Month: March 2008

*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.

03/11/2008 Donna Blanton retrial news roundup — Jury recommends life.

Roundup: The Free Lance–Star: Jury finds Blanton guilty

and: The Free Lance–Star: Jury recommends life sentence for Blanton:

A jury here recommended this morning that Donna Blanton serve life in prison in the death of her husband Taylor.

[…]

“He’ll never know my grandchildren. He’ll never be at my wedding,” said Katy Blanton, 20. “He was stolen from me.”

Joel Blanton was 14 when his dad was killed.

“The chance to have a man-to-man conversation with my father was ripped away from me,” said Joel, now 18. “The last memory I have is just standing over his lifeless body, and it’s horrible.”

[…]

Defense attorney Mark Murphy asked the jurors to “consider this entire picture.”

I have a feeling that Mark Murphy wishes he had the previous jury this week…

The following is a parody…

Prologue: The following is written in the vein of a recent news story from WFLS that stated:

Jacob McHale was believed to have been abducted by his mother, Carianne McHale and her boyfriend, Matthew Borowski.

Anyway, to the feature attraction:

Jacob McHale was believed to have been abducted by his mother, Carianne McHale and her boyfriend, Matthew Borowski. Sure, the child was described as being taken while he was “kicking and screaming”, but that’s what the po-po and the child’s grandparents said, but you can’t trust the fuzz, and old people can’t remember stuff from five minutes ago. It’s also possible those old folks couldn’t remember the appearance of their own daughter while said daughter abducted their grandchild. For all we know it’s was a practical joke gone bad. Perhaps an early April Fools’ Day joke or something?

In other local news, it is believed that Donna Blanton was found guilty. We sent a reporter down there to cover the story but he must have gotten lost on those nice sandy beaches or something. It’s a negligible point anyway.

Rascally

Also, the Caroline County Board of Supervisors is believed to be holding a meeting tomorrow where it is believed that Superintendent Stanley Jones will present the School Board’s proposed budget. Sure, that’s what the agenda says but we can’t be a 100 percent sure at this point. It may all be a trick by that rascally County Administrator Percy Ashcraft (if that is in fact his real name) to mess with us.

The General Assembly is believed to be misusing your tax money in ways too numerous to count. Right now we’re investigating that, but we haven’t found enough evidence to draw a conclusion. Ditto for Congress.

It is believed that the General Assembly did manage to repeal the “abusive driver fees” but we weren’t there, so we can’t be a 100 percent sure right now.

It is believed that several Republicans voted to keep the “abusive driver fees” and sure enough that’s what the roll call votes say, but we can’t be sure at this point.

Jacob McHale returned safety, mother turns herself in, Matthew Borowski still at large.

WFLS News: Mother returns missing Stafford child:

Jacob McHale was believed to have been abducted by his mother, Carianne McHale and her boyfriend, Matthew Borowski. Monday afternoon Stafford County deputies were called to the office of an attorney representing McHale. She turned herself in and turned Jacob over. He appears to be in good condition and is being returned to his grandparents who have custody.

What the ****? “[B]elieved to have been abducted”? Way to nail down the facts there. Here’s what The Free Lance–Star said:

According to police, the three suspects showed up at the grandparents’ home unannounced about 11 p.m. Thursday. Carianne McHale grabbed the child while one of the men knocked the grandfather to the ground and the other held the grandmother.

Jacob was “kicking and screaming” when the group left in the 2004 black Infiniti G-35 with Virginia tags KMU8121, officials said.

This useless WFLS story continued:

A second man in the case, Varun Sethi turned himself in Sunday night and is charged with conspiracy to commit abduction. He remains in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond. Carianne McHale faces charges of abduction, assault and battery, felony child neglect and conspiracy to commit abduction. Borowski still remains at large and faces the same charges as McHale. The car believed to be used in the abduction was located in northern Virginia by the FBI and impounded. Authorities believe it was nearby a residence where Borwski may have been staying

Donna Blanton guilty.

Yeah, I know, big surprise.

The Free Lance–Star: Jury convicts Blanton in husband’s death:

Donna Blanton was convicted this evening of first-degree murder in the death of her state trooper husband in Caroline. She was also convicted of use of a firearm in commission of a felony.

Sentencing proceedings will start tomorrow. She showed no emotion as the verdict was announced.

The jury returned its decision after about two hours of deliberations.

Check tomorrow’s Free Lance-Star for the full report.