Williamsburg Distillery Takes Home 2 More Gold Medals

Williamsburg Distillery, located at 7218 Merrimac Trail, Williamsburg, Virginia has just brought home 2 more gold medals from the American Distilling Institute.

  The majority of the employees were up in Baltimore this past week to receive those awards.  Normally GVLN reports on Gloucester news so one may be asking why we are covering news in Williamsburg?  Simple, everyone who works at the Williamsburg Distillery are residents of Gloucester.

The two gold awards are for the Jamestown Gin which is a Genever style Gin or put another way, a whiskey based Gin.  The Gin itself won the Gold.  Now Williamsburg Distillery isn't the only distillery making a Genever Gin.  The second gold medal was won by the Williamsburg Distillery for best in class as well.

  The whiskey base used for creating the multi gold award winning Gin is an American wheat based whiskey.  Ninety Five percent of whiskey's on the market are rye based whiskies.  Only five percent of American whiskey is wheat based which is a milder whiskey flavor profile.  For those of you who love Gin, most Gin you are familiar with is a vodka or pure ethanol based spirit.  The spirit itself has no flavor.  Only the botanical's put the flavor into most of the Gins on the market.  One of the secrets of the Williamsburg Distillery is this, Dr Bill Dodson wanted to stick with grains of the period, well, yellow corn was not one of the grains of the period, Indian corn was. Indian corn has no commercial use anymore except during Thanksgiving with the Indian Corn being used for decoration.  Dr Dodson and his staff worked out contracts with local farmers to supply Indian Corn exclusively for the Distillery.

  The results are numerous gold medals now won by the distillery with the top award being a triple gold won last year for the Jamestown Gin that was won at the Denver International Spirits Competition.  The distillery has also won  numerous gold medals for their rum with 91 points given at the Los Angles International Spirits Competition.  This is a distillery to watch and without question, worth your time to visit and buy some spirits while you are there.

Are Police Becoming The Enemy of The People?

On July 1st, a CHP officer was caught on camera beating a woman off the 10 freeway. The officer had already pinned the woman to the ground, and then proceeded to viciouly punch her more than 11 times in the head.

The violence was unjustified. If this had beeen an incident between civilians, the assailant would have been charged with assault. Peace officers should be held to higher standards, not less, so the officer should be held criminally accountable.

The CHP claims to be conducting an internal investigation. However, from the get go, their official stance is "the video doesn't show everything". Nothing the video didn't show could justfiy the officer's violence, and the fact that CHP wants to find extenuating circumstances is worrisome. Moreover, the victim of this assault is locked up in psychiatric hold, while the perpetrator is only on paid leave, not suspended.

The police should put protecting public above protecting one of their own. But the citizens have reason to doubt whether CHP is truly committed to doing the right thing. We request the district attorney to step in because:

1. The public deserve a fair investigation.

2. Regardless of the CHP investigation's outcome, the officer still committed a crime.

3. When police inspire fear instead of trust, then the system no longer works. The community needs to see proof that the law officers are not above the law.

Update: I spoke with the woman's attorney Caree Harper on twitter. She said they also want to file a complaint to the DOJ because the victim's civil rights were also violated.

Our Notes:  The stories of police brutality have always been out there, but it seems like the issue is growing and not shrinking.  If you watch this second video, you are told exactly how to avoid becoming the next victim.  Simply Comply with what you are told.  You may be told that your rights are about to be highly violated, but as long as you comply, you will not get beaten?  That statement to simply comply was not at all sound advice based on the number of people who are having their rights violated by police throughout the country.  Those sworn to serve and protect are earning a very bad reputation throughout the nation these days thanks to post 9/11 fear mongering which seems to stem from the Fed's.