Author: Timothy Watson

Brian Moran to run for Governor

From the AP via WTOP: Brian Moran to File for Va. Governor:

Brian J. Moran, a senior House Democrat, will file papers Friday to launch a campaign for governor in 2009, advisers to Moran said Thursday.

Moran will formally establish a political action committee, Virginians for Brian Moran, with the State Board of Elections, said Mame Reiley, who will direct the PAC.

Moran, 48, of Alexandria, becomes the second Democrat to publicly state his intent to run for governor. State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds announced the formation of his campaign with a video on his new campaign Web site last month.

Another authority that gets to tax you coming to Caroline County?

Looks like Dave Albo has some competition now, from the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Authority for transit projects sought:

A Richmond delegate and business leaders are getting ready to push for a regional authority that could raise $105 million annually for transportation projects in central Virginia.

The money would be generated through an additional 2 percent tax on gas, as well as new or increased fees on car registrations, inspections and repairs. The taxes and fees could apply to much of the Richmond and Petersburg area.

As envisioned, the money would support the sale of long-term bonds that would fund roads and other projects to “deal with the transportation issue in central Virginia before it becomes a crisis,” said Del. Franklin P. Hall, D-Richmond, who plans to introduce legislation on the authority to the 2008 General Assembly, which convenes Wednesday.

“We see the issue as important enough that the leaders need to at least give it some thought,” said James W. Dunn, president of the Greater Richmond Chamber.

Hall’s bill would be enabling legislation. The Central Virginia Regional Authority would be subject to the approval of local governments, and it would spread over nine localities: the cities of Richmond, Colonial Heights, Petersburg and Hopewell, and the counties of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Hanover, Henrico and Prince George.

The authority could impose the taxes and fees if the governing bodies of at least five of the nine localities approve. The five approving localities would have to represent at least 51 percent of the area’s population, and they would have to include at least two of the three most populous localities, which are Chesterfield, Henrico and Richmond. Amelia, Caroline, Charles City, Goochland, Cumberland, New Kent, Powhatan and Sussex counties could opt in.

As drafted, the bill would require the localities to act by the end of this year, and it could potentially set up the authority — and the higher taxes and fees — in localities even if they oppose it.

[…]

The central Virginia authority is modeled after similar ones approved by the General Assembly last year for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. The authorities haven’t been without controversy.

On Tuesday, the Virginia Supreme Court will hear arguments in a challenge to a circuit court decision upholding the creation of the authority for Northern Virginia.

“We have been assured by the attorney general . . . that it meets the test and those statutes are valid,” Hall said.

It never stops…

And the “stupidest bill so far” award goes to…

*Drum roll*…

Dave Albo (R-42)!

For his bill that would make having a concealed box cutter a Class 1 misdemeanor! Up to a year in jail or a $2,500 fine for a box cutter!

From the Richmond Sunlight: HB169: Concealed weapons; adds box cutters to list.:

Chief Patron
Del. Dave Albo (R-42)

Introduced
Summary

Concealed weapons; box cutters; penalty. Adds box cutters to the list of weapons that are prohibited from being carried concealed.

According to Albo, all of these weapons are equal (all images from Wikipedia):

Machete

Beretta 92FS

Stanley box cutter

Emergency Fund Set Up for Brady and Elizabeth Grim

Emergency Fund Set Up for Brady and Elizabeth Grim

The Grims’ Emergency Fund bank account has been set up at Union Bank and Trust for Brady Grim, Captain of Fire & Rescue. Captain Grim has devoted his life to helping others and has been employed with Caroline County for 5 years..

After a devastating vehicle accident involving Brady and his wife Elizabeth, Brady remains in critical condition at MCV Hospital. Suffering muliple injuries and several surgeries to date, he has a long road to recovery.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Grims’ may make a donation at any Union Bank and Trust facility in care of the Grims’ Emegency Fund.

Additionally, wristbands are for sale to assist in the fundraising. The wristbands have “Because we are all family, IAFF Locals 1568 and 4314.” These numbers represent the local numbers for Henrico and Caroline.

To purchase a wristband, or for more information regarding contributions, please contact Nicole at nicole1976@earthlink.net or (804) 310-0778>

Union Bank & Trust
c/o Grims’ Emergency Fund
211 N. Main Street
Bowling Green, VA 22427

With “heroes” like these, who needs bad guys?

From Merrian-Webster Online Dictionary:

Main Entry: he•ro

1 […] c: a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d: one that shows great courage
4: an object of extreme admiration and devotion : idol

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Local heroes:

WILLIAM J. FRAWLEY
Former Mary Washington president

WHY YOU KNOW HIM: He was fired as president of the University of Mary Washington in April after two DUI arrests. He was on the job for 10 months.

WHAT’S NEW: Frawley, 56, was convicted of two separate driving-under-the-influence charges in September and had his driving privilege in Virginia suspended for a year. The charges arose from incidents on consecutive days in Fairfax County and Fredericksburg.

He managed to skirt his way out of the mandatory ten days in jail for the charge in Fairfax County too…

In December, Frawley acknowledged self-treating depression with alcohol, and he lashed out at the university’s board of visitors in an opinion piece he wrote for The Washington Post. He wrote that the board disregarded his illness, his accomplishments and his family’s needs.

Apparently, you disregarded your family’s needs as well…

He acknowledged he had consumed wine after taking an allergy medication the morning of April 10 when he wrecked in Fairfax. Separately, he told police in Fredericksburg that he had consumed six bottles of cough syrup when arrested in the city the next day, April 11.

I quote from the police report, there was a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from his [Frawley’s] person and he was unsteady on his feet.”

Either way, it’s still a DUI.

In an e-mail to the Richmond Times-Dispatch in mid-December, he said he wrote of his account “for my own well-being and clear conscience, nothing else. At no time has my purpose been to elicit any kind of response — just to state the truth.” He thanked the university’s faculty, students, alumni and parents who have sent him notes of support.

Frawley, who said he is writing two books about his experiences, added, “I am moving on. I would suggest that others, including the press, show respect for themselves and others, and move on likewise. There is a point where mere rehash of the past has to stop and we all move to a new phase of lessons beyond incidents. We have reached that point.”

[…]

SARAH ANN HAISLIP
Underage drinking led to fatality

WHY YOU KNOW HER: She caused an early New Year’s Day wreck in Short Pump that killed a local bartender.

WHAT’S NEW: She’s serving a one-year sentence

Sarah Ann Haislip could have become a household name in the Richmond area last year for her soccer skills and academics.

Instead, the Deep Run High School student, just 16, became a one-person warning poster for the consequences of drinking and driving. Some Web sites even included images of her with beer in hand.

Haislip was westbound and driving alone just after midnight Jan. 1 when her car ran a red light and broadsided a vehicle driven by Wesley Hunter Taylor, a bartender at a nearby restaurant. Taylor had been drinking as well, but his condition was not considered a factor in the fatal collision.

He died in front of Short Pump Town Center. Haislip later was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and underage alcohol possession.

She is serving a one-year sentence, part of it in a juvenile-detention facility and the remainder in jail.

Haislip called her actions “childish and stupid,” and she apologized for not realizing the consequences of her acts.

Money raised in Taylor’s memory has gone to dig wells in Africa.

Since the Richmond Times-Dispatch is hard pressed to find heroes I decided to provide a few links:

Deputy Sheriff Jason E. Mooney of the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, volunteer firefighter, and Marine – Killed in an automobile accident while responding to an accident on I-95.

Deputy Sheriff Jason Lee Saunders of the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office – Killed in an automobile accident while in pursuit of a suspected drunk driver.

First Lieutenant Benjamin Hall, an United States Army Ranger, and fifth generation soldier, was killed in action in Afghanistan. Originally from Woodbridge, his family lives in Fredericksburg.

Stryker, a police canine with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), helped to search for survivors at The Pentagon after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He also had a 113 drug arrests (worth $159,923) to his credit. He was euthanized on July 30, 2007.

Marlo David McQuillar, whose information helped to put two cocaine dealers away for 10 and 15 years. He was killed in Fredericksburg on July 27, 2007. “He told a judge in October [of 2006] that he had seen the error of his ways and was looking forward to raising his son as a law-abiding citizen. ‘I refuse to let my son go down the same path of negativity that I went down,’ he said at the time.”

Farooq Anwar, originally from Pakistan, was killed while working at his store in Chesterfield. Both his children attend the University of Virginia. American Dream, anyone?

Chief Brad Thomas and Captain Eric Chenault of the Bowling Green Volunteer Fire Department, both of which were seriously burned while fighting a fire on February 18, 2007. They were forced to jump from the second story of a building to escape the flames.

This isn’t all-inclusive, so if I missed someone leave a comment.

H/t: the fred review

Caroline County Board of Supervisors to expand exemptions for Business, Professional, and Occupational License (BPOL) tax?

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: BRIEFS: NEWS NEAR YOU:

Caroline Businesses with gross annual receipts of less than $50,000 would see expanded exemptions to business-license fees and taxes under a county proposal. The Caroline County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the proposal Jan. 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the community services center. Currently, only businesses with annual gross receipts of less than $2,500 are exempt from the tax and fees.

State to opt for impact fees instead of proffers?

From WTOP: Va. Developers Consider New Ways to Compensate Localities:

Virginia home builders may ask state legislators to change the way they help defray the costs of municipal services required by new development.

Currently, developers offer cash and land for roads, schools or parks. Those voluntary commitments, called proffers, are usually negotiated with city or county leaders.

In recent years, however, some localities have made proffers an informal requirement for approval of a project.

The Home Builders Association of Virginia has distributed a position paper suggesting that proffers be replaced with an impact fee on new homes that could be set by state lawmakers. The proposal also includes a new tax on the sale of existing homes, although it is unclear whether buyers or sellers would pay the tax.

And where do sellers get money from, idiot?

The buyers! Duh.

Sellers don’t have an invisible pile of money around to pay for taxes…

Cash proffers have become “an unbridled tax on new housing in virtually every modest growth area of the Commonwealth,” according to the document from the builders’ lobbying group.

Discussion of an automatic impact fee is a departure for the home building lobby, which has opposed the concept in the past.

Some developers argue that cash proffers are to blame for the current slump in the housing market because the cost is passed on to buyers in the purchase price.

Del. Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, who was recently briefed on the plan, said she would be reluctant to support anything that would further tax home sales.

“Our housing market is really stressed right now,” said Suit, a mortgage loan officer. “We need people to start buying homes, so increasing the cost of buying a home is not a good thing.”

The builders association argues that its proposal would increase affordable housing options by spreading infrastructure costs among more property transactions.

Del. Franklin Hall, D-Richmond, supports revamping a proffer system that he said “is exacerbating urban sprawl.”

The Virginia Association of Counties opposes any plan that would deprive local governments of the power to ask developers to help pay infrastructure costs, spokesman Ted McCormack said.

“We’d be reluctant to give up cash proffers unless we feel like the impact fee system would offer flexibility,” he said. “A one-size-fits-all approach is probably not something that’s going to work across 95 counties.”

The General Assembly convenes Jan. 9.