Tag: Forest Lakes

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In brief: One year ago today…

Top doc Anthony Fauci speaks at the White House in April.

It’s been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic upended our lives. And how far we’ve come—this time last year, we thought “flattening the curve” would take two weeks, and the medical advice of the moment was “don’t touch your face.”  

A year later, toilet paper is no longer the hottest commodity on the market, but students continue to learn online, working from home is the new normal for many, and attending a large, in-person event is still incomprehensible. Since Governor Ralph Northam’s state of emergency declaration last year, half a million Virginians have contracted the disease and more than 9,500 have died.

In the timeline on the right, we look back at the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic, and how it unfolded in Charlottesville and around the country.—Emily Hamilton

March 10, 2020 

  • The U.S. records 270 new COVID cases. President Trump says “Stay calm and it will go away.”
  • The Virginia Festival of the Book is canceled.

March 11, 2020 

  • The World Health Organization officially declares COVID-19 a pandemic—a catalyst that set off many subsequent closures.
  • UVA moves classes online for the
    “foreseeable future.”
  • Tom Hanks announces that he has COVID-19, making him one of the first public figures to contract the virus.  
  • The NBA suspends the rest of its season after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tests positive.
  • Albemarle County Public Schools suspend school-related travel outside the county for students and staff, along with travel inside the county to events with more than 100 people.
Tom Hanks was one of the first high-profile people to contract the disease. Photo: Tom Bauld

March 12, 2020 

  • Governor Northam declares a state of emergency in Virginia.
  • The City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County issue declarations of local emergency soon after Northam’s declaration, allowing the localities to access emergency reserve resources to mitigate the spread of the virus.
  • The Charlottesville Ten Miler is canceled, for the first time since it began in the 1970s.
  • The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is canceled.

March 13, 2020 

  • Northam orders Virginia’s K-12 schools to close for at least two weeks.

March 14, 2020 

  • The first COVID-19-related death in Virginia is recorded. The state registers a total of 45 virus cases.

March 15, 2020 

  • Northam bans gatherings of more than 100 people in Virginia.

March 16, 2020 

  • The first UVA employee tests positive for COVID-19, also marking the first case of the virus in the wider Charlottesville area.

March 17, 2020 

  • Northam gives local law enforcement the power to enforce a new limit of 10 people in restaurants, fitness centers, and theaters.
  • UVA cancels Final Exercises for the Class of 2020.

March 23, 2020 

  • Northam orders Virginia schools to close for the rest of the year, along with certain non-essential businesses.
  • Trump downplays the severity of the virus as states begin to dole out their own stay-at-home orders, stating that “Our country wasn’t built to be shut down.”

In brief

Hopeless Hamilton

Charlottesville and Albemarle’s 57th House of Delegates district is, at a low estimate, 85 percent Democrats. But don’t tell that to Philip Andrew Hamilton, Fairfax native and AT&T employee who has announced that he’s running for the district as a Republican. Hamilton is anti-mask and pro-Confederate statue; he invited Richmond pro-Trump agitator Mike Dickinson to speak at his campaign kickoff on Sunday. After Hamilton’s announcement, sitting Delegate Sally Hudson tweeted “The contrast between us could not be more stark.” 

Students return to city schools

After an entire year away from the classroom, around 2,100 preschoolers through sixth graders in the city school system started in-person classes on Monday. Students must have their temperatures checked, wear masks, and practice social distancing, among other safety measures. Due to a bus driver shortage and rider limits, many students have no choice but to walk or bike to school, reports The Daily Progress. Parents and local nonprofits have stepped up to help supervise students or provide transportation, but remain concerned about safety. In the coming weeks, the division is expected to hire more drivers and add more routes.

Attack of the NIMBYs 

A proposed development that would have brought 370 new apartments to Albemarle County—with 75 percent designated as affordable housing—was deferred by the county planning commission last week. A well-organized group of residents from the nearby affluent Forest Lakes community spoke against the project. They’re in favor of affordable housing, they say—just don’t build it anywhere near them.

Quote of the week: 

“We’ll put a mask on the ACC trophy for sure.” –UVA men’s hoops coach Tony Bennett, after winning the conference in a COVID-altered season

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Dirty diapers: Daycare provider will go to grand jury

Kathy Yowell Rohm. Courtesy Albemarle County Police

A local daycare operator who was arrested last month on a felony charge of cruelty and injuries to children after 16 youngsters were found in her Forest Lakes home will go before the grand jury in February. A Juvenile and Domestic Relations court judge ruled January 8 that there was enough probable cause to certify the charge.

Kathy Yowell-Rohm smiled and waved to the crowded courtroom as she entered in a red jumpsuit and handcuffs that attached to a chain around her stomach.

The 53-year-old woman was operating a home daycare out of her Forest Lakes residence. A Child Protective Services investigator testified that she received a report that children were being left in car seats all day with no food and without having their diapers changed.

When CPS investigator Alyssa Westenberger arrived at the home on Turnberry Circle on December 6, she said she could hear multiple babies crying from outside.

Initially denied access to the children, Westenberger was accompanied by Albemarle County police officers when she found 16 kids—ages 3 months to one 4-year-old—in different rooms in the home. Some children were in the dark, and all but the oldest child had extremely wet, bulging diapers, said several witnesses. Some of the diapers had soaked through, onto the infants’ clothing and the padding of the seats and swings they were confined to.

At least one diaper was filled with feces, and some of the substance had dried on the leg of the baby wearing it.

“The smell was quite awful, of urine and feces,” said Westenberger.

The CPS investigator testified that Yowell-Rohm isn’t a licensed daycare operator.

In Albemarle County, daycare centers operating out of private homes are known as family day homes, and those serving four or fewer children do not require licenses. However, if a family day home provider cares for more than four kids under the age of 2, with a limit of 12 children, she must possess a state-issued license from the Virginia Department of Social Services, according to spokesperson Cletisha Lovelace.

Defense attorney Scott Goodman said his client’s behavior wasn’t felonious, and that he wasn’t sure prosecutor Darby Lowe proved Yowell-Rohm had committed more than a lack of ordinary care.

“There’s nothing unusual about a 6-month-old being in a car seat or a rocker,” he said, noting that the home was clean and investigators had access to additional clothing and diapers in a variety of sizes. “I’m sure that all over this city at this minute, children are sitting in a dark room, taking a nap, with a dirty diaper.”

Judge Claude Worrell didn’t seem to agree, and he scheduled Yowell-Rohm’s case to be heard before the next sitting grand jury at 9:30am on February 5.

Yowell-Rohm will also be in court January 18 to face charges of drunk in public and allegedly biting an EMT at the UVA/Virginia Tech football game November 24 at Scott Stadium.

The third degree

The Virginia Department of Social Services offers a number of questions parents should ask before deciding on a daycare service for their children.

  • Is there adequate supervision at all times?
  • Is there a routine but flexible schedule?
  • Is there dedicated outside time and indoor time?
  • Do the children have pretend play, music and art time?
  • Are the meals and snacks nutritious?

Corrected January 10 at 3:45pm to reflect that family day home providers who care for more than four children under the age of 2 must be licensed.

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In brief: No permits, no DP editor, no daycare license and more

Jason Kessler's permit for the anniversary Unite the Right rally was denied. Photo by Eze Amos

Permission denied

Minutes before a decision was due, City Manager Maurice Jones denied several special event permits for rallies and counterrallies proposed on the weekend of August 12 in Emancipation, Justice and McGuffey parks—ground zero for the summer’s Unite the Right rally that left three people dead and countless wounded.

The first application was filed by local right-winger Jason Kessler for a “Back to Charlottesville” rally on the one-year anniversary of Unite the Right. He touted the event as a protest “against government civil rights abuse and failure to follow security plans for political dissidents,” in his application filed November 27.

In the city manager’s denial of Kessler’s application, he wrote, “The applicant requests that police keep ‘opposing sides’ separate and that police ‘leave’ a ‘clear path into [the] event without threat of violence,’ but [the] city does not have the ability to determine or sort individuals according to what ‘side’ they are on and…[can’t] guarantee that event participants will be free of any ‘threat to violence.’”

Another denied permit was filed by Brian Lambert, an acquaintance of Kessler’s, who hoped to host “Donald Trump Appreciation Weekend” in neighboring parks during the Back to Charlottesville rally.

Curry School professor and activist Walt Heinecke, City Councilor Bob Fenwick and photographer M.A. Shurtleff also requested to hold counter events in the parks over the same weekend, and their permits were denied because they present a danger to public safety, don’t align with the parks’ time constraints and the applicants did not specify how they would take responsibility for their rally attendees, according to Jones.

At the bottom of each denial, Jones wrote that applicants should be advised that future permits will be reviewed under the city’s standard operating procedures for demonstrations and special events in effect when the applications are received. The city manager is expected to go before City Council on December 18 with proposed updates, which include prohibiting certain items from rallies.

In Kessler’s blog post where he announced his plans for a Unite the Right redo, he said he had an arsenal of lawyers prepared to fight back if city officials didn’t grant his application—and he fully expected them not to.

“The initial permit decision is bogus,” Kessler writes on Twitter. “The rationale they give for denying it almost makes it seem like they want me to win. See you guys in court!”

“The proposed demonstration or special event will present a danger to public safety.” Maurice Jones in his denial of 13 permits for proposed August 12 events

Another editor leaves the Progress

Wes Hester, who took the helm of the Daily Progress in July 2016, is ending his little-more-than-a-year tenure. He followed former Houston Chronicle sports editor Nick Mathews, who stayed 14 months. Also departing are four other staffers, including reporters Michael Bragg and Dean Seal.

Daycare bust

photo Albemarle County police

Kathy Yowell Rohm, 53, was arrested December 6 after 16 babies and small children were found in her unlicensed Forest Lakes home. Rohm was charged with felony cruelty, and already faced charges stemming from a separate November 24 incident at the UVA-Virginia Tech football game that includes a felony assault charge for allegedly biting an EMT and public intoxication.

 

 

 

Animal abuser pleads guilty

Orange Sheriff’s Office

Anne Shumate Williams, convicted in November of 22 counts of animal cruelty for the neglect of horses, cats and dogs at her Orange County nonprofit horse rescue called Peaceable Farm,  pleaded guilty December 7 to a related embezzlement charge for using nearly $128,000 in donations for horse breeding. A five-year sentence was suspended on the condition Williams serves 18 months for the cruelty charges.

 

 

Harris could face misdemeanor

The man who was brutally beaten August 12 and was accused of felony malicious wounding could see his charge reduced to a misdemeanor, according to the Daily Progress. Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman filed a motion to amend Deandre Harris’ charge to misdemeanor assault.

Clifton Inn sold

The historic luxury inn has been acquired by D.C.-based Westmount Capital Group LLC and Richmond-based EKG LLC, led by the McGeorge family. The inn was previously owned by Mitch and Emily Willey, who restored it after a 2003 fire took two lives.

Attempted abduction arrest

City police arrested Matthew Kyle Logarides, 29, on abduction and sexual battery charges for an October 27 attempted grab at 1115 Wertland St. The victim said she was walking alone around 2am when he approached her from behind, covered her mouth and took her to the ground. Logarides, unknown to her, fled the scene when witnesses heard her scream.

Man with a Christmas plan

Restaurateur Will Richey was spotted adding some Christmas decorations to light poles last week. Staff photo

Will Richey, owner of Revolutionary Soup, The Whiskey Jar and other downtown eateries, is really into the holiday spirit. And he’d like the Downtown Mall to look a bit more festive.

“The entire downtown business group and all the merchants are in shock at the lack of decorations and the half-hearted effort,” he says.

He points to the garlands with lights that don’t work wrapped around light poles, the red-ribbonless wreaths and the “lovely tree” beside the fountain with orange construction barricades in front. “The city requires us to put up black metal [fencing],” he says. “Why don’t they? It looks like garbage.”

Those barricades are not adding to the holiday spirit. Staff photo

Richey—with the help of the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville and city staff—is taking matters into his own hands and plans a future winter wonderland, with the block in front of Splendora’s as a model for decking the mall for the holidays.

He was up on a ladder last week installing colored lights on the nonfunctioning garlands. “The city has not officially endorsed this,” he admits, but he sees it as “fulfilling what they originally intended.”

Says Richey, “We’ve had a hard summer, we’ve had a hard year.” He believes if Charlottesville went all out, it could be a holiday tourist destination. And he’ll be “working even harder to get something beautiful up next year.”

 

Correction: Wes Hester’s name was botched in the original version.

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Thomas Eagleson sentenced to seven months for unlawful filming

In April, a Forest Lakes resident was arrested for installing a hidden camera inside his neighbor’s master bathroom. Facing 23 years in prison, he was sentenced to seven months August 25. Mugshot courtesy of Albemarle Police

In April, a Forest Lakes resident was arrested for installing a hidden camera inside his neighbor’s master bathroom. Facing 23 years in prison, he was sentenced to seven months August 25.

“This is a bit of a unique circumstance because these people were not strangers to each other,” defense attorney Rhonda Quagliana said in Charlottesville Circuit Court. “It makes it a whole lot worse and a whole lot better at the same time.”

Thomas Eagleson, 45, was charged with two felony counts of unlawfully filming a minor and three misdemeanor counts for filming his adult neighbors in the shower. He was also charged with two counts of breaking and entering, though Charlottesville Police say he had access to the home because he was pet sitting.

Judge Paul Peatross ordered that Eagleson is not permitted in Forest Lakes, nor is he is allowed to have any contact with the family he violated. After he is released from jail, he is expected to be on good behavior for 20 years, probation for two of those and monitored by a GPS for one. He will also take therapy for sex offenders.

Several former colleagues from Klockner Pentaplast, where Eagleson worked since 1997, testified at his sentencing. They told the judge they were “shocked” when they learned of his charges, that he was a “good mentor,” a “good role model,” and that they were aware of some personal issues Eagleson was facing.

“Tom was more than just a brother, but a best friend,” his brother, Ken, also said during his tearful testimony. “He did something stupid, absolutely stupid, and he knows it.”

Eagleson, who has been incarcerated since April 11, appeared in a black-and-white striped jumpsuit. He read a written statement, which said he takes full responsibility for his actions and acknowledges that he needs professional help.

Those supporting Eagleson sat shoulder to shoulder in the pews behind him. He thanked them for their continued support.

“There’s not a day that goes by where I do not feel remorse and shame,” he said.

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Felony charges in unlawful filming case stem from Bell bill

In April, a Forest Lakes resident was arrested for installing a hidden camera inside his neighbor’s master bathroom. Facing 23 years in prison, he was sentenced to seven months August 25. Mugshot courtesy of Albemarle Police

Forest Lakes resident Thomas Andrew Eagleson will remain in jail after his attorney, Rhonda Quagliana, told the judge in Albemarle General District Court this morning her client would not be seeking bond at this time. Eagleson, 45, appeared on video from the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail, where he has been since his arrest April 11.

He’s charged with three misdemeanor counts of unlawful filming an adult and two felony counts of unlawful filming juveniles. Eagleson was denied bond April 11.

According to police, Eagleson was pet sitting for his out-of-town neighbors March 25 and 26. They called police March 29 after discovering a camera hidden in the master bathroom and footage of each family member showering and using the bathroom.

Before 2004, those charges would all have been misdemeanors. After a handyman installed a camera in the bathroom of an Albemarle family, Delegate Rob Bell got a bill passed making such surreptitious filming of children a felony.  The children’s father and Bell “both thought misdemeanor was way too low where kids were involved,” says Bell.

A search warrant was executed when Eagleson was arrested in his home in the 3100 block of Turnberry Circle, and police say additional charges, including breaking and entering, may be pending.

His next hearing is May 26.