From Cape Story’s neighborhood watch:

The following was received from a resident on Wake Forest St.

There is a creepy man out there impersonating Animal Control. I had an ad in the paper for a missing cat. He is calling the ads and attempting to prey on someone’s emotions of the lost pet to gain access to your house. He called at 9:00 PM stating he was Animal Control and had found the cat and if I give him my address he will bring the cat to the house. I told him that animal control does not work that way and asked who he really was. I said if Animal Control has the cat I will visit the Animal Control building to claim the cat. He kept insisting that he was Animal Control and I need to give him my address so he could bring the cat back.  Of course I did NOT give any information to him. He ended up hanging up on my husband. I then called Animal Control to warn them and they transferred me to the non-emergency police number. They took down his phone number and were going to investigate. I just wanted to remind everyone that if Animal Control does have your pet, you ALWAYS have to go get it.  They do not call you at night or anytime to deliver your lost pet. It is scary to imagine what he would have done if he gained access to my house. There is actually a happy ending to this story.  The cat was found last night on top of a roof!!

Please remember to call 911 if you see a crime in action and call 385-5000, option 1, to report crimes after they have occurred or to report any suspicious activity.

As of July 18, 2008, Sandler at Indigo Bay, LLC is delinquent by $93,158.76 on their real estate taxes.

Applications are currently being accepted for the 26th session, which will run from September 23 through November 25th, 2008, with classes held every Tuesday night from 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.  The class will be held at the Virginia Beach Law Enforcement Training Academy, 411 Integrity Way, just off of Birdneck Rd. at 19th Street.  Applications are available at any Virginia Beach Police Precinct, the Crime Prevention Unit Building #15 at the Municipal Center, or you can print a copy [pdf file] from the city’s web site.

Completed applications for this session must be received by the Crime Prevention Office either by mail or personal delivery by Friday, September 12, 2008.  Please do not drop off completed applications at a police precinct.  Seating is limited to 30 citizens.

Topics that are discussed in the academy include:

ü  Recruitment Selection and Training
ü  A Day in the Life of a Patrol Officer
ü  Firearms Safety & Range Operations
ü  Deadly Force Encounters
ü  Forensics
ü  Basic Criminal Law
ü  Animal Control
ü  Crime Prevention Programs
ü  Special Investigations (narcotics,  vice, gang investigations)
ü  Police Chaplains Program
ü  Criminal Investigations
ü  Consumer Fraud
ü  Special Operations

Also included are field trips to the Police Mounted Patrol Barns and the City Jail.

For further information, call MPO Jeff Eaton at 385-1066, bjeaton@vbgov.com or, MPO Leta Krieger at 385-1324, lkrieger@vbgov.com.

MPO Jimmy Barnes, Public Relations Office, 385-4494, jfbarnes@vbgov.com .

You probably saw the barge/crane gone since apparently the repair work is complete.

The company attempted to take their equipment Friday.

You might not know the ~82’ barge was grounded for at least 3 hours blocking the channel when it tried to leave yesterday.

Still no official word about the LBR&BF being taken off the list or moved to the bottom for the proposed Permanent Public & Private Dredge Spoils Transfer Station being located there.

“All of a sudden they started floating really fast in the current,” remembers Barnum.
WAVY.com coverage.

In Virginia Beach, companies controlled by the Sandlers did not pay the second installation of the 2008 taxes on Indigo Dunes off Shore Drive…

Pilotonline.com article.
Imagine a partnership creating this, as an example. Could be a win, win, win. Worth trying?

There are other ideas out there. Let us know what they are.

So they would’ve been forgiven for being on different wavelengths Tuesday, when Newton’s Army unit returned to Fort Story after 15 months in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Pilotonline.com article.

…he called L.M. Sandler officials last week to ask about the rumors. As of Tuesday morning, he hadn’t heard back, he said.
Pilotonline.com article.

Virginia Beach City Treasurer John Atkinson, “Sure there’s smoke. This is a company that has a track record of paying everything on time, as and when required.”
Developer hasn’t paid some property taxes, WAVY10.com.

Read the entire article at Pilotonline.com.

HamptonRoads.com has a comprehensive way to search crime.

We are simply trying to absorb and give full consideration to all comments to ensure we have adequately addressed all issues within our purview.

New date possibly in September.
Comments submitted from various people & orgs include SDCC, Walt, Cheri & Gary, Wetlands Watch, and you!
Thanks again to all who took the time to comment…obviously, they are being taken very seriously.
Stay tuned.

Hi Tim,

I just now got word that the Indigo Dunes project has been removed
from the Board agenda in July.  It will likely be before the Board at
their subsequent meeting in September.  I’ll keep you posted on that.
Basically, the project has been removed from the July agenda so that we
can have sufficient time to thoroughly evaluate and address all public
comments before going before the Board.

I wanted to let you know as soon as I found out, so you can update
your webpages, which I know the majority of the public goes to for
information on this project.  Thanks!

Sheri Kattan

Team Leader/Project Manager
Virginia Water Protection Permit Program
DEQ – Tidewater Regional Office
5636 Southern Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23462
Phone 757-518-2156/Fax 757-518-2009
sakattan@deq.virginia.gov

Soldiers from the 2nd Platoon, 241st Seaport Operations Company, 11th Transportation Battalion will be returning to Fort Story from a 15-month deployment between Monday and Wednesday of next week.
Monica K. Miller
Fort Eustis Command Information Officer/Fort Story Public Affairs
757-878-4920 Fort Eustis Office
757-878-4928 Fort Eustis Fax
757-422-7101 Ext. 225 Fort Story Office
757-422-7706 Fort Story Fax

Has anyone seen Jaxi, the solid white cat that lives on Wake Forest St. near the bike path?  She is an elderly cat and has not been seen since the 4th of July. I am very worried about her. If you have seen her please call Marlene at 496-4105.

A rehabilitated loggerhead sea turtle was recently released by the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Team and wandered into the Eastern Branch of the Lynnhaven River.  He is 3-4 feet in length and has a radio transmitter on his back.  According to radio transmissions, he has been in the Eastern Branch for about four days.  Stranding team members are very interested in checking on him to make sure that he is okay.  If you spot him, please do not intervene, but please do call the stranding team at 757-437-6159 and wait with him until stranding team members arrive.  The most recent radio transmission showed him to be in the Brown Cove area (Holly Point Road and Five Points Road in the Rose Hall Shores area).  We at LRNow would also like to hear if anyone spots him.  You can call our office at 757-962-5398 or email me at . 

Image from Wikipedia.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle at Wikipedia.
Google Images search for Loggerheard Sea Turtle.

…5 weeks after we broke the story.

Even 3 weeks after an update.

In the May 30 incident, Koetter said, “the bridge structure itself sustained no damage. The fender system … protected the bridge pilings from collision.”

Technically, it was an allision, not a collision.

Read the article here.

You know you really want to comment about it taking 5 weeks for the media to cover this….
Go ahead… ‘DISCUSS’ below.

NOAA is joining Restore America’s Estuaries on May 22 to introduce the findings of a new report, “The Economic and Market Value of Coasts and Estuaries: What’s At Stake?” The report was funded through NOAA, and produced by a number of well-known scientists and economists.

“The productivity of our coastlines is up there with the Fortune 500 companies,” said Jeff Benoit, President of Restore America Estuaries. “Yet historically, we have overlooked the critical role our coasts play in contributing to the national economy.”

Findings documented in the report include values gained from healthy coasts, such as:

  * Beach going in the United States may contribute up to $30 billion annually in economic wellbeing to Americans; and
  * Recreational fishing along the coasts could contribute between $10 billion and $26 billion per year in economic wellbeing.

The report also identifies the threats and costs associated with damaged ecosystems that could be restored:

  * 45 percent of America’s petroleum refining capacity is at risk due to wetland loss in the Gulf of Mexico; and
  * Dredging in U.S. waterways, often a result of deteriorating environmental conditions, costs the economy nearly $600 million annually.

The report, available through Restore America’s Estuaries’ website, is the first step in a longer-term effort by the organization to make the economic value of restoration a more integral part of coastal planning and management.

Public Notice Lynnhaven Marina Rezoning Information JULY 3,2008 [6pg PDF]

Dan suggested reading this article:
Our political leaders speak of crossing party lines to achieve greater unity. Maybe we should all cross the invisible lines between our homes and achieve greater unity in the places we live.

Don’t only read it… think about doing it…
Read entire article in the NYTimes.