Gloucester, VA Judges Private Vehicle Chambers Pushed Off Til Later Date

The Gloucester Board of Supervisors have pushed off making a decision on the requested private vehicle chambers for the Gloucester, Virginia Judges who have expressed a concern for their own safety and want special privileges not afforded anyone else.

  Part of the reason why the decision was held off was that the requests coming from 3 judges are all different as to what they want and the estimate for a new private security area was done in a rush in hopes that the present board would push it through for the judges.  With 3 Board of Supervisors now leaving, they could have taken the heat for yet another decision where tax spending continued uncontrolled.  It will now come before the new board that is coming in to make the decision if they want to fund the private security for 2 of the 3 judges as one of the 3 is retiring at the end of this year.

  The issue we brought up on this site about the Judges needing the local law enforcement to hold their hands as they enter and leave was brought up and Sheriff Darrel Warren stated that the Sheriff's office has provided that service, however, there is a cost for that as well and someone would always have to be on hold to continue to do so.  The private chambers for the Judges vehicles still does not provide the Judges with safe security and they would still need a county sheriff's deputy from time to time should they feel threatened.  So what is the point?  What makes these people think they are above all the rest of us?

  Mr Chrisco seemed to be the only voice of reason on the Board that kept the decision from being pushed through tonight on this issue for providing funding without more information as to exactly what was being funded and how much.  If the judges really want to trap themselves like rats in a cage, we say let them.  However, let them pay for it.  Then they can build themselves a castle for all we care.  Do we really want to live in a Banana Republic?  Our Judges are telling us it's already here.  Are they part of the problem?

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Monday Gloucester, Government Employee Reports

About 8:05 AM.  Looks like we have a winner.  Government employee seen going into McDonald's for another happy meal.

Government employee is inside McDonald's while car sits outside running.  You can see the exhaust coming out of the tailpipe in the above picture.

Good news for Gloucester officials.  It's a Middlesex county government employee we caught.

Anyone recognize this employee from Middlesex County Virginia?

Our next catch was watching one of the Sheriff's deputies drive in.  Though he was coming in like last week to make sure that no government employees were trying to go through the drive through windows or stopping in where they didn't belong into the local restaurants.  Turned out he just wanted breakfast himself and Hardee's drive through at about 8:15 AM.

  Last Monday a deputy came in and sat in the parking lot for about one hour to watch the parking lot making sure no Gloucester, government employees were trying to hit the local restaurants while on the clock.  Problem was, he was facing the wrong way to catch anyone.  Unless of course he was just napping.  Don't think he was napping, but there was no one to catch last week.  We tried to wave to the deputy last week from 7-Eleven but he ignored us.

Next up?

Public Utilities coming out of WaWa.  Truck number 23.  Time is about 9:05 AM.

Widescreen shot.  He came out of the parking lot in the above picture at the far right hand side.  You can see the flowering bushes do match.

Our next one is a video of  another Public Utilities employee driving truck number 24 down the highway at a speed we estimated at about 70 mph in a 55 mph zone.  We were doing about 60 to keep up with the flow of traffic.  The video is just below.

Boy, it looks like a really bad day to be a Gloucester County, Virginia official having to answer for all of these issues.  But then again, we know they really just do not care.  It's your money they are wasting so big deal right?  Never mind that if a Gloucester, government employee may get into an accident while doing something they are not supposed to do will cause an insurance claim not to be paid.  So who would end up paying for these employees mistakes if an accident should happen while they are somewhere they are not supposed to be?  The county would pay up.  That means your tax dollars.  But again, what do they care, it's your money and we keep showing how it sure looks like they are wasting millions of dollars of it.

  Now everyone needs to be as silent as possible for a few minutes.  We might just be able to hear s few more retirements coming down the road along with a few jobs opening up in a few months in some key positions.  SSHHHH!  Can you hear it?

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Gloucester, VA Hampton Tobacco Robbed Friday Oct. 11th, 2013

WAVY-TV (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

GLOUCESTER COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) - Deputies are searching for a man who they said robbed the Hampton Pipe and Tobacco Shop.

According to the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office, it happened Friday at the store, located at 4746 George Washington Memorial Highway in Gloucester.

Employees told investigators a man went into the store with a gun, and demanded cigarettes and incense.

The suspect took off in a car, but deputies do not have any information about the make or model. The suspect is described as a white male, 5’3” tall, wearing a dark coat with a hood covering his head, and a bandana covering his face.

The Sheriff’s Office said surveillance photos were not available.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office at 804-693-3890 or the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP
.

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Gloucester, VA Page Middle School Dis Service Announcement 1

We have recently been given access to a series of communications regarding a number of areas of concern about the upcoming Page Middle school and all the issues surrounding the project.

  It is our own opinion that the location of the new planned middle school is not at all in the best interest of the community as a whole.  It is further our opinion that there are ulterior motives for why the new Page Middle School is being built in this new location.

  We are now going to start presenting these communications as it is very in depth and well thought out.  We see a lot of wholes in the arguments coming from various Gloucester officials and will interject our own opinions throughout the series.  Eventually, we will be putting up a website covering the subject in a proper timeline covering all the issues and let everyone determine your own final opinion on the matter, deciding if your best interests have been taken into consideration or not.  It's the tax dollars of each Gloucester resident, present and future, at stake.  Construction has not yet started and now is the time to get involved before it becomes to late.

So let's begin:

Board Members,

It is understood that statistics prove natural lighting enhances learning. It is understood that the proper utilization of glass in school buildings provides that lighting and can lower energy costs. It is also understood that the improper or over use of glass in school buildings can result in negative impacts such as higher design and construction costs, higher energy costs, higher up keep and maintenance costs, redesign and build over or modification costs, distraction of students from learning, students and staff becoming the target of a shooter and more.

To adequately protect the occupants of a school building from a potential outside shooter the use of glass must be done so in a manner as to prevent the shooter from obtaining a line of sight. The utilization of fences or other such barriers to obscure the line of sight will also provide cover, concealment and a perch for a potential shooter. When determining the transition point between a solid wall and glass, the height of a person plus three or so feet should be considered to prevent line of sight target acquisition. If there are trees, towers, buildings or other means for a potential shooter to gain a height advantage to establish line of sight those conditions should be considered as well.

The use of interior glass should also be considered thoroughly to minimize the ability of an inside potential shooter. In today’s reaction drills students are taught to systematically do what is possible to evasively minimize line of sight opportunity for a potential shooter. Glass areas between classroom and hallway or open area should not provide this line of acquisition or line of sight opportunity for a potential shooter. If glass is used in any of the areas not suggested it should be bullet proof in composition as should its framework.

Bullet resistant glass is expensive----up to $60 a square foot according to Tom Briggs, president of U.S. Armor. This in addition to the cost of framing and installation. Mr. Briggs’ company supplies glass across the country and makes types of it to withstand 9mm to .50 caliber.

Response:

Been quiet on this front but have been following your messages. Prior to the joint meeting I spent a large amount of time looking at every angle possible to try to get the SB to reconsider a number of things – but to no avail. I talked to a number of individuals in various walks of life. I poured over those bore reports, looked at past contracts, etc. Nothing seemed to make a difference in the way the train was going. We had an e-mail from a gentleman that looked at the exact square footage of glass in the new school and compared relative costs of strengthened glass and regular solid walls and it was considerable (as you already know). I brought it up at the joint meeting but no one at our meeting said anything except sheetrock walls get dirty and require repairs and painting regularly. Another individual e-mailed us with numerous suggestions on how to save money and nothing happened either. It seems the train is out of the station and moving faster by the day that nothing will stop it except when the contract bids do come in.

In any case, all that extra work took a toll on me and my work at VIMS. I got so far behind that I am now paying the price of making up lost times on my weekends. I don’t mind as I know in my heart I did my best.

By the way, it is ironic that the SB is concerned about school security and want SRO’s at all the primary schools but yet want all this glass in the new school that will compromise kids safety.

Cheers

JJ

Board of Supervisors, Abingdon District

Gloucester County

Next communication:

JJ,
Your efforts, though ignored by some, are appreciated by many others. I do believe there will be a tremendous impact on the next couple of County elections due to what is occurring during the process of rebuilding Page Middle School. The citizens have spoken time and time again only to be ignored. There are members on the School Board and the Board of Supervisors who are in their positions for reasons other than doing what is in the best interest of the Gloucester Community.

Next Communication:

I respectfully disagree with your general description of board members and will only speak for myself. My only reason for being on the school board is to do the best job I possibly can for the children of this county. I have had a very positive experience with the school system and want to give something back to this county and be part of the solution. As part of this effort we do need to look forward and plan beyond our terms to assure the school progresses and we stay in constant improvement. The federal and state governments have been failing us for many years and especially over the past 5+. Their unfunded mandates and the cutting of existing funding streams have burdened this community as well as many others to points that have been unseen in the past. We still have 5500 students and 850 staff members showing up each day at our schools and they deserve the best we(our community) can provide them since they are our future .

Thanks you

Very Respectfully

Randy Burak   

Next Communication:

Mr. Burak,

   With all due respect, your response contains all the more reasons for you and board members from both boards to utilize available funds that are coming from the Gloucester Community in such a way as to get the most out of each and every dollar. In the area of school construction that is not the case and because of that fact there will be less dollars to utilize in other areas of equal or more importance like the school system operating budget.

   There would definitely be more support for what is being done if you or anyone else could logically tell the Gloucester Community what justifies ignoring the Community and spending such a substantial amount of money to develop a new site in order to rebuild an incomplete, non-storm safe, glass filled, shooter friendly, high maintenance Page Middle School.

Response:

I guess we can go on and on with our emails but I assure you that the only goal is to complete a new school to replace the one destroyed by the tornado within budget that is safe, academically welcoming and one that flexible to  withstand the many changes in the educational environment over the next 50+ years.

This issue you raise regarding glass in the building was modified from its initial plan and the glass was reduced. The area with the most glass can be closed off and access to the entire “house” can be restricted completely. We continue to work with the sheriff’s office to assure that we consider all things but Newtown introduced new threats that were never seen before and Newtown had some advanced security measures in place.

Our first and foremost objective is to have a safe place for our children to learn and I respectively disagree wholeheartedly that you would even think that anyone would do anything differently for reasons such as self-promotion. We have children, neighbors, friends, family in these schools each and every day  and their safety is the only goal followed by the best academics we can provide.

Respectfully

Randy Burak

*****  Please see our notes at the bottom of this post.  *****  

Next communication:

Instead of answering the question that has been asked over and over again Mr. Burak, Chairman of the School Board, seems to have become defensive and evasive. The glass areas at the back of each school house that he says will be secure will be enclosed by a fence. Here again is an extra cost
added to the project that will do very little to safegard the students and staff within the new multi-million dollar school.

End of the thread.

*****  Our Notes but not our production.

Email from Gloucester County, Virginia Sheriff, Darrell Warren:

Good morning to you! Unfortunately, my office has had zero input in the design of the new school. Supervisor James and I spoke last week about his feelings on the design and he is in favor of placing deputies in all schools but says he won’t allocate a nickel until they take some glass out of the Page plans. Supervisor Orth told me six weeks ago that he was going to call me for my input about the new design but I have yet to hear from him. I can tell you that I did read your letter in the Gazette last week and what you write is correct about target visuals. Unfortunately, I nor anyone in my office, really has a position to tell them how to design their building. In the past, the schools have welcomed the idea of the Sheriff’s Office conducting threat assessments of their campuses so it would make sense, to me at least, for them to ask for some safety guidance on new construction design. Having said all of this, I am sure that there are experts out there that are much more qualified than me, who study topics such as these and make recommendations. I would hope that they have consulted with someone like this but it doesn’t appear this way. Please let me know if you have any further questions. Take care!

Darrell

Anyone see any issues here?  This is the first in a series that most Gloucester residents will find very disturbing.

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More On Gloucester's One Dollar Gun Sales

Regulating Animal Control (Photo credit: Office of Governor Patrick)

Gloucester One Dollar Gun Sales from Chuck Thompson

Here is the entire issue that was a part of a public discussion last night before the Gloucester, Virginia board of supervisors.  As it turns out, Carl, (Chuck), Shipley decided to whine and cry about being able to buy his gun for one dollar from the county even though he only had 22 years of service in, and county code says you have to have 25 years of service in.  Well, first off, the 25 years of service is in violation of state codes.  Not that this is bad enough, but Animal Control does not qualify as law enforcement per Virginia code.  Now they are granted limited law enforcement capabilities by both state code and local ordinance, but are not technically considered law enforcement by either that we see.  See the above 59.1-148.3 state code.

 It appears Animal Control officers are excluded from section A which is the defining section for the rest of the code.  Carl's complaint was that he wanted to buy his gun for one dollar even though he does not have the right to from what we see in the state code.  Watch the video here as Brenda Garton now plays legal interpretation for state code in violation of the Dillon Rule.

We have gone over the state codes regarding law enforcement officers and animal control officers.  Animal Control at this time is not listed as law enforcement.  They have certain deputized duties of law enforcement, but are not listed as law enforcement at all.  http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+3.2-6555  Link to Animal Control officer status with the state.  Now it looks like in the future there will be a new breed that does meet the law enforcement section of state code, but that division has not yet been made law, even though it is on the books to become law.  http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+15.2-632  This link will take you to where the state is looking at Animal Protection Police.  If and when that comes, then those are the ones who will meet law enforcement guidelines of the state.  (More invasions on privacy).

  So what we see in the video is county employees making assumptions in violation of the Dillon Rule regarding Carl Shipley being able to buy a gun for one dollar when he is not classified as law enforcement.   Where was Twitching Ted, (I'm not an attorney), Willymot, the court jester, county attorney on all of this?  Not a word came out of his mouth.  County employees just state Twitches opinion for him, and it does not look as though that opinion was correct.  But hey, when do we actually see these people trying to even consider following any laws anyway?  It's more fun to make them up as you go along.  Even the Sheriff was appalled at the county ordinances not meeting state guidelines.

 

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Man Found Alive Days After Motorcycle Crash

By    Catherine Rogers

Gloucester, Va. (WAVY) - A man was found alive on the side of a Gloucester highway Monday after crashing on a motorcycle days before.

Virginia State Police was contacted Monday by the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office to investigate the discovery of a motorcycle crash, according to Corinne Geller with the VSP.

A 2002 Kawasaki motorcycle had been traveling west on Hickory Fork Road when it left the right side of the roadway and overturned about 20 feet from the wood line. The motorcycle slid several more feet into underbrush and struck several trees.

The motorcycle's operator, 28-year-old Daniel G. Cain of Gloucester, was found with broken bones and bug bites about 15 yards away from the highway. He was flown to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Cain's mother, Victoria Jurgensen, told WAVY.com last Wednesday night was the last time she'd seen him, as he left home on his motorcycle to grab a sandwich at a nearby Wawa.

"It's not like him, so we thought he went, saw a girl, he overslept," Jurgensen said. "We waited for him to call, no call, didn't call his boss, didn't call my husband, didn't call me."

Cain, an army reservist, didn't show up for duty over the weekend either.

"The military is his first love, and I knew something was wrong," said Jurgensen.

So she filed a missing persons report with the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office.

"I thought they would start looking for him, did they? No," she said.

Jurgensen took matters into her own hands and enlisted family and friends to search for her son. They searched over the weekend with no luck, but on Monday, family friend Kellie Green and Katrina Welch searched on foot down Hickory Fork Road -- the road to Cain's home. While walking -- and Green saw something.

"So I seen the shoe and I started walking a little further and I saw a pack of cigarettes, and then right here in this area I saw something shiny, and I picked it up and it was a mirror to a motorcycle," Green said.

Green and Welch went into underbrush and found Cain alive and his motorcycle, completely out of view from the highway.

"I was putting up fliers when I got the call from my husband: 'They found Daniel. You need to get back to Hickory Fork Road' ... 'he's alive,' that's all I could think," Jurgensen said.

Geller said the crash happened several days before Cain was found, but it is still uncertain exactly which day.

Jurgensen said her son is still recovering from his injuries.

The crash is still under investigation.

http://www.wavy.com/news/local/man-found-on-roadside-days-after-crash

Link back to WAVY TV10 where story originated.  

Comments:  

Comments from area citizens about the local county sheriff's office involvement are rather comical.  Where was the local concern?  

Were they all out having donuts and just didn't want to be bothered?  In all honesty, there are mixed reviews about local law enforcement.  There are some really good people with the department and there are some really bad ones.  So guess it depends on who you talk to when you ask for help.  If you get one of the bad one's, what do they care?  If you get one of the good one's, you can never thank them enough as they have shown to go out of their way for local residents.  Plus anyone can have an off day.  Not an excuse, but it still happens.

  It's a shame that these folks had to experience the bad side of local law enforcement.  Thank God this guy was found still alive and our prayers go out to him and his family.  Looks like the local Sheriff's office has some community repairs to make to their image now. 

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