Month: August 2007

I’m guessing the phrase “equal protection” doesn’t mean anything to you… Part 9

From NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: Abusive Driver Fees Face Tough Opposition [emphasis mine]:

A Navy veteran who was ticketed for reckless driving on his way to reserve duty at the Pentagon is suing state of Virginia over its abuser fee program.

Charles Mason is asking an Arlington General District Court judge to declare the civil remedial fees unconstitutional. The fees ranging from $750 to $3,000 for various serious driving offenses were enacted as a funding source for new transportation projects.

Courts in Henrico County and Richmond have already ruled the fees unconstitutional, but the rulings apply only in those jurisdictions.

Mason was stopped July 8 on Interstate 395 for driving 20 miles an hour over the speed limit. He faces a $1,050 civil remedial fee if convicted of reckless driving.

Mason has a clean driving record and no criminal record. One state lawmaker said that had Mason contested the ticket in court, he wouldn’t be convicted of reckless driving.

He shouldn’t have to contest it in court, you weasel (who they don’t even bother naming).

[…]

Defense attorney Craig Cooley argues that legislators had no rational basis for exempting out-of-state drivers from paying fees as high as $3,000. The fees are assessed on Virginia drivers only, in addition to fines and possible jail time.

Prosecutors, however, argue lawmakers did have a rationale for passing the legislation this year. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Duncan Reid says Virginians use their roads more than non-residents, they benefit more from the roads and it’s impractical or almost impossible to collect the new fees from non-residents.

Wait a second, I thought the fees were designed to stop bad driving, and that it was impossible (not “almost impossible”) to collect on out of state drivers?

Can you please make up your mind on what lie you’re going to use?

Virginia state Sen. Edd Houck said he wants the state’s new abusive driver fee laws to be stopped and refunds be paid to those who paid any portion of a fee.

[…]

Houck will introduce the repeal bill in the 2008 session or in special session, if one is called.

At least someone is offering to do something to fix this and not BS around.

Newseum Opening Delayed.

From NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: Newseum Opening Will Miss Deadline [emphasis mine]:

It looks as if D.C.’s museum dedicated to the news industry won’t come in on deadline.

The Newseum’s new location at Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Northwest was supposed to open on Oct. 18, but officials said construction delays will push that date back.

They’re shooting for the first quarter of next year, but a firm date has not been set.

The $435 million project is being held up because the building is so complex and will have state-of-the-art electronics that must be installed after most construction is complete.

When it’s done, the museum will have 14 galleries, 15 theaters, two broadcast studios and 130 interactive touch screens.

I’m guessing the phrase “equal protection” doesn’t mean anything to you… Part 8

I need to think of another title, from the Richmond Times-Dispatch: No ruling in Henrico driver-fee case [emphasis mine]:

A Henrico County Circuit Court judge today heard arguments but did not rule on the legality of Virginia’s much-debated new law covering abusive driver fees.

The case ended up in the court of Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. after a Henrico General District Court judge last week ruled the law unconstitutional because it has no provision for Virginia collecting fees for various driving infractions from out-of-state residents. As passed by the 2007 General Assembly, the measure applies only to Virginia drivers.

This morning, Harris heard arguments and took written briefs from both sides in the case of Anthony Price, who was arrested in Henrico for driving without a license July 2, the day after the new Virginia law took effect.

Harris asked a number of questions about Virginia’s law applying only to residents of the state. The judge said Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Texas also have abusive-driver fee programs but require non-residents to pay the fees as well.

Harris said he would try to rule on the matter within a week.

Update on Farooq Anwar.

About a week old, but away, from the Richmond Times-Dispatch: No motive in store slaying [emphasis mine]:

Farooq Anwar’s killer apparently had another motive besides robbery.

Police say the person who fatally shot the Chesterfield County store owner left behind the store’s daily receipts, along with Anwar’s watch and wallet.

Investigators initially believed that Anwar was killed during a holdup at his convenience store at 6249 Jefferson Davis Highway.

“From what we can determine so far, it doesn’t appear to have been a robbery,” said Chesterfield Deputy Police Chief Andy Scruggs.

“Right now, we’re not sure what the motive was for it,” added Scruggs. “We don’t have a clear indication of exactly what happened.”

Among other possibilities, the motive for the July 19 killing could have been vengeance — considering Anwar’s earlier encounters with armed robbers that ended in gunfire. But investigators aren’t ruling anything out.

“It could have been a homeless person coming in there and trying to rip off a case of beer, and they got into a struggle over the gun,” Scruggs said, offering one of many possible scenarios.

Investigators haven’t focused on a single suspect, but they are interested in locating a man convicted of trying to rob Anwar’s store nearly 16 years ago.

Anwar wounded that man and fatally shot his brother after the brother shot at Anwar during the Oct. 9, 1991, attempted holdup. Anwar was shot during an exchange of gunfire, but a bulletproof vest saved his life.

The wounded man was convicted in 1992 and sent to prison, but he was released on parole in 2001 after serving about nine years of a 15-year sentence. A third accomplice remains behind bars.

From WTVR 6 in Richmond:

Chesterfield police are investigating the case. They’re asking anyone with information about the murder to call them at [(804)] 748-1251, or Crime Solvers at [(804)] 748-0660.

What the hell?

From Fredericksburg.com: Grading changes spark complaints in Stafford:

Anne Jacobsen doesn’t mince words when asked about revised report cards for some of Stafford County’s fourth- and fifth-graders.

She hates them.

Meanwhile, administrators say the concept is catching on nationwide.

[…]

The School Board discussed the numerical grading scale during a meeting this week, with some recommending changes.

Five of the county’s 17 elementary schools, including Stafford Elementary, will use it for the second time this year, Director of Curriculum Chris Quinn told the School Board.

It’s already in place for students in grades one through three at every elementary school. Rather than A through F, they’re graded on a scale of 1 through 4, with 4 being the best.

[…]

Using numbers instead of letters gives a more detailed account of student progress, he said. Instead of receiving a single grade for writing, for instance, students get separate marks on composition and written expression.

Let’s see, with A through F, that’s one, two, three, four, five levels, right? With one through four, that’s only one, two, three, four levels, right? (“Look, ma! I can count!”) So how is that more detailed?

Respondents in a recent survey, which questioned parents and teachers involved with the pilot program, gave the initiative mixed reviews.

But some School Board members say they’re hearing a lot of concern from parents of students in all grade levels.

“I’m just dumbfounded that in the face of all this opposition, someone found a reason to continue it,” Jacobsen said.

Sounds like the Virginia General Assembly and the Governor, no?

In an e-mail, one parent said she likes the layout of the new report card but suggested using letters instead of numbers.

The numerical scale enables students to rebound from poor test scores, as long as they understand the material by the end of a grading period, Quinn said. That’s not necessarily the case with the old formula, he said, which averages all scores into one grade.

So, you don’t have to do anything until the end of the grading period? The work you do has no basis on your grade? Where was this system when I was in school?

Still, many parents say they think it will make for a harder transition to middle school, where students receive letter grades.

But Quinn said the new report card will be passed along to middle school teachers, giving them a better idea of their students’ strengths and weaknesses.

All fourth- and fifth-graders in Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg receive letter grades.

School Board member Dana Reinboldt is skeptical of the new scale, saying she likes the concept but wants to incorporate A’s and B’s.

Others think it is unclear. For some students, a 2 might be equal to a D-plus, unbeknownst to parents, said School Board member John LeDoux.

“If the teachers, the students and the parents don’t understand it, we just can’t point at them and say, ‘Try harder,'” LeDoux said.

In a telephone interview, Quinn floated some adjustments, such as assigning a letter grade based on a student’s overall marks in a subject.

For example, a child with a total of 35 to 40 points in math categories could receive an A.

As for Jacobsen, she has two kids who made the honor roll in fifth grade. But now, she said, students have little motivation to shoot for such accolades because they seem to get 3 grades no matter what.

The kids “are told a 3 is great,” said Bonnie Knight, the mother of a rising third-grader at Stafford Elementary. “They’re told that 4’s are basically impossible to get.”

Gotta teach those kids to love mediocrity.

This fall, school officials plan to host informational meetings for all of the county’s elementary school parents.

But some parents don’t want any more explanations.

“I don’t know why they’ve ever wanted to change something that’s been working for so many years,” Knight said.

Because they’re the government? D’uh.

Apparently I need to change the grade I gave Newsday awhile back.

More Drug Arrests in Caroline.

From Caroline County Sheriff’s Office: More Drug Arrests in Caroline [emphasis mine]:

According to Sheriff A. A. “Tony” Lippa, on August 3, 2007, the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office, Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, and the Virginia State Police executed a search warrant at 16161 Hank Court, concluding an undercover drug operation in the Bowling Green area. 

As a part of this ongoing operation, Caroline County Narcotics Deputies identified a subject suspected of transporting large amounts of cocaine from Boston Massachusetts to the Bowling Green area.  The Caroline County Sheriff’s Office personnel seized what is believed to be powder cocaine, crack cocaine, ecstasy and numerous prescription pills along with two vehicles belonging to William Coleman. 

Upon execution of the search warrant, Katrina Simmons, 32, of St. Louis, MO, was charged at the residence with distribution of cocaine and held without bond at the Pamunkey Regional Jail.  Sheriff Lippa further stated that “William Coleman, 36, 16161 Hank Court, Bowling Green, VA is still at large for drug related charges.  We are actively searching for his whereabouts.  Williams is described as a black male, 5’7”, 180 lbs., black hair, and brown eyes.  Anyone having information regarding the whereabouts of William Coleman may call our 24 hour number 804-633-5400 or the anonymous tip line, 804-633-1133, in order to help the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office bring this suspect to justice.”

What a bunch of cowards/sell outs.

From the AP via Fredericksburg.com: Kaine alliance with GOP leaders strained as 2nd court voids fees [emphasis mine]:

A second Virginia court ruled new surcharges on bad drivers unconstitutional Friday because nonresidents don’t pay them.

At the same time, cracks began to show in a high-level bipartisan alliance that has defended the law against a statewide public outcry against it.

One day after a judge in Henrico County became the first to rule that the out-of-state exemption violates the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law, a Richmond General District Court did the same.

The decisions are binding only in the two localities, and appeals of both decisions are pending in circuit courts next week. More constitutional challenges are expected to be filed in other localities next week.

[…]

With the law under attack in court, strains became evident within the rare alliance between Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Republican legislative leaders in support of the transportation funding law.

Kaine appeared last month with House Speaker William J. Howell and other top House and Senate Republicans in a bipartisan show of unity for the law amid growing calls for its immediate repeal. In defending the embattled law, the governor and the GOP leaders called it a product of bipartisan compromise.

Since then, Kaine has publicly discussed the prospect of reimbursement for people who have paid the fees when lawmakers consider the law’s flaws after the 2008 General Assembly convenes in January.

Howell, in a three-paragraph statement issued Thursday in response to the Henrico court ruling, labeled the unpopular nonresident exemption “the Gov.’s amendment.”

The same day, his office sent e-mails to House Republicans offering guidance on how to pen letters to newspaper editors in which they defend the law by noting in part that “… Gov. Kaine amended the legislation by removing out-of-state drivers from the abusive driver fees.”

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo containing the drafts.

Publicly, each side denied targeting the other for blame or that their statements mean they are any less confident in the measure.

“We’re talking back-and-forth. There’s no distancing from them (the governor’s office) on those points,” said G. Paul Nardo, the speaker’s chief adviser.

Kaine and Howell remain united in opposing a special legislative session to remedy or repeal the fees and prefer to address the problems next year, said Kaine’s press secretary, Kevin Hall.

The wording of Howell’s statement on Thursday, however, was not lost on Kaine or his advisers.

“You can call it whatever you want. It was a bipartisan effort,” Hall said.

But with elections for all 140 House and Senate seats just three months away and GOP legislative control at stake, both acknowledged partisan interpretations are inevitable.

“It’s the miserable, hot summer of an election year,” Hall lamented.

Nardo said the letters-to-the-editor templates for House GOP Caucus members and their supporters was intended to counter attacks from House Democratic leaders Brian J. Moran and Ward L. Armstrong who are blaming Howell, who was the bill’s sponsor, and the GOP for the law.

“They had 87 percent of (House) Democrats supporting the fees in April, and now they’re speaking out against it?” Nardo said. “The point was to remind all these people of who voted for it.

“This is a political year and we have political pressures,” he said.

The fees are part of the nearly $1 billion-a-year transportation funding package passed this year. The package, containing increases in some annual fees and regional tax increases in northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, was the initiative of House and Senate Republicans. The bill was sent to Kaine in February on a 64-34 vote in the House with 28 of the 40 House Democrats voting no.

Kaine rewrote the bill and, in the process, deleted a 14-word clause that imposed the fee on nonresidents. Kaine and GOP leaders agreed the fees could not be enforced outside Virginia. In April, legislators overwhelmingly approved Kaine’s amendments, with only five Democrats voting no.

Why is it, that you are now blaming Kaine for the bill when you voted for it repeatedly? Why is it, that you still refuse to support a special session to fix the problem and want to blame it on Kaine? As much I like to blame Kaine for this, you are the heads of the legislature and you refuse to do anything about it.

Have fun in November. Hope that “bipartisan compromise” was worth it.

Army ranger killed Afghanistan, Soldier’s family lives in Fredericksburg

From Fredericksburg.com [photo credit: Ibid]: Army ranger killed Afghanistan, Soldier’s family lives in Fredericksburg [emphasis mine]:

LOHALL When 1st Lt. Benjamin Hall [pictured right] graduated from Ranger school, he looked at himself in uniform in the mirror and said to his dad, “This was 13 years in the making.”

His father, John Hall, a retired Army colonel and Fredericksburg resident, had told his son that Rangers were the Army elite, and he heeded his father’s words.

Benjamin Hall, 24, died from combat wounds Tuesday in Chowkay Valley, Afghanistan.

He was the platoon leader of Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, which is based in Vicenza, Italy.

Hall had been in Afghanistan only 70 days. As he was on his way there in May, he sent text messages to his mother, Sarah.

“Wheels up.”

“Landed.”

While he was in Afghanistan, Hall e-mailed four times and his dad saved all of them. He also called home a few times.

“But he never let on how bad it was,” his father said. The soldier told his parents everything was peaceful, “when in fact they were in combat almost every day,” John Hall said.

The second of four children, Hall ran cross country at Hylton High School in Woodbridge and majored in political science at Michigan Technological University. He was top of his cadet class in ROTC and was commissioned in 2005. Last fall, he was promoted to first lieutenant.

“Everything he knew was the military,” John Hall said. “His mother told him to be anything other than a soldier he said he wanted to serve his country.”

The military is in the Halls’ blood. John Hall is a retired Army colonel. Both of Hall’s grandfathers served in World War II; his great-grandfather in World War I; and his great-great-grandfather was a Union soldier in the Civil War.

Hall was a family man, his father said. His 10-year-old brother, Joe, was one of his best buddies.

“He never once worried about not being cool,” John Hall said. “He was always picking [Joe] up, kissing him. He was his.”

[…]

“He was just a beautiful young man I’m so proud of him. We all are,” John Hall said. “We’re going to miss him.”

Police Dog Who Helped in 9-11 Recovery Dies

From WUSA 9 in Washington, D.C. [photo credit: Ibid]: Police Dog Who Helped in 9-11 Recovery Dies:

Stryker Stryker [pictured right] worked some of the most high-profile cases in our area.

After the terrorist plane crash into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 the German Shephard–along with his handler, Park Police Officer Alice Hanan, searched the building for survivors and the dead. The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) says Stryker made 108 finds in the disaster’s aftermath.

Stryker helped search for missing persons Michelle Dorr, Susan Stottmeister and Chandra Levy. He was also brought in after the water taxi accident in Baltimore Harbor in 2004.

The dog also helped in 113 drug arrests that resulted in $152,923 worth of drugs being taken off the streets.

In all, Stryker worked close to 900 crime-fighting and rescue missions during his service with the M-NCPPC Park Police, Montgomery County Division. He was with the department from 1997 to 2004.

M-NCPPC tell 9NEWS NOW that on July 30th Stryker had to be euthanized. He was suffering from muscular problems that resulted in him not being able to use his hind legs. Stryker was 11-and-a-half years old.

The Park Police adopted Stryker when he was one years old. He was born in Czechoslovakia.

In a news release, M-NCPPC Park Police describe Stryker as “one of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s most beloved K9 workers.”

Handler, Alice Hanan, says “Stryker was an incredible K9 partner and I am honored and thankful for our time together….He had the best life possible for a dog and I am pretty sure he knew that. Thanks to everyone who helped us along the way.”

Stryker and Hanan were named the Park Police K9 team of the year 4 years in a row from 1999 to 2002.

Where to begin?

From NBC 4 in Washington, D.C. [photo credit: WUSA9]: Teen Faces Charges For Recording 20-Second Movie Clip:

Jhannet Sejas A 19-year-old woman is facing up to a year in jail and a fine up to $2,500 when she goes to trial this month on charges of illegally recording part of a motion picture.

Jhannet Sejas [pictured right] readily admits she used her digital camera last month in an Arlington theater to film about 20 seconds of the climax of the hit movie “Transformers.” She said she wanted to show the clip to her little brother and had no intention of selling it.

But minutes after filming the clip, police showed up in the theater, shining a flashlight in her face. Sejas and her boyfriend were ordered out, and the camera was confiscated.

Sejas said the theater’s assistant manager saw her holding up the digital camera and reported it to the general manager, who called police.

The Marymount University sophomore was charged with a misdemeanor and was banned for life from the Regal Cinemas Ballston Common movie theaters.

“I was terrified,” Sejas said. “I was crying. I’ve never been in trouble before.”

Arlington County police spokesman John Lisle said the theater wanted to prosecute the case, which is a first for the police department.

“They were the victim in this case, and they felt strongly enough about it,” Lisle said.

A phone message seeking comment from Knoxville, Tenn.-based Regal Entertainment Group was not immediately returned.

[…]

“I’ve heard of people’s devices being confiscated, or them being kicked out of the theater,” said Jason Schultz, a staff lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which specializes in digital rights issues. “This is the first criminal arrest for someone filming for personal use that I know of.”

Sejas’ attorney, Sandy Hughes, said she hopes she can resolve the case before it goes to trial Aug. 21.

It’s nice to see that the Arlington Police Department has nothing better to do.

For those that want to give Regal a piece of their mind:

Regal Entertainment Group corporate offices are located at 7132 Regal Lane, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37918. Our phone number is 1-865-922-1123 and our fax number is 1-865-922-3188. Our customer relations number is 877-TELLREGAL or 1-877-835-5734. Our investor hotline is 1-866-REGALEG or 1-866-734-2534. For press inquiries call 1-865-925-9539. For more information about Regal Entertainment Group, visit our Investor Relations area.