"Marine Killed During Training At Fort A.P. Hill"

From NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: Marine Killed During Training At Fort A.P. Hill:

A Marine was killed in a training accident Friday at Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County.

Authorities said the Marine died after a Humvee overturned at about 9 a.m. during training. Four others in the vehicle suffered minor injuries.

A spokesman said the incident occurred on the post’s Convoy Live-Fire Range.

The victims’ names have not been released.

All five Marines were with the 1st Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team — or FAST — Company based out of Norfolk. That company falls under the Second Marine Expeditionary Force based out of Camp Lejuene, North Carolina.

*Snicker* The poor woman…

From The Free Lance-Star: Theft case moves to feds to prosecute [emphasis mine]:

A Caroline County woman accused of stealing money from the private law firm of Caroline’s chief prosecutor is now under federal indictment.

Shelia [sic] Boone, 49, is charged with two federal counts of bank fraud and one of aggravated identity theft.

As a result of the federal charges, state embezzlement charges were dropped yesterday, said Richmond city prosecutor Sangeeta Darji.

Darji said the identity theft charge would carry a mandatory two-year minimum jail term if Boone is convicted.

Boone was a secretary for Harvey Latney, who is Caroline County’s commonwealth’s attorney and also runs a private law firm in Richmond. She is accused of stealing money–at least $271,000–from clients at Latney’s private law firm. She has charges in Caroline County.

Latney is not suspected of any wrongdoing. Boone no longer works for him, although she is still listed as his secretary on Caroline County’s government Web page. Boone is alleged to have forged Latney’s signature on checks to herself from an estate account.

The fraud was discovered when the commissioner of accounts, who oversees estates in escrow like this one was, did not receive reports from Latney on what was going on with the estate.

[…]

Boone’s federal court date has been set for Nov. 5 before Judge Henry Hudson.

"Police: Argument Over Remote May Have Caused Double Murder"

From WUSA 9 in Washington, D.C.: Police: Argument Over Remote May Have Caused Double Murder [emphasis mine]:

Police say an argument over a TV remote control may be to blame for a double murder last week in Fauquier County.

Eighty-three-year-old Robert Hawkins Senior and his son, 35-year-old Robert Hawkins Junior died last Thursday after the altercation at a house near Goldvein.

Anthony James Poole, who is Hawkins Senior’s son-in-law and the younger Hawkins’ brother-in-law, has been charged with two counts of first degree murder.

[…]

That’s where Fauquier County Sheriff Charlie Ray Fox says the men got into an altercation triggered by anger over who was using the remote control and sitting in certain chairs.

Police believe the argument had been brewing for a while before police were called to the home at 8:11 that night. They found both victims dead of gunshot wounds to the body.

Poole is being held without bond.

Fox says police believe Poole “just snapped.”

Uh-oh, they’re not being politically correct…

From NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: Despite Ban, Va. Tech Fans Shout Out Chant [emphasis mine:

In a year of profound sadness, perhaps fans of Virginia Tech football can be excused for a playful protest.

Despite a ban by the administration, thousands of fans Saturday yelled out a cheer deemed offensive by some.

By whom? Can you provide some names, please, instead of using weasel words? “Many claim that NBC 4’s stories are written by morons.” See my point?

As the players neared the end zone, thousands of Tech students moved their hips and yelled three times, “Stick it in.”

Then the rest of the stadium cheered.

School officials have been promoting “Hokie Respect” and sportsmanship in recent years. The ban on the suggestive chant is part of that effort.

But after the April 16 massacre on campus, some said it was time to get silly.

Tech won, by the way. The score over Ohio was 28-7.

Anti-Semite/racist James "Jim" Moran opens his mouth again…

From The Washington Post:

Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) has again come under fire from local Jewish organizations for remarking in a magazine interview that the “extraordinarily powerful” pro-Israel lobby played a strong role promoting the war in Iraq.

In an interview with Tikkun, a California-based Jewish magazine, Moran said the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is “the most powerful lobby and has pushed this war from the beginning. I don’t think they represent the mainstream of American Jewish thinking at all, but because they are so well organized, and their members are extraordinarily powerful — most of them are quite wealthy — they have been able to exert power.”

Moran’s remarks were criticized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and the National Jewish Democratic Council. Ronald Halber, executive director of the first group, said Moran’s remarks are anti-Semitic and draw on ugly stereotypes about Jewish wealth, power and influence.

“He uses several age-old canards that have been used throughout history that have brought violence upon Jews,” Halber said this week. “He uses clearly anti-Semitic images such as Jewish control of the media and wealthy Jews using their wealth to control policy.”

Ira N. Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, said in a published statement that there is nothing wrong with criticizing the pro-Israel lobby but that Moran’s statements go beyond that to defamation by making a “phony” connection between AIPAC and the Iraq war.

“Rep. Moran’s comments are not only incorrect and irresponsible,” Forman said. “They are downright dangerous.”

[…]

In 2001, he [Moran] angered groups by saying in an appearance before the American Muslim Council that then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was coming to Washington “probably seeking a warrant from President Bush to kill at will with weapons we have paid for.”

The next year, Moran returned $2,000 in political contributions from a Muslim activist with ties to the anti-Israeli groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

And in 2003, at an antiwar forum in Reston, Moran said: “If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this. The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going, and I think they should.”

Said Halber this week: “There are only so many mistakes he can make before it’s fair to call him an anti-Semite.”

I would say we’re at that point now. And don’t forget his racist acts back in 2000; from The Washington Post via LexisNexis, “Parents File Complaint Against Va.’s Moran; Lawmaker Says Boy Tried to Steal Car”:

The parents of the 8-year-old boy who allegedly tried to steal Rep. James P. Moran Jr.’s car Friday by claiming he had a gun have filed a complaint with an Alexandria magistrate and hired a lawyer, saying that their son did nothing wrong and was cursed and manhandled by the congressman.

The child merely admired Moran’s Toyota, the parents said, adding that Moran (D-Va.) then grabbed the boy by the neck and cursed at him.

Moran, who disputed the parents’ contentions, has not pressed charges against the boy but was obviously conflicted about how to proceed yesterday. Twice he reversed his decision, first telling a reporter he had decided to prosecute, then calling back an hour later to say he would not.

[…]

According to police, the boy approached Moran in the parking lot of Cora Kelly School and Recreation Center, claiming that he had a gun in his pocket and demanding that Moran give up his car keys.

Moran told police that he grabbed the boy and hauled him inside to the director’s office. The boy was not armed.

[…]

The boy’s mother, Melanie Gaitwood, yesterday gave her version of the incident, which occurred as Moran was picking up his children.

Gaitwood said her older son, age 9, came running home saying someone was trying to choke his brother.

Gaitwood said she went immediately to Cora Kelly. “My son was in the office, screaming and crying,” she said. “The director said, ‘This is the man right here that accused your son of trying to steal his car.’ I said, ‘What the hell are you talking about? He’s just 8 years old.’ ”

According to Gaitwood, Moran then insulted her.

Moran said the mother was “just screaming the vilest obscenities at me because I didn’t let him go. . . . And I said, ‘Ma’am, your son said he had a gun. He tried to steal my car.’ And she started with all the f’s. . . . I said, ‘Well, I think we found the problem.’ ”

Yesterday, Gaitwood told a reporter that a witness had seen Moran grab her son, a second-grader, around the neck and the leg. Then the boy’s father, Alonzo Griffen, arrived and referred questions to the family’s attorney, Ted J. Williams.

Also, from the AP via LexisNexis, “Congressman says boy tried to steal car, parents call congressman a thug”:

[Ted] Williams [the parents’ lawyer], who also threatened to sue, called it a case of a “white congressman’s word against that of a young black kid.” He said Moran should apologize and agree to meet with the parents.

[…]

He [Williams] also sent school transcripts identifying the child as Michael Green, an “A” student.

He should know better than to interfere with a media event…

From WUSA 9 in Washington, D.C.: Fire Inspector Faces Possible Action For Pointing Out Dangerous Boiler Room:

Timing is everything. After uncovering a mud and debris filled boiler room at Francis Junior High School in July, Fire Inspector Alan Lancaster told school officials it needed to be fixed.

When he came back in two weeks to check it, it wasn’t repaired, so he went looking for the principal.

He found her leading a tour of the building during Mayor Adrian Fenty’s “Buff and Scrub” media event.

Lancaster diverted the principal and the Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso to the boiler room.

In an exclusive report, 9NEWS NOW cameras were rolling when they discovered a scene, Reinoso described as “appalling.”

Within 30 minutes of the detour, school engineers and maintenance workers, and some top education leaders swarmed the school to see it for themselves.

It was fixed within days.

But 9NEWS NOW has learned the inspector who brought the problem to light faces possible disciplinary action for the way he handled it.

Sources tell 9NEWS NOW, some of the mayor’s staffers complained about how he pulled them away from the media event.

Lancaster is now on desk duty while fire officials conduct an internal investigation.

His supporters say he was just doing his job, to help the city meet the mayor’s October 15th deadline to have a working boiler in every DC school.

“We have addressed it early and removed all danger to anyone in the building before the cold weather hits,” Principal Stephanie Crutchfield said.

Lancaster isn’t commenting pending the outcome of the investigation.

Port Royal Volunteer Fire Department establishes Relief Fund for Captain Yvonne Reedal

From the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office: Port Royal Volunteer Fire Department establishes Relief Fund for Captain Yvonne Reedal:

Port Royal Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief David Jenkins announced today the establishment of a financial relief fund for fire and rescue volunteer Yvonne Reedal. Yvonne has suffered a cancer relapse and cannot return to work for an indefinite period. Yvonne has actively volunteered in Caroline for over 20 years. Additionally she serves the County as an emergency 911 communication officer, working for Caroline for eight years. Yvonne has given unselfishly of herself to others, now her Department is asking for others to aid her in her time of need.

Persons interested in offering financial support may send donations to the:

Relief Fund for Yvonne Reedal
C/o Union Bank and Trust
P.O. Box 98
Bowling Green, VA 22535

Donations may also be made at any branch of Union Bank and Trust.

For more information, contact J.P. Wilkerson with the Port Royal Volunteer Fire Department at (804)742-5509, David Jenkins, Assistant Chief, Port Royal Volunteer Fire Department Phone: (804) 742-5505, or Sheriff Tony Lippa.

Caroline County has the lowest SAT scores in the region…

From The Free Lance-Star: Local Sat Scores Drop College Boards Area Schools Behind State, U.S. Average:

Average SAT scores dropped this year for Fredericksburg-area school divisions, all of which received lower marks than the state and country as a whole.

[…]

Culpeper County was the only local school division to see improvement in all three of the Scholastic Aptitude Test’s categories: math, critical reading and writing.

[…]

Meanwhile, the private Fredericksburg Academy in Spotsylvania County increased its scores for the fifth straight year. It’s average of 1760 is 240 points higher than the state’s.

[…]

Administrators from Spotsylvania, Caroline and King George could not be reached for comment on SAT scores.

Not only were they the lowest, but they were 25.06% off of Fredericksburg Academy’s average, 13.22% off the Virginia average, and 12.71% off of the national average. Meanwhile they’re paying $7,952.68 per student (operating budget only) and they have the lowest SAT scores in the area.

Here’s a .XLS (Excel worksheet) with the scores since you can’t see the image at fredericksburg.com.

Would you like a side of mercury with that light bulb?

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Kaine unveils energy plan [emphasis mine]:

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine today unveiled an energy plan designed to promote the state’s energy independence and educate citizens on conservation.

[…]

Kaine released the Virginia Energy Plan at Virginia Commonwealth University, where Stephen Walz, Senior Advisor for Energy Policy to the Governor, presented the University with 1,800 compact fluorescent bulbs for installation on campus.

Virginia recently purchased 27,000 compact fluorescent bulbs to replace incandescent bulbs in state facilities. The bulbs should save Virginia taxpayers over $125,000 per year, and reduce electric use equivalent to the amount used by 1,300 homes. Their use will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 1,100 metric tons per year.

The Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy will be distributing 20,000 additional compact fluorescent bulbs at the State Fair of Virginia as part of Energy Conservation Awareness Week and to highlight Virginia’s first Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday from October 5th through October 8th.

One problem that isn’t addressed, from National Public Radio: CFL Bulbs Have One Hitch: Toxic Mercury:

But the bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, a neurotoxin, and the companies and federal government haven’t come up with effective ways to get Americans to recycle them.

“The problem with the bulbs is that they’ll break before they get to the landfill. They’ll break in containers, or they’ll break in a dumpster or they’ll break in the trucks. Workers may be exposed to very high levels of mercury when that happens,” says John Skinner, executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America, the trade group for the people who handle trash and recycling.

Skinner says when bulbs break near homes, they can contaminate the soil.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin, and it’s especially dangerous for children and fetuses. Most exposure to mercury comes from eating fish contaminated with mercury,

Some states, cities and counties have outlawed putting CFL bulbs in the trash, but in most states the practice is legal.

Pete Keller works for Eco Lights Northwest, the only company in Washington state that recycles fluorescent lamps. He says it is illegal to put the bulbs in the trash in some counties in Washington, but most people still throw them out.

“I think most people do want to recycle, but if it’s not made easy, it doesn’t happen,” Keller says. “And they’re small enough to fit in a trash can. So by nature, I think most people are not recyclers. So if it’s small enough to fit in a trash can, that’s where it ends up.”

Experts agree that it’s not easy for most people to recycle these bulbs. Even cities that have curbside recycling won’t take the bulbs. So people have to take them to a hazardous-waste collection day or a special facility.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency program concedes that not enough has been done to urge people to recycle CFL bulbs and make it easier for them to do so.

“I share your frustration that there isn’t a national infrastructure for the proper recycling of this product,” says Wendy Reed, who manages EPA’s Energy Star program. That programs gives the compact bulbs its “energy star” seal of approval.

[…]

Reed says the agency has been urging stores that sell the bulbs to help recycle them.

“EPA is actively engaged with trying to find a solution that works for these retailers around recycling the product, because it’s really, really important,” Reed says.

But so far, she says the biggest sellers of the bulbs haven’t stepped up to the plate.

[…]

EPA also has asked retailers to sell the lower mercury compact bulbs that some manufacturers are making. Engineers say you can’t cut mercury out completely.

Some other big companies have started paying attention to the recycling problem.

General Electric has been making compact fluorescents for 20 years. Now the company admits that the little bit of mercury in each bulbs could become a real problem if sales balloon as expected.

“Given what we anticipate to be the significant increase in the use of these products, we are now beginning to look at, and shortly we’ll be discussing with legislators, possibly a national solution here,” says Earl Jones, a senior counsel for General Electric.

Besides the mercury, why is the state government spending approximately $70,000 (20,000 bulbs at $3.50 a piece) to hand out light bulbs when the Governor has already asked state agencies to cut their budgets by 5%?