Friends and family of Otto Warmbier gathered at Nau Hall to honor the former UVA student’s life. Staff photo
For the first time since the death of their son Otto, Cindy and Fred Warmbier returned to the University of Virginia last week, as the fifth anniversary of his passing nears. While touring North Korea, the then-third-year UVA commerce student was accused of attempting to steal a political banner, and sentenced to 15 years in prison. After being imprisoned for 17 months, the 22-year-old was released back to the U.S. in a state of “unresponsive wakefulness” in June 2017. He died a week later.
Around 100 community members gathered in Nau Hall for the event, during which Warmbier’s parents and friends honored his life and impact. Think Again, a faculty-led initiative promoting free speech at UVA, hosted the gathering.
Warmbier’s parents called on their son’s friends in attendance to describe his character, and detailed what they have done to achieve justice for their son, including successfully suing North Korea and passing legislation against the country’s regime.
Class of 2017 alumnus Billy Burgess, Warmbier’s close friend and fraternity brother, described him as intelligent and loving. He described Warmbier’s support for his friends and affectionately called him “pretty weird” for his thrifted collection of Gucci sweaters and his love of ’80s and ’90s hip-hop culture.
Despite what happened to Warmbier in North Korea, Burgess encouraged the audience not to shy away from engaging in new experiences. “I think Otto would want you to go experience those cultures, to learn something new, to talk to somebody that you might not want to talk to initially, to reach out to a stranger,” he said.
North Korean defector and human rights advocate Yeonmi Park gave an emotional account of life under a dictator and her eventual escape. After leaving North Korea, Park struggled to find the words to explain the oppression she faced—she had never been given the vocabulary to describe it.
“In North Korea, we do not have the word stress, because how can you be stressed in a socialist paradise? We don’t have a word for depression. We do not even have a word for love,” she said.
UVA law professor Sai Prakash called into question the authenticity of Warmbier’s confession and said he was used to send a message to the United States and the world. Fred Warmbier later called the confession “a completely made up farce.”
While acknowledging the imperfections of the American justice system, Prakash placed it in direct contrast with the North Korean dictatorship.
“We have a system of rights, a system of checks and balances, a system of separated powers,” said Prakash. “Although we don’t always perfectly follow these rules, we try to do so, and our attempts, however imperfect, matter.”
The Warmbiers urged the audience not to walk away from the event with a sense of despair, but a desire to spread positivity.
“Otto was about positivity,” said Fred Warmbier. “If we don’t live a life of positivity, then what message does that send to our children and the rest of the world that [North Korea is] allowed to do this?”
Police Chief RaShall Brackney held a press conference in March to discuss producing arrest records in an attempt to prove transparency at the department.
Eze Amos
City blasts Police Civilian Review Board
A couple days after C-VILLE opinion columnist Molly Conger wrote about the importance of the still-developing but much-scrutinized Police Civilian Review Board, the board found itself the subject of another controversy.
The CRB has been working for nine months to create bylaws to establish a permanent board that will process complaints against the cops. In an April 23 story on its most recent meeting, the Daily Progress detailed a “breaking point” between the board and Police Chief RaShall Brackney, alleging that Brackney would not schedule a public meeting with CRB members.
Then the city sent out an unusual, unsignedpress release refuting those claims, and accusing a CRB member of “inaccurately characteriz[ing]” emails between Brackney and the board, specifically that the chief “refused to meet or was not available for the entire month of June.”
“I am that board member, and I said no such thing,” says Josh Bowers, who adds that he couldn’t have mischaracterized the messages at the meeting, because he was reading them verbatim.
Bowers also denies saying Brackney refusedto meet, though he did say it has been difficult to schedule meetings with her.
“No city official was at our last board meeting, so I’m not sure where the city got its information,” he says. “It is quite clear to me that those responsible for this press release failed to do their homework.”
Conger tweeted that it was a “deeply concerning development,” and it seemed “wildly inappropriate” for the city to issue such a “scathing” press release without any representatives at the CRB meeting.
The city also said in its release that the terms of the current board members would not be extended this summer, when a new board is supposed to be selected.
“This could be a death knell for the nascent civilian review board,” Conger wrote. “The only conclusion I can draw from this is that the city wants to smother the infant board in its crib.”
Linh Vinh, a member of the People’s Coalition that teamed up with the CRB to draft bylaws, says Brackney has been “superficially flexible” with her meeting schedule.
When the CRB expressed interest in creating a memorandum of understanding with the chief, which would focus on access to department data and files, she appeared interested in the collaborative process and asked Bowers to send her the draft.
“He sends it to her, and all of a sudden her availability is all booked up,” says Vinh. When Bowers asked if there were any dates outside of the suggested period that she could meet, says Vinh, “No response.”
Quote of the week
“I’m hoping a few more Democrats jump into the race for the White House. If the total hits 31, the party can open a Baskin-Robbins and name a flavor for each candidate.” —UVA Center for Politics director Larry Sabato in an April 24 tweet.
In brief
Confederates score
Two years into the Monument Fund lawsuit against the city, Judge Rick Moore ruled that the statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, which City Council unanimously voted to remove after August 12, are war memorials and protected by state code. Still to be decided: whether councilors have immunity and what issues the defendants can have decided in a jury trial.
Heyer memorial stomped
Over the weekend, a white supremacist in a purple T-shirt, cuffed jeans, and black boots posted a video to Instagram where he kicked over flowers at the longstanding memorial to Heather Heyer on Fourth Street. Activists have identified him as Dustin Dudley of Salem, and while police did not confirm his identity, they said the event is under investigation, and anyone with information should contact the police department.
Otherwise engaged
photo Matt Riley
UVA men’s basketball Coach Tony Bennett announced he’s received inquiries about the national champs visiting the White House, and with some of the team pursuing pro opportunities or moving on from the university, it would be “difficult if not impossible” to reunite the team. “We would have to respectfully decline an invitation.”
Rescue squad beef
The Board of Supervisors recently voted to dissolve the 45-year-old Scottsville Volunteer Rescue Squad because of a reported struggle to retain volunteers. But when the squad moved to donate its land to a nonprofit, the county wasn’t having it: On April 18, Albemarle officials filed a petition for a temporary injunction and requested an emergency order to prevent it from transferring its assets.
New job
Denise Johnson will take on the role of supervisor of equity and inclusion in Charlottesville City Schools, a job created this year. Serving as the current executive director of City of Promise and a former school counselor, Johnson is a Charlottesville native and graduate of city schools.
$2 million bill
That’s what Kim Jong Un wants the United States to pay for the hospital care of UVA student Otto Warmbier, whom North Korean officials released from their country in a coma before he died. Korean government officials say President Donald Trump pledged to pay the bill before Warmbier’s release—but Trump says he didn’t and he’s not going to.
All eyes on Biden
Joe Biden is getting some local heat for his Charlottesville-focused presidential campaign announcement.
From the moment rumors began to swirl that former vice president Joe Biden might announce his 2020 presidential run in Charlottesville, one thing became clear: Local activists did not want him here.
Biden ultimately decided to announce via video—UVA professor Siva Vaidhyanathan said “we stared him down” on Twitter—but the first word out of his mouth in that official campaign video was “Charlottesville.”
To no surprise, this prompted several local opinions, with many calling for Biden to donate to the Charlottesville Community Resilience Fund for August 12 victims, while former mayor Mike Signer joined the pro-Biden camp.
Tweeted Reverend Seth Wispelwey, “For how much #Charlottesville (and our traumatic footage) seems to be motivating and framing @JoeBiden’s candidacy, one might think we would’ve received a call or visit in the past 20 months.”
City Council candidate Michael Payne asked, “Will Biden show up for public housing in Charlottesville?…For the Black Student Union? For police accountability?”
Councilor Wes Bellamy said there’s no real way to get around the city being in the spotlight. “[I’d] much rather it be discussed and [have] national figures like the president talk about how they’re going to deal w/it.”
On the first of the month, UVA students rallied outside of the Rotunda, where the Board of Visitors was set to discuss living wage for university employees. While it’s currently $13.79, students would like to see it set at $16, and demanded so by slapping their hands against Rotunda windows until one broke.
Gone wrong
Xavier Murphy, 24, was sentenced February 26 to 13 years and 8 months for voluntary manslaughter in the shooting of Tatiana Wells, his girlfriend and mother of his child, last June in the Days Inn. Murphy is the cousin of Alexis Murphy, who was murdered in 2013, and his mother is an advocate against domestic abuse.
Alleged molester pleads
Former Albemarle school psychologist Richard Sidebottom, 74, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery of a child under 14 and indecent liberties involving girls aged 4 and 11. According to the Daily Progress, a 2009 allegation was not prosecuted, but the case was revived in 2018 with another report that included Sidebottom wearing shorts that exposed his genitals and masturbating nude in front of the windows in his home.
Where’s he going?
Ryan Jones
Rick Shannon, UVA Health System’s executive vice president of six years, announced March 4 that he’s stepping down in May. Shannon and President Jim Ryan didn’t allude to any future plans for the hospital’s head honcho, and neither did a UVA spokesperson, but Shannon did say this: “The time has come for new leadership to guide this great organization into the future.”
To the landfill
If you’ve been recycling your No. 3 through No. 7 plastics, like sandwich bags, PVC pipe, and styrofoam, you won’t be for long—and they’ve likely already ended up in a Raleigh, North Carolina dump, according to Charlottesville Tomorrow. The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority voted last week to stop accepting those materials, effective July 1, because the Chinese market for them is closed.
Quote of the week
“Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuse or lavish praise can change that.”—Fred and Cindy Warmbier, on the president’s recent statement that he believes the North Korean dictator didn’t know about the treatment of their son, UVA student Otto Warmbier
City budget breakdown
It’s that time of the year again, when the city manager—or interim city manager in this case—proposes his budget for the next fiscal year. This time, Mike Murphy is requesting $189 million for 2020, a 5 percent increase over the current year’s adopted budget.
The increase in meals tax from 5 to 6 percent has some folks in the restaurant industry reeling, out of fear that lower- and middle-income people will be priced out
of feasting on their fare.
Murphy says a meals tax is less of a burden on local residents than a real estate tax, pointing out that a significant percentage
of restaurant meals—the city estimates 35 percent or more—are paid for by tourists.
The proposed budget keeps the city’s real estate tax rate at 95 cents per 100 dollars of assessed value, but it’s been advertised as two cents higher to give City Council some flexibility as it reviews the budget proposal before its April adoption. Though it may soundlike pocket change, the additional two pennies would add up to $1.6 million, says Murphy.
Here’s a bit more of the budget breakdown:
• A lodging, or transient occupancy, tax on hotels, bed and breakfasts, and other short-term rentals, increased from 7 to 8 percent.
• Just over $10 million is proposed to go toward affordable housing, with an additional $33 million or so in the five-year capital program reserved for several initiatives, including improvements at Friendship Court.
• The budget asks for funding for three new jobs:
A centralized safety coordinator within the office of risk management, who would make $43,020, and serve as a staff member to guide policy and practice on things such as emergency preparedness and event planning. Says Murphy, “There are a lot of different ways that safety and security need to continue to be addressed…but we do need somebody to spearhead those efforts.”
A $132,729 security manager at the police department, who would make the city’s security plans, policies, and infrastructure.
A support services manager in Neighborhood Development Services for $56,670, because Murphy says assistant director Missy Creasy has her hands full, and a new position would help spread out her work.
• City schools will be allocated an extra $3.37 million, the largest increase in over a decade, to total $88 million. The city’s capital improvement program will also give about $6 million to schools.
George Huguely heads into court for his 2012 trial for the slaying of his former girlfriend Yeardley Love.
Photo by Nick Strocchia
Love estate drops lawsuit against Huguely
The estate of Yeardley Love nonsuited a nearly $30 million wrongful death lawsuit against Love’s former boyfriend George Huguely June 11. Huguely was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2010 death of Love and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Her mother, Sharon Love, filed the civil suit in 2012, and it’s been continued four times. Most recently the suit was put on pause while a federal case was heard in Maryland in which Chartis Property Casualty balked at paying off a $6 million policy held by Huguely’s mother and stepfather. A Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled in Chartis’ favor, and Love has asked the entire appeals court to revisit the ruling.
Through his attorney Matt Green, Huguely asked Judge Rick Moore to hold off on signing the motion to nonsuit until June 20, when the Fourth Circuit will decide whether it will reconsider the ruling.
The Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled a plaintiff can nonsuit at any point and doesn’t have to give a reason. Moore said normally he immediately signs the motion, but “I really do think it’s important in a case like this to hear you out.”
The three-week jury trial was scheduled to begin July 30. Love has six months to file the suit again, and Green believes she will.
And while he knows public sympathy isn’t with his client, Green said, “It’s just taxing on George to get emotionally ready every 18 months for trial.”
“I think that without Otto, this would not have happened… I really think Otto is someone who did not die in vain.”—President Donald Trump on UVA student Otto Warmbier, who was brutalized in North Korea, at a press conference during his summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Flood couple ID’d
The people swept away in their Toyota Prius by recent Ivy Creek flash flooding on Old Ballard Road have been identified as Sugar Hollow residents Robert and Carroll Gilges, who were 82 and 79 years old, respectively. They were found dead on May 31 and June 5.
Another creek death
A wheelchair belonging to Cedars Healthcare Center resident Thomas Charles Franklin, aka Colonel, was found June 10 beside a nearby creek. Franklin, 65, an Army veteran, was found around 200 yards downstream and pronounced dead at UVA Medical Center, according to police.
Train crash indictment
photo jack looney
Dana William Naylor Jr., the driver of the garbage truck that was hit by an Amtrak train carrying GOP congressmen in Crozet in January, has been indicted on one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of DUI maiming. Truck passenger Christopher Foley died in the crash.
Martese settlement?
photo Jackson Smith
Martese Johnson, the former UVA student whose bloody face went viral after Virginia ABC agents approached him in March 2015 on suspicion of using a fake ID and slammed him to the ground, has a July 10 settlement hearing scheduled for his $3 million lawsuit against the agents and ABC.
Crime spree
Last summer Matt Carver, now 27, racked up 21 felony counts that included terrorizing a Crozet woman when he broke into her house. He also kicked out the window of a cop car, leaping out at 45mph while handcuffed and going on the lam for 15 hours. In court June 6, Carver apologized for his meth-fueled rampage, and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Topless suit settled
Morgan Hopkins was one of the few people arrested August 12—for topless busking. Her indecent exposure charge was dismissed, and her lawsuit against the city and police Sergeant Russell Handy was settled June 5.
Crime in the community
The Virginia State Police released its annual Crime in Virginia report for 2017. Violent crimes like murder and rape decreased throughout the state by 3.9 percent, and property crimes dropped almost 3 percent. However, drug arrests were up nearly 16 percent, and 71 percent of all drug arrests were for marijuana. Charlottesville and Albemarle bucked that trend, with drug arrests decreasing—by 43 percent in Charlottesville. Here’s what the offense totals looked like on the local level.
The 96 groups that have adopted highways in Albemarle can't keep up with the trash tossers.
Hawkins Dale
Spring cleaning
As the weather warms, more people are outside and noticing just how trashy our scenic highways are. That’s when local groups that have adopted a highway under the Virginia Department of Transportation don their orange blaze vests and go clean up after their filthy neighbors.
Groups that volunteer are asked to take care of a two-mile stretch of road at least two times a year. After two pickups, the group is eligible to put its name on a blue Adopt-a-Highway sign. VDOT supplies orange trash bags, vests and roll-up signs to warn vehicles a pickup is in process, and will come remove the bags.
Some adopters have been known to abandon their highway, and resident VDOT administrator Joel DeNunzio says if a group hasn’t picked up in a certain amount of time, it can lose its blue signage. “Certain groups may be more interested in having their names on highway signs,” he concedes.
Fortunately that’s the exception, and volunteers are welcome. “I will let anybody adopt any highway I think is safe,” says DeNunzio. “They’re only denied if I don’t think it’s safe. We don’t want to have inexperienced people or kids on dangerous roads.”
96 groups have adopted roads in Albemarle County
192 miles of road are adopted
189 bags of trash have been picked up by volunteers so far this year
Source VDOT
“If the administration remains loudly silent in the face of white supremacy, it will perpetuate the University’s painful and pervasive history of racial violence.”—Petition from UVA students to President Teresa Sullivan and the Board of Visitors April 27, the same day the university issued a no trespass warning to Jason Kessler.
Beating trial begins
Jacob Goodwin
The first of four jury trials in the August 12 malicious wounding of DeAndre Harris got underway April 30. It took six hours to seat a jury for Jacob Goodwin, 23, from Ward, Arkansas. Goodwin’s attorney, Elmer Woodard, admits Goodwin kicked Harris but says that didn’t cause the serious injuries Harris suffered.
Sex trafficker convicted
A trial originally scheduled for five days stretched nearly two weeks before a jury, after deliberating 15 hours, convicted Quincy Edwards, 34, of 10 counts of commercial sex trafficking and of procuring a person for financial gain. The Albemarle jury recommended 22 years in prison. Edwards was arrested in 2015 at the Royal Inn, and his victim said she had sex with as many as 20 men a day for her heroin supply.
Teacher pleads guilty
Richard Wellbeloved-Stone
Popular former CHS environmental sciences teacher Richard Wellbeloved-Stone, 57, pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography April 26 in U.S. District Court. He came to law enforcement’s attention while chatting with an undercover agent in the U.K. and describing his fantasies about a prepubescent girl. Police found images of a girl’s vagina on Wellbeloved-Stone’s cell phone.
Garrett’s mandatory minimums
Congressmen Tom Garrett, Jared Polis (D-CO) and Ken Buck (R-CO) introduced the Review Every Act Diligently In Total—READ IT—resolution to amend House rules to establish a mandatory minimum review period for all legislation that is brought to a vote.
Warmbiers sue North Korea
The parents of UVA student Otto Warmbier, who was held in North Korea for 17 months before being returned to the U.S. last June in an unresponsive state, have sued the rogue nation for torturing their son as Kim Jong Un makes nice with South Korea and plans a meeting with President Donald Trump. Warmbier died shortly after his return.
Drugs and horses
Albemarle County Police had a busy April 28 running a drug take-back program at Sentara Martha Jefferson and policing 15,000 racegoers at Foxfield. The number of drugs collected was down from last year, but so were the traffic tickets at Foxfield. Collecting drugs or dealing with drunk UVA students—it’s one way to enjoy a beautiful spring day. Preliminary numbers for those events are:
Foxfield
Spring 2018
15,000 racegoers
5 arrests
31 medical emergencies, 12 known to be alcohol related
Over the summer, we wrote about 15 housing and hotel projects on our radar, but in the blur of bulldozers and Tyvek coverings surrounding Fifth Street, we missed one. Almost directly across from the Albemarle County Office Building (and the police station—yikes!), 5th Street Place is now leasing one- and two-bedroom apartments. Looks like the sleepier side of town is starting to wake up.
Here’s the word:
Prices range from $1,240 to $1,725 for 13 available floor plans ranging from 740 to 1,210 square feet
Clubhouse with pool, shuffleboard and, most importantly,
life-size Scrabble
Resort-style pool, gym and yoga studio
Outdoor lounge with fireplace, grilling stations and al fresco dining areas
Apartment amenities include “chef-inspired” kitchens available in two finishes, classic subway tile backsplashes, granite countertops, walk-in showers and closets, private balconies, plank flooring, front door “valet” trash and recycling services and full-size washers and dryers
About a 10-minute drive to the Downtown Mall and a “short walk” to 5th Street Station, though there’s no sidewalk leading to the massive shopping center
Conflicting accounts
Otto Warmbier
Fred and Cindy Warmbier, parents of the UVA student who was detained in North Korea, medevaced to America a year later and died shortly after, said on CNN September 26 that their son, Otto, showed clear signs of torture, and that it looked like pliers had been used on his bottom teeth. But a Hamilton County, Ohio, coroner said there were no obvious signs of torture and his teeth showed no trauma.
Dubious top 5
Of the 4.2 million Americans whose driver’s licenses are suspended because of unpaid court debt, Virginia comes in third behind Texas and North Carolina, with 977,000 of its citizens who can’t get a license because of what Legal Aid Justice Center, which has filed a federal suit, calls a “vicious court debt cycle.”
Kenneth Jackson. Staff photo
Quote of the Week:
I’m afraid to even go to a council meeting, and I’ve been going to them since
I was 15 years old. I’ve never been so disgusted, and there’s no excuse for it.
—Candidate Kenneth Jackson on recent City Council disorder at a September 27 forum
Alleged face-puncher arrested
Dennis Mothersbaugh, the bald and bearded Indiana man seen socking a man in the side of the head and striking a woman in the face in a cellphone video of the Unite the Right rally, was charged with assault and battery, arrested September 28 and extradited to Virginia. He has been charged at least twice before for threatening black men, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Pam Moran retires
Pam Moran. Photo by Amy Jackson
The Albemarle County Public Schools superintendent since 2006, and the second-longest serving in the division’s history, will retire this June with accomplishments that include being Virginia’s superintendent of the year in 2015. Deputy superintendent Matthew Haas will succeed her.
Real expensive
Ian Dillard. Courtesy of the Scout Guide
The Scout Guide, the high-end, fancy catalog dedicated to “a beautiful, simple, well-curated life” by shopping at its upscale local advertisers, has named Ian Dillard its new editor. The guide, started here in 2010, now has more than 60 guide franchises across the country.
Marketing cool
Darden prof Lalin Anik did a case study on creating cool and defines the three essential traits to coolness: autonomy, authenticity and attitude. She cites the perennial personification of it—James Bond—and why that worked for a switch from martinis to Heineken.
Act of solidarity
“We need solidarity—not just unity—in the wake of August 12,” says Schyler Cunningham, one of three event organizers who met during the March Against White Supremacy last month, when a group of activists walked from Charlottesville to the nation’s capital. Back home, their first efforts to memorialize African-Americans were erased from the Free Speech wall, so Cunningham and about a dozen volunteers covered what they renamed the Solidarity Wall September 28 with the names of 1,500 black men and women killed in the United States by acts of police brutality since 2013. The event ended with a quiet reading of each name.
UVA rapes, stalking, hate crimes increase
In its recently published Fire Safety and Security Report, UVA offered no commentary on its uptick in several categories of incidents, including the six times as many hate crimes reported in 2016 as in the previous year.
Dem Ralph Northam and Republican Ed Gillespie won their primaries with record turnout.
Submitted photos
Get out the vote
The big news in the 2017 primary was record turnout for a non-presidential primary. Democrats were particularly energized, significantly topping their last gubernatorial primary in 2009. While not as many Republicans showed up, the GOP’s turnout topped 2009 as well.
Governor primary turnout
Democrats:
2017: 542,812 voters
2009: 319,168 voters
Up 70%
Republicans:
2017: 366,100 voters
2005: 175,170 voters
Up 108%
City Council primary turnout
2017: 8,522 voters
2015: 3,251 voters
Up 162%
City Council race: the numbers
Amy Laufer
$19,620 in donations
6,253 votes
46% of vote
Heather Hill
$18,055 in donations
4,597 votes
34% of vote
Bob Fenwick
$3,439 in donations
2,722 votes
20% of vote
Heather Hill, Amy Laufer and Joe Platania move on to the November elections. Submitted photos
Commonwealth’s attorney race: the numbers
Joe Platania
$18,566 in donations
4,900 votes
62% of vote
Jeff Fogel
$6,335 in donations
2,976 votes
38% of vote
Tragic ending to an already sad story
Otto Warmbier, the UVA student detained and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea for allegedly stealing a political banner, died June 19 in a Cincinnati hospital—nearly a week after he was medically evacuated from the Asian country in a coma, which officials said he had been in for more than a year.
“North Korea is among the most heinous actors on the global stage. The case of Mr. Warmbier reminds us of the barbarism of the North Korean regime.”—U.S. Representative Tom Garrett
Another UVA rape allegation
Charlottesville police
The grandson of former Republican Virginia governor John Dalton, former UVA student Dalton Baril, 20, of Richmond, was charged with rape and forcible sodomy for a February 1 incident with another student that left her bruised and bloody, according to the Washington Post. Dalton turned himself in to the magistrate’s office June 14. He was released on $10,000 bond and will appear again in August.
Taxing decisions
The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance last week to require short-term rental owners to pay the same lodging taxes as hotels and other homestays. The ordinance also requires owners, such as Airbnb hosts, to get a business license if they make more than $5,000 per year off their rental.
Former cop indicted
Christopher Seymore was an officer with the Charlottesville Police Department when he allegedly forced a local woman—and witness to a crime—to perform oral sex on him twice. A grand jury indicted him June 19 on two counts of sodomy. His trial is scheduled for December 7.
Legal Aid appeals DMV suit
Despite being rebuffed twice by a federal district judge, Legal Aid Justice Center is appealing the decision that the DMV is not a proper defendant in Stinnie v. Holcomb, arguing that it unlawfully suspends licenses of the indigent for failure to pay court costs with no consideration of their ability to do so.
In memory
WillowTree Apps, Inc. announced June 15 a $10,000 scholarship in honor of beloved former employee Whitney French, who was killed by her husband in a February murder-suicide. Applications for the scholarship, which aims to support women in the field of digital user experience and design, are due by December 9.
Trix are for kids
Jason Kessler rattles off his breakfast cereals so he can be a member of the Proud Boys.
Whites-rights provocateur Jason Kessler and three others proclaimed, “I’m a proud western chauvinist,” and then were beaten in an alley until they could name five cereals in a Proud Boys video posted over the weekend. The “cereal beat-in” is the second initiation step to joining the Proud Boys, a masculinist fraternity for grown men that’s a self-proclaimed “alt-light” org. Matching polo shirts, a tattoo, abstention from masturbation and beating up an antifa are the next steps in joining the group, according to Southern Poverty Law Center.
Members were on the Downtown Mall June 17, and were refused service in several restaurants, including Violet Crown Cinema and Cinema Taco. In retaliation, Cinema Taco was hit with a barrage of one-star reviews on Yelp.
Unlike previous Kessler gatherings on the mall when Showing Up for Racial Justice members shouted at him, there was no chanting, but individuals on the mall did confront the group, and at one point, when they left, people applauded, according to WINA’s Dori Zook.
Northern copperhead is the venomous snake you're most likely to encounter here. Note the Hershey’s Kiss-like pattern. Photo John White, Virginia Herpetological Society
Don’t tread on these
Venomous snakes and their harmless twins
Along with mosquitoes and ticks, other bites to avoid this summer are from snakes. The good news is, only two of Virginia’s three venomous species—the timber rattlesnake and northern copperhead—are found in the Charlottesville area, while the eastern cottonmouth hangs in the southeastern part of the state.
Timber rattlesnake: Look for the rattle. Photo John White, Virginia Herpetological Society
Eastern cottonmouth: Not found around here Photo John White, Virginia Herpetological Society
And according to the Centers for Disease Control, only about five people a year die from snakebites in the United States.
It’s illegal to kill a snake in Virginia unless it poses an imminent threat. Unfortunately for some harmless snakes, their resemblance to the copperhead makes them targets for jittery humans. Fry’s Spring was in an uproar recently when a non-venomous species mistaken for a copperhead was killed. Michael Salotti, president of the Virginia Herpetological Society, advises, “A good rule to use for copperheads is their pattern resembles Hershey’s Kisses on their sides.”
If bitten by a venomous snake, remove jewelry in case of swelling and seek medical attention, he says. There’s no need to try to capture the snake because the same antivenin works for all the state’s native species.
And if you encounter a snake, Salotti says, “The best advice is to leave the snake alone.” Snakes are not aggressive and are quite beneficial to the ecosystem, he adds. And the eastern kingsnake will eat copperheads, although the majority of the 18 species documented in Albemarle County are ophiophagous—that’s Greek for “snake eating.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announces North Korea’s June 13 release of UVA student Otto Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March 2016 for allegedly stealing a propaganda-related banner while visiting the country, according to the Associated Press. The Washington Post reports he’s been in a coma since his trial.
Unsolicited advice
The Rutherford Institute’s John Whitehead advises Charlottesville Police, as it deals with confrontations over the Robert E. Lee statue and the upcoming KKK rally, to avoid “heavy-handed, militarized, shock-and-awe tactics,” and suggests instead that cops shake protesters’ hands and thank them for exercising their First Amendment rights.
“KKK is not my scene.”—UVA alum Richard Spencer, who led the May 13 tiki-torch procession, in a text to the Washington Post
Jim Murray’s latest gig
Charlottesville native son and venture capitalist James B. Murray Jr., former Columbia Capital partner of Senator Mark Warner, was elected vice rector by UVA’s Board of Visitors and will take the rector-in-waiting position July 1, when Frank M. “Rusty” Connor III begins a two-year term as rector. Murray served as William & Mary’s rector in the ’90s.
James B. Murray Jr. Submitted
Ragged Mountain litigation covered
Charlottesville’s insurance carrier, the Virginia Municipal League, which declined to cover litigation stemming from City Council’s vote to remove the Lee statue, will cover the city’s legal bills from a lawsuit filed by Albemarle County over mountain biking at Ragged Mountain Natural Area. According to the Daily Progress, the city filed a counterclaim June 7 seeking an order that the county repeal its law prohibiting biking at the reservoir.
Rolling Stone settles
The magazine will pay Phi Kappa Psi $1.65 million to settle the UVA fraternity chapter’s lawsuit that it was defamed in the now-debunked 2014 story, “A Rape on Campus.” Rolling Stone also settled with former dean Nicole Eramo after a jury awarded her $3 million last fall.
Gay bashing
State Senator Bryce Reeves, who represents eastern Albemarle and is running for lieutenant governor, criticized opponent Jill Holtzman Vogel for voting to confirm “the first openly gay judge in Virginia,” Tracy Thorne-Begland. That, says the Richmond Times-Dispatch in an op-ed, disqualifies him from higher office.
Caption
Otto Warmbier was paraded before media in North Korea after his conviction for “hostile acts.” Photo from ABC News
UVA third-year Otto Warmbier, 21, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea March 16 for allegedly attempting to steal a propaganda poster from the Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang, where he was staying as part of a tourist group arranged by Young Pioneer Tours.
Todd Sechser, an associate professor in the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics at the University of Virginia, says that since 2009, about one or two American citizens have been detained every year by North Korea for political reasons and he outlines the main goals in such arrests.
“The North Koreans typically gain two things from these episodes,” Sechser says in an e-mail. “First, usually there is a visit from a high-level U.S. official or former president. Second, North Korea often claims an apology from the U.S. negotiator, which then is usually denied by the United States. Both the visit and alleged apology allow the North Korean government to score political points at home for antagonizing the United States.”
Warmbier was shown tearfully admitting to the attempted theft in a North Korean court. According to CNN, he had wanted the poster as a trophy for a church member in Ohio, and allegedly said the Z Society, a secret society at UVA, had encouraged him to steal the poster in exchange for membership.
The West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church says in a press release, “We hope and pray for forgiveness by the North Korea officials for any perceived transgressions by the young man, and for his quick and safe return to his family.” The release adds that other comments would not be “appropriate or helpful” at this time.
Despite Warmbier’s confessions, Sechser says it is difficult to confirm whether he actually committed a crime or not.
“It is standard practice for North Korea to parade detainees in front of the media. Warmbier’s confession was undoubtedly coerced. Prior detainees have reported that their North Korean captors choreographed their confessions down to the smallest detail,” Sechser says.
He also notes that the charges against Warmbier are “unusual,” with most Americans detained for illegal entry or religious activity.
Although the 21-year-old faces a 15-year sentence, Sechser says that even in cases with heavy sentences, “these detentions usually last a few months or less.”
Friends of Warmbier’s declined comment in keeping with the family’s wishes for privacy.
The UVA student detained in North Korea last month for allegedly committing a “hostile act” against the country publicly apologized for making “the worst mistake of [his] life” February 29 at a government-arranged news conference in Pyongyang.
Otto Franklin Warmbier, a third-year commerce student, Echols scholar and Theta Chi fraternity brother, was visiting North Korea with the Chinese travel agency Young Pioneer Tours when he was arrested at an airport on the last day of his trip.
The UVA student admitted to taking a banner with an “important political slogan” from a staff-only area of his hotel, the Yanggakdo International, on January 1. Charges against him say he was encouraged to take the banner by a member of an Ohio church, a secretive university organization and the C.I.A., according to the New York Times.
In his statement, Warmbier said he attempted to take the banner as a trophy for a member of a church who wanted to hang it on the church’s wall. He identified the church as the Friendship United Methodist Church in Wyoming, Ohio, and said the church member agreed to buy Warmbier a used car worth $10,000 for bringing back the banner, or pay his mother $200,0000 if Warmbier was detained and didn’t return, according to the Korean Central News Agency. Warmbier added that a member of UVA’s secret Z Society also encouraged him to take the banner and promised him membership in the society.
“I beg that you see how I was used and manipulated,” Warmbier said at the news conference, according to CNN. “I was used by the United States administration like many before.”
In a video of the conference, edited and posted by the Associated Press, Warmbier can be seen sobbing and pleading for his release.
“I am begging to the Korean people and government for my forgiveness,” he said, adding that he has no idea what kind of penalty he could face.
