Plans for park in 'legal limbo'

This article was published in the Country Courier.


The King William Circuit Court is a deciding factor for whether or not Governors Run Sports Park is built in King William County.

A Hanover-based corporation, KW Morrison, LLC, plans to put the motocross park on land along Route 30, about four and a half miles west of Route 360 in King William County.

The land is zoned agricultural conservation. KW Morrison has been thinning trees and doing other preparatory work for months.

“They’re right behind me. I can hear them,” said Diana Jones-Walsh, a King William resident who owns adjoining land and opposes the park.

The easement KW Morrison uses to access its land is property of Judith Gwathmey.

In November 2008, the King William Board of Zoning Appeals decided that KW Morrison needed to include Gwathmey on the application for a conditional use permit because of the location of the easement.

KW Morrison filed an appeal in King William Circuit Court which should be heard within the next couple of months, said Daniel Wright, a member of the King William County Board of Supervisors.

In the meantime, plans are still moving forward, said Marshal Campbell, one of the owners of the park.

KW Morrison chose the site because of the increasing number of participants in motocross and similar sports in the county and because there are no sports parks nearby.

Some residents got together last year and formed Citizens for King William County to address issues like this by keeping the public informed and protesting certain matters.

“We’re trying to educate the community as to negative environmental impacts that the motocross will have,” said Perrin Gower, who works with Citizens for King William County by helping to oversee the meetings and get the word out.

He said one of his concerns is ground water contamination from spilled fuel, whether spilled accidentally or as the result of a wreck.

Jones-Walsh, who also works with Citizens for King William County to inform the public, said she doesn’t think the chosen location is the right place for a motocross park.

“I think it’ll be too much traffic on a small road,” she said, adding that the curve in the road at that location will only make it worse. She also said that she is concerned about the noise level.

Campbell said that the corporation is taking steps to avoid these problems.

“We have secured the services of various professionals to detail the best practices to follow to protect our property and the environment,” he said in an e-mail.

Campbell also said the park will incorporate features to minimize sound transmission beyond their property lines.

“We have made many changes to our original plan, to address concerns that have been brought to our attention … ,” Campbell said. “We have also received numerous great suggestions from citizens that we have incorporated into our planning.”

Gower, Jones-Walsh and others in opposition to the park hold meetings, write letters and articles, and hand out fliers in the county.

“We need to keep the issue in front of the community,” said Jean Girves, who sends out newsletters for Citizens for King William County via e-mail.

On their Web site, the group asks people to contact the county board of supervisors in opposition to the motocross park. The motocross park also asks for help from the citizens on their Web site.

The board so far has been indifferent, said Gower, but citizens have generally been anti-motocross.

Campbell said many citizens have supported the efforts to build the park.

“The number of those supporting our project continues to grow as more people learn what motocross is, and of our desire to bring a high-quality, family-friendly sports park to the area.”

Wright said he has received hundreds of phone calls and letters to state opposition to what he thinks is the most controversial subject in his four years of being on the board.

“I’d say close to 700 people have contacted me,” he said. “I haven’t heard much on the other side saying ‘we want it.’”

What people don’t seem to understand, Wright said, is that there isn’t anything the board can do right now.

“As of today, it’s in legal limbo. Nothing can be done until the judge rules,” said Wright. “The board of supervisor members have not touched it or looked at it.”

The other board members agree. Tom Smiley and Cecil Schools, also on the board of supervisors, said they don’t know any more about the park than other residents.

If the circuit court judge rules in favor of KW Morrison, the corporation may submit an application to the board.

Ress gives advice to student journalists

Dave Ress, an investigative reporter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, gave interviewing advice to a class of student journalists on Thursday afternoon at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The most important thing when interviewing, Ress said, is to keep a conversation going.

“It’s possible to be too fussily precise and too constrained and you’re not going to find out a whole lot,” he said.

He said that it’s important to put the person at ease because too often people become wary or nervous while being interviewed.

“Don’t let either the notepad or the tape recorder get in the way of the conversation,” Ress said.

Ress said it’s also important to be completely up-front and honest without trying to hide why information is being sought.

“It’s not like you’re going to sneak up on anyone – you’re a reporter,” he said.

Not only is it necessary to be honest about being a reporter, but also about what information is needed, Ress said. He advised that students be careful of using certain terms.

“There’s a lot of games people play, a lot of words people use,” he said, especially in Washington. Ress said reporters must know when and how to use phrases such as “on the record” and “off the record,” and how they are different from “background.”

If a source wants to remain off the record, be honest about whether that will be allowed or not, Ress said. He said reporters must know when a source may remain anonymous and when he may not.

To avoid any problems that a source might have with any of these issues, Ress said reporters must have the ground rules laid out with their sources before the interview.

Reporters should not be jerks, Ress said, but polite to their sources. He said there is nothing wrong with having emotions.

“It’s perfectly legitimate to empathize with someone you’re interviewing,” Ress said. “It’s perfectly legitimate to walk out of there saying, ‘How do I feel about that?’”

Ress advised students not to let their emotions get in the way of good reporting. If a reporter finds that he is growing too close to a source to write objectively, he should consider whether to keep doing that beat. He must confront the issue with a clear mind.

Reporters also should not allow their nervousness to influence their reporting, Ress said. He said it’s normal to feel nervous and intimidated, but the only way to deal with it is just to do the job anyway and eventually reporters will learn how to handle it.

“If you examine what you do honestly and often enough, you’re going to know your strengths and weaknesses,” Ress said.

Reporters need to be aware of what is a good story and what is not.

“I get tips sometimes. I get suspicions sometimes. I get an itch under my skin sometimes,” Ress said about his story ideas. “Sometimes you just get lucky. Stuff just kind of happens.”

Whenever working on a story, Ress said, it’s important to get to the heart of the issue and not to focus too hard on getting that one good quote.

“Think about what you do. Don’t go out there just to grab a quote. Go out there to talk to people.”

From community organizations to gubernatorial candidate

Brian Moran has worked hard in community organizations, the House of Delegates and, now, running for governor, fighting for the issues he considers important to the community.

By Samantha Downing

Education. Economy. Environment.

Brian Moran, one of the men in the race to be the Democrat candidate for Virginia governor, believes these three issues are of great importance.

“I grew up with parents who really instilled in us a belief that you have an obligation to leave the world a better place than you found it for your children,” Moran said. “It’s always been engrained in me.”

Because of what his parents taught him, Moran has been involved in the community for many years. He volunteered for a multitude of community organizations – many of them dealing with children.

“One thing led to another,” he said. “One evening 15 years ago [Governor] Mark Warner suggested I should run for the House of Delegates.”

His involvement increased in the legislature. Moran was Chairman of the Virginia House Democratic Caucus for several years. He worked closely with Warner and Governor Tim Kaine, and wants to continue their legacy of progressivism in Virginia.

Kaine’s changes to the budget and the effect on schools have some students at Virginia Commonwealth University concerned about what the future will bring.

“I hope that we get more funding to VCU,” said Stormy Holt, a mass communications student. “There’s a lot of budget cuts going on right now.”

Holt said she doesn’t want any more classes to be cut or majors to be discontinued.

Britt Smith works with VCU Students for Brian Moran, and he has confidence in Moran when it comes to education.

“Brian has put an extreme amount of importance on educating youth – just in the most general terms – because that’s where it all begins,” Smith said.

“If you give people that firm foundation and throw the money at the schools and do what you need to do…then you will, in a sense, produce the most viable next generation.”

Moran said he understands what college students go through, and he wants to set their minds at ease.

“We have to make sure our colleges are affordable for all incomes in Virginia,” he said. “I worked at a lot of jobs – gas station attendant, construction, work-study programs – all to afford college. So I get that.”

Moran said he knows the apprehension families face when considering the present economy. He has plans to create green jobs to boost the economy and improve the environment at the same time.

“There’s some wonderful research being conducted at colleges and universities,” Moran said. “We need to coordinate that.”

As a result of this research, Moran said, technology would improve and jobs would be created. In addition, the new technology could be exported from Virginia, which would also help improve the economy in this state, Moran said.

Moran said he wants to make it easier for homes and businesses to implement cleaner forms of energy – such as solar power.

“I want to make it more affordable for folks to put panels in the homes and give them tax credits to do that,” he said. “I also want to use the $160 million we’re receiving from the government to weatherize homes of low-income families and schools.”

In addition, Moran is the only candidate who opposes offshore drilling, emphasizing that he believes we should not continue to rely on nineteenth century fossil fuel.

“It poses an environmental hazard to Virginia Beach,” he said. “The U.S. Navy opposes it as well.”

His energy plan says he “understands that offshore drilling would continue our dangerous dependence on foreign oil.”

How exactly would offshore drilling continue this dependence?

“I don’t know,” Moran said.

Moran has strong opinions about some other issues that have been prominent in recent weeks, such as gun control.

“I would oppose legislation that would allow guns to be in bars,” he said. “I support closing the gun show loophole.”

His campaign is using a social networking site the campaign created, Organize Virginia, to inform people about Moran and what he stands for.

Moran said that now is the time for college students to start getting involved in the community and support the causes they believe in.

“It’s imperative that you commit yourself to the community to try to improve it,” he said. “One person can make a difference.”

Why Moran?

Virginia Commonwealth University is a large campus in Richmond with over thirty thousand students. As the election for the next Virginia governor draws closer, students must decide who they think is the best candidate. Britt Smith, a member of VCU Students for Brian Moran, explains why he believes Moran is the best choice for VCU students - and college students in general.

Reaching out to undecided voters

Phone banking is a popular way for volunteers to help with a political campaign, especially with today’s technology allowing flexible hours.

By Samantha Downing


In the evening of almost every day of the week, the political action committee Virginians for Brian Moran holds a phone bank in Northern Virginia.

The volunteers call phone numbers obtained from lists of registered voters and explain why they support Moran for governor.

“There’s actually nothing more important in a campaign than reaching out to undecided voters,” said Jesse Ferguson, communications director for Virginians for Brian Moran.

Etenesh Brown, a junior at Virginia Commonwealth University majoring in religious studies, helped with President Barack Obama’s extensive phone bank last year, making calls to women in the Midwest.

“The Web site made it very easy to answer their questions,” she said, adding that the Web site had detailed talking points and a structure to follow. “‘If they say this, click here and say this. But if they say this, then thank them for their time and end the conversation.’”

Brown thinks that the way phone banks function now, through the Internet and cell phones, is much more efficient than the way they used to function.

Virginians for Brian Moran is using today’s technology to its full advantage.

“We do phone-from-home programs where students or any voter can work with our campaign,” Ferguson said.

Volunteers can sign up to participate in Moran’s phone bank via the committee’s Web site. Because of the use of cell phones and phone-from-home programs, they don’t have to meet at a set location. This makes it possible for more people to participate.

“Any volunteer can help out whenever they can, even if it’s only a few minutes a day, making a few calls a week,” Brown said.

Brown said the ability to use cell phones is not the only advantage to phone banks.

“I think one of the benefits of phone banks is the opportunity it gives the receivers to talk to a real person about any concerns or questions they have,” Brown said. “These volunteers are dedicated enough to this candidate that they will call a stranger. That itself says that this may be something worth at least hearing.”

Ferguson said that is the reason their phone bank has been so successful.

“People like to know…that the people who are reaching out on behalf of the campaign aren’t an army of paid staff,” he said.

Susen Wilcox, who worked with Dave Weldon’s campaign in Florida, said a big advantage to a phone bank is the ability to contact so many people in a short amount of time.

“You have the ability to speak to more people than you would if you were just going door to door,” she said.

In addition to the phone bank, the Moran campaign is actively seeking support in other ways, including through a social networking site called Organize Virginia.

“We are truly building a grassroots campaign,” Ferguson said. “That’s how we’re going to win.”

VCU students struggle for jobs, internships

VCU students preparing to graduate could have a hard time finding jobs and internships because of the economy.

This article was published in the Commonwealth Times: VCU students struggle for jobs, internships - News

Practice makes perfect

A local band, The Onset, prepares to make their debut at Wild Willies in Mechanicsville after months of practice.

This article was published in the Commonwealth Times: Practice makes perfect - Spectrum