Month: August 2006

Another obstacle was recently overcome in the City’s efforts to revitalize the Jefferson School, the Fourth Street site that for generations served Charlottesville’s African-American community. The structure is now one step closer to being placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
    A backhoe tore up the parking lot in front of Carver Recreation Center on August 1, allowing an archeological team to begin searching for the remains of the old Jefferson School—a two-and-a-half storey, nine-room brick schoolhouse demolished around 1960. The archeological team found two corners of the building’s foundation, dating to the late 19th century, as well as some artifacts that weren’t significant enough to be catalogued, says City Spokesman Ric Barrick.
    A paltry find, perhaps—but the dig provided more than enough evidence for the riches the City seeks: Tax credits, which could total $8 million if the site wins the coveted historical designation. The foundation remnants establish that the site should be dated to 1894, instead of 1926, when the first portion of the “new” Jefferson School was built as a high school. A historian, who was hired by the City along with the archeologist, will now amend the historic application to reflect the older date, improving the chances that the Virginia Department of Historic Resources will approve the designation in December, according to Rochelle Small-Toney, assistant city manager. City Council will also need to set up a new ownership structure, since the tax credits would not apply if the City owned the facility.
    The tax credits will help finance renovations projected to cost up to $30 million. The plan is to restore the building and the site in such a way that it will, as Small-Toney puts it, “honor the educational and social purposes of African-Americans in Charlottesville and the surrounding areas.”

When 18-year-old Keauna Brown allegedly shot her boyfriend in the leg at the Red Carpet Inn on July 31, the Albemarle Police Department needed some assistance to find the weapon. Enter Officer Gunny, a police dog trained in explosive and weapon detection. He quickly located the small-caliber revolver—crucial evidence for investigators.
    Gunny, a Belgian Malinois, is one of three dogs on the Albemarle County Police force, and the only one trained in weapons and explosives (the others work in patrol and narcotics). Since 2003, when Gunny joined the team after serving with a state trooper, the canine has been used nearly 200 times, responding to bomb threats, explosives searches and weapons hunts. Bomb threats are the most common call, says K-9 Officer Bill Saulle, Gunny’s handler.
    “It’s generally good not to find anything when bombs are concerned,” says Saulle. Last year, Gunny—trained to sniff out multiple types of gun power—did find a pipe bomb in Scottsville in a large wooded search area.
    Like all bomb dogs, Gunny responds passively by sitting on an object when he makes a find (to minimize the chance of detonation). He doesn’t bark and bite like successful patrol and narcotics dogs do. Another differentiator: Gunny’s initial training as a weapons and explosive dog was more time-consuming than usual because there are more odors to learn, says Saulle.
    Gunny is 9 years old, which means he’s nearing the gold-watch years. Though some dogs continue working until they’re 12 or older, Gunny looks like he might get a nice early retirement. “We’re in the searching phase for a new dog to replace Gunny,” Saulle says.
    In the meantime, however, Gunny remains a valuable police officer. “I can’t tell you the last time he gave a false response,” says Saulle. “When you get the sit, you know you’ve got something.

Kevin Leon Smith, 18, was arrested Friday, July 28, while burgling an Albemarle home, and faces more than 40 charges—mostly thefts—in the city and county. Police so far have attributed many unsolved burglary cases to Smith, and are investigating to see if he’s responsible for even more thefts.
    Smith is up for nearly 20 breaking and entering charges, two counts of misdemeanor vandalism and one count of carnal knowledge of a minor—an unrelated incident, City officials say.
    In the county, Smith is being held for more than a dozen breaking and entering charges, eight grand larcenies and three petty larcenies.
    “It’s unique to find someone at any age charged with the number [of crimes] that he is. We haven’t seen too many people as young as Mr. Smith with the criminal charges that he’s accumulating,” says City spokesman Ric Barrick. Smith had a juvenile record for similar crimes, Barrick says.
    Smith’s theft charges were nonviolent, and Barrick says the victim in the carnal knowledge charge—who was between 13 and 15—did not sustain any physical injuries.
    A stolen camera was recovered when Smith was arrested, but most of the stolen items had been sold on the street. A spike in thefts in the city and county is being attributed to him.
    Each of Smith’s felony charges carries a potential 20-year sentence, County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Camblos says. The City and County may work together to prosecute Smith.
    Smith’s family declined to comment on his arrest. His arraignment hearing was held Friday, August 5.

A Charlottesville-based civil liberties group will appeal a court decision against a Christian rock band that was barred from performing at a school-sponsored event. The Rutherford Institute represents members of the band Pawn, who say their constitutional rights were violated when school officials at the Rossford Exempted Village School District in Rossford, Ohio, kept them offstage at a school-sponsored anti-drug rally. The incident occurred in December 2004.
    The band was asked to perform, and agreed to endorse a nonreligious, “Just Say No” anti-drug message between sets.
    A week before the assembly, school officials pulled out, apparently anxious about lyrics like these, taken from the band’s website: “We need proof of service. Who is willing to live the life? We need pawns on the front line, throwin’ down for the blood of Christ. Need to tell em’ what Christians do, need to tell em’ who they’ve gotta know. Follow the makeup of the Martyrs, fire us up and watch us glow.”
    John Whitehead, president and founder of the Rutherford Institute, says, “They were cancelled, and the school replaced them with a group that had pro-drug lyrics. To avoid the religious stuff they actually got a group that was into the whole drug scene.”
    The judge ruled that the band’s performance would have put the school in “realistic danger” of appearing to represent a religious viewpoint. Student attendance at the anti-drug rally was optional.
    Whitehead tells C-VILLE that Rutherford’s main argument was “the viewpoint discrimination. If you invite someone into a school…you can’t discriminate against viewpoint.”
As for the institute’s viewpoint, they take a purist’s approach to civil liberties, challenging everything from Bill Clinton’s ethics (remember the Paula Jones case?) to the PATRIOT Act—and all with a small local staff, supplemented by around 250 pro-bono lawyers nationwide. They will appeal the Pawn case to the 6th U.S. District Court of Appeals next month.