Albemarle.Biz

Virginia Legislative Reps Propose Menhaden Extinction!

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 21:22:40 -0000

Virginia State Senator Richard H. Stuart of Montross and Va. Delegate Barry Knight of Virginia Beach have filed bills for introduction in the 2012 Virginia General Assembly which could set the stage for total extinction of the Menhadden fishery in the Chesapeake. Menhadden, which form a basic foundation of the Chesapeake Bay's food chain have been increasingly subject to overfishing, and in November, 2011, the Atlantic States marine Fisheries Commission took the first steps towards establishment of science based "catch limits" to preserve the species.

The menhaden fishing industries reaction: let's move to remove all limits and make a fast buck while we can. Two bills pre-filed for introduction in the 2012 Virginia General Assembly pose a grave threat to efforts to promote Bay conservation.

HB 88
Introduced by Barry D. Knight would remove the cap by removing a provision that allows an adjustment for underages or overages in the annual harvest cap to be carried over to the next year's cap limit. Currently, if a person harvests less than the 109,020 metric ton limit on taking menhaden, he can add the difference to his cap for next year's harvest. Conversely, if he exceeds the cap in any one year, he must reduce his harvest in the succeeding year by the amount of the overage of the preceding year.

A copy of this bill is available at:http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+ful+HB88+pdf" rel="external" title=""> http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+ful+HB88+pdf

SB 18
Introduced by: Richard H. Stuart removes authorization for Virginia's membership in the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Compact. The purpose of the Compact is to promote better utilization of the marine, shell, and anadromous fisheries of the Atlantic seaboard through the development of a joint program for the promotion and protection of such fisheries and by the prevention of the physical waste of the fisheries from any cause. If any state desires to remove itself from the Compact, it must send a six months' notice in writing to the member states of its intention to withdraw from the Compact.

A copy of this bill is available at http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?121+ful+SB18+pdf

To stop these bills, Virginia legislaturive representatives need to hear from you now - early and often!

Go tohttp://legis.state.va.us/" rel="external" title=""> http://legis.state.va.us/
to find the name of your Delegate and Senator and others and write them to stop these bills.

Charlottesville Tax Bills in the Mail

Mon, 10 May 2010 02:59:27 -0000

Tax Bills in the Mail
Tax Deadline is June 7th
Posted Date: 4/28/2010

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA – The City of Charlottesville announced today that real estate tax bills and personal property bills are in the mail to residents. Payment of those tax bills is due to the City Treasurer’s Office by 5pm on Monday, June 7th, 2010. Failure to pay a tax bill in full by that date will result in a penalty to the resident or business. If a resident or business does not receive their bills in the mail by the second week of May, they are urged to call the Treasurer’s Office at 970-3146 or stop by City Hall for another copy.

Real estate taxes are assessed by the Real Estate Assessor's Office . The City of Charlottesville real estate tax rate, set by City Council , is $.95 per $100 dollars of value as of tax year 2009. Personal property taxes are assessed each year by the Commissioner of Revenue's Office for all tangible personal property garaged within the City of Charlottesville. Real estate and personal property taxes are due in equal installments on June 5th and December 5th of each year. Since this year’s deadline falls on the weekend, it is extended to the following Monday, June 7th. Tax payments may be mailed to:

City of Charlottesville Treasurer's Office
P.O. Box 9048
Charlottesville, VA 22906-9048

Payments not received or postmarked by the deadline are assessed on the first day after the deadline with a penalty of 10% of the tax due. Taxes remaining unpaid on the first day of the month following the deadline accrue interest on a monthly basis at a rate of 10% per annum. If you are unable to pay your taxes in full by the specified deadline, you may make payment arrangements with the Treasurer's Office. Unpaid taxes for which no alternative arrangements have been made or for which arrangements have been made but not met will be subject to additional financial and legal penalties.

For our customer’s convenience, there are many ways that taxes can be paid. Payments by cash, check and debit cards can be made in person between 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday, in the front lobby of City Hall at the East End of the Downtown Mall. Customers can also drop off their payments at their convenience at various clearly marked drop-off locations just outside of City Hall. Bills can also be paid online using a credit card or electronic check by going to www.charlottesville.org/treasurer. Please be advised that all credit card payments are subject to an additional variable rate convenience fee.

Welcome to Albemarle.Biz

Thu, 21 May 2009 03:47:55 -0000

Welcome to Albemarle.Biz - the "Web 2.0" website serving the the communities of Albemarle County, Virginia, the City of Charlottesville, the Town of Scottsville, Virginia and the communities of Barboursville, Crozet, Earlysville, Free Union, Ivy, Keene and Keswick. Watch this site as we roll out new features. Register as a user and take advantage of the opportunity we offer to promote your business, share news and announcements of your group or organization, interact with fellow residents of Albemarle County, Virginia via the internet, and keep abreast of whats going on in Albemarle County, Virginia.

This site will be primarily devoted to promoting local content contributed by local businesses, organizations and residents. If you are interested in being a contributor, contact us. We welcome the opportunity to provide you the ability to promote your local business, share the success of your local sports teams, promote your local club or charity. Register as a user and take advantage of the free opportunities we offer to promote your business, share news and announcements of your group or organization, interact with fellow residents of Albemarle County via the internet, and keep abreast of whats going on in Albemarle County, Virginia.

The first step to use our features is to register as a user on our site. Then, as you explore Albemarle.Biz let us know what feature or news you want to share. Upon verification, we can give you privileges to input and post your news instantly.

Local businesses may become "Link Partners" and receive free promotion via banners ads, links and the ability to post news and announcements. Local Businesses may also list themselves for free in our local Business Directory and grow their business via the world wide web.

Local organizations, charities, and contributing writers may even profit by contributing content as qualifying contributors can earn financial rewards via Google Adsense from clicks by visitors to the news, announcement and content you supply.

Albemarle.Biz is what is known as a "Web 2.0" website - i.e. a feature that is composed of contributions by those who view and participate in the site. Anyone can participate. In order to post, you must be a registered user of the website. Posting is subject to our Terms of Use as linked from the bottom of our Home Page. By posting, you adopt and agree to our Terms of Use and News and policies applicable to various features as a binding legal agreement. These include (i) a representation by you that the post is accurate, does not contain any copyright content of any third party unless you have the right to post it, (ii) a prohibition against any posting that is slanderous, illegal, containing "hate" material," (material expressing racial, religious, sexual orientation or other bigotry) or known to you to be untrue, and (iii) a representation by you that if posting on behalf of an organization or other person, that you have the right to make such posting. Violators are subject to loss of posting and/or website access privileges. If you observe any posting which violates our Terms of Use, please notify us via our contact link (on the Home Page) and report the abuse and we will endeavor to promptly investigate and remove if appropriate.

"Articles, News & Announcements" versus "News & Announcements from the Community"

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:23:05 -0000

Understanding the difference between our "Articles, News & Announcements" feature and "News & Announcements from the
Community." "News & Announcements from the Community" is intended to be an organized community "blog" which enables all registered users to submit and self approve for posting news and announcements on a variety of topics relevant to daily life in our local
region. That feature is unmoderated, thus registered users have the flexible ability to post news and announcements relative to the
topic. Submissions to that category will be "pruned" after a reasonable period of time. We will, upon request, create a new topic
category or subcategory for use by any regional neighborhood or community based organization so that members of that group
may readily find and post news of their organization or neighborhood.
The "Articles, News & Announcements" feature is a more moderated news area, where all articles are approved by the website
moderator or a vetted contributing writer. We welcome providing serious writers the opportunity to publish articles and stories of
the history and heritage of the local region. We also are open to local writers who wish to write regular columns on a variety of
topics (we are open to suggestions) relevant to local readers.

Albemarle FAQ Feature Launched!

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:14:34 -0000

We have launched our AlbemarleFAQ - a feature designed to enable users to ask and answer questions, to share their knowledge of Albemarle County, Virginia, the City of Charlotesville, and the Town of Scottsville, and to create a knowledge base of frequently asked questions about Albemarle County, Virginia. Visitors and residents are welcome and encouraged to submit questions. If you know the answer to a posted questions, please feel free to share your knowledge and submit an answer. If you beleive a posted answer is wrong, or could be improved, please post a comment.
The Albemarle FAQ feature may be accessed from the user menu in the left column of each page.