City Oks Water Tower Sale
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Citizen Of The Year Don Drake (right) is presented with the Buena Vista Lions News/page A2 Club’s Citizen of the Year last Tuesday night by Dr. Louis ‘ANCIENT JANE’ Caddell, pastor at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Deb- COMING BACK bie Gilbert received the club’s President’s Award the same evening. For the story, see page A8. (Ed Smith photo) TO LEXINGTON The News-Gazette ISSN 2641-2888 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019 Single Copy Price $1.00 VOL. 216, NO. 13 Simon Heading Oh, Say We Will See To New Fireworks Back On Schedule Position As Resident, Sponsors Step Up In Texas BY KIT HUFFMAN pyrotechnics were rescued through BY KIT HUFFMAN Instead of fizzling, as feared, the initiative of a local bank em- After four and a half years the Lexington/Rockbridge Fourth ployee and board member of Main as Lexington’s city manager, of July fireworks display will once Street Lexington, as well as prompt Noah Simon will leave his again dazzle and stir viewers this financial support from his employer position at the end of April to year. and local business owners, govern- become deputy town manager Threatened with extinction after ments and agencies. of Westlake, Texas. the Lexington Sunrise Rotary Club In a Feb. 4 announcement, Sun- His departure was an- this winter announced it would be rise Rotary President Liz Moss ex- nouncedn i a press release unable to continue its 22-year lead- from city hall last Wednesday. ership of the event, the sky-filling See Fireworks, page 8 On Thursday, City Council voted unanimously to accept his resignation, following a closed session. “While we can’t say enough about his leadership, vision, and work ethic, we wish to thank him for the progress our community has seen during his tenure,” said Mayor Frank Friedman, in the press release. “His work to make government more re- sponsive and efficient aided in City OKs Water Tower Sale our ability to utilize federal, state and local resources to Project Offers Economic, Preservation Opportunity, Says Council improve the quality of life for our residents, make techno- BY KIT HUFFMAN Council approved the or- Lischer, who had spoken at wondered if repurposing the Ford had joined a re- logical advancements and put Economic development dinances unanimously. the first meeting but could tower was realistic, given its cent gathering of citizens at millions of dollars into road- trumped the concerns, doubts A public hearing before not attend last week, and then dimensions and current con- the tower site. There, he’d way improvements and other and hesitations of the hand- the Planning Commission his own. dition “with snakes, skunks, learned that the city man- projects.” ful of citizens who spoke at on the developer’s request Lischer, noting that she’d bats and vultures as its pri- agers i satisfied with the As part of the team that last Thursday’s continuation to amend the comprehensive not been contacted by the mary residents.” agreement and that Ford, hired Simon, Friedman said of the public hearing before plan and the zoning map for developer after her earlier While more “steps and himself, was “incredibly Lexington City Council to the project will be held April comments, said that Council- stops” would take place at misinformed” about the con- See Simon page 5 consider ordinances approv- 11. men Chuck Smith and David city hall before the project is dition of the tower − a natural ing the sale of the old water In last week’s hearing, Siglerd di reach out. She finalized, she said it would resultf o not being informed tower property to Enfield neighbor Rusty Ford, who wasn’t necessarily opposed be appropriate to know many by any of the principals in- View LLC for development, had also spoken at the first to the project but did criti- details now, such as where volved, he said. as well as the sale of the city- stage of the hearing two cize the $25,000 sale price the houses and access would Ford criticized the pro- owned parcel as surplus real weeks earlier, read aloud as a “sweetheart deal” not bed locate and whether blast- Rainville estate. comments from Deborah open to the public. She also ing would be necessary. See Tower, page 13 Named To W&L Citizens Debate History New Poultry Position Lynn Rainville, commu- House Regulations nity initiatives fellow at the BY ED SMITH University of Virginia’s Insti- Do poultry houses represent the future of farming in tute for Advanced Rockbridge County? Do they provide a reliable source of Technology in the income so that family farms can remain viable? Humanities and Or,s doe the confinement of tens of thousands of former dean of chickens in these facilities represent a transition to indus- Sweet Briar Col- trial farming that poses a hazard to the environment and lege, will be the human health? inaugural direc- These issues were debated during a March 13 public tor of institutional Rainville hearing before the county Planning Commission on pro- historyt a Wash- posed revisions to regulations governing livestock con- ington and Lee University. tainment systems. Rainville has worked at Sam Crickenberger, the county’s director of com- Sweet Briar for the past 18 munity development, noted that the regulations haven’t years, as a member of the been updated since they were first written 25 years ago. faculty from 2001 to 2008, The rules here are much more stringent than what’s found and as research professor in in neighboring counties and other farming communities the humanities and director elsewhere in Virginia. Also, the local rules are out of A Show Of Support of the Tusculum Institute for synch with current state regulations. Sawera Khan finds herself in a group hug following the prayer vigil last Friday at Wash- Virginia history and historic “There are four projects in the pipeline – one that is ington and Lee University for the victims of the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New preservation from 2008 to under scrutiny,” Crickenberger pointed out. “We want to Zealand. Khan, a sophomore at W&L, shared her experiences as a Muslim in the U.S. and 2019. She served as dean of get rid of the language that’s debatable – make it cut and a read a list of the names of those killed during the attacks on two mosques on March 15. See Poultry, page 14 For more photos from the event, see page B10. (Joann Ware photo) See History, page 3 INDEX CONTACT US WEATHER FOLLOW P.O. Box 1153 Classifieds B12-B14 Today: Mostly Sunny Lexington, Virginia 24450 Calendar B3 High 56 RetailMeNot US ON Low 31 540-463-3113 Editorial/Letters A6-A7 [email protected] Lifestyle B1-B5 [email protected] Thurs. Mostly Sunny Coupons Inside! [email protected] Obituaries A4 High 65 Religion B10-B11 Low 40 Sports A9-A12 PAGE 2 SECTION A, THE NEWS-GAZETTE, LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA, MARCH 27, 2019, www.thenews-gazette.com ‘She was buried on vacant sloping ground, probably something like a potter’s field, not otherwise used because it is sloping toward a creek.’ IN THIS 2008 PHOTO, forensic anthropologist Dr. Charles Boyd (center), with Lexing- ANCIENT JANE’S bones are laid out on a table for study by forensic scientist Dr. ton Police Chief Steve Crowder (left) and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Law- Charles Boyd (right), observed by Lexington Police Chief Steve Crowder and Assistant rence Muir examine the jawbone of Ancient Jane, who was accidentally unearthed Commonwealth’s Attorney Lawrence Muir. (Roberta Anderson photo) during excavation for the courthouse parking garage. (Roberta Anderson photo) ‘Ancient Jane’ Coming Home knows, I might be a relative of Skeletal Remains this woman myself,” he said. In reburying Ancient Jane, Found During “We want to see if we can Garage Work raise funds, but also to see if the city is willing to defray To Be Reburied some of the costs,” DeLaney explained. He said the city BY KIT HUFFMAN has “some moral obligation” to rebury Ancient Jane, since A promise made by the she’d been unearthed during city of Lexington 11 years excavation of the city (and ago to respectfully rebury an county) courthouse. anonymous female skeleton Mayor Frank Friedman unearthed during construction thanked them for the presen- of the courthouse parking ga- tation about “our neighbor rage is about to be kept. that we found.” He deferred “Ancient Jane,” as she was to city staff to work with Bell dubbed by then-Police Chief to sort through the details. Steve Crowder, in recognition Chuck Smith said it “sounds of the skeleton’s historical na- like a great idea.” Bell will ture, sex and anonymity, was return to Council with a final discovered on Jan. 9, 2008, by request. excavators digging footers for Alexander found time last WASHINGTON AND LEE professors Ted DeLaney and Alison Bell (far left) make a slide presentation about Ancient the garage. The bones were weekend to share a few more Jane to Lexington City Council last Thursday, March 21. The slide shown here is the garden behind the Campbell disarrayed and out of align- thoughts about the woman House and the Castle on Randolph Street, a sloping area partly planted with periwinkle adjoining Ancient Jane’s ment, suggesting prior distur- she prefers to respectfully call original gravesite. (Kit Huffman photo) bance. “Miss Jane.” “Compacted clay encased her bones,” wrote News-Ga- a respectful reburial, eventu- and costs at Evergreen, where Campbell House and behind hexagonal coffin of red and “Not knowing how she zette reporter Roberta Ander- ally.