CW CEO Charged with Reckless Driving, JCC Officer Indicted on Child Abuse, and more
CW CEO Charged with Reckless Driving, JCC Officer Indicted on Child Abuse, and more
Historic Triangle News Roundup May 19 - 25
Howdy! Hope you’re having a great holiday weekend. For the first time, I’m sharing my AI-assisted WJCC school board summary with free subscribers. Paid subscribers still have early access, receiving the summary the day after the meeting, and they will also be the first to receive new summaries of other local government meetings as I develop them.
At this week’s regular meeting, the WJCC school board rejected a recommendation to combine currently gender separated life education classes, discussed funding challenges, and consulted with an attorney about collective bargaining.
In case you missed it, I also published a new podcast on the Virginia Peninsula Swim Union’s decision to require students to compete based on sex assigned at birth instead of their chosen gender. I spoke with parents who opposed the rule change about why it’s discriminatory and negatively impacts the entire league.
Alright, let’s get to last week’s headlines:
CW CEO charged with reckless driving after severely injuring W&M student
Virginia State Police on Wednesday charged Cliff Fleet, President and CEO of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, with reckless driving for striking W&M student Rosemary Raynal with his SUV last fall, leaving her with brain trauma and fractures.
The charge is a Class 1 misdemeanor, meaning that Fleet could serve up to a year of jailtime, although it’s possible it could be reduced to a lesser charge payable by fine. Raynal’s recovery timeline is still uncertain, said her mother.
Raynal’s family expressed gratitude for the state pressing charges and hopes justice will be served. Fleet was the former CEO of cigarette company Philip Morris, U.S.A. He’s scheduled to appear in court next Thursday.
JCC Police Officer indicted on child abuse and other charges
This week the James City County Police Department announced that officer Caleb Crawford is being investigated by Virginia State Police after Child Protective Services notified the agency of Crawford injuring a child in March.
It is still unclear if the child is Crawford’s. He has been charged with malicious wounding, child abuse, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. On the force since August 2021, Crawford was placed on adminstrative leave in March.
The incident is the latest in a bad streak for the department, which a 2022 VSP investigation described as “toxic.” Another officer-related trial set to begin in Sept. is for officer Michael Rusk who shot fellow officer Christopher Gibson.
Other Headlines
The Associated Press investigation found that inmates at VA’s Marion Correctional Treatment Center, a prison mainly for those suffering from mental illness, were hospitalized at least 13 times for hypothermia. The FBI is also investigating.
Alynn Parham, a history teacher at Jamestown High School, was awarded the Virginia Humanities' 2024 K-12 Educator Fellowship to develop lesson plans highlighting Black American activism during the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras.
The Virginian-Pilot started a new series on police surveillance in VA, starting with an examination of “Flock Cameras,” or automated license plate readers. A survey showed that the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office currently has 22 Flock Cameras.
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