Virginia legislator: ‘My War with the Eastern Box Turtle’

(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department photo)

Dear Friend

“What do you have against turtles?”

Today I did something I never imagined I would have to do when I was elected to serve in the Senate of Virginia. I spoke and voted against legislation to make the box turtle as our state reptile (passed 24-15). That has led to some asking me, “What do you have against turtles?” It’s not a question I anticipated being asked this session, but it’s one I’ve heard more than a few times in the last few days.

For the record, I don’t have anything against the Eastern Box Turtle or terrapins in general, so there’s no need to speculate.

No, I don’t object to turtles; I object to wasting time on trivialities while seriously contemplating pushing back the budget for some later date. I have nothing against the Eastern Box, but I do have a problem with the amount of time we’ve spent this session on bills that have nothing to do with making our Commonwealth a better place, to say nothing of getting our economy back on track. This bill is just one isolated, albeit absurd (okay, even slightly amusing), example of a larger trend.

Is designating a state reptile really worth our time? We already have a state beverage, state insect, and a state gold mining interpretive center – presumably to distinguish it from the pretenders. We even have a state fossil, an extinct scallop.

I concede that Virginia trails other states in designations. We don’t have a state shrub, a state grass, or even a state donut. But if we’re to pick a state reptile, how to choose? Sure, the Eastern Box Turtle is a fine choice, but there’s something to be said for the endangered stinkpot turtle, too. And who doesn’t have a soft spot for other reptilian species, like the yellow-bellied slider, the common five-lined skink (and, of course, some would undoubtedly suggest politicians and lawyers)?

You know, we have a state shell as well. Increasingly, though, I think our state shell should be the one some in government are hiding under they we wait for the economic ill winds to pass us by. One of the counties I represent has an 11.7% unemployment rate, and they’re not alone. People are struggling to make ends meet across the Commonwealth, and they need the General Assembly to redouble its efforts to promote economic recovery, not ignore the problem in the hopes that it will just go away.

So nothing against the turtle – but if I had my way, he’d have to get in line.

Mark Obenshain
Virginia State Senator

Free complete print edition: Mid January, 2009

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Inside this issue:

• Front Royal, VA woman loses finger in domestic dispute
• Browntown Road shooting
• Additional charges filed in Warren County, VA house ramming incident
• Two arrested in Papa John’s Pizza robbery
• Be on the lookout for Daniel Eli of Bethlehem, PA
• Driveway scams
• Openings for Citizens Police Academy
• R-MA teacher honored
• State River Park attendance down
• New Linden, VA trash site opens
• Town of Front Royal, VA approaches liaison: Let’s talk – just not about ‘that’
• Warren County, VA approves 5-pronged January liaison agenda
• Capt. Richard H. Furr makes it official – applying for Front Royal, VA police chief’s job
• Del. Clay Athey’s Report from Richmond, VA
• Neighbors point fingers (not guns) during shooting debate
• ‘Pawsitive Pup’ makes dog grooming more convenient
• NFL playoffs – Still Cheering Purple Pride
• Activities & events in Front Royal and Warren County, VA
• Opinion: The Gaza Holocaust
• Letter: History’s Revenge
• Front Royal/Warren County, VA Chamber of Commerce news
• Entire issue is free here.

Also, 2008: The Year in Review

• 2008 – It wasn’t that great: From bad weather to a lousy economy – good riddance
• Inventor John Kovak: Childhood machine could be key to clean energy production in Front Royal, VA
• CPV, Dominion Power make it official – the ‘buy’ is on
• Paying for our own noose? Front Royal, VA debates the true price of power – 50 years of coal
• Loss of father, two young children mourned at Candlelight Vigil
• Town of Front Royal, VA approves corridor, EDA resolutions  – Threat of litigation by Riverton Commons restaurants hovers over passage
• First Crooked Run Center tax revenue estimates in
• Town, FDR Services settle water-sewer rate war – Two years of litigation ends with compromise, 15-year service contract
• Should the Dow be at 3,000? Up a grand, down a grand – Great Depression 2.0?
• Show me the money – Brooks calls out EDA financing – EDA’s reduced municipal funding request opens a fiscal can of worms
• Town move on EDA assets likely futile – Virginia state law protects autonomy of economic development authorities
• Town to EDA – ‘Pretty please with sugar on top’ – Town rephrases effort to gain control of millions in EDA assets
• Abusive driver fees’ hit the dustbin of legislative history – Refunds included in ‘civil remedial fee’ repeal signed into law by Virginia governor
• Virginia Governor Tim Kaine cites importance of dialogue in state government
• Va. Supreme Court rules against NVTA road taxing – Local plaintiff, delegate weigh in on decision, state funding responsibilities
• Questions remain about Virginia state trooper collision – Public’s right to know at issue as accident investigation continues
• Humane Society board recalled under contentious circumstances – Accusations fly over membership voting eligibility, animal care priorities
• Wagner Shelter two weeks later – ‘a remarkable change’; In the wake of contentious board recall, humans & animals move on
• Monk murder mystery – A personal remembrance of a soul in wonder
• Entire issue is free here.

Inmate walks out of jail, roams through town bumming cigarettes…in handcuffs

Faith McHale chats with FRPD K-9 Officer Jason Bates before being whisked back to Warren County Jail

By Dan McDermott
Warren County Report Newspaper

The Warren County County, Virginia Jail had its first escape in years Nov. 8th when an inmate walked out of the “cage” and began a trek through town in search of cigarettes and freedom.

She had more luck bumming the smokes.

According to Jail Captain Steve Barr, Faith McHale, 36, had been brought to the jail and was handcuffed when she discovered that the magnetic door at the Jackson Street entrance had not closed.

Around 4:30 pm “she just walked out with the handcuffs on,” said Barr.

Initial reports that McHale was also wearing leg shackles proved to be untrue.

The sight of McHale walking through town with county bracelets on generated a number of calls to area dispatchers.

The woman apparently borrowed a cigarette from someone at Roy’s Express at the intersection of North Royal Ave. and Chester St. before reportedly entering a blue pickup truck headed toward South Street.

“We did not confirm the pickup,” said Barr.

Authorities converged on Main Street after receiving a call that McHale was standing next to the woodpile at Stokes Mart.

She was found there puffing away and was quickly brought back to the jail where the magnetic lock was presumably double checked.

“She was apprehended after about 15-20 minutes,” Barr said.

Barr, who has been at the Jail since 1991, said it was the first time he could recall someone actually escaping from the jail since an early 1990’s renovation that added central heating and air and sealed off inmate’s windows.

[Just prior to presstime, however, WC Report's crack research staff reports that another female prisoner walked out of the jail about five years ago after disabling the wiring to an electronic holding cell lock near the prisoner transport entrance.]

Barr said most “escapes” are actually work release inmates who either walk off the job or simply don’t return to jail after work.

McHale was a resident of the local women’s shelter and appeared to be intoxicated during the ordeal. According to Barr, McHale was originally charged with child abuse and has now been charged with escape from the jail, where she currently resides.

Barr said the lock appears to be functioning correctly now but noted that a security company has been asked to come and check it out.

The Warren County Jail welcomes about 167 “guests” a month.

[ From the current issue of Warren County Report Newspaper. On stands now. Dan McDermott: editor [at] warrencountyreport.com ]

Read more news free in our back issues.

Is surfing the Internet altering your brain?

The Internet is not just changing the way people live but altering the way our brains work with a neuroscientist arguing this is an evolutionary change which will put the tech-savvy at the top of the new social order.

Gary Small, a neuroscientist at UCLA in California who specializes in brain function, has found through studies that Internet searching and text messaging has made brains more adept at filtering information and making snap decisions.

Watch: Rep. Frank Wolf’s elderly staffer allegedly assaulting cameraman with cane

Did 10th District Republican Congressman Frank Wolf’s elderly assistant Frank Dutton strike a cameraman with his cane?

Democrat challenger Judy Feder is accusing him of that and asking that he be fired.

I am at a loss to figure out why the guy didn’t actually ask the question before the confrontation with the world’s oldest bodyguard.

This video was posted by the Democrat Raising Kaine blog. Perhaps they should rename it Raising Cane?

Full story

Your new next-door neighbor – a cemetery

Beth and Mike De Coss stand in the backyard of their Healdsburg, Calif., home on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008. Their home shares a fence with Healdsburg's Oak Mount Cemetery. They say the neighborhood's quiet for the most part, except when teens decide to hang out in the cemetery after hours. (Kim Komenich / The Chronicle)

Before moving to Northern Virginia, agent Mitzi Romiti of Jobin Realty lived in a house in Uncasville, Conn., that was adjacent to a cemetery. “We moved in when my children were 6, 9 and 12,” Romiti says. “The neighbors never bothered us, didn’t complain when we had parties, and didn’t throw wild parties themselves. We lived there for about 10 years.”

In some places, living next to a cemetery is considered a status symbol. “In Savannah, our cemeteries are coveted,” says Harry Norman’s Elaine Seabolt, who happens to live next to one in the heart of the historic district that is a huge tourist attraction.

STDs get a boost in Va: New “pro life” pharmacy refuses all birth control

Pam Semler, of Fairfax, Va., works the register at DMC Pharmacy in Chantilly, Va. on Monday, Oct. 20, 2008. The pharmacy bills itself as "pro-life" and carries no contraceptive products. Divine Mercy Care Pharmacy is among at least seven pharmacies across the nation that is refusing as a matter of faith to sell contraceptives of any kind, even if a person has a prescription. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A new drug store at a Virginia strip mall is putting its faith in an unconventional business plan: No candy. No sodas. And no birth control. Divine Mercy Care Pharmacy is among at least seven pharmacies across the nation that are refusing as a matter of faith to sell contraceptives of any kind, even if a person has a prescription.

States across the country have been wrestling with the issue of pharmacists who refuse on religious grounds to dispense birth control or morning-after pills, and some have enacted laws requiring drug stores to fill the prescriptions.

In Virginia, though, pharmacists can turn away any prescription for any reason.

Watch: “Tax on Stupid People” Update–People want their money after Virginia Lottery glitch

The Virginia Lottery announced a glitch in the system. On Sunday, the lottery started a new game called Super 7’s, but a technical problem caused the tickets to misprint. It led buyers to think they won a much bigger prize than they actually did. Before the error was caught, more than 2,300 tickets were sold. About 600 of them were printed incorrectly.

3 charged in Northern Virginia moonshine bust

Three Virginia men stand accused of making moonshine in a Stafford home’s kitchen.

Historically accurate 7-Election gives Obama the edge

By Dan McDermott
Warren County Report Newspaper

If John McCain and his supporters have seemed angry at recent rallies it isn’t because they’ve been drinking too much coffee.

7-Eleven customers currently give Barack Obama a 20 point advantage in the company’s 7-Election poll of coffee drinkers. The Democrat Illinois Senator is leading by 60% to 40% over Republican McCain of Arizona.

Obama leads in all but three participating states. In North Carolina McCain is ahead by 2 points and in New Hampshire McCain is holding a 52-48 advantage. The two are tied 50-50 in West Virginia.

While of dubious scientific merit, the choices 7-Eleven coffee drinkers have made in the past two presidential contests have proven to be almost exactly correct nationally and close on a state-by-state basis.

According to 7-Eleven’s website, the 2000 7-Election had George Bush 1 point over Al Gore. In 2004, the tally gave Bush 51% and John Kerry 49%.

According to an employee at the new 7-Eleven in Crooked Run Center in North Warren County, VA (who said she planned to write-in Micky Mouse Nov. 4th) several customers return throughout the day to buy a second or third cup and boost their candidate’s score. Most customers purchase a cup with no logo. She figures they are independents.

7-Eleven serves more than 1 million cups of coffee per day.

While down 60-40 nationally in the 7-Election poll, John McCain is faring well at the new 7-Eleven in the north side Crooked Run Shopping Center. No other 7-Elevens in traditionally-Republican Front Royal and Warren County, VA had current results posted.

44 year-old Teddy Smoot of Shenandoah County, VA is a coffee drinker and a McCain man.

32 year-old Tata Lewis lives in Winchester, VA but works in the Sally Beauty Supply in Crooked Run Center in North Warren County, VA. She was buying her second Obama cup of the day.