The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors has approved a resolution to involve the county in the creation of a regional 911 center.
A study funded by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency recommended a 911 center to be shared by Montgomery County, Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Virginia Tech authorities.
The Virginia General Assembly would be required to pass legislation allowing the authority to be formed. Zc
Construction for a roadway and intersection improvement plan begun in 2008 is now complete on the Virginia Tech campus.
The project, a joint effort between the Town of Blacksburg and the university, was completed on time and under budget according to a university press release.
Results of the project include a traffic light at West Campus Drive and Perry Street, as well as new right turn lanes off of Prices Fork Rd onto West Campus Drive and Stanger Street.
West Campus Drive was closed during the summer to complete the project. Zc
Virginia Tech is teaming with Monmouth University and Penn State at Altoona to present a three day event exploring the cultural significance of rock musician Bruce Springsteen.
The symposium (click here to view the website), will take place at Monmouth University in Long Branch, NJ. Mark Bernhard, Tech’s director of continuing and professional education, is helping organize the event.
Tours of Spingsteen’s “stomping grounds” of Asbury Park and Freehold will be offered.
Musical performances will be included as part of the symposium. While Springsteen will not be performing, other Jersey Shore acts will. A university press release lists Boccigalupe, The Badboys as well as Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers as featured acts.
Registration is $345, but only $245 for students. Zc
Lawyers for the families of April 16 victims that are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Virginia Tech and state officials have asked Robert Miller, the former Cook Counseling Center director who returned Seung-Hui Cho’s mental health records, for more information.
A press release from Robert Hall, attorney for the families of April 16 shooting victims Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde, said the mental health documents released Wednesday were “remarkable for what they don’t contain.”
Hall sent a request for admissions to Miller’s counsel Thursday. He hopes to gain more information than Miller released in a public legal response Tuesday.
The request for admissions makes 65 assertions in relation to Miller’s knowledge of Cho and gives Miller the chance to respond.
It outlines the center’s interaction with Cho, as well as the internal communications of university personnel with Miller detailing Cho’s mental health history.
Read the document below:
If you have questions about the document or the assertions that should be investigated, send them to newseditor@collegiatetimes.com or post a comment. Zc
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds will be making two stops in Blacksburg today as he kicks off his campaign in the western portion of Virginia.
First, Deeds will take a tour of the green home built by Virginia Tech students at the Research and Demonstration Facility on Plantation Rd.
Along with local House of Delegates representative Jim Shuler, Deeds will answer questions from students after his 3:15 tour.
He will then meet with local Democratic leaders at Bud Foster’s Restaurant at 4 p.m. Zc
Two suspects were arrested Sunday in connection to an incident where a man brandished a firearm while shoplifting a case of beer.
Joshua Lyle Martin, a 24-year-old from Pearisburg, and Doris Ann Oliver, an 18-year-old from Christiansburg, were arrested and sent to Montgomery County Jail.
According to a press release, a man entered a store in the 900 block of University City Blvd. with “a female accomplice” and attempted to leave the store with a case of beer.
The female distracted the clerk in the self check out line. However, the clerk approached the male as he left with the case of beer. He showed the clerk a handgun, pointing it at the ground and was able to escape.
Martin has been charged with shoplifting, brandishing a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon, while Oliver was charged with shoplifting, underage possession of alcohol and drunk in public.
On my trip to the gubernatorial debate this weekend, I stopped by the town where I used to live, Covington, VA. There is a restaurant near where I-64 passes through town called Cucci’s.
It is a family owned Italian restaurant that serves as a real center of the small town life there in Covington. It is particularly well known for its sandwiches and turnovers. While I was there, owner Victor Cucci told me that a Cucci’s would be opening in Blacksburg.
He has other offshoots of the original Covington location.
Two Lil’ Cucci’s restaurants operate in Daleville and Forest.
He did not say whether this one would be named Cucci’s or Lil’ Cucci’s, but he mentioned it would be opening in about two weeks.
I have not been able to confirm the exact location, but he said it was off of Price’s Fork Road. More information when I get it on a new restaurant moving in. Zc
In the first Gubernatorial debate of the general election, Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds sparred on economic plans and addressed issues of education and gun control.
Moderator Rod Smolla, dean of law at Washington & Lee University, said an 11-year-old boy tracked down the suggestion box in an attempt to place a question about the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech.
Smolla posed his question to Deeds, asking about his specific ideas on the role of guns in Virginia.
Deeds, who drew opposition from several April 16 families in his run for the Democratic nomination voiced support for the Second Amendment, attributing his values on guns to the rural part of the state in which he grew up.
However, Deeds also expressed support for the gun show loophole bill supported by many April 16 families.
“These people poured their grief into the gun show loophole bill to close that loophole,” Deeds said. “I got that bill out of committee for the first time.”
It was voted down in the full Virginia House of Delegates in March.
He said he has “become convinced” that the bill should be passed.
McDonnell focused on a different side of the shootings.
“I think the way Gov. [Tim] Kaine handled Virginia Tech and mental health legislation after that was his finest moment at governor,” McDonnell said.
He pointed to legislation that closed “the mental health loophole” in the weeks following April 16. He also voiced support of the Second Amendment, but did not address the gun show loophole bill.
Higher education was also a heated topic.
McDonnell pushed for increased incentives for students who choose to pursue degrees in math and science, saying Virginia should entice students “to be geeks again.”
Deeds criticized McDonnell’s education plan, saying he would take money from schools to fund transportation, making the accusation that McDonnell was “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
McDonnell, on the other hand, called Deeds out early and often for having no plan to pay for “his wish list,” which emphasizes improving transportation to boost commerce.
Some early reviews of the debate:
Deeds was virtually in his backyard debating at the lavish Homestead Resort. However, the rest of the region has been decimated by the economic crisis. Many localities of the western portion of Virginia have unemployment rates in double digits.
I was speaking with a former county administrator of Deeds’ home county, Bath County, where the debate was held. First, she said she was surprised Deeds did not address the recent shootings at the Homestead when outlining his position on gun issues.
Secondly, she mentioned the tendency of both candidates to try and select single solutions for the economy, rather than look at localities.
As a government administrator, she is having to trim down budgets and workforces across the board, much like Virginia Tech has to do as a state university.
She said if the state government took the actions they are requiring of localities and universities, the economic environment may improve much more quickly.
However, both candidates had very specific plans to be enacted with legislation and policy.
Below is a general summary of positions expressed:
Education
McDonnell: Increase the number of charter schools, add incentives for those who choose to specialize in math and science.
Deeds: Use transportation revenue and other commerce to lower the price of higher education.
Economy
McDonnell: Emphasized improving small business. Hopes to increase tourism and film production in Virginia. Would start offshore drilling.
Deeds: Improve transportation to increase commerce. Make Virginia “the capital of alternative and renewable energy.”
Social “wedge” issues
They both were very short winded on these topics, saying they were not top priorities. Both said marriage is between a man and a woman.
One dominant topic was the Southwest Virginia economy. MeadWestvaco, a paper manufacturer that dominates the economy of Covington (the largest city in the Appalachian region other than Roanoke).
Covington, which is about 20 minutes from the Homestead, plays host to a massive, blue smoking paper mill. A packaging facility is down the road in Low Moor. Most of the residents of the area work for the company is some form or fashion.
Both candidates, particularly McDonnell (attempting to neutralize Deeds’ ties to the area) spoke about how they could help the company, and thus the area. I’m going to try and see which candidate the local workers are in favor of.
The most candidate financial contribution reports show that Deeds has Covington monopolized, but that is to be expected due to his local roots, and the fact that the workers are unionized.
I’ll have more reaction and follow up from this weekend’s debate in the next couple of days. Zc
The Thune Amendment, which many April 16 families voiced opposition to, has been defeated in the U.S. Senate, according to this Washington Post report.
More on this later. Zc
Former Hokie great Michael Vick has completed his sentence for running a dogfighting ring.
He is now, theoretically, free to play football. However, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will decide when and if Vick can play in the nation’s premiere professional league.
Two interesting articles can be found here on Sports Illustrated’s website.
The link is to an article in favor of Vick returning and at the top of that page you can jump to the opposing viewpoint. Zc