Category: Local

S-bag robs paraplegic, gets arrested, gets charged with four felonies.

The Free Lance–Star: Paraplegic’s prescriptions object of residential heist:

It was about 4:30 a.m. yesterday morning when Robert Newcomb’s front door was kicked in.

[…]

Newcomb, a paraplegic, soon realized what the intruder was looking for: prescription drugs.

The robber made his way through the mobile home, located in the Cedar Ridge Mobile Home Park in Woodford, near Corbin. He then came into Newcomb’s bedroom, which was lit only by the TV.

“He pointed the sawed-off 20-gauge shotgun at me and he asked for my pain medication,” Newcomb said. “Then he demanded oxycontin.”

After getting some drugs he didn’t want the moron came back looking for the “good stuff”.

And he was arrested the next day:

Sheriff Tony Lippa announced tonight the arrest of Joshua Thomas, 20, of Corbin. Thomas has been charged with breaking and enter with the intent to commit larceny; armed robbery; possession of a sawed off shotgun; and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The charges stem from a home invasion robbery that was reported to the Caroline Sheriff’s Office on March 19, 2008 at approximately 3 a.m. Case Investigator M. M. Ellett handled the investigation and placed the charges.

Thomas is being held without bond in Pamunkey Regional Jail. As this is still an ongoing investigation, no further information is being released at this time.

And considering the fact that the media loves reporting all the bad things that happens in Caroline County, NBC 4 has ran a story about the crime (but not the arrest) and the crime has also made the Associated Press’s Virginia wire — hooray.

WWBT’s story:

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7922909965727967075]

Okay, maybe a couple of people at the General Assembly aren’t complete idiots…

Well, at least a couple of the Delegates and Senators that worked out the budget had some sense. The following was included in the budget that was passed on March 13, 2008, in both the House of Delegates (99-Y 0-N) and the Senate of Virginia (26-Y 14-N):

Administration FY 08-09 FY 09-10
Compensation Board $337,007 $318,907 GF
Language:
Page 53, line 19, strike “$67,102,122” and insert “$67,439,129”.
Page 53, line 19, strike “$67,102,122” and insert “$67,421,029”.
Explanation:
(This amendment provides general funds to convert four part-time Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ offices for Buckingham, Caroline, Charles City, and Middlesex counties from part-time to full-time status in accordance with § 15.2-1629, Code of Virginia.)

Interestingly, this was after the Senate of Virginia had previously decided not to convert any of the offices and the House’s budget only included money for one office — Buckingham County. And that was only because the subcommittee that approved the money had the Delegate (Abbitt) that represents Buckingham County as its chairman.

Looks like the conferees that worked it out had some sense.

I’m still going over the conference report and will post anything else interesting I find.

Weekly News Media Briefs – Week Ending March 15, 2008

From the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office: Weekly News Media Briefs – Week Ending March 15, 2008:

On March 7, 2008, Deputy T. P. Connolly stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Lawrence J. Minnick, 27, of King George was charged with driving on a suspended license – 3rd offense. He was released on a personal recognizance bond and an arraignment date of March 12, 2008 was set.

On March 7, 2008, Deputy C. A. Heywood responded to a burglary. After investigating, Ryan K. Kellum, 21, of Richmond was charged with property damage, possession of burglary tools, burglary and grand larceny. His bond and court information were not available.

On March 9, 2008, Deputy T. J. Ketchem stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Timothy L. Harris, 32, of Stafford was charged with driving under the influence and refusal to submit to a breath test. He was held under a $2500 bond and an arraignment date of March 14, 2008 was set.

On March 9, 2008, Deputy D. W. Mundie stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Arthur L. Carter, 49, of Milford was charged with driving after being declared an habitual offender, driving under the influence, and refusal to submit to a breath test. He was ordered held under a $3500 bond and a court date of March 12, 2008 was set.

On March 9, 2008, Deputy P. E. Ford stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Dwight C. Brown, Jr., was charged with driving on a suspended license. He was released on a personal recognizance bond and an arraignment date of March 14, 2008 was set.

On March 12, 2008, Deputy T. J. Ketchem responded to an incident in the courthouse. After investigating, David M. Wood, II, 18, of Fredericksburg was charged with damage to property. He was released on his own recognizance and a court date of March 19, 2008 was set.

On March 12, 2008, Deputy B. N. Doucet responded to a disorderly person at a business in Ladysmith. After investigating, Lloyd V. Ferguson, 49, of Ruther Glen was charged with being drunk in public and felony petit larceny – 3rd offense. He was ordered held without bond and a court date of March 28, 2008 was set.

On March 14, 2008, Deputy C. M. Polliard stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction. After investigating, Jeffrey J. Stone, 46, of Ruther Glen was charged with driving under the influence and driving on a suspended driver’s license. He was released on his own recognizance and a court date of March 26, 2008 was set.

On March 14, 2008, Deputy C. M. Hall was made aware of a situation in the middle school. After investigating, a juvenile was charged with distribution of marijuana. The juvenile was ordered detained pending a court hearing.

Caroline County Sheriff’s Office Wrap Up

According to Sheriff Tony Lippa, Caroline Deputies made 3 drug arrests, 4 domestic violence arrests, and 30 other criminal arrests during the past week.  The deputies served 197 civil papers, issued 263 traffic summonses, handled 3 motor vehicle crashes, responded to 40 alarm calls, and dealt with 8 juvenile offenders.  The Sheriff’s Office Communications Center dispatched 413 calls for service and handled 1,006 telephone inquiries.  The CCSO also logged 29 calls assisting outside agencies and had 211 self initiated calls.

Guess she voted for it before she voted against it…or something…

The esteemed member of the Bowling Green Town Council Susan Sili (and the wife of Jeff Sili [Bowling Green representative for the Board of Supervisors]) really needs to get her story straight. Here’s what she said on November 28, 2007 on FredTalk using the alias “oharascarlett”:

Visitor Center is grant Money/cannot be used for anything else BUT a Visitor Center/TJ [Tom James] and Corran [my “alias” on FredTalk] have been told this over and over again but still keep spewing the same nonsense

Of course, in the same post she said that the “courthouse greenery” (Victory Park) was in the “architectural committee level to decide if it will even be done at all”. That very day [November 28th], The Caroline Progress reported the old jail had already been torn down that week as part of the “courthouse greenery” plan under the headline of “Old jail leveled for scenic Victory Park”.

Of course, again, in the same post she said the YMCA wasn’t a done deal, when the Board had already been voted on it way back in June of 2005.

Here’s what she said on December 10, 2007:

The visitor center/new office for Wilson was premature and will it ever be completed?

Here’s what she said on February 17, 2008:

The grant money and proffer money was given for the visitor center, cannot be traded for public safety or schools. Its not an either/or proposition as has been explained MANY times before to TJ, you can’t trade it in for another project.

Here’s what she said on March 14, 2008:

BigheadA, I had said along time ago, Why cant the BOS decide what to do with the Proffer Money? Could we have not said “thank you for your Donation, we will put this in our school system or Fire & Rescue” I am still upset that we wasted money on a visitors center, we have so many things that were more IMPORTANT !!!!!

Of course, the only reason she changed her tune was because the consensus of everyone on the message board was outrage at the current conditions of the schools (and the lack of use of proffers for the schools) in Caroline County. Guess she didn’t want to be odd-man (woman) out.

Wow, such amazing leadership we have here in Caroline County…

I’m just glad I don’t live in the town of Bowling Green…

So why did Caroline and Stafford Counties fail to meet ozone standards but Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg didn’t?

As noted previously, Caroline and Stafford Counties failed to meet the EPA’s new ozone quality standards but Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg didn’t. Care to guess why?

It’s because Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg don’t have any ozone monitors!

In fact, there are only 26 ozone monitors in 21 different jurisdictions in all of Virginia:

ozone.png

It’s amazing that the AP and the Richmond Times-Dispatch actually published a news story when the whole basis of the story is government data whose methodology is so flawed it would be laughed at by anyone doing scholarly research. They only have data for 21 jurisdictions (out of 134 jurisdictions [95 counties and 39 independent cities]) but that doesn’t stop them from writing a story about the terrible ozone in the 14 jurisdictions (out of the 21 jurisdictions that have monitors) that failed to meet the EPA’s standards!

Thanks to commenter Larry Gross on Fred2Blue blog for pointing this out.

*Cough**Cough* There’s too much smog in this county!

Well, that’s according to the EPA.

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Tougher pollution limits mean Richmond area, other state regions, are in violation:

Richmond and several other Virginia regions violate a tougher air-pollution limit that federal officials announced this evening, state officials say.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a new limit for the amount of ozone allowed in the air. Ozone is the main pollutant in smog.

[…]

Some parts of Virginia that met the previous limit also violate the new one, state officials say. They include Hampton Roads, the Roanoke area and Caroline and Stafford counties. (Smoggy Northern Virginia has violated federal ozone limits for nearly 20 years.)

Complete list from the AP: Counties Not Meeting EPA Smog Standards:

Virginia: Alexandria City, Arlington, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Fairfax, Hampton City, Hanover, Henrico, Loudoun, Madison, Prince William, Stafford, Suffolk City.

Um, yeah, sure, Caroline and Stafford Counties are on that list but Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg are not? That makes sense to me!

The city of Alexandria has 9,011.45 people per square mile. Arlington County has 7,683.89 people per square mile. The city of Hampton has 2,646.3 people per square mile. Meanwhile, Caroline County only has 50.15 people per square mile.

As if anyone needed any addition proof that the EPA is completely useless…

03/13/2008 Donna Blanton retrial news roundup.

Didn’t get a chance to post some of this yesterday:

The Free Lance–Star: Blanton’s friends had to investigate his death

The Free Lance–Star: BLANTON GETS LIFE SENTENCE

From WTVR: Blanton Convicted of Murdering Her Husband:

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4719471262293594643]

And, finally, WTVR: Donna Blanton The Talk Of The Town:

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9185339349808422380]

Setting the record straight…

The Caroline Progress: Complaint against Popowicz unfounded:

A recent media report about Supervisor Bobby Popowicz and his employment as the Assistant General Manager have hit Caroline like a bombshell. The story contained unfair allegations said Bobby Popowicz who represents the Port Royal District on the Caroline County Board of Supervisors.

The article told of a Lake of the Woods committee meeting of homeowners seeking to determine “who and what was responsible for nearly $320,000 in cost overruns” of a building project for a pro shop originally slated for $1.5 million.

[…]

Lake of the Woods General Manager John Bailey placed the blame for the overruns on Assistant Manager Popowicz who, as project manager, had signed off on change orders that drove the cost up.

But it was Bailey who ordered the change orders and had Popowicz sign for them, said the Caroline Supervisor in an interview March 6.

“I’m being scape-goated. I wasn’t there to defend myself. He’s trying to blame it on me and save his job. I don’t think they’re going to renew his contract when it comes up in May,” said Popowicz who was not asked for his comments for the March 2 story in The Free Lance-Star.

With the deadline for opening the building less than two months away, change orders became necessary for fire suppression, hardy-plank, industrial dishwashers, fiber optic cable, and curb and sidewalk forms.

Yeah, nothing like spending $18,000 for two dishwashers, eh, Bailey?

“We were under the gun to get it open,” said Popowicz who wanted more time to do cost analysis but was over-ruled by Bailey. Instead, work was done on an unpredictable “time and materials” basis and when the bills came rolling in over a week’s time it was a shock.

“In my 20 years as a project manager I’ve never had cost overruns,” said Popowicz who added that Bailey had ordered similar changes on a previous project.

“It was a mess. He was gone a lot of the time for personal reasons. I decided to look for other work,” said Popowicz who now works for Flagstar Bank in Arlington.

Popowicz told of a shouting match with Bailey who ordered concrete form work for sidewalks and roadways torn out and redone “because it wasn’t symmetrical.” The revamped site work incurred about $50,000 in additional charges.

“He had the plans for months,” said Popowicz.

Asked to comment, General Manager John Bailey said he was not making statements to the press. Later phone calls were not returned.

[…]

Lake of the Woods Association President Eldon Rucker said, “There were a number of people involved in this project and it is unfair to use one person to blame.”

Human remains found at Belvedere Plantation

The Free Lance–Star: Authorities search for remains at farm:

Human bones reported on the grounds of Belvedere Plantation have Spotsylvania County police searching for more of the remains.

The bones were found on a 50-acre plot of the old farm off U.S. 17 near the Caroline County line. It was being used as a mining site for New Post Sand and Gravel.

According to a search warrant filed in Circuit Court, a former employee for New Post who was digging at the site, found two human skulls and various other bones while operating machinery.

Lewis and Clark Elementary School scheduled to open April 8th.

The Free Lance–Star: Caroline sets date for new school other details:

April 8 appears to be the new target date for Caroline County school officials to open the new Lewis and Clark Elementary School.

[…]

If the building is ready by March 31, Jones said teachers would be taught how to use the new facility and school officials would send letters home to parents about an open house on April 7.

If all goes according to plan, Jones said 180 fifth-graders from Ladysmith Elementary would start at the new facility on April 8.

The story also has information on the School Board’s proposed budget so give it a read.