Judge rebukes city
City Council’s prohibition against group defamation during public comment “offends both the First and 14th” amendments, according to Judge Norman Moon, who issued an injunction November 18 to halt the practice. He also rejected the city’s motion to dismiss the suit filed by Joe Draego, who was hauled out of council chambers in June for referring to Muslims as “monstrous maniacs.”
More election fallout
Albemarle High student Trenton Snead claimed a school official told him to put away his Donald Trump flag the day after the election, an allegation the county disputes, the Daily Progress reports. The University Police officer blasting “Make America great again” on his PA election night has resigned, as did Lynchburg School Board member Jenny Poore, who wrote a profanity-laden Facebook post about the president-elect.
Bell bails on AG run
Delegate Rob Bell withdrew from seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general in 2017 to run against incumbent Mark Herring, citing family reasons. He has two young children, one of whom has special needs, and says, “This school year has brought significant new challenges that require my personal and immediate attention.”
Teresa Sullivan’s Jefferson quote tally
The UVA president has quoted the school’s founder in five of 53 community-wide e-mails she’s sent since May 2, 2013, according to a Cav Daily analysis. Sullivan came under fire following a November 9 post-election e-mail, when 469 petition signers said they were disappointed in the use of the slave owner as “a moral compass.”
County’s worst deal enters court debate
Albemarle’s 1982 agreement to cut Charlottesville a check for not annexing—$16 million this year—enters the arena as the county considers moving its courts from the city, an option Supe Rick Randolph says he’s happy to abandon if the city agrees to cut the revenue-sharing payment in half, the Newsplex reports.
Gobble till you wobble
The Virginia Farm Bureau Foundation, which conducts an informal price survey every year, reports that families across the state will be able to serve Thanksgiving dinner
for just $4.40 per person this year—that’s down 50 cents from 2015. Good gravy!
- $44.02 average for a meal to feed 10 adults
- $60.82 highest average meal cost in the state, for Greene County
- $31.70 lowest average meal cost in the state, for Northampton County
- $4.90 increase since VFBF began conducting the
survey in 2003 - $18.43 average cost of a 16-pound turkey (about $1.15 per pound)
By the numbers: Road warriors
Virginia State Police are reminding Thanksgiving travelers to watch the road on the way to grandma’s house, and that troopers will be out in force. In 2014, eight people died on the road and 12 did in 2013. Here are the numbers from the 2015 holiday weekend.
9 Fatalities
1,233 Traffic crashes
12,200 Speeders cited
3,080 Reckless driving citations
145 Drunken driver arrests
971 Safety belt violations
286 Child restraint violations
Quote of the Week: “The fact is that the Electoral College was primarily designed to stop a demagogue—a tyrannical mass leader who preys on our prejudices—from becoming president.” —Mayor Mike Signer in a November 17 Time article.