Year: 2009

But wait a second, I thought we didn’t have any gangs in Caroline County!

Supposedly, we only have these different “groups” that commit crimes (or “wannabes” if you talk to the High Sheriff). But that goes out of  the window when you want to throw some dumb kid in prison for a couple years (The Free Lance–Star):

Ricky Alan Heinbaugh Jr. will stay locked up in a juvenile facility until he is at least 18 years old.

[…]

Judge Horace A. Revercomb III sentenced him yesterday to an active sentence of 2 years. But because he is 16, he is allowed to serve the time in a juvenile facility. After two years, Revercomb said, his behavior will be reviewed.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Tony Spencer argued that Heinbaugh’s criminal history and destructive behavior make him a danger to Caroline County. He had a gang expert critique Heinbaugh’s MySpace page, which the expert said had signs of possible gang affiliation to the Bloods street gang, such as tattoos and mannerisms.

And some expert testimony there too:

Heinbaugh’s mother, Melissa, testified that her son was diagnosed as bipolar, and his destructive behavior began as a result of her nasty divorce from his father. She also testified that she and her daughter have the same tattoo that Heinbaugh has as a symbol of their family’s strength. She said it means “Stay up.”

Video: Nut at Rob Wittman’s town hall meeting in Fredericksburg ask questions about ‘conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids’.

Ugh, just ugh:

Sound familiar? Sure does for me:

I wish politicians would call these type of people out as the nuts they are, instead of twisting these questions into something that actually sounds sane (like a general question on pollutants). And it’s sad that the myth about mercury and autism survives to this day. If you want a good read about that, check out this article in Discover magazine.

Thankfully, this was the only real nut that attended the Fredericksburg town hall meeting unlike the meeting in Warsaw (still need to post video of some of those questions).

WTF: People linked to al-Qaeda in Spotsylvania County and a (probably unrelated) attempt to bring down Dominion Power lines?

The Jawa Report linked to a copy of a report from the Virginia Fusion Center (PDF) which was posted on the Canadian Free Press‘ website which has these gems in it:

Enclaves of Salafist ideology adherents have been identified in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads areas.10

[…]

According to 2009 public safety survey data, the counties of Fairfax and Spotsylvania reported awareness of individuals potentially linked to al-Qa’ida living, working, or otherwise linked to their jurisdictions.13

[…]

10 (LES) 2009 VFC Threat Assessment Survey: Fairfax County, City of Falls Church, , Spotsylvania County, VSP Division 1)

[…]

13 (LES) 2009 VFC Threat Assessment Survey:

And those aren’t the only interesting parts. Further in the report, it documents incidents regarding threats to critical infrastructure and includes this incident:

Suspicious activity reports concerning Virginia’s Energy Sector include:

[…]

  • In February 2009, two camp propane tanks at the base of two high voltage Dominion Power tower legs were set on fire in Spotsylvania. The tanks had duct tape over the propane  cylinders, and a separate container had been placed at the base of one of the tower legs and ignited. Numerous wooden matches, a cigarette butt, gasoline, and a light oil substance were also found. According to officials at the scene, if the propane tanks had been approximately 12″ higher and fully engulfed and ignited, the resulting fire could have caused a tower collapse.450

[…]

450 (LES) Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office Situational Awareness Bulletin dated February 12, 2009

Pictures of the devices used and the damage caused can be seen on p. 164 of the report as well.

I haven’t read through the whole report but I’ll post anything else interesting I find.

Hopefully my light blogging schedule will end “soon”.

I’ve been a little busy and haven’t had the opportunity to blog a lot recently. Between 18 credits at VCU and the commute there, as well as a recent cold I had a week and a half ago, I’ve been a little preoccupied.

I’ve got some video of the Wittman town hall meeting that was in Warsaw on Sunday and the inane — and insane for that matter — questions that were asked that I need to do a best-of clip of, so keep a lookout for that. I’ll also be covering Wittman’s town hall meeting scheduled for today in Fredericksburg at the University of Mary Washington, as well as Mark Warner’s town hall meeting that is scheduled for the Fredericksburg Expo Center on Thursday.

Oh yeah, and I think I’m coming down with another cold, so lucky me.

Ouch, and I thought VCU was bad.

How much does it cost to get a parking permit at D.C. area colleges? A lot according to The Washington Post:

Parking might be more available on campuses in some parts of the country, but in an urban setting such as Washington it comes at a high price. The AAA survey of area colleges found that the annual student parking fee at Howard University was $240. A permit for the general parking lot at George Mason University cost $225. At American University, it cost an estimated $964 to park on a Nebraska Avenue lot. In College Park, the University of Maryland charges $412 for those who live on campus and $213 for those who commute daily to school.

George Washington University students pay $550 a semester for a parking decal, and students who commute to Georgetown University pay $656 a semester to park at satellite lots in Rosslyn.

At VCU you get to pay $126 for a parking slot at their lot in the 400 block of W. Grace Street and then you get to walk half a mile to any classroom (which wouldn’t be that bad if it wasn’t for the heat and humidity).

The Free Lance–Star gets the location of Representative Rob Wittman’s (R-1st) Fredericksburg town hall meeting wrong.

UPDATE: The Free Lance–Star has since updated its story and now shows the correct location of the meeting.

The Free Lance–Star is reporting in today’s edition that Representative Rob Wittman’s (R-1st) town hall meeting for the Fredericksburg area will be held in the Sealy Auditorium at Germanna Community College.

WRONG.

While the town hall meeting was originally scheduled for GCC, Wittman’s website now notes the location as the following:

Date: Tuesday, September 1st

Times: 6:00PM to 8:00PM*

Location:

Univeristy of Mary Washington

Dodd Auditorium

1301 College Avenue

Fredericksburg, VA 22401

*Please continue to check the website for updates as these meeting times, dates and locations may be updated.

I previously noted the location changed on my own blog on August 21st, but apparently The Free Lance–Star didn’t notice the change.

And as a precaution, if you’re of those folks that likes to bring a firearm to town hall meetings, you best leave it in your car (which better not be parked on University of Mary Washington property) unless you want to be spending the night in jail since the event is on University property.

Cross-posted at Virginia Virtucon.