TUESDAY 8/21: Focus Group on Coastal Environments
10 Volunteers Wanted for Focus Group Discussion
Coastal environments and ecosystems have been important to human communities and our quality of life, but are facing stress and change from intensifying human use.
Researchers from the University of Connecticut in conjunction with the Long-Term Ecological Research site operated by the University of Virginia at the Virginia Coastal Reserve are conducting an environmental economics focus group on Tuesday, August 21. [Read more…]
LETTER: Public Spaces Should Not Be Privatized
August 19, 2012
DEAR EDITOR,
We the people own a collective array of resources that should not be exploited for private gain.
For the Founding Fathers, and later the high court, this notion is the original countermeasure to governmental abuse.
This is the current struggle for the old Cape Charles School — should Town Council have the ability to control the access and use of public space and assets?
Yes, the old school, especially the gymtorium, is public space, and the building and grounds are public assets.
Our public spaces have always served as a metaphor for our shared participation in the American dream of equality.
Public spaces are meant to be places where people from different backgrounds create a Cape Charles that includes everyone, and excludes no one.
It also invokes the notion of Lawrence Lessing’s idea of the Commons, “a resource in joint use or possession to be held or enjoyed equally by a number of persons.”
According to the courts, generally accessible government-owned places are tradition puble fora, and the American “traditional public forum doctrine” emphasizes the government’s role in protecting citizens’ access to public spaces such as the old school. These are the basic building blocks of our democracy. [Read more…]
FRIDAY 8/24: Community Festival at Northampton High
The 2nd Annual Community Festival at Northampton High will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, August 24. Admission is free, and food and entertainment will be provided. Please bring a school supply donation for the “Fill the Coach Back to School Drive.”
SUNDAY 8/26: Crab Decks & Tiki Bars Book Signing at Sunset Grille
Sunset Grille in Kiptopeke is hosting a book signing for the new Virginia edition of Crab Decks & Tiki Bars of the Chesapeake Bay. The authors will be signing copies August 26 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Crab Decks & Tiki Bars of the Chesapeake Bay is a guide to 100 waterfront restaurants and tiki lounges that serve hot crabs and cool drinks in Virginia. Seafood fans can beat the heat at authentic gems where watermen deliver their daily catch and chefs prepare mouthwatering feasts.
Authors Susan and Bill Wade self-published the guide after spending 20+ years exploring each neck of the Bay.
For more about the book, click on www.crabdecksandtikibars.com.
SUNDAY 9/2: Support Eastern Shore Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Cape Charles, will have a Bucket Sunday on Labor Day weekend in support of the Eastern Shore Coalition Against Domestic Violence, which recently lost its public funding.
During the past year, a total of five women on the Eastern Shore reportedly have lost their lives from domestic violence.
Emmanuel Episcopal is encouraging other local churches to join in a special collection Labor Day weekend to support the Eastern Shore Coalition.
ESO LIVE
Flatpicking Guitar Opens Eastern Shore’s Own Arts Center
Father & Son duo Doug and Karl Hepler play old-time, new grass, folk, Celtic, and more. Click on photo for ESO website.
By DONNA BOZZA
August 18, 2012
Doug and Karl Hepler will bring flatpicking guitar at its fastest and best to kick off the new ESO LIVE Series next Saturday, August 25, at 7:30 p.m. at ESO Arts Center in Belle Haven.
As their first on-Shore performance, this award winning Richmond area father and son team will rock through high-energy tunes — a spectrum that includes old-time, New Grass, folk, Celtic, and original songs. This is family-friendly musical fare with a wide appeal.
ESO is proud to have these accomplished and crowd-pleasing performers launch the new ESO LIVE series, the renamed, re-energized version of the former ESO Cabaret program.
Doug Hepler has been playing guitar since the age of 13. He teaches at Allegheny Echoes, a renowned week-long music camp in Marlinton, WV. He also teaches guitar and mandolin in the Richmond area and plays in the Carriage House Band, a local favorite. Doug won 1st place in flatpicking at the Virginia Folk Music Association competition in 2002. [Read more…]
Town Council Responds to Old School Cape Charles Lawsuit
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
August 17, 2012
Cape Charles Town Council has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought against it by the citizens’ group Old School Cape Charles.
After Town Council voted June 14 to sell the old school and surrounding property adjoining Central Park to a private developer, Old School Cape Charles, LLC, sued.
Led by local resident Wayne Creed, Old School Cape Charles had offered to lease or buy the school property for use as a community center. The group contends that the Town rejected its proposal “without . . . logical basis or explanation,” choosing instead to sell the property to Echelon Resources, Inc., for $10. The lawsuit seeks a Circuit Court order declaring the Town Council’s actions “unlawful and invalid.”
In its response August 7, the Town’s attorney argues that:
— Old School Cape Charles lacks standing to appeal to the Court;
— The Town’s resolution is not a zoning decision that can be appealed, and issues concerning zoning actions “are not ripe for determination”;
— Alleged procedural errors have not been proved;
— Old School Cape Charles failed to state how the sale of the property was not in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan; and
— Old School Cape Charles also failed to state why a “lame duck” Town Council may not bind a future Council, and why the Council’s decisions were “arbitrary, capricious, or violative of constitutional rights.” [Read more…]
Northampton County to Tax Delinquents: Pay up or Else
Above is page 1 of the 517 page County list of back taxes. Over $2 million is owed. Click on the image to access the full document.
By KAREN JOLLY DAVIS
Cape Charles Wave
August 16, 2012
Northampton County’s new stand on back taxes is far-reaching: pay up or face seizure of assets, garnishment of wages, garnishment of bank accounts, or liens on property — and no payment plans or relief will be offered.
“We are not trying to cause difficulties in people’s lives, but we are trying to get their attention,” said Northampton County Administrator Katie Nunez at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
Nunez said “tax delinquency” is defined as not having paid that year’s assessment by December 5. First, she said, the County treasurer will send out notices to those who are delinquent. They will have 30 days to pay, after which the sheriff can be sent with a warrant to seize property.
Supervisors Oliver Bennett and Willie Randall were clearly uncomfortable with the harshness of the new policy.
“What happens if an elderly couple miss a tax payment?” asked Bennett. “Within a month, do they lose their car?” [Read more…]
