The lead story of the Hampton Roads section in today's Virginian-Pravda covers a $10 million lawsuit that has been filed against Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) and one of it's drivers over a sexual assault of a 13 year old 1 1/2 years ago in Virginia Beach. http://hamptonroads.com/2008/03/hrt-driver-sued-over-sexual-assault-teen
The timeline in the story is wrong, and HRT's lawyers may want to use it to quash the lawsuit. The last bus on Route 20 going to the Oceanfront would pass Little Neck (if on schedule) about 12:35 A.M. (There's a time point at the adjacent Denny's for 39 minutes after the hour.) It should terminate at 19th Street and Pacific Avenue at 12:57 A.M. The last bus heading back westward to Little Neck would have already passed before the child boarded.
Some quotes from the story and my comments:
1. "The negligence lawsuit, filed last week in Circuit Court, contends that the bus driver, Kokou Fedy of Chesapeake, allowed the then-13 year old girl to board the bus after the city's 11 P.M. curfew and never called dispatchers or police."
First of all, a driver would never call police himself. If he has an incident on board, he radioes the dispatcher. The decision to call police is made by others.
Most of all, are drivers supposed to refuse to board children trying to make it home late at night? While a policy of refusing to board unaccompanied minors after curfew may have prevented this tragedy, it would set the table for others to come. Do you want HRT stranding children at bus stops at night?
2. "The driver helped her pay the fare."
Drivers as a rule don't help people pay fares. If anything, it shows he probably thought she was trying to find her way home.
3. "She thought (the bus) would circle around and return to her stop at Virginia Beach Boulevard and Little Neck Road."
Oh, puh-leeze! For any bus regular, that's a "been there, done that": someone gets on the bus not knowing the route(s) and/or schedule, then it's everyone elses fault. That probably would have produced rolling eyes.
4. "Fedy told the girl to leave the bus at about 1:45 A.M...."
If that's the case, the bus took about twice as long as scheduled to make it to the Oceanfront.
Moreover, everyone is asked to get off the bus at the end of the line. The bus would have been preparing to "deadhead" back to the 18th Street Garage in Norfolk via I-264.
5. "You can't tell me that no one could foresee this happening."
Excuse me, Mr. Roper, but you owe every bus rider in Hampton Roads an apology. By inference, every late night bus rider is a potential rapist.
The first comment to be posted on hamptonroads.com was by a veteran transit rider who realizes everyone is required to disembark at the end of the line and doesn't hold HRT liable.
Yes, what happened was very unfortunate. However, IMO, the only potential case here would be based on what - if anything - was said directly between the driver and the girl at 19th Street. Did she ask for help and he refused? If not, you can't blame HRT or the driver.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Talk About A Serious Problem
Over the past few months, the blog Not Larry Sabato has been painful to read as Ben has gone to ludicrous lengths to try to spin for Hillary Clinton's Presidential campaign.
However, today he hit on one very serious issue that's getting overlooked by Virginia's budget writers: filesharing of child pornography. It is estimated that $32 million/year is needed to combat this evil. The Senate budget only contains $1 million; the House budget nothing.
Sadly, Virginia Beach (as the state's largest city) leads Virginia in cases. While sitting down, you may want to watch the linked video on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5OmJ6DffaM
However, today he hit on one very serious issue that's getting overlooked by Virginia's budget writers: filesharing of child pornography. It is estimated that $32 million/year is needed to combat this evil. The Senate budget only contains $1 million; the House budget nothing.
Sadly, Virginia Beach (as the state's largest city) leads Virginia in cases. While sitting down, you may want to watch the linked video on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5OmJ6DffaM
RPVB Chair's Race and Organizational Meetings
At this morning's Republican Breakfast, Chuck Smith let it be known that he was not running for reelection as Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach (RPVB) and was endorsing Kenny Golden's (current Vice Chairman, Operations) candidacy to be the next Chairman. This will make Chuck the third consecutive one-term Chairman of the RPVB (following Colin Stolle and Mark McKinney). Has the job become that much of a hot seat? The upcoming Republican organizational meetings:
RPVB Mass Meeting: Saturday, April 5 at Cape Henry Collegiate School, 10 A.M. To be chosen will be the new RPVB Chairman, the entire Republican City Committee, and the Virginia Beach delegations to the 2nd Congressional District Convention and Republican Party of Virginia state convention.
Any Virginia Beach registered voter who professes Republican principles may attend and vote. (Others may simply attend.) However, to stand for RPVB Chairman, City Committee member, 2nd District delegate, or state delegate, you must prefile the official registration form by March 21. The forms are available at RPVB Headquarters.
2nd Congressional District Convention - May 3 at Tidewater Community College's Virginia Beach campus.
Republican Party of Virginia state convention - May 30 & 31 at the Richmond Convention Center.
That's where we select Bob Marshall to run for U.S. Senate. If you support Jim Gilmore or Bob Berry, you don't want to go to Richmond.
RPVB Mass Meeting: Saturday, April 5 at Cape Henry Collegiate School, 10 A.M. To be chosen will be the new RPVB Chairman, the entire Republican City Committee, and the Virginia Beach delegations to the 2nd Congressional District Convention and Republican Party of Virginia state convention.
Any Virginia Beach registered voter who professes Republican principles may attend and vote. (Others may simply attend.) However, to stand for RPVB Chairman, City Committee member, 2nd District delegate, or state delegate, you must prefile the official registration form by March 21. The forms are available at RPVB Headquarters.
2nd Congressional District Convention - May 3 at Tidewater Community College's Virginia Beach campus.
Republican Party of Virginia state convention - May 30 & 31 at the Richmond Convention Center.
That's where we select Bob Marshall to run for U.S. Senate. If you support Jim Gilmore or Bob Berry, you don't want to go to Richmond.
Bob Marshall At Republican Breakfast
Saturday morning's Virginia Beach Republican Breakfast covered the U.S. Senate race. Speakers for all three candidates for the Republican nomination were heard.
Shortly after returning from the buffet line with my breakfast, a woman came to my table with Bob Marshall literature. I asked her if she had lapel stickers. (Jim Gilmore's people did.) It was his wife. When I introduced myself, she remembered the e-mail I had sent the campaign, and called Bob over to speak to me.
Bob Marshall's 10 minute speech had two primary focuses. One, why he was the candidate best positioned to beat Mark Warner in November. Two, his solid conservative record of accomplishment in the General Assembly.
Marshall beat the other two speakers hands down. Leo Wardrup was Jim Gilmore's proxy. Leo avoided details, and was stumped when asked for them. Bob Berry is a good conservative, but doesn't have a snowball's chance in this field.
The bottom line: Bob Marshall is not only a strong conservative, but our best shot at beating Mark Warner in November.
Shortly after returning from the buffet line with my breakfast, a woman came to my table with Bob Marshall literature. I asked her if she had lapel stickers. (Jim Gilmore's people did.) It was his wife. When I introduced myself, she remembered the e-mail I had sent the campaign, and called Bob over to speak to me.
Bob Marshall's 10 minute speech had two primary focuses. One, why he was the candidate best positioned to beat Mark Warner in November. Two, his solid conservative record of accomplishment in the General Assembly.
Marshall beat the other two speakers hands down. Leo Wardrup was Jim Gilmore's proxy. Leo avoided details, and was stumped when asked for them. Bob Berry is a good conservative, but doesn't have a snowball's chance in this field.
The bottom line: Bob Marshall is not only a strong conservative, but our best shot at beating Mark Warner in November.
Trying To Be A Good Person, Or How To Kill Time On The Bus
With the Charete over, I quickly walked two blocks south to catch Hampton Roads Transit's (HRT) Route 24 (Laskin Road Express) into Norfolk. It's an express bus that runs (2x off-season, 3x in-season) between Virginia Beach's Oceanfront and downtown Norfolk. The clientele is largely hotel housekeepers, leading some to call it the "Sheetshaker Express". (I once used that name in a RAC Transportation Committee meeting, to which a HRT Staffer replied "We won't advertise it as that.") I got to MacArthur Center in time to grab a quick fish and chips dinner on the Lenten Friday before watching the 5 P.M. showing of Vantage Point. (A must-see for action/suspense movie fans.)
Getting home meant about an hour ride on Route 20. Boarding the bus, sitting in front of me was an electrician. He wanted to talk. With little else to do and the trip ahead of me, I figured I would indulge him and listen. He spent the entire segment to Military Circle going on about a 104 year old house he was on the renovation crew for. He hit me with electrical details, some of which went over my head. (What's a 12-2 and a 12-4 and the difference?) East of Military Circle, he started with basic electrical, then basic plumbing, before more basic electrical. I reached my home stop with him still heading onward.
Morals of the story. One, in this self-absorbed world, try to think of someone other than yourself. He was boring me, but he obviously had things he wanted to get off his chest. Two, as I've posted on before, there's a subculture among bus riders. Here was somebody who needed someone, and I tried to do what I could.
Getting home meant about an hour ride on Route 20. Boarding the bus, sitting in front of me was an electrician. He wanted to talk. With little else to do and the trip ahead of me, I figured I would indulge him and listen. He spent the entire segment to Military Circle going on about a 104 year old house he was on the renovation crew for. He hit me with electrical details, some of which went over my head. (What's a 12-2 and a 12-4 and the difference?) East of Military Circle, he started with basic electrical, then basic plumbing, before more basic electrical. I reached my home stop with him still heading onward.
Morals of the story. One, in this self-absorbed world, try to think of someone other than yourself. He was boring me, but he obviously had things he wanted to get off his chest. Two, as I've posted on before, there's a subculture among bus riders. Here was somebody who needed someone, and I tried to do what I could.
Resort Area Strategic Action Plan Charete (Round 2, Day 2)
Friday saw the continuation of the Resort Area Strategic Action Plan Charete. The session started with Sasaki (the consultants) presenting their draft plan for redevelopment of Virginia Beach's Resort Area, based on Thursday's input. Afterwards each table discussed transit options, later reporting back to the full meeting.
Politics is often described as the art of compromise, and the draft plan was a hybrid that was a compromise of the options that had been discussed. For North Beach, the previously mentioned "Hilton model" was chosen for the 100th and 200th blocks, but mid-level redevelopment for the 300th block. For Central Beach, green space along 19th Street was a hybrid of a full park just behind the Dome site, but a linear park in the next block west. In addition, housing adjacent to the light rail line is multi-family beside the track, but single-family behind it. For South Beach, some tweaks were made to cover concerns voiced on Thursday.
Under transit, the consensus now is that the eastern terminus for light rail will be on the south side of 19th Street just across from the existing convention center building. That decision was based on needing to double-track the end of the rail line (difficult at the Dome site) and the obstacles in running LRT down 19th Street. The drawing had rail coming through the center of future convention center expansion, raising alarm bells with some. That could be solved by an option discussed at our table, which brought LRT north along the eastern edge of the Colony property, terminating on the west side of the proposed convention center headquarters hotel.
There was room for political fun with tweaks to the redevelopment plan. On the one hand, I quickly noticed the Rudee Loop project footprint had been pulled back from Councilman John Uhrin's hotel. (How much lobbying did the Beach District rep have to do?) On the other hand, the draft plan selected an option to extend the 31st Street Park northward...taking the Days Inn owned by Linwood Branch's family. (Branch is a former Councilman and current President of the Virginia Beach Hotel/Motel Association.)
Sasaki will be back with a further refined plan for more public input in April.
Politics is often described as the art of compromise, and the draft plan was a hybrid that was a compromise of the options that had been discussed. For North Beach, the previously mentioned "Hilton model" was chosen for the 100th and 200th blocks, but mid-level redevelopment for the 300th block. For Central Beach, green space along 19th Street was a hybrid of a full park just behind the Dome site, but a linear park in the next block west. In addition, housing adjacent to the light rail line is multi-family beside the track, but single-family behind it. For South Beach, some tweaks were made to cover concerns voiced on Thursday.
Under transit, the consensus now is that the eastern terminus for light rail will be on the south side of 19th Street just across from the existing convention center building. That decision was based on needing to double-track the end of the rail line (difficult at the Dome site) and the obstacles in running LRT down 19th Street. The drawing had rail coming through the center of future convention center expansion, raising alarm bells with some. That could be solved by an option discussed at our table, which brought LRT north along the eastern edge of the Colony property, terminating on the west side of the proposed convention center headquarters hotel.
There was room for political fun with tweaks to the redevelopment plan. On the one hand, I quickly noticed the Rudee Loop project footprint had been pulled back from Councilman John Uhrin's hotel. (How much lobbying did the Beach District rep have to do?) On the other hand, the draft plan selected an option to extend the 31st Street Park northward...taking the Days Inn owned by Linwood Branch's family. (Branch is a former Councilman and current President of the Virginia Beach Hotel/Motel Association.)
Sasaki will be back with a further refined plan for more public input in April.
34 Posts In February
The month is over and I ended February with 34 posts, my most prolific month yet by far.
As I told an elected official, I don't plan to make the largest number of posts. I look at this is a niche blog, giving news (i.e. RAC, transit, etc) and views that you won't find anywhere else. I hope to average a minimum one post per two days, so I was pleasantly surprised with 34 posts in 29 days. I'm not going to put up junk just for the sake of posting.
The program does allow me to add additional posters, which I may do in the future. (I'd obviously love someone from AAPAC.) In the meantime, I hope to help keep you informed in an interesting way.
As I told an elected official, I don't plan to make the largest number of posts. I look at this is a niche blog, giving news (i.e. RAC, transit, etc) and views that you won't find anywhere else. I hope to average a minimum one post per two days, so I was pleasantly surprised with 34 posts in 29 days. I'm not going to put up junk just for the sake of posting.
The program does allow me to add additional posters, which I may do in the future. (I'd obviously love someone from AAPAC.) In the meantime, I hope to help keep you informed in an interesting way.
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