Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that the Gordonsville Mayor is requesting up to $300,000 from Albemarle County because Orange County needs it to pay for a library expansion.  I am not sure I understand this logic, but because the Gordonsville Library attracts a lot of Albemarle County residents, they think it’s a good idea for us to pay.

Am I taking crazy pills?  Why is Albemarle County even considering this?!

[pic][via CT]

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A rather sad email fell across our desks this morning.  It’s from J.E. “Chip” Harding, the Albemarle County Sherrif.  He explains that:

The number of evictions in Albemarle County has risen approximately 40% since 2006. So far this year we have seen approximately 285. With the economy currently on the “down swing” we can only anticipate the numbers to continue to climb. In an effort to bring assistance to families in jeopardy I spent some time researching and meeting with agencies that might be able to provide assistance. They have all agreed that it would be helpful if the Sheriff’s Office provides referral information as early in the eviction process as possible. Starting today a letter from my office will be attached to all civil process affiliated with eviction.

It’s a sad time for people who own houses beyond their means. As Jim Duncan explains in his analysis of the 2nd quarter housing marketing, “I think that the calls for the proverbial “bottom” are premature.” So, if you are in this sinking ship, you can at least get a little help from Albemarle County.

Chip provides a lot of information in the letter:

You can call Love, INC at 977-7777 MACCA- CARES at 295-3171 ext.4 and the Salvation Army at 295-4058. Piedmont Housing Alliance at 817-2436 has counselors specialized to assist you in avoiding foreclosure.

[Read the Full Letter Here] [pic]

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HEADACHES!!!

We are hearing about big problems with AT&T service in Central Virginia.  Users are experiencing dropped calls, lack of outgoing texts amongst many other problems.

These problems started yesterday evening at the latest and still no updates on when the problem will be fixed.

If you are on AT&T and having problems, let us know what you’ve been experiencing and when it all started!

Update #1 11AM, July 2nd - It appears that AT&T problems are affecting ALL AT&T customers in Central Virginia.

Update #2 11:15AM, July 2nd - It appears that AT&T mobile customers have NO VOICE AND NO TEXT MESSAGING abilities.

Update #3 3:45PM, July 2nd - Intermittent service reported, but most customers still have problems.

Update #4 11PM, July 2nd - Service seems to be fixed. Let us know if you experience anything otherwise.

Update #5 4PM, July 3rd - Service still intermittant.  Mysterious calls from Number 1.  No word on 007.

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All the cool green cities are starting to ban bottled water use.  Why isn’t Charlottesville?

It’s a pretty simple deal actually.  It’s much more expensive to produce bottled water, it pollutes more and has a much larger environmental impact.

»Read More

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In case you didn’t know what you should be doing this week, you should be participating in Charlottesville’s own Earth Week. Sponsored and promoted by a local group known as Earth Week Online, the event, scheduled around the 3rd week in April (i.e. now), is about creating awareness around being green on a local level. The events during the following week are meant to build awareness for an internationally recognized, Earth Day on April 22nd.

Started in 1970, Earth Day has grown substantially. Today, through the Earth Day Network, over 15,000 organizations in over 174 countries participate in growing the environmental movement and promoting a vision for a sustainable and healthy planet.

Earth Day’s formal mission is to:

broaden the environmental movement worldwide and to educate and mobilize people, governments, and corporations to take responsibility for a clean and healthy environment

So, we challenge you, cVillains, to do something for Earth Day and tell us what you are doing so we can all get involved.  How are you going to mobilize your workplace, your friends and Charlottesville to make the world we live in a better place?

More Resources:
For an interview with the leaders of Charlottesville’s Earth Week, go to Charlottesville Podcasting!

Official Earth Day Website.

A list of events from Charlottesville’s Earth Week group is after the break:

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The Charleston Daily Mail reports that 1 in 6 West Virginians is on food stamps. Wild and Wonderful? Good golly.

And then I got to thinking, how many Virginia residents are on food stamps? Also, how many people in Charlottesville and Albemarle County receive food stamps?

I think everyone knows that West Virginia is the poorest state in the Nation, but where does little old Virginia and Charlottesville compare? The answers and details are below. »Read More

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Thanks to Silmo for pointing out there is a world outside of cVillain.

This is the picture of the first suspect, Slade Woodson who is in custody.

Silmo also points out that Slade Woodson has two myspace pages:

http://www.myspace.com/lostbogger

http://www.myspace.com/bakyrdbogn

Slade Woodson’s second myspace is set to private, but the “lostbogger” myspace page has information and pictures you may find interesting.

- He went to Western Albemarle High School from 2003 to 2007

- He likes Ford trucks and confederate flags

Now for the pictures.

“Thats after about a 24 pack.. I was feelin RIGHT. hell yea” was the caption for the next one…

Full press release after the break: »Read More

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[written by UVa LaGrape]

Did you know that..

Dave Matthews donated $2300 to Barack Obama?

The biggest 2008 election contributor in Cville is Stanley Woodward, a self-employed artist who donated $6300 to Obama’s campaign?

Patricia Kluge gave $4600 to Hillary Clinton?

How do I know this, and why is it legal for me to tell it to you?

»Read More

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[written by Ditto]

Some of the cvillain readership includes parents with young children, right? I have a question. Why is there so little mention of the great honor paid to Western Albemarle High School, Virginia L. Murray Elementary School and Greenbriar Elementary School, schools selected by Governor Kaine for the Educational Excellence Award. These schools were recognized for “exceeding minimum state and federal accountability standards” and for “students …soaring far beyond the minimum requirements of the Standards of Learning and No Child Left Behind.” I want to see the celebration…I want to see the coverage. Could it be that our local media just only want to print/talk the negative when it comes to public schools? Could it be that it is not considered politically correct to distinguish only one of our local high schools? (Only 12 high schools were chosen from the entire state of Virginia) Or, name only two local elementary schools? Or, maybe ‘powers that be’ don’t want to hurt the burgeoning private school businesses? Why the silence?

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Seth Rosen, from the Daily Progress, reports:

But there are divisions over the merits of going a step further and building an expensive bus rapid transit system with dedicated lanes on U.S. 29. Though a fleet of sleek, larger buses speeding down exclusive lanes would shrink travel time and make transit a more attractive option, it would cost up to $138 million to lay down the asphalt and build the infrastructure.

Currently, only 2% of Albemarle County residents and 5% of City residents ride the bus to work. While a fancy bus system may benefit a small few, this sounds like an insane amount of money to spend on something. I’m all for public transportation, but how much would usage increase if we had a top tier bus system?

Slutzky, a Supervisor, tells the Daily Progress:

Even if we had to fund it ourselves, we can afford it, $138 million sounds like a big number when you put it out there by itself, but when you put it in context, it is quite doable.

Are they going to get the money from those “increases” in real estate assessments?

[via Daily Progress] [pic]

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