Drive safe – or else – this holiday weekend
Notwithstanding statewide progress in the fight against drunk driving over the past decade, drunk driving is still killing six people a year in Augusta County, according to Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles data of alcohol-related traffic deaths averaged over the last five years. Augusta County averaged the 11th most drunk-driving fatalities in Virginia during the 2006 to 2010 period.
The Commonwealth averaged 243 drunk driving deaths a year – approximately two DUI deaths every three days – over the five-year period. Across Virginia, 37 percent of all traffic fatalities are alcohol-related, according to Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles data.
The Augusta County Sheriff’s Office is participating in the Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign, which is stopping drunk driving through a combination of public education and stepped-up law-enforcement efforts. So if your Thanksgiving plans include alcohol with your turkey and football, the road is absolutely the last place to end the day.
“Thanksgiving is a time to gather with family and friends and reflect on the year’s good fortune. But killing or hurting yourself or someone else by driving under the influence is nothing to be thankful for,” said Kurt Erickson, president of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, the project director of the region’s Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign.”Our message to drivers is simple this holiday weekend: Drive sober or get pulled over.”
This year marks the 10th year of the Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign and the campaign is paying life-saving dividends: Since 2001, Virginia has seen a 23-percent decrease in alcohol-related traffic fatalities and a 32-percent decrease in alcohol-related traffic injuries.
Throughout November and December 2011, the Augusta County officers are focused on keeping roads free from drunk drivers. Augusta County law-enforcement efforts include sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and increased enforcement around the holidays.
Across Virginia in 2010, 32,760 drunk-driving arrests weremade, which resulted in 29,063 convictions – an average of one DUI conviction every 18 minutes.
Checkpoint Strikeforce is a research-based, zero-tolerance campaign in the Mid-Atlantic states designed to both identify and apprehend drunk drivers through sobriety checkpoints and other enhanced law-enforcement efforts and to educate the public about the dangers and consequences of drunk driving. Nearly 43,000 ads will run on a total of 84 broadcast stations, cable systems and radio stations in Virginia this year with additional ads being broadcast separately in Northern Virginia.
County, ACSA to provide water kiosk for Riverheads
For some citizens of Augusta County who are not able to get potable water because public water or private wells are not available at their location, another option is now available.
Thanks to a cooperative project between the Augusta County Board of Supervisors and the Augusta County Service Authority, a new water kiosk is now located at the Riverheads Fire and Rescue Station, just off of U.S. Route 11 north of the Greenville interchange with I-81. Riverheads Board of Supervisors member Nancy Sorrells led the effort to make this project a reality.
The water kiosk concept is not a new one. Many communities across the U.S. and countries across the globe use water kiosks to provide safe, clean water for their citizens. The Augusta County station provides ACSA treated water at a cost of 1¢ per gallon.
The kiosk uses a pre-paid card that allows the user to dispense water in quantities from ten gallons up to thousands of gallons. Two dispensing connections are provided at the kiosk: a 2-inch cam-lock connector to allow for the quick filling of trucks and larger tanks on vehicles, and a 5/8-inch garden hose connector for smaller containers.
To purchase water from the kiosk, a user must come to the Service Authority Customer Service Counter at the Verona Government Center, purchase a kiosk card for $10, and load it with a pre-paid balance up to $750. The self-service card can immediately be used at the kiosk to dispense water. The card can be re-used by simply returning to the ACSA Customer Service Counter and purchasing additional pre-paid gallons and adding them to their card.
For more detailed information visit the ACSA website at
www.acsawater.com/waterkiosk or contact the ACSA Customer Service Department at 540-245-5681 with any questions.
I-64 paving will close two Augusta County ramps
Paving work will cause the closure of two interstate ramps in Augusta County this week.
The ramp from northbound Interstate 81 at exit 221 to eastbound Interstate 64 at exit 87 will be closed on Thursday, July 21 at 7 p.m. until Friday, July 22 at 7 a.m. The I-64 eastbound exit ramp onto Route 608 at exit 91 will be closed on Friday, July 22 at 7 p.m. until Saturday, July 23 at 9 a.m.
Paving operations will also take place on I-64 eastbound from exit 87 to exit 96 in the Lyndhurst area Monday thru Saturday. This work will begin on the night of Monday, July 18 and last until the morning of Friday, July 22 from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily and then on Friday night from 7 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 23.
Motorists should be alert for single lane closures. All work is weather permitting. Motorists should expect travel delays in this area.
Road work affecting traffic on U.S. 250 in western part of county
Pipe replacement work on Route 250 (Hanky Mountain Highway) in Augusta County will create single-lane traffic on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This location is at 0.30 miles east of Route 716 (Braley Pond Road) and 3.50 miles west of Route 728 (Stover Shop Road).
Signs will be posted and flaggers will be controlling traffic. All work is weather permitting.
Cline kicks off re-election bid with manufacturing tour
Del. Ben Cline (R-24) today officially kicked off his campaign for re-election to the House of Delegates this November with a focus on creating jobs and accelerating Virginia’s economic recovery. Del. Cline was joined by Congressman Bob Goodlatte as he toured three local manufacturers in the 24th House District.
“It has been an honor for me to represent the citizens of the 24th House District in the General Assembly,” said Cline. “I am proud of the successes that we have been able to achieve, including the passage of tax relief for families and businesses across Virginia and the establishment of community college branch campuses in Amherst and Buena Vista. But there is more to do, especially when Virginia families are hurting due to the economic downturn. Providing additional workforce training and economic incentives that help businesses like S&S Machines in Amherst, Advanced Drainage Systems in Buena Vista, and McKee Foods in Stuarts Draft create jobs will lead to a brighter future for families across our part of Virginia.”
Cline’s legislative accomplishments during his nine years in office focus mainly on improving the economy in three areas: Infrastructure, Instruction, and Incentives. Locally, Cline’s major infrastructure focus has been on securing funding to open and operate the aforementioned CVCC Amherst and DSLCC Rockbridge branches, fighting against the closure of the Central Virginia Training Center (Amherst County’s largest employer), and passing several bills that encourage safety, reduce congestion, and promote intermodal rail to improve the long-term viability of Interstate-81.
Cline’s focus on workforce instruction and job training resulted in the creation of the Community College Transfer Grant scholarship that enables students to transfer from community college to four-year state schools more easily (HB2168 – 2007). Cline also sponsored legislation in 2006 to save students and their families money by creating a school supply sales tax holiday (HB1125 – 2006), as well as legislation to provide instate tuition benefits to children of military personnel stationed in Virginia (HB 1135 – 2006). Cline has also focused as a member of the House Finance Committee on providing tax and regulatory incentives for employers and working families to locate and create jobs in Virginia.
“It has been an honor to represent the hardworking citizens of Amherst, Augusta and Rockbridge in Richmond, and I look forward to a positive campaign and asking for their votes this fall,” Cline said. “In addition, I look forward to getting to know folks across Bath County as I introduce myself to the newest parts of the 24th House district.”
The 24th House District includes the Cities of Lexington and Buena Vista, Bath and Rockbridge Counties, and parts of Amherst and Augusta Counties. Delegate Cline was elected in 2002 and re-elected to his fifth term in 2009. Cline is Chairman of the Joint Health Care Commission and a member of the House Commerce Committee, Public Safety Committee, Finance Committee, and Courts of Justice Committee. He lives with his wife, Elizabeth, near Lexington and is an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for Rockingham County.
Candidates forum set for June 15
The first in an advertised series of town-hall meetings featuring four candidates for seats on the Augusta County Board of Supervisors is set for Wednesday, June 15, at the Augusta County Government Center in Verona.
Incumbent Pastures District Supervisor Tracy Pyles will be joined by Beverley Manor candidate David Karaffa, North River candidate Marshall Pattie and Wayne candidate Kurt Michael at the 7 p.m. forum.
The public is invited to attend and ask questions.
Chris Graham: A new order in the offing in Augusta?
Posted by afp on July 5, 2011 · Leave a Comment
At last count, four of the seven-member board have announced that they won’t be running for re-election, with Board Chair Jeremy Shifflett and Pastures Supervisor Tracy Pyles confirmed to be in the running and South River Supervisor David Beyeler either expected to announce his intention to run for another term (according to some) or join the parade of retirees (according to others).
The balance of power could be shifting in the direction of Pyles, a Democrat who has forged an interesting coalition with former Augusta County Republican Chairman Kurt Michael, former Augusta County Democratic Chairman Marshall Pattie and local Tea Party veteran David Karaffa.
Karaffa is the only member of the group who will face an incumbent, Shifflett, a Republican who narrowly won election in 2007 (by 16 votes over Democrat Lee Godfrey) in the Beverley Manor District. Pattie and Michael are both running for seats being vacated by incumbents (Pattie in North River, Michael in Wayne), and Pyles, while he has am opponent, has not seriously been challenged in his four election victories, which date back to 1995.
Pyles was the voice in the wilderness leading the charge against the controversial property reassessments in 2009 that the majority of the Board of Supervisors decided to handle by an equally controversial measure that gutted the county property-tax rate. Shifflett joined the Pyles crusade late in the game, maybe too late to sidestep criticism that he did so for political reasons. How he fares against a challenge from the right in the form of Karaffa will be one of the key storylines in the upcoming election cycle in Augusta County.
Number one on that list will be how the disparate coalition that Pyles has forged will be able to work as a team. The grouping has a better-than-even chance of forming a working majority on the Board of Supervisors come January. United as they are right now on fiscal issues, could there be room for their opponents to play a divide-and-conquer game by going all social issues on them?
Not if the quartet follows this piece of advice: Local elections, and local government, aren’t about abortion and gay marriage. To borrow from the campaign mantra that carried Bill Clinton through contentious elections in the 1990s, it’s the economy, stupid. Economic growth and balanced budgets – that’s what the voters want.
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with augusta county, augusta county board of supervisors, david karaffa, kurt michael, marshall pattie, tracy pyles