Category: Caroline County

Weekly News Media Briefs – Week Ending April 19, 2008

From the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office: Weekly News Media Briefs – Week Ending April 19, 2008:

On April 13, 2008, Deputy T. P. Connolly stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction.  After investigating, Andrew K. Baker, 27, of Ruther Glen was charged with driving under the influence.  He was released on a personal recognizance bond and an arraignment date of April 16, 2008 was set.

On April 13, 2008, Deputy C. S. Wooldridge responded to a domestic in Woodford.  After investigating, John D. Kearns, 41, of Woodford was charged with 2 counts of domestic assault.  He was released on a personal recognizance bond and a court date of April 17, 2008 was set.

On April 14, 2008, Deputy J. K. Miller responded to a complaint of illegal dumping in Milford.  After investigating, Delontae M. Coleman, 20, of Bowling Green was charged on a summons with illegal dumping on private property.  His court date is July 25, 2008.

On April 15, 2008, Deputy F. L. Brennan and P. E. Ford responded to a disturbance in Carmel Church.  After investigating, Roseanna M. Sutherland, 34, and Craig F. Sutherland, 37, both of Bar Harbor, Maine were charged with being drunk in public.  Both were ordered held until sober and a court date of May 28, 2008 was set.

On April 15, 2008, Deputy R. J. Anderson responded to a domestic in Woodford.  After investigating, Kevin H. Curtis, 42, of Woodford and Henry H. Curtis, 78, of Woodford were charged with 2 counts each of assault and battery.  Judy M. Martin, 37, of Woodford was also charged with brandishing a firearm.  All were released on $1000 bond each and court dates were set for April 18, 2008.

On April 16, 2008, Deputy D. W. Mundie and Investigator M. M. Ellett were questioning a burglary suspect.  While speaking to him, they discovered marijuana growing at the residence.  Antoine T. Johnson, 18, of no fixed address was charged with manufacturing marijuana, breaking and entering, and 2 counts of felony larceny.  He was ordered held without bond and an arraignment date of April 18, 2008 was set.

On April 18, 2008, Deputy C. S. Overman responded to a domestic in Dawn.  After investigating, John D. Taylor, Sr., 57, of Dawn was charged with domestic assault.  He was released on a personal recognizance bond and a court date of April 24, 2008 was set.

On April 19, 2008, Deputy C. S. Overman responded to a report of a fight in the street in Woodford.  After investigating, Matthew C. Riley, 24, of Woodford was charged with domestic assault.  Bond and court information were not available.

On April 19, 2008, Deputy C. S. Overman responded to a domestic in Bowling Green.  After investigating, Carlos M. Gonzalez-Rodriguez, 50, of Bowling Green was charged with domestic assault.  He was released on a personal recognizance bond and a court date of April 24, 2008 was set.

Caroline County Sheriff’s Office Wrap Up

According to Sheriff Tony Lippa, Caroline Deputies made 3 drug arrests, 1 driving under the influence arrest, 21 domestic violence arrests, and 51 other criminal arrests during the past week.  The deputies served 243 civil papers, issued 249 traffic summonses, handled 15 motor vehicle crashes, responded to 32 alarm calls, and dealt with 13 juvenile offenders.  The Sheriff’s Office Communications Center dispatched 441 calls for service and handled 1,077 telephone inquiries.  The CCSO also logged 40 calls assisting outside agencies and had 226 self initiated calls.

Paging Caroline BOS.

In King George County, from The Free Lance–Star:

Supervisor Dale Sisson asked if early June would be a realistic estimate to start service [of wireless Internet service]. [Allen] Taliaferro [a director with Virginia Broadband] wouldn’t give an exact date, but said he felt comfortable with June.

But don’t worry, Jeff Sili is kindly going to provide you with a map of where to move to so you can receive high-speed internet here in Caroline County (2008-03-11 BOS Minutes):

Supervisor Sili said that those people [who currently provide broadband services to the County] are going to come back in April to lay out the areas where they plan to grow and hopefully they will publish those.

How considerate.

Why does the county refuse to do what it needs to do?

Especially after Delegate Chris Peace bothered to get a bill (HB1329) passed that would allow wireless Internet providers to use state own communication towers to provide internet service to unserved areas.

Another bonus, according to what Mr. Thomas said during the January 8th BOS meeting, is the following: When a cell phone tower is approved by the county, the ordinances included a provision that allows the county to use the towers for the county’s telecom needs. As the county is required to create a Wireless Service Authority, Virginia Broadband (or any other company doing the service) would be allowed to use the cell towers (through the ordinance) to provide service (2008-01-08 BOS Minutes):

Chairman Thomas said that in all of our ordinances when they get a cell tower, they have to allow County access. He said so if they create a County utility, then that is a service and they have to allow access. Chairman Thomas asked Mr. Emerson if this sounded like it would work.

Mr. Emerson responded that it sounds like it, but he would have to look at it.

And for those areas without cell phone towers, all that would need to be installed is a pole (about the size of a telephone pole) according a story on Spotsylvania County’s plans (The Free Lance–Star):

Scott advised that towers would probably be no taller than a telephone pole.

But, you know, whatever guys: whenever you get around to it.

State Fair of Virginia costing Caroline County more money…

For “contractual services”? Eh?

Subsection of line item #032500-3160 “Other Contractual Services”:

“State Fair Contractual Services”:

Department [Fire/Rescue] Request: $11,760

County Admin Recommends: $11,760

Hooray.

And the Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Management seems to think they’re unprepared for a incident at the State Fair considering they requested the following (the items weren’t approved):

DFR 06-01″Hard Access Response Units (2) State Fair”: 65,100

DFR 06-03 “Mini Pumper Fire Unit – State Fair”: $235,000

So, what exactly was the Board of Supervisors advertising for in 2007?

You tell me.

Here’s an interesting line item in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007/2008 budget:

11010 ** BOARD OF SUPERVISORS **

011010-3600 ADVERTISING

For FY 2004/2005 (July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2005) Actual: $6,744

FY 05/06 (July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2006) Actual: $6,320 — -6.29%

FY 06/07 (July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007) Actual: $12,720 — +101.27%

FY 2008:

  • Budgeted: $2,000
  • Actual on December 31, 2007: $16,387
  • Projected [simply the first half multiplied by 2]: $32,774

So, what exactly was being advertised?

Am I the only one that finds a massive increase in “advertising” in an election year to be suspicious?

Would it be all those “constituent meetings” that were being held by the Board members (three of which had seats that were in the process of being challenged) were being advertised heavily by the county?

How exactly was there more than the whole previous year’s expenditures spent in just one half of a year? (And remember that FY 06/07 [which had a 101.27% increase over the previous year] would include the first half of 2007.)

Up next: The Board of Supervisors requests a pay raise (and has their request approved in the proposed budget by the County Administrator).

Twittering Board of Supervisors Meeting

I’ll be Twittering the Board of Supervisors meeting and providing update during the meeting via text messages with my cell. Check the left sidebar under “Twitter” for updates. Doesn’t look like there’s that much interesting stuff during this meeting but I’ve got nothing else to do. :)

Video of the Board of Supervisor meetings on I’m Surrounded By Idiots

I’m in the processing of adding video from the Board of Supervisors meetings to the blog. So far, I’ve gotten part of the March 18, 2008 meeting converted and uploaded. The rest should be done in the coming days.

I’m doing this in an attempt to increase the awareness of the citizens of Caroline County of the going-ons of their government.

For those on dial-up, it may be in your best interest to use the links at the bottom of the video pages, add them to a download manager (such as GetRight), download them during the night, and then view them using a FLV player (I use Moyea FLV Player).

Weekly News Media Briefs – Week Ending April 12, 2008

From the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office: Weekly News Media Briefs – Week Ending April 12, 2008:

On February 6, 2008, Deputy K. H. Eichenmiller stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction and issued a summons. After further investigation, on April 10, 2008, David K. Smith, 42, of Ruther glen was charged with forging a summons, identity theft, speeding, and driving on a suspended driver’s license. He was ordered held without bond and an arraignment date of April 11, 2008 was set.

On April 10, 2008, Deputy J. O. Cecil responded to a citizen requesting advice in Carmel Church. After investigating, Mary L. Chavis, 35, of Pembroke, NC was charged with soliciting for prostitution. She was held under a $3500 bond and an arraignment date of April 16, 2008 was set.

On April 11, 2008, Sergeant J. W. McCarty, Deputies B. N. Doucet, C. M. Polliard, and C. S. Wooldridge responded to an address in Ruther Glen in reference to a party that involved underage drinking. After investigating, James A. Stanley, 42, and Linda L. Stanley, 43, both of Ruther Glen, were charged with 11 counts each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. They were also charged with 6 counts each of providing alcohol to adults under the age of 21. Both were ordered held under a $5000 bond and an arraignment date of April 15, 2008 was set. At the same event, Christopher A. Holman, 18, of Ruther Glen, was charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer. He was ordered held under a $1500 bond and his arraignment date was set on April 23, 2008. Six other adults were released on summonses for underage possession of alcohol pending trial on May 23, 2008.

On April 11, 2008, Deputy C. A. Heywood stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Herman P. Calhoun Jr., 46, of Mechanicsville was charged with driving under the influence. He was released on a personal recognizance bond and a court date of April 23, 2008 was set.

On April 12, 2008, Deputy T. P. Connolly stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Jesse B. Beverly, 42, of Ruther Glen was charged with driving under the influence. He was released on a personal recognizance bond and a court date of April 16, 2008 was set.

On April 12, 2008, Deputy C. S. Wooldridge responded to a domestic in Ruther Glen. After investigating, Bryan C. Tolliver, 22, of Fredericksburg was charged with 2 counts of domestic assault. He was released on a personal recognizance bond and an arraignment date of April 17, 2008 was set.

On April 12, 2008, Deputy W. D. Lipscomb attempted to stop a vehicle for a traffic infraction. The vehicle refused to stop. After causing the vehicle to stop, Tony W. Washington, 47, of Milford was charged with felony eluding, driving under the influence – 2nd, offense, refusing to submit to a breath test, obstruction of justice, driving on a revoked drivers license and failing to register a vehicle. . He was ordered held without bond and an arraignment date of April 14, 2008 was set.

On April 12, 2008, Deputy W. D. Lipscomb stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation. After investigating, Raymond L. Goodall, Jr., 36, of Doswell was charged with driving under the influence – 2nd, offense, refusing to submit to a breath test, and driving on a revoked driver’s license. He was held under a $2500 bond and a court date of May 16, 2008 was set.

On April 12, 2008, Deputy W. D. Lipscomb stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation. After investigating, Melvin A. Johnson, 22, of Richmond was charged with driving under the influence and driving on a revoked driver’s license – 3rd, offense. He was held under a $2000 bond and a court date of May 16, 2008 was set.

On April 12, 2008, Sergeant R. L. Hixson stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Tracy L. Hall, 36, of Richmond was charged with driving under the influence, refusing to submit to a breath test and possession of marijuana. She was held under a $2000 bond and a court date of April 16, 2008 was set.

Caroline County Sheriff’s Office Wrap Up

According to Sheriff Tony Lippa, Caroline Deputies made 4 drug arrests, 9 driving under the influence, 7 domestic violence arrests, and 141 other criminal arrests during the past week. The deputies served 173 civil papers, issued 283 traffic summonses, handled 5 motor vehicle crashes, responded to 54 alarm calls, and dealt with 14 juvenile offenders. The Sheriff’s Office Communications Center dispatched 443 calls for service and handled 1,810 telephone inquiries. The CCSO also logged 29 calls assisting outside agencies and had 223 self initiated calls.

Next time, invite me.

:)

The Free Lance–Star:

Two Caroline County parents were charged Friday night with multiple counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor after throwing a birthday party for their daughter.

Caroline County Sheriff Tony Lippa said the sheriff’s office received a call about 9:44 p.m. Friday alerting them to underage drinkers at a party in Ruther Glen.

Police got there to find 11 people between the ages of 15 and 17, and six more between the ages of 18 and 20.

Go Caroline!

Who says we can’t be better than King George with anything? (Oh wait, that would be me.) The Free Lance–Star:

Concealed-weapons permit applications in Virginia increased by about 73 percent from 2006 to 2007, and most local clerks’ offices also are reporting significant increases.

Caroline County gave out 105 permits in 2006; the number jumped to 201 in 2007, a 91 percent increase. [King George County only had a 90% increase -Ed.]

Ray Campbell, the clerk of the circuit court there, said he attributed at least some of the jump to the fact that the statute for concealed-wea-pons permits changed about 2002.

“They made it harder to deny a permit,” Campbell said.

Because permits must be renewed every five years, he believes much of the jump in 2007 came from those new 2002 permits’ being renewed last year.

Maybe someone should ask Campbell why it took two people I know 48 days and a phone call to get their concealed handgun permit back in 2006. The statutory maximum time given to the Clerk’s Office to issue a permit is 45 days (§18.2-308(D)). Amazingly, in the middle of 2007, another person I know managed to get a permit in 10 days.

There was an election in 2007 for Circuit Court Clerk, wasn’t there?

FYI: It’s a concealed handgun permit, not a concealed weapons permit.

And then it’s time for me to do some fact-checking:

[…]

[Owner of Dameron’s Tactical Solutions Kevin] Dameron further said that the available of Tasers to the public since the beginning of the year is increasing the number of permit applications.

The Tasers have power equivalent to those used by law enforcement officers, he said, and they require concealed-weapons permits to carry.

“A lot of females are coming to the class for that, because they feel [Tasers] are less lethal, but powerful,” Dameron said.

Uh…no, tasers don’t require a conceal handgun permit.

From a story in The FL–S back in July of 2007: “[Fredericksburg Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Andy] Cornick said it is not technically illegal to conceal a Taser unless you are a convicted felon”.

In addition, a taser is not enumerated as a weapon that is illegal to conceal in §18.2-308(A).

Furthermore, a concealed handgun permit wouldn’t include tasers since they’re not a handgun.