Virginia Supreme Court grants appeal in Gent murder case

As noted here, the Virginia Supreme Court has granted the petition for appeal in the Jody Gent murder case. Gent was sentenced in 2001 to 56 years in prison upon being convicted of robbing and murdering an elderly woman in Wise County, as reported here in the Coalfield Progress. Gent's conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals.

Former Sen. Trible will not run for lieutenant governor in 2005

The Daily Press reports here that former U.S. Senator Paul Trible has announced that he will not run for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in the 2005 election.

Why are municipal electrics (and not the ILECs) going forward with the "triple play"

This article describes (without mentioning anything about Bristol) why municipalities in other parts of the country are leading the way in fiber-to-the-home projects that carry highspeed data, voice, and video services.

Carrying guns in Virginia's government buildings

Most places in Virginia it is not necessary to sneak a gun into the public buildings of state and local government, according to this report in the Virginian-Pilot.

Richmond city council member arrested for bribery

A City of Richmond council member has been arrested by the FBI on charges that she took a bribe of "$2,000 to support a candidate vying to fill the vacant 6th District Council seat," according to this AP report. The Richmond Times-Dispatch has this report.

More on Fourth Circuit's opinion in the Appomattox County biosolid case

The AP has this report on yesterday's ruling by the Fourth Circuit affirming the preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Appomattox County ordinance limiting the use of biosolids.

FBI seizes court records in Unicoi County, TN

As reported here, the FBI took over a Tennessee county courthouse on Wednesday and seized a bunch of records, and no one is saying why.

The Lynchburg electoral board mess

It seems like the litigation and investigation never ends in connection with the registrar's position and the electoral board in Lynchburg - with the latest described here.

More on political activity by electoral board members

The Daily Progress has this report on the views of an 83 year-old electoral board member in Albemarle County who dislikes the Attorney General's conclusion that he can no longer volunteer to work on political campaigns.

VHDA "family" rule debated

The AP has this report and the Richmond Times-Dispatch has this report on the arguments for and against the Virginia Housing Development Authority's rule denying home mortgage loans to joint applicants unless they are "related by blood, marriage or adoption or by legal custodial relationship."

UPDATE - The Richmond paper reports here and the AP reports here that VHDA voted on Friday to eliminate the family rule.

Ferrum College admits some fault in student suicide case

Ferrum College, located in Franklin County, has taken the apparently unprecedented step of acknowledge some responsibility for the suicide of one of its students, according to this report in the Roanoke Times, which says that the college "has acknowledged that 'errors in judgment and communication by school personnel' were partly responsible for the suicide of one of its students more than three years ago, in what is believed to be the first time an American college or university has made such an acceptance of responsibility." The AP has this report.

Today's ABA Journal ereport on blogging

This article in the ABA Journal says blogging could be bad.

I'm not sure that analysis applies in the same way to a small-town lawyer like myself as it might to high-powered big-firm lawyers like Howard in Philadelphia and Denise in Los Angeles, and even so I suspect that their blogs are actually among the greatest legal marketing achievements of all time - as evidenced by yet another blogging article sent nationwide with their names in it.

Virginia county loses appeal of injunction against enforcement of local biosolids ordinance

In O'Brien v. Appomattox County, the Fourth Circuit in a per curiam opinion for the panel of Judges Michael and King and District Judge Wooten affirmed the district court's decision to preliminarily enjoin the County from enforcing its ordinance prohibiting farmers from applying biosolids to their land in the County.

The opinion notes:

"In light of the widespread use of biosolids in Virginia and elsewhere in the United States, the regulations and examinations undertaken by the Virginia General Assembly and the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("U.S. EPA"), and the studies by the scientific community, the fear of possible, adverse health effects is too attenuated at this time to outweigh the likelihood of harm to the Farmers."

In addition, the District Court had the benefit of what both the Virginia Supreme Court and the Virginia General Assembly have to say on the authority of counties over the use of biosolids:

"the District Court reviewed the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision in Blanton v. Amelia County, the legislation enacted by the Virginia General Assembly limiting the role of counties in regulating biosolids, and the effect of these ordinances on landapplication of biosolids. In light of the recent decisions by the Virginia Supreme Court and the Virginia General Assembly, we cannot conclude that the District Court erred in determining that the claims and evidence provided by the Farmers raise such serious, substantial, and difficult issues that they warrant more deliberate investigation."

Whose DEQ is it anyway?

This Richmond Times-Dispatch article says that the offices of future gubernatorial candidates Tim Kaine and Jerry Kilgore are swapping accusations over whose fault it is that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has not done more to enforce the environmental laws with regard to a landfill in Page County.

Tax reform hits local government on telecommunications in Virginia

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has this article on the latest vote by the telecom tax reform committee of legislators, headed by Delegate Preston Bryant. The committeeis proposals include the following:

"The panel agreed to call for reduced consumer confusion, consolidated taxes, uniform taxes statewide, a reduced tax rate on most Virginians, competitively neutral taxes, preserved state and local revenue and establishing a single tax collection and distribution point.

The proposals call for repeal of local consumer utility taxes on telecommunications, local gross-receipts taxes paid by consumers, the Virginia relay fee for services to the deaf, the cable-franchise fee and the current E-911 tax structure. Some taxes vary from locality to locality.

In their place, the proposed plan would impose a 4.5 percent statewide sales tax on communications and video services and a E-911 fee on wireless and wireline phones not to exceed 75 cents per month compared with the current $3 monthly maximum."

The demise of cable franchise fees and other moneymakers for localities will draw heavy opposition from cities and counties.

Profile of Judge Lee of E.D. Va. who struck verdict in Lentz case

The Washington Post has this profile on Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of the E.D. Va., who recently overturned a jury verdict in a federal "kidnapping" case and told prosecutors the case should never have been brought in federal court.

Three railroad engines on the loose, derailed by Norfolk Southern

If you think you're having a bad day, consider the unidentified railroad engineer who let three diesel engines get away from him outside of Bluefield, as reported in this story.

FERC denies rehearing on SW VA natural gas pipeline

As reported here, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") has denied the petition for rehearing of some Southwest Virginia landowners regarding Dominion Resources' Greenbriar pipeline project, which is being constructed between West Virginia and North Carolina and passes under the New River in Virginia.

Virginia Attorney General opines that registrars and electoral boards must avoid party jobs

The Roanoke Times reports here that election officials are critical of the Attorney General's recent opinion that state law prohibits registrars and members of electoral boards from holding any kind of political party office. In Virginia, the electoral board for each city and county is made up of a majority of members who are of the same party as the governor, a minority of its members are of the other party - and so, only party activists ever get appointed to electoral boards.

"Cuppa Joe" debunks characterizations of Roanoke in national media

In the latest Joe Kennedy column in the Roanoke paper, he exposes the bizarre characterizations of Roanoke by the national medial particularly in the wake of the recent visit by presidential candidate Bob Graham of Florida.