlikely,” said Rooker. But more than once he re-ferred to the original Com-prehensive Plan that included a Piedmont Environmental Council estimate that Crozet’s maximum build-out could be as high as 34,000 residents.

Rice later called that figure totally irrelevant. “It’s an inane number that means absolutely nothing,” she said. She thinks the County should agree to having the entire promised infrastructure—including a new library and the upgrading of roads and bridges—in place before any developments are approved that would take the total over the 12,000 limit.—Jay Neelley

More development on Old Lynchburg Road?
Breeden confirms another major land sale near Biscuit Run

Just when you thought Old Lynchburg Road couldn’t possibly soak up any more new suburban housing, last week C-VILLE received confirmation that more than 200 acres of land ripe for development will soon be on the market.

Two parcels of land totaling more than 200 acres are directly across Old Lynchburg Road from David Bree-den’s Biscuit Run property, which the sculptor sold to developer Hunter Craig for $46.2 million in November. The sale created quite a stir among those concerned about new county development. Those concerns are likely to mount with Breeden’s confirmation that he has secured the 200 acres with a contract that he hopes to sell to another buyer. “We have a contract to purchase both parcels,” says Breeden. “We’re going to sell the contract.”

The land in question includes two parcels—one is 167 acres and one is 50 acres—at the northeast corner of Old Lynchburg and Forest Lodge roads, just across Old Lynchburg from Biscuit Run. The 167-acre parcel is zoned R-4, and County plans call for “neighborhood density” there. According to County records, the Jennie Sue Minor Trust owns both parcels. Minor, who owns the nearby Southwood trailer park, did not return calls by press time.—John Borgmeyer

Whole Foods to relocate
Nine-dollar arugula to move to Albemarle Place

Charlottesville’s Whole Foods is not long for its current location at Shoppers World on Route 29 North. While the moving date has not yet been announced, according to the Whole Foods website, the organic foods giant will be relocating to a 55,000-square-foot space on the corner of U.S. Route 29 and Hydraulic Road. This corner is the site of Albemarle Place, a 1.8 million-square-foot mixed-use development where plans include up to 800 residential units, a two-storey department store, hotel, cinema, retail outlets and, of course, a grocery store.

While representatives from Whole Foods’ current property managers did not return phone calls, via e-mail Shoppers World property manager Chuck Lebo did say that while the shopping center is currently fully leased, “we may have some smaller shop spaces come available in the next few years.” He added, “We cannot accommodate tenants above 6,000 square feet for the foreseeable future.” He declined to comment either on how large the current Whole Foods space is or how much rent Whole Foods currently pays Shoppers World.

The Lebo-Whole Foods team made headlines last spring when Lebo had Democratic General Assembly candidate Rich Collins arrested for campaigning in the Whole Foods parking lot. The ensuing legal battle has raised the question in the courts of whether shopping centers are private property or whether they are the latter-day equivalent of town squares and thus areas where constitutional rights apply. Collins was convicted of trespassing in General District Court, but the case has been appealed.

Representatives from Whole Foods could not be reached by press time.—Nell Boeschenstein

Council approves Rugby historic district
Student-housing developers question vote

Attention local developers! City Councilors want big apartment buildings near UVA!

No, wait…they don’t. Well, maybe. O.K.—just a few, but they’ll be watching you developers very, very carefully.

What’s all the confusion about? Last week, City Councilors voted to place new restrictions on development in the neighborhoods around Rugby Road, University Circle and 14th Street near the Corner. On Tuesday, January 17, Councilors voted 3 to 1 to create a new historic design control district in that area. (Republican Rob Schilling abstained from the vote).

“It baffles me,” says Rick Jones, president of Management Services Group, which builds and owns student housing around UVA. Jones is upset because two years ago the City rezoned that area, allowing developers to build up to 87 units per acre. The 2003 rezoning came after extensive planning and public meetings on how to keep students living near UVA and out of residential neighborhoods.

“There was a lot of support for that concept,” says Jones. “[Council] took 85 percent of the existing buildings in that neighborhood and said ‘This property is not going to be developed.’ [With this new decision] the Council took any certainty away from the property owners.”

The new Rugby historic district means developers—who own much of the property in the district already—will need approval from the Board of Architectural Review to demolish old houses. Council rejected proposals that gave developers more freedom in the district, and embraced the plan endorsed by historic preservation groups.

Councilor Kevin Lynch, who successfully pushed for the most restrictive historic district, says the City is not sending mixed messages to developers. “I’m not looking at every property over 40 years old and saying we have to keep it.” However, Lynch says, “we don’t want 14th and 15th streets to look like Jefferson Park Avenue.”

Councilor Kendra Hamilton initially sided with Councilor Blake Caravati and favored fewer restrictions on developers, but says she was eventually swayed by Lynch and Mayor David Brown.

“It was probably the most difficult decision I have ever had to make,” says Hamilton. “Everybody wants sticks to beat the development community over the head. Nobody wants to get carrots to encourage them to do the things we want to do.”

In the two years between the rezoning and last week’s decision, Jones and other developers have already started to build some high-density apartments in the Rugby area. That should meet the demand of UVA’s growing student body for the next five years, Jones says. Beyond that, the City’s cave-in to preservation interests could thwart plans to contain student sprawl.

“A great idea got trashed,” says Jones. “It was all politics.”—John Borgmeyer

Wahoo law student gets props from Ebony
Read this and get depressed about how little you’ve accomplished

Is UVA, like, a good school
or something? It sure seems like they’ve got some bright students.

At least, that’s what Ebony magazine tells us. The February issue of the seminal African-American monthly features UVA law student Raqiyyah Pippins in the article “Young Leaders: 30 for 2006.” The 24-year-old Pip-pins stands alongside news anchors, scholars, pastors and executives in Ebony’s profile of 30 African-American leaders under 30 years old.

Pippins is a J.D. candidate and national chair of the National Black Law Stu-dents Association as well as a former student-faculty relations committee co-chair for the Student Bar Association. Pippins is also articles editor for the Virginia Sports and Enter-tainment Law Journal. —John Borgmeyer

Hamilton disses Jefferson in Harper’s magazine
Jesus is just all right…TJ, not so much

As a City Councilor, Kendra Hamilton is no doubt accustomed to appearing in, ahem…distinguished publications. Yet last week her name entered even higher stratospheres of journalistic panache as the February issue of Harper’s hit the
C-VILLE’s newsstand featuring her backslap on ol’ TJ.

A letter from the politician/UVA English scholar ap-pears in the February issue of the 150-year-old Harper’s, the leading magazine for progressive contrariness and ass-kicking journalism.

An essay in the December Harper’s prompted Hamilton’s ire. In “Jesus Without the Miracles,” writer Erik Reece argues for a version of Christianity that emphasizes good works instead of miracles and heaven. In his essay Reece discusses a version of the Bible compiled by Thomas Jefferson, in which he cut out all references to miracles.

Jesus is just all right with Hamilton, but not TJ. She learned about the former President’s not-so-nice side while interning at Monticello while she was a graduate student at UVA in the mid-1990s. Had Jesus ever met Jefferson, Hamilton writes, “the Nazarene would have faulted Jefferson’s hypocrisy in extolling the glories of ‘liberty’ while denying it to the 200-odd humans whom he owned.” Hamilton writes, “I enjoyed the religious portions of ‘Jesus Without the Miracles’—but I would have liked it much better if I could have gotten Jesus without the Thomas Jefferson too.” Oh, snap!

“When [Reece] started to get Thomas Jefferson in the mix, I just couldn’t go there,” Hamilton tells C-VILLE.—John Borgmeyer

A facelift for Lane Auditorium
County meetings will soon be more exciting than UVA basketball

Work is already underway on renovations to Lane Auditorium in the Albemarle County Office Building. On Wednesday, January 18, Albemarle County officials held a pre-bid meeting on the renovation of Lane Auditorium—the future site for all Albemarle County meetings.

The renovation calls for new seating and flooring, improved ventilation and en-hanced audio/visual capabilities. The auditorium will be the future meeting spot for the various County meetings, including those of the Board of Supervisors and the School Board.

The new renovations should make the auditorium a far more accessible and enjoyable place for civic-minded citizens. A large screen behind board members will be clearly visible to all audience members and the audio system will be up to date—all great improvements over the current meeting area.

Lane Auditorium was closed on January 3 and workers have already started gutting the auditorium in preparation for its renovation.

The deadline for submitting a bid for construction is February 9, and assuming there are no hold-ups in the process—such as staying within the $1.2 million budget—construction is scheduled to begin March 1 and be completed in September.

Although only two contractors showed up to a pre-bid meeting Wednesday, at least four contractors have requested the architectural plans necessary before making a bid.—Dan Pabst

GENERAL ASSEMBLY WATCH
Virginia is for (straight) lovers—and Rob Bell likes it that way

Thank goodness the Virginia House of Delegates is protecting us from all those scary gay people.

On Friday, January 13, the House voted 73-22 in favor of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth. The legislation, known as House Joint Resolution 41, overwhelmingly passed both the Senate and the House last year. Amending the Constitution requires two votes by both chambers, with an election in between. If the Senate supports HJ 41, it will go before Virginia voters in November.

The amendment, sponsored by Del. Bob Marshall (R-Manassas), declares that “only a union between one man and one woman may be recognized by this Commonwealth.” The law would also prohibit the State from recognizing “a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage.”

Marshall designed the law to prevent Virginia from recognizing gay marriages or civil unions that may be legal in other states—partnerships that amendment supporters such as Del. Kathy Byron (R-Lynchburg) say could “destroy” what she calls “traditional families.” Critics, however, say the bill is too vague and could interfere with health care decisions and property ownerships.

Charlottesville Delegate David Toscano voted against the amendment, while Albemarle Delegate Rob Bell voted for it.

Developers protest Kaine’s plan to link roads and zoning—apparently his fundraising days are over

Virginia’s real estate moneymakers have their tool belts in a bunch over Governor Tim Kaine’s plan to curb traffic. Kaine wants to give local governments the power to deny rezoning if nearby roads are not adequate to handle the traffic that new projects would bring. Cur-rently, elected officials have almost no say over what an individual builds on a piece of land, even though planning experts have long advocated for more coordination between land use and transportation.

If Kaine can get his proposal through the Gen-eral Assembly, it could have a big effect locally. County supervisors could, for example, deny rezoning for big subdivisions on narrow country roads such as Route 20 South or Highway 53.

Developers, however, are fighting back. Last week the Virginia Home Builder’s Association brought more than 100 people to Richmond to lobby against Kaine’s plan. Although Kaine’s plan has been endorsed by The Washington Post (in a January 18 editorial the Post denounced as “hysterical” the VHBA’s claim that the plan would be death for the industry), don’t underestimate the power of real estate interests—developers donate more money to Virginia politicians than any other industry.—John Borgmeyer

Las Vegas man turns himself in on 21-year-old rape charge
Beebe’s bond set at $30,000 in Charlottesville juvenile court

William Beebe, handcuffed in his black and white jumpsuit, sat silently between defense law-yers Rhonda Quagliana and Fran Law-rence at his bond hearing on Tuesday, January 17, at Charlottesville Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. The 40-year-old Beebe had turned himself in to Char-lottesville police earlier that morning to face a rape charge stemming from an incident that allegedly occurred a little more than 21 years ago when Beebe was a student at UVA.

After hearing arguments from both Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Claude Worrell and Quagliana, Judge Edward Berry set bond at $30,000 with the conditions that Beebe surrender his passport, not have any contact with the victim, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and submit to drug testing. The hearing took place in Juvenile Court because the victim, Connecticut resident Elizabeth Seccuro, was 17 at the time of the alleged rape.

Beebe, a Las Vegas real estate agent and massage therapist, had been going through the 12-step AA re-covery process. As part of Step 9—which involves making amends with people the recovering alcoholic may have harmed in the past—he contacted Seccuro in Sep-tember to seek forgiveness for a sexual encounter that had occurred between the two at a 1984 UVA fraternity party. In the ensuing contact between Beebe and Seccuro, it became clear that they had differing perceptions of what had happened. As a result, in late December Seccuro filed rape charges against Beebe with the Charlottesville Po-lice Department.

In one of his e-mails Beebe referred to the incident as a “rape.” At the bond hearing, Quagliana characterized the situation differently, saying that Seccuro was too intoxicated to either consent to or reject the sexual encounter. While Worrell argued that Beebe should not be granted bond on the grounds that he still poses a threat to Seccuro, Quagliana countered with the facts that Beebe had turned himself in voluntarily, cooperated with authorities and had ceased contact with Seccuro once it became clear he was not helping the situation.

Once he has turned in his passport and posted bond, Beebe will be staying with a longtime friend who lives in Richmond. His preliminary hearing date has been set for March 24 at 2pm.—Nell Boeschenstein

DNA testing confirms Coleman’s guilt
New evidence comes as a blow to death penalty activists

Posthumous DNA testing ordered by Governor Warner has confirmed the guilt of Roger Keith Coleman. Coleman was executed in 1992 for the rape and murder of his 19-year-old sister-in-law, Wanda McCoy.

Coleman’s case had received significant public attention since he was sentenced to death 24 years ago, partly because he firmly maintained his innocence until his execution. In May 1992, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine with the headline “This man might be innocent; this man is due to die.”

As one of his final acts before leaving office two weeks ago, Governor Mark Warner ordered new DNA testing on the remaining evidence from Coleman’s case. Among other things, Coleman’s conviction rested on circumstantial forensic evidence that did not significantly rule out the possibility of another killer. Better DNA testing—not available during Coleman’s trial—had left open the possibility that Virginia had executed an innocent man.

However, results came back confirming Coleman’s guilt, with the new DNA results placing the chances of Coleman’s innocence at 1 in 19 million.

In pushing for a retest, death penalty opponents pointed to the fact that Cole-man, who could not afford his own de-fense, received two inexperienced court-appointed attorneys who had never tried a murder case—let alone one involving capital punishment. Furthermore, there was significant evidence of the prosecution mishandling the case, including withholding evidence from the defense during trial. Moreover, early attempts to appeal Coleman’s case came to a halt after attorneys for Coleman missed a filing deadline by one day.

Jack Payden-Travers, director of Virginians Against the Death Penalty, said his group was “obviously discouraged by the initial outcome of the Coleman case, but overall encouraged that the precedent has been set for further posthumous DNA testing, as well as for retaining evidence beyond the outcome of the trial.”—Dan Pabst

Lawmakers want to up penalty for petty pot smokers
New bill raises maximum sentence to one year in jail

According to Charlottesville Common-wealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman, the annual volume of pot cases that passes through his office is so high that the office doesn’t even bother keeping a database of them. Most of the cases, says Chapman, involve first-time offenders and are overwhelmingly resolved with a guilty plea, some drug assessment, a revoked license and one year of probation. Delegate Sal Iaquinto (R-Virginia Beach), however, wants to crack down on these first-time (and small-time) stoners.

Iaquinto is sponsoring a bill in the Virginia General Assembly that would jack up the punishment for first-time pot offenders from the possibility of one month in jail to a full year in the slammer, and raise the maximum fine to $2,500 from $500. The license suspension would remain the same.

According to Chapman, the new bill would not affect his office or the way the majority of such cases are prosecuted, since the majority of cases will continue to be guilty pleas resulting in a year of probation and that, says Chapman, is “a good and appropriate way to resolve these cases.” The ex-ception to this rule would be in the rare case when a person had such a bad record that a judge would choose to take advantage of the harsher punishment options proposed by the current bill.

“In the rare and appropriate case,” says Chapman about the bill, “it does give the judge more tools.”

Where the bill could have an impact, though, is at the already capacity-strained Regional Jail. While the jail’s rate of capacity is 329, some “wiggle room” is allowed with an actual bed count of 500. According to jail superintendent Col. Ronald Matthews, the facility currently houses around 460 inmates.

While Matthews allows that a potential influx of petty pot smokers could strain the jail’s resources, “we would have to make accommodations. We can’t just say we’re not going to do it,” he says.

Looks like “tough on crime” could be toughest on the local jail.—Nell Boeschenstein

News

Funny pages

Ever since the first cave dweller lifted the first flint to chisel an image onto a cave wall, there’s been a critic standing behind him saying, “That’s not funny.”

Here at C-VILLE, we understand the impulse to second guess other people’s work. In sympathy, we’re turning the choice of our new comic strip over to you, our highly opinionated readers.

These are your choices: “Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles” by Neil Swaab; “Ogg’s World” by Doug Ogg; “The Boiling Point” by Mikhaela Reid; “(Th)ink” by Keith Knight; “Smell of Steve” by Brian Sendelbach; and “No-Town” by Tom O’Donnell.

No joke! You could be a winner, too!

Laugh your butt off and then enter to win a free dinner for two!

We want you to pick our new comic strip—we really, really do. So we’ve put a little motivation together. Go online at www. c-ville.com to pick your favorite from this batch of six. Technically, you don’t have to give us your name and e-mail address, but if you do you’ll be entered to win a FREE dinner for two at Cassis, a hip Water Street bistro. That’s right, all you have to do is vote and tell us who you are. And you might win a night out at a fancy restaurant. What are you waiting for? A punchline?

CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW!

Just kidding
Alt cartoonists are not as depressed as they seem, says Ted Rall

In light of this week’s comic contest, we got together with alt cartoonist and political commentator Ted Rall to talk about the world of alternative comics. Rall has edited his third volume of independent cartooning, Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists, which features interviews and cartoons with the biggest names in the political and social e-cartoon world. It will be available in June.—Anne Metz

C-VILLE: How are alt cartoonists different from regular cartoonists?

Ted Rall: Obviously these differences are extremely subjective and they can be split any number of ways. Generally, comics that appear in newspapers and magazines are divided into mainstream comics and everything else. Mainstream publications would be big daily papers, magazines like The New Yorker or Fortune. The cartoons that tend to run in these publications tend to have certain styles. Political cartoons, for instance, tend to feature donkeys and elephants. The art usually has lots of cross-hatching and labels. Humor comics tend to feature light-hearted jokes about relationships, family, that sort of thing. Everything that doesn’t fit into these two categories tends to have a lot of trouble getting into those mainstream publications, and these are what we generally refer to as “alt cartoons.” But the distinction can get pretty muddy sometimes. Alt cartooning is like pornography—you know it when you see it.

There’s no money in it, so why would anyone be crazy enough to become an alt cartoonist?

Well, people still become poets. I think it’s the same impulse. People do it because they have to do it. You’ll see young comics who start with a lot of enthusiasm, but over time, they eventually become disgruntled by the lack of recognition, money or immediate success. They move on to other things. And then there are those of us who can’t not do it. Most alternative cartoonists have made a choice to try and move the art form more to the way they envision it than to try and match it to the mainstream.

What are some of the differences between the new batch of cartoonists and your generation?

I think you see a lot of common threads. In the late 1990s and right around 9/11, suddenly there was a huge Gen Y explosion of alt cartoonists who were drawing on the [Matt] Groening tradition, and some were inspired by Tom Tomorrow [Tom Tomorrow’s cartoon “This Modern World” appears on p. 10]. A lot of them were drawn to do stuff about political work. Of course, that’s a generalization since Neil Swaab and Emily Flake aren’t doing political cartoons at all. Emerging in the last few years, there have been cartoonists who have just come out of college, who are the subject of Attitude 3, who realize that even the alt weeklies are locked up. So they have turned to the Internet, where you see greater creativity, since you are not limited by size or [reprint] resolution. On the Internet, there’s not as much pressure to do a comic for the benefit of the readers.

As a crowd are they funny or are they somewhat doom and gloom?

It’s funny, I go to the meetings of the National Cartoonists Society, where you meet the guy who does “Family Circus” or “Garfield,” and on the whole, they are definitely a happier bunch. I suspect that has something to do with the fact that they are wealthy. I have to say the alt comic people tend to be really interesting, very funny, and not at all depressing to hang around [with]. In fact, the best part of being a cartoonist is that you get to meet other cartoonists.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW!

News

Bombs away

Ace: I was tooling around on Water Street the other day when I noticed a sign for a fallout shelter on the back of the Bank of America building. What’s up with that? Part of our homeland security strategy?—Ducken Cover

Ducken: Wait, we have a homeland security strategy? Ace thought the government was just engaged in random acts of eavesdropping and pork barreling. Ace had no idea there was a plan. Ace feels more secure now, just knowing that.

But, seriously, Ducken, Ace too has noticed the fallout shelter signage of which you ask, and last week Ace got his Maxwell Smart on to do a little surveillance. Alas, neither his shoe phone nor his fountain pen camera were needed to get to the bottom of the fallout question. Encountering a sign at the back of Bank of America that warned “Employees Only” and “No Exit,” Ace ignored caution and simply walked right in, past the unused Diebold safe in the basement and the 27 wooden file drawers that spoke of gentler times when clerks filed paper receipts and dowagers stored their jewels in safe- deposit boxes.

Going further, Ace came to two dusty rooms that don’t seem to have gotten much use lately. Nothing much distinguished this fallout shelter, capacity 168 souls, except for peeling paint and a dusty IBM Selectric typewriter. Oh good, Ace thought, come the radioactive rain, Ace could always type his memoirs to pass the hours.

Which brings us to…provisions. There was a time, according to Chief Julian Taliaferro, a 43-year veteran of Char-lottesville’s fire-fighting force who retired last summer, when Uncle Sam would stock the fallout shelters in the area with rations and water. But about five years ago, the last time he checked, Tom Hatch, the technology coordinator for the regional Emergency Communications Center, learned that the feds had ceased to stock the shelters. No water, no batteries, no nothing. Not even typing paper.

All of which probably answers your question, Ducken. Ace certainly hopes that these dusty, empty basements are not part of the homeland security strategy (Ace couldn’t obtain the exact number or location of all the fallout shelters in the city, but Chief Taliaferro suggested there were at least another half-dozen around here). Indeed, Hatch confirmed that while “sheltering a small number of people for a short period of time is a big part of emergency services,” come the big boom we won’t be huddling in fallout shelters.

Hatch said that local schools are designated as shelters these days, “if we need to move people.”

Hmm, schools? Ace reckons they’re probably well stocked for emergencies. Paper, pencils, erasers, Tater Tots and frozen milk. Yup, that’s all you need. Now Ace feels really secure.

News

VIRGINIA’S NEWEST BATTLEGROUND

Post author By john-borgmeyer
Post date January 17, 2006
No Comments on VIRGINIA’S NEWEST BATTLEGROUND

David Toscano is in for a change of pace. Until now, the former City mayor has mastered the art of compromise in Charlottesville, Virginia’s haven for left-leaning, latté-drinking, Volvo-driving Democratic voters. This week, however, the new 57th District delegate is one of 140 legislators in Virginia’s General Assembly. While the General Assembly is in session for two months that began on January 11, Toscano will be doing business with the state’s powerful conservative faction—a group that sees compromise as weakness and thinks Charlottesville might as well be San Francisco.

Nowhere do the values of city voters conflict more deeply with state conservatives than in the arena of reproductive rights. As in recent years, 2006 will bring another flurry of bills [see sidebar, p. 19] that strive to limit women’s access to abortion, birth control and scientific information about sex.

“There’s going to be a lot of them this year,” Toscano says. As a member of the courts committee, Toscano will have more influence on those bills than most freshman delegates. “You don’t want to pre-judge any bill, but my general approach is that abortion ought to be safe, legal and used rarely.” Most votes on abortion bills follow party lines, and, as Toscano says, “right now the Republicans have the numbers.”

Meanwhile, much of the focus on reproductive rights is aimed at the Supreme Court. Currently, nominee Samuel Alito—who has a history of supporting abortion restrictions and questioning whether abortion should be legal at all—seems to be cruising through his hearings. Along with the ascension of another conservative, John Roberts, to the position of Supreme Court chief justice, the Alito hearings have prompted much speculation about whether conservatives could finally overturn the Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that protects a woman’s right to abortion.

Alito’s confirmation hearings currently top the headlines, even though the really important battles over reproductive freedom are being fought in statehouses like the General Assembly in Richmond. Supreme Court justices can remove federal protections for reproductive rights. If that happens, it will be up to the General Assembly to set Virginia’s policy on abortion rights.

“There’s a lot of concern about the Supreme Court,” says Ann O’Hanlon, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia. “A lot of people put their attention on the federal stage when it comes to reproductive rights, but the real drama is happening in the states.

“The states are the laboratories for new restrictions,” O’Hanlon says. “The Supreme Court tells the states how far they can go. It’s your home state’s laws that affect what you can and cannot do.”

For women in Virginia, there are a lot of “cannots” in the works.

Sideshow Bob and Virginia’s right wing

Theoretically, the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade guarantees that a woman and her doctor have the right to make reproductive decisions without the government sticking its nose in their business. In reality, though, this year there are a raft of bills in the Virginia legislature designed to make it harder than ever to actually get an abortion.

“There are people who think they get elected to put in those kinds of bills,” says Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville). “They talk about limited government, but they want to impose government on people’s lives.”

While Republicans usually speak of their desire for “less government,” it is two delegates from the GOP who feel that women’s lives need more government. This year, two NoVA legislators—Del. Robert Marshall (R-Manassas) and Del. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Woodbridge)—introduced a total of seven anti-choice bills, with perhaps more to come as the session continues. Neither Marshall nor Lingamfelter returned calls to C-VILLE.

Over the past decade, Marshall, a fundamentalist Catholic, has been the leading culture warrior in the General Assembly. His repeated attempts to legislate Christian morality in the face of more pressing issues never fails to draw media attention, earning Marshall the nickname “Sideshow Bob.”

Former Charlottesville Delegate Mitch Van Yahres, a 20-year veteran of the General As-sembly, says Marshall is a “very bright guy.”

“He gets an awful lot of attention,” says Van Yahres. “And he likes it.”

Here’s the kind of guy Marshall is: He is a fervent pro-life activist who, according to published reports, drives a decommissioned police car because he enjoys seeing other drivers hit their brakes. He has been quoted claiming that condoms have “produced the current epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases.” He supports criminalizing homosexuality, a practice he suggests has “killed 450,000 Americans and will kill at least 1 million more in just a few years.” For a lawmaker so interested in morality, Marshall doesn’t always seem to get his facts straight.

So far this year, Marshall has introduced four bills related to culture issues. He has two bills designed to stop unmarried women from receiving artificial insemination. He wrote two other bills that require abortion clinics to be built like hospitals and require Virginia’s abortion doctors to reside in Virginia and have admitting privileges at a Virginia hospital.

On their face, Marshall’s abortion bills seem reasonable. According to NARAL’s O’Hanlon, however, they are designed to shut down clinics, especially in poor and rural areas. “These laws would hurt the poor, rural, minority women—the women at the bottom of the ladder—most of all,” O’Hanlon says.

Lingamfelter “is a different character than Bob,” says Van Yahres. “He’s more positive. He’s very positive about his beliefs…. I just get a different kind of feeling from him.” This year, Lingamfelter is pushing bills that would require sex-education classes to emphasize abstinence and the “unlawfulness of sexual relations between unmarried persons.”

Lingamfelter’s House Bill 173 would require government employees to notify a teenage girl’s parents if she received any service relating to sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy or emergency contraception—a bill that critics say would discourage young women from seeking help.

Usually, bills like this are killed in the moderate Senate Health and Welfare Committee, if not the much more conservative House of Delegates. “They still put these bills in,” says Van Yahres. “They’re very emotional issues, they bring out a lot of people. Unfortunately, they take up a lot of time.”

Chipping away at Roe

In Virginia and other states, the rights enshrined in Roe are under attack. To understand what Christian fundamentalists like Marshall and Lingamfelter are up to, we have to go all the way back to Roe v. Wade.

In that landmark decision, seven of nine justices affirmed that a citizen’s right to privacy is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy, and that the Constitution’s right to life and liberty does not include the unborn. Any law attempting to restrict abortion, the court said, would be subject to a “strict scrutiny,” in effect placing women’s reproductive choice alongside such basic American rights as freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Conservative backlash began immediately after the Roe decision, as right-wing politicians introduced the phrase “judicial activism” to attack what they claimed was the Supreme Court’s failure to adhere to the “original intent” of the framers. State legislatures soon began passing laws with the goal of finding exceptions to Roe, or to open up new legal areas in which abortion could be successfully restricted [see sidebar this page].

The backlash reached its peak during the 12 years when Ronald Reagan and George Bush sat in the Oval Office. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, every year since 1983 the U.S. Solicitor General urged the Supreme Court, on behalf of the federal government, to overturn Roe. A person’s thoughts on Roe became a “litmus test” for justices nominated by Reagan and Bush. During this 12-year period, five justices—Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter and Clarence Thomas—were appointed. Not one of these five supported the “strict scrutiny” standard of review established by Roe; and, in fact, this more conservative court significantly weakened federal protection for reproductive rights.

This shift in the politics of the Supreme Court had its most dramatic effect in the court’s ruling on the landmark 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In that decision, the Supreme Court abandoned the “strict scrutiny” clause of Roe and started to weigh abortion restrictions by determining whether a particular law creates an “undue burden” for a woman seeking an abortion. For example, in Casey the court declared a Pennsylvania law unconstitutional because it would have required married women to obtain their husband’s permission before receiving an abortion—that, in the court’s opinion, would have been an “undue burden.” (Then a federal judge, current nominee Alito argued that a woman should need her husband’s permission in this case.)

This new clause raised an obvious question. What, exactly, constitutes an “undue burden”? State legislatures began testing the Supreme Court with a new series of restrictions, with Bob Marshall and his right-wing cohorts in the Virginia General Assembly concocting some of the most creative measures to keep women from exercising what is still a Constitutional right to abortion.

Can Republicans read tea leaves?

The 33-year argument over abortion that began with Roe v. Wade is now approaching a turning point.

With Samuel Alito apparently cruising to confirmation, the pro-life camp is hoping for radical new restrictions on abortions in America, while Democrats hope that voters will soon get sick and tired of arguing over divisive social issues.

That optimism seemed to be affirmed on Tuesday, January 10, when Democrat Sherry Valentine defeated Republican Michael Harrington in a special election to replace Lynchburg Delegate Preston Bryant, a Republican leaving the House after 10 years to be Tim Kaine’s secretary of natural resources. Valentine’s victory comes at the end of an election season when Democrats made several important gains in the General Assembly—arch-conservatives Dick Black and Brad Marrs lost their seats to Democrats.

Although Democrats still face a 57-40 Republican majority in the House (Indepen-dents hold three seats), by attaining 40
seats Democrats are entitled to more
seats on House committees. “It’s a potentially very
significant change,” says Planned Parenthood Direc-tor David Nova.

Perhaps most importantly for Democrats, Tim Kaine won the governor’s race by
a 52 percent to 46 percent margin over Republican Jerry Kilgore, an avowed anti-choice conservative. Van Yahres downplays the significance of Kaine’s victory
as an indicator of a voter backlash against the right wing, but Nova is feeling optimistic.

“This is going to be a very interesting session to watch,” says Nova. He says that all the attention on abortion and the Supreme Court could prompt apathetic voters to wake up and vote out the right-wingers, given that most research indicates a majority of Americans support a woman’s right to choose abortion, at least in some cases.

“It’s easy to talk about [overturning Roe] when it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen,” says Nova. “Now there’s a potential backlash. That can’t help but weigh on the mind of a legislator who might not want to take an extreme position.”

What’s at stake
A look at some 2006 bills that invite Virginia’s government into your bedroom—and your body

As in recent years, right-wing Republican delegates are bringing forth new attempts to restrict abortion and other reproductive rights in the Commonwealth. Below is a list of some of the anti-choice bills that had been introduced in the General Assembly at press time. As you can see, the leading anti-choice activists in the House are Republicans L. Scott Lingamfelter and Robert Marshall.—J.B.

House Bill 163: Family life education, parent or guardian to review materials thereof.

Chief patron: L. Scott Lingamfelter

This bill “emphasizes the right of parents and guardians to review family life curricula whether or not family life instruction is mandatory or optional. Further, this bill repeals 22.1-207.1 that requires the Board of Education to establish guidelines for family life education and prescribes certain subject matter to be taught in family life education programs.”

House Bill 164: Emphasis on abstinence in family life curricula.

Chief patron: L. Scott Lingamfelter

Requires that any family life education course, including a discussion of sexual intercourse, emphasize that abstinence is the “accepted norm and the only guarantee against unwanted pregnancy. The bill also requires that family life courses “emphasize honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriages… and the unlawfulness of sexual relations between unmarried persons.”

House Bill 173: Medical and health services to minors; notification to parents.

Chief patron: L. Scott Lingamfelter

Requires that any State or local government employee who provides services to a minor relating to “sexually transmitted diseases, emergency contraception, pregnancy, illegal drug use, or the contemplation of suicide” to notify the minor’s parents or legal guardians “within two business days of delivery of such services.”

House Bill 187: Unmarried women; prohibition on provision of certain intervening medical technology.

Chief patron: Robert G. Marshall

This bill would make it illegal for doctors or other licensed health professionals to assist an unmarried woman in any technology “that completely or partially replaces sexual intercourse as the means of contraception including, but not limited to artificial insemination, cryopreservation of gametes and embryos, invitro fertilization, embryo transfer… and low tubal ovum transfer.”

House Bill 412: Identification of gamete donors

Chief patron: Robert G. Marshall

Prohibits the use of unrelated anonymous donor oocyte or sperm in the performance of artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization.

House Bill 189: Abortion clinics; regulations and licensure

Chief patron: Robert G. Marshall

Requires all abortion clinics to be licensed and comply with the requirements currently in place for ambulatory surgery centers.

House Bill 237: Abortion services; requires physicians to reside and practice in State

Chief patron: Robert G. Marshall

Requires any physician performing abortions in the Commonwealth to reside and practice in Virginia and have practice privileges in a Virginia hospital.

Birth of a civil right
Important Supreme Court rulings on abortion

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

This case didn’t deal with abortion, but it set forth a Constitutional right to privacy for married couples seeking birth control—an important precedent that upholds Roe v. Wade. Both Chief Justice John Roberts and nominee Samuel Alito affirm this decision.—J.B.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

This landmark 7-2 decision drew on Griswold’s right to privacy and struck down a Texas law banning all abortions except those “for the purpose of saving the life of the mother.” The ruling established that the right to privacy applies to abortion, and the decision said that the 14th Amendment’s right to life and liberty does not apply to an unborn fetus. The Roe decision divides a woman’s pregnancy into three 13-week “trimesters.” A woman need only consult her doctor for an abortion in the first trimester; states can regulate abortion in the second trimester only to ensure women’s’ health; in the third trimester, the court gave states the right to limit abortion except in cases where the woman’s health is in danger. Roe sparked fierce opposition from conservatives, who immediately began using the decision as a rallying point.

Webster v. Reproductive Services (1989):

In this case, the court demonstrated that Roe v. Wade was not necessarily settled law. The court voted that Missouri could ban the use of public facilities and employees for providing abortions. Three of the majority justices—Rehnquist, White and Kennedy—recommended revisiting Roe, while Justice Antonin Scalia suggested the court overturn Roe.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992):

In the most significant abortion decision since Roe v. Wade, the court ruled that states could restrict abortion services—as long as the restrictions did not place an “undue burden” on pregnant women. Since Casey, Virginia has led the way on imposing restrictions on abortions. Another interesting fact about this case—at the time, Supreme Court nominee Sam-uel Alito was a judge on the Third District Court of Appeals, which also ruled on this case. Alito wrote that a Penn-sylvania law requiring a married woman to get her husband’s permission before obtaining an abortion did not present an “undue burden,” since the law included a provision exempting women afraid they might suffer abuse.

Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood (2006):

The court is currently hear-ing arguments in this case, which focuses on a New Hampshire law that re-quires a doctor to notify parents before performing abortion on a minor. The law contains an exception when the life of the teen is in danger, but no exception for health. An important question in this case is whether groups like Planned Parenthood can challenge abortion restrictions before they take effect, or if challenges will have to wait until after the law has gone into effect.

Source: “Supreme Court’s Evolving Rulings on Abortion,” www.npr.org

The Editor's Desk

Letters to the editor

More free for you

Thanks for mentioning the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library in your article “Something for nothing” [January 3]. The Monticello Avenue Computer Lab is indeed a wonderful place to get free Internet access. Your readers might also like to know that Central Library has free wireless service for those patrons carrying around their laptop.

Yes, it is true that Ninja Yoga meets in Central Library’s McIntire Meeting Room. There are also lots of other nonprofit and community organizations that meet in the library’s three meeting rooms. All meetings are free and open to the public and everyone’s invited to check them out and learn what is going on in our community.

We also encourage everyone to use the library’s free online databases that give access to thousands of magazines and news sources. The databases are available 24 hours a day from home, work, or school. All you need to use them is a library card—and that is also free.

John Halliday

halliday@jmrl.org

The writer is director of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library

Cheap attempt

How tragic that your cover article “Something for nothing” suggests that the way to do so in Charlottesville is to mooch off the rich. As a single mom, longtime C’villian and deranged bargain hunter, I eagerly opened to this article touting “frugal tips” thinking I’d find valuable advice from a trusted source. The only “value” I found was a few references to local businesses—commendable—though you sadly miss many opportunities on this front.

Instead, you recommend stealing food and entertainment from major hotels. Never mind that hardworking people making the food in these hotels have to fight for a living wage. Why not use that energy spent “running from the guards” to work for their cause? Especially since most of them don’t have laptops, much less time to drive around looking for unsecured wi-fi like your so-called poor person does. Same goes for Darden. Maybe it’s naïve to think that a few dollars saved on pilfered coffee might trickle down to UVA’s working class, but at least it’s an example of, well, thinking. And in addition to jobs, Darden and the School of Law bring educated diversity to our community—for that priceless gift, I’m glad to let them keep their own coffee.

Your article is directed at people who either “make minimum wage” (although, as I point out, not so useful for them), or who are “too busy writing experimental theater to go to work.” What about the huge number of us who have decent jobs, work hard and still can’t afford to live in this town? For those, I’d like to point out the many coupon books on sale from organizations such as Hospice, the Boy Scouts, etc., wherein you can find amazing deals on everything from free fancy meals to oil changes (from friendly local mechanics to boot!). Sure you have to shell out a bit (a little planning involved here—like keeping track of hotel guards’ schedules). But then you save hundreds. Best of all, you can be a cheapskate and do right in the world!

I have long despaired in he influx of fluffy money into this town, and its effect. (How many lipstick and gelato stores does one town need in two blocks? Although we could use more family diners.) I welcome folks with less money and more good ideas (cheapskates, we call them). But the kind you describe should not be welcome in any self-respecting town.

Megan Gillespie

Charlottesville

Nothing’s wrong with “Nothing”

Erika Howsare’s article “Something for nothing: 12 ways to beat the system” was comic relief in an overpriced town. To add to Ms. Howsare’s sage advice, travel aboard the free trolley is climate controlled for year-round comfort and follows a route convenient to many of the locations mentioned in the article. Also, using a free computer in the library, you can join freecycle.org and find Charlottesville in “US Southern Groups.” This is the best local resource for all kinds of free stuff (and you can give your stuff away too). Now, does anyone know what to do about the high housing costs?

Janette Martin

Charlottesville

Goal oriented

It is my understanding that UVA charges for admission to men’s and women’s soccer matches. There are still a large number of sports at UVA that do not charge admission. Those sports alone could make an interesting article.

Gary Westmoreland

Schuyler