James Yerby, Caroline County teacher for 31 years, passes away.

The Free Lance–Star:

James Nathan Yerby of Richmond passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, July 23, 2008, as a result of injuries received in an automobile accident in Charles City County.

He was raised in a Christian home and joined Macedonia Baptist Church in Heathsville at an early age.

He later joined Moore Street Baptist Church in Richmond and was an ordained deacon and served in many other capacities until his death.

James was educated in the Northumberland County public schools. Upon graduation, he attended Virginia Commonwealth University earning a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education in May 1975.

James began his career of teaching seventh-grade history in 1976 at Caroline Middle School, Milford, and continued until he retired in 2007.

He was more than just a colleague. He was a beloved brother and friend who inspired many people with his love for teaching and his daily quote of “God is good.”

He leaves to cherish his love and precious memory his devoted wife, Vernice; two sons, Patrick and Brandon; and one daughter, Tiffany, all of Richmond; a loving father, James Clinton Yerby of Heathsville; seven sisters, Margaret and her husband, James, of Wytheville, Jane and her husband, Darryl, of Christiansburg, Lorraine and her husband, Isaac, of Richmond, Loretta of Washington, D.C., Patricia of Bowling Green, Sheila and her husband, Calvin, of Ruther Glen, and Carol A. Yerby of Heathsville; one sister-in-law; one brother-in-law; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Mary Othella Taylor Yerby; a twin brother, John; and a sister, Betty Jo.

A viewing will be Thursday, July 31, from noon to 8 p.m. at C.W. Edwards Funeral Home, 16476 Richmond Turnpike, Bowling Green, with the family receiving friends from 7 to 8 p.m. A viewing also will be held Friday, Aug. 1, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Moore Street Baptist Church, 1408 W. Leigh St., Richmond, Va. 23220.

A funeral will be held Saturday, Aug. 2, at 10 a.m., at Caroline County Community Services Center, 17202 Richmond Turnpike, Milford, Va. 22514, with the Rev. Alonza Lawrence officiating. Burial will be private at a later date.

Port Royal District Constituent Meetings.

PDF:

PORT ROYAL DISTRICT COMMUNITY MEETINGS
with Supervisor Bobby Popowicz

Monday, August 11, 2008 7:00 p.m.
Rehoboth United Methodist Church
18580 Partlow Road
Beaverdam, VA 23015

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 7:00 p.m.
Upper Caroline Volunteer Fire Department
12563 Stonewall Jackson Road
Woodford, VA 22580

Thursday, August 28, 2008 7:00 p.m.
Port Royal Volunteer Fire Department
435 King Street
Port Royal, VA 22535

There will be an open agenda for these meeting. Please make plans to attend, bring a topic of discussion and meet with Supervisor Popowicz.

We need some “change and hope” in leadership at the Caroline County Republican Committee (CCRC).

The current leadership is, of course, provided by Jeff Sili.

If you take a look at the CCRC’s website, you would think that George Allen is running for the United States Senate this year based on the picture that is posted on their website (the Republican nominee is of course Jim Gilmore).

Of course, the reason that picture is still on their website is because the site hasn’t been updated since September 2006.

For another example of Sili’s incompetence, check out the Caroline County Agricultural Fair:

When I was there on Friday, the Caroline County Democratic Committee (CCDC) had a tent open with with at least three people handing out signs and materials and registering people to vote. (They also manage to keep their website up to date as well.)

What did the Republican Committee have at the fair?

NADA.

You have an election coming up when the citizens of Caroline County will help to choose the President, a Senator, and two Congressmen, and the local Republican committee can’t be bothered to pay a few dollars for tent space in an attempt to turn out votes for fellow Republicans?

Weekly News Media Briefs – Week Ending July 26, 2008

From the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office:

On July 24, 2008, Deputy J.K Miller and Investigator M.M. Ellett conducted a follow-up investigation of a destruction of property, which occurred on October 17, 2007 in Ruther Glen. After investigating, Lloyd W. Thompkins, Jr., 22, of Ruther Glen was charged with Breaking and Entering and Destruction of Property. He was released on his own recognizance and a court date of August 1, 2008 was set.

On July 19, 2008, Deputy F.L. Brennan responded to Ruther Glen for a domestic disturbance. After investigating, Adam S. Seal, 32, of Ruther Glen was charged with Domestic Assault. He was arrested on July 20, 2008 by Sgt. M.W. Turner. He was released on his own recognizance and a court date of July 24, 2008 was set.

On July 19, 2008, Deputy J.K. Miller responded to Milford for a domestic disturbance. After investigating, Tony D. Barner, 23, of Milford was charged with domestic assault. He has a pending court date in Caroline Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

On July 20, 2008, Sgt. R.L. Hixson stopped Annmarie Lampersberger, 48, of Prince George for a traffic violation. Upon further investigation, Lampersberger was charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol. She was held on a $2,000 secured bond and has a pending court date.

On July 21, 2008, Deputy B.N. Doucet responded to a Ruther Glen business for a shoplifting. After investigating, a female juvenile was charged with shoplifting. She has a pending court date in Caroline J&DR Court.

On July 21, 2008, Deputy S. Mullane stopped Alvin L. Shepherd, 46, of Bowling Green for a traffic violation. Upon further investigation, Shepherd was charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, 2nd offense, and Driving Suspended. He was held on a $2,500 secured bond and a court date of July 23, 2008 was set.

On July 22, 2008, Deputy T.P. Connolly stopped Gustive P. Stephens, 34, of Woodford for a traffic violation. Upon further investigation, Stephens was charged with Driving while Revoked, Driving after Forfeiture of License and Possession of a Concealed Weapon by a Convicted Felon. He was ordered held without bond and a court date of July 23, 2008 was set. Additionally, a passenger in the vehicle, Christopher A. Thomas, 24 of Spotsylvania was arrested on an outstanding Possession of Marijuana warrant out of Orange County and an outstanding Capias out of Spotsylvania County. Thomas was ordered held without bond and a court date of July 24, 2008 was set.

On July 23, 2008, Deputy J.K. Miller responded to a Ruther Glen business for a disorderly subject. Upon further investigation, Richard P. Bender, 54, of Vero Beach, Florida was charged with being Drunk in Public. He was released on his own recognizance and a court date of September 17, 2008 was set.

On July 23, 2008, Deputy J.K. Miller charged Sandra F. Phelps, 42, of Woodford for Filing a False Police Report. This incident was related to an incident, which occurred on March 23, 2008. Phelps was released on her own recognizance and a court date of August 8, 2008 was set.

On July 24, 2008, Deputy C.M. Hall responded to Bowling Green for a protective order complaint. Upon further investigation Kimberly S. Ackerman, 46, of Woodford was charged with Violation of a Protective Order. She was released on her recognizance and a court date of August 5, 2008 was set.

On July 25, 2008, Deputy J.O. Cecil responded to Milford for a domestic disturbance. Upon further investigation, Michael D. Minnick, 24, of Milford was charged with Domestic Assault. He was released on a $2,500 unsecured bond and a court date of July 31, 2008 was set.

On July 25, 2008, Deputy C.M. Polliard stopped James S. Green, 44, of Maryland for a traffic violation. Upon further investigation, Green was charged with Driving a CMV While Under the Influence of Alcohol. He was released on a $1,500 unsecured bond and a court date of August 1, 2008 was set.

On July 25, 2008, Sergeant R.L. Hixson stopped Marshall D. Waggy, 30, of Mechanicsville for a traffic violation. Upon further investigation, Waggy was charged with Possession of Marijuana and Improper Stopping on the Highway. Waggy was released on a summons and a court date of September 3, 2008 was set.

On July 25, 2008, Deputy P.E. Ford responded to a Milford business for a report of an intoxicated person. Upon further investigation, William E. Bartges, 35, of Woodbridge was charged with being Drunk in Public. He was released on his own recognizance and a court date of August 19, 2008 was set.

On July 26, 2008, Deputy J.K. Miller stopped Bow M. Little, 40, of Newport News for a traffic violation. Upon further investigation, Little was charged with Possession of Marijuana. Little was released on a summons and a court date of August 15, 2008 was set.

On July 26, 2008, Deputy J.K. Miller stopped Katita L. Criego-Leonard, 36, of Culpeper for a traffic violation. After nearly striking the Deputy with her vehicle, Criego-Leonard was charged with Assault on a Police Officer. She was ordered held on a $1,500 secured bond and a court date of August 6, 2008 was set.

On July 26, 2008, Deputy P.E. Ford stopped Gregory W. Deloach, 23, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland for a traffic violation. Upon further investigation, Deloach was charged with Reckless Driving by Speed. He was released on a $2,500 unsecured bond and a court date of August 6, 2008 was set.

Caroline County Sheriff’s Office’ Wrap Up

According to Sheriff Tony Lippa, Caroline Deputies made 6 drug arrests, 5 DUI arrests, 15 domestic violence arrests, and 66 other criminal arrests during the past week. The deputies served 226 civil papers, issued 229 traffic summonses, handled 9 motor vehicle crashes, responded to 40 alarm calls, and dealt with 12 juvenile offenders. The Sheriff’s Office Communications Center dispatched 579 calls for service and handled 2,001 telephone inquiries. The CCSO also logged 32 calls assisting outside agencies and had 278 self-initiated calls.

Caroline County’s Telecom Consultant: “Conflict of interest? What’s that? …Seriously?”

At the July 22, 2008 meeting of the Caroline County Board of Supervisors, there was a public hearing about a proposed special exemption permit (SPEX-01-2007) for a communications tower in the Reedy Church District.

The proposed location is approximately 1.7 miles away from the soon-to-be new home of the State Fair of Virginia. The company pursuing the new tower is National Communication Towers, LLC (NTC).

AT&T, nTelos (a provider of PCS coverage in Virginia), as well as wireless broadband provider CVA Link, have all sent letters of intent expressing their interest in this communications tower to NCT.

AT&T even sent an engineer to the meeting to express their support for the tower and to provide information on how much more coverage the tower would provide to the surrounding area, including areas that currently have little to no coverage.

Caroline County employs Atlantic Technology Consultants, Inc. (ACT) as consultants on telecommunication issues. The president and chief operating officer (COO) of ATC is George Condyles.

Condyles stated that based on his analysis, this tower in Caroline County is not needed due to the fact that Hanover County is building a tower in Hanover for their emergency communications system.

However, both AT&T and nTelos both refute this assertion and even provided maps showing that the Hanover County tower would provided little areas of new coverage, and might even interfere with existing tower locations in the area.

So it seems that Condyles thinks he knows more about AT&T’s and nTelos’s equipment than the respective companies do: He says that the companies would get just as good coverage from the Hanover County tower as from NCT’s, assertions that both companies refute. Let’s see, who would know more about the way a wireless company’s equipment works? A “consultant” with no experience at the companies, or the people employed by AT&T and nTelos that set up new antennas tens, if not hundreds, of times a year?

Every other sentence out of Condyles’s mouth was about how great the Hanover County tower would be.

At one point, when talking about Hanover’s tower, Condyles stated, “I’m not a business agent of Hanover County, I just live there.”

Well, you do more than just live there Mr. Condyles, you happen to be on Hanover County’s Architectural Review Board and you just happen to list Hanover County as a client on your company’s web page.

Who is the sole beneficiary of Hanover County having the only tower in that area?

Why, that would be Hanover County, of course.

If Hanover County had the only tower, they would have a de facto monopoly in the area.

Caroline County and its citizens wouldn’t benefit, either.

If the NCT tower in Caroline County was built, Caroline County would have free access to place antennas on the tower for its police, fire, public works, and public utilities radio frequencies, per the terms of the special exemption permit. If Hanover County had the only antenna, Caroline County would have to pay Hanover County for the use of their antenna.

The citizens of Caroline County wouldn’t benefit either. AT&T and nTelos won’t use the Hanover County tower because it wouldn’t provide any service to areas that lack service currently. However, the NCT tower in Caroline County would. The NCT tower would get AT&T cell phone coverage to the Route 301/Route 30 intersection as well as several miles of Route 301 north of the intersection as well.

Further, since the NCT tower already has a letter of intent from a wireless broadband provider, CVA Link, the NCT tower would provide broadband service to currently unserved areas of Caroline County, something that the Hanover County tower wouldn’t.

And if Virginia Broadband wants to provide coverage to that area of Caroline County, which would they prefer: a tower in Hanover County or one in Caroline County? Well, I would guess a tower inside Caroline County since that would provide more coverage for Caroline County (duh).

Murder a newborn, get 8 months in prison.

Sounds reasonable, right?:

An Anne Arundel County judge has released a 19-year-old woman who served eight months in a juvenile detention facility for the death of her newborn baby.

The judge ruled the woman had been rehabilitated and the woman was released to her father’s custody. The woman had been sentenced last December to stay at a juvenile facility until she was 21, but the juvenile services department asked Thursday for the sentence modification.

The former Broadneck High School student was 17 in December 2005 when she delivered the full-term baby boy in a bathroom at her home in Arnold, then put him in a trash can. An autopsy showed the baby was born alive but died from asphyxiation.

No need for another bullet; POS manages to accomplish one thing in his life.

The Washington Post:

A man suspected of raping at least nine women in Prince George’s County, many of whom he met through the popular Web site Craigslist, died after shooting himself in the head yesterday while barricaded inside a Hyattsville apartment building, Prince George’s police said.

I say give the guy another bullet.

WTOP:

Prince George’s County police say a Suitland man suspected of raping at least nine women shot himself in the head yesterday while barricaded inside a Hyattsville apartment building.

Police say 33-year-old Mark Antonio Humphries shot himself Wednesday and was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

They say Humphries visited Craigslist and chat rooms to set up dates with professional escorts. When the women showed up, police say they were attacked by a masked man.