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TheRoanokeStar.com community | news | perspective
July 20 - July 26, 2012
City Manager’s Brother-In-Law Hired as New Roanoke City Attorney Selection Not Unanimous
Made In Shade P4– Columnists Liza Field says we have become too dependent on electricity in lieu of relying on nature’s ways of staying cool.
Daniel Callaghan is Roanoke’s new city attorney but it was not a unanimous decision. He is City Manager Chris Morrill’s brother-in-law. He starts with the city October 17 with a salary of $150,000. Callaghan, 57, hails from Manchester, New Hampshire where he is a partner in the law firm of Devine, Millimet & Branch, one of the largest law firms in New Hampshire. The firm has 60 attorneys and 80 staff, with offices in Manchester and Concord. He earned his law
degree from Villanova University. A council member who did not want their name used said the recommendation was not unanimous and that there was “another candidate that was first choice.” When asked if it was the ActingCity Attorney Tim Spencer they confirmed that it was. Councilman Sherman Lea said he disagreed with the statement. Lea said Callaghan’s ability to work with lobbyists and the legislature set him above everyone else. “It was a close race with many good applicants but this gave him the edge.” He said that it was a really interest-
[Presidential Visit]
ing process but he would not elaborate. “He’s a real classy guy.” Lea said the council will vote once he is approved by the Virginia Bar. In a phone call with Councilwoman Anita Price, head of the Personnel Committee she said, “It was an exhausting and meticulous process.” All council members interviewed candidates one on one and then as a group, said Price. Colin Baenziger of Baenziger & Associates was the recruiter and the same recruiter that was used in the selection of City Manager Chris Morrill. Mr. Baenziger, in an email, said, “It was
Obama Campaigns in Roanoke
Graeter’s Is Great
Photo by Valerie Garner
U.S. Senator Mark Warner, President Barak Obama and U.S. Senate Candidate Tim Kaine at last Friday’s rally.
T
P9– After premiering numerous original theatre works over the last 3 years Studio Roanoke is forced to close its doors.
Republican Response P3– Bob Goodlatte offers up a conservative response to President Obama’s remarks made in Roanoke - some of which are making national headlines.
> CONTINUED P2: City Attorney
Employee Pension Plan Doesn’t Satisfy All
Roanoke City Council
P8– Somebody’s gotta do it. .Gene Marrano sucks it up (literarily) by agreeing to test Graeter’s Ice Cream for this newspaper. Thank you Gene.
Studio R Closes
a very difficult recruitment. Prior to my firm being hired, Roanoke HR tried at least once to find candidates. There were not a huge number of well-qualified local government attorneys in the Roanoke Valley who wanted to give up their jobs and move into the City. It is not like the DC area where there is an attorney on every corner. Also, for practical reasons, we needed someone who was licensed to practice in Virginia or who could waive in. Sitting for the Bar exam was simply
he lines began forming by 1:00 p.m. Friday afternoon for the people holding tickets to see President Barack Obama at the historic Fire Station No. 1 in downtown Roanoke. The weather was threatening and some light rain fell followed by smothering humidity. That combined with over 3000 people pressing up against each other in a small section of Church Avenue between Jefferson Street and Williamson Road contributed to 20 people needing medical attention.
According to Ronnie Campbell, Roanoke Deputy Fire Marshall, the official tally was 3,040 people that came for the President’s address. By 5:30 p.m. the line to get in stretched down Franklin Road around 1st Street and around the block at Valley Bank and back down Church Avenue. Obama arrived with U.S. Senator Mark Warner and Gov. > CONTINUED P2: Obama
Changes to Roanoke’s pension plan will take effect July 1, 2014 and not everyone is pleased with the changes. Roanoke firefighter Lt. Rodney Jordan told council that staff had not done their due diligence. He said that there were 23 firefighters currently looking to leave the department. Jordan and JJ Price said that Roanoke City had become the “training ground” for other localities and noncompetitive benefits and pay were the cause. Price claimed that compared to other localities Roanoke public safety was already 15 percent behind the Virginia Retirement System. Now, the city’s pension change will put public safety 27 percent behind Salem and Roanoke County according to Price. > CONTINUED P3: Pension
Trees Can Be Protected From Summer Storm Damage
Recent storms wreaked havoc upon trees across a wide swath of Virginia and other eastern states. While there is little landowners can do to avoid damage from a 70 to 80 mph wind, thoughtful planting and routine maintenance can go a long way toward protecting your trees from the average storm, says Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment Associate Professor and Extension Specialist Eric Wiseman. “Mindful planting of the right trees in the right places and correct routine pruning can help you avoid tree damage from summer storms,” says Wiseman, who specializes in urban forestry and arboriculture in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. Property owners should be discriminating when planting or retaining trees on their property. Most oaks are “wellbehaved,” Wiseman notes. They are slow-growing trees known for strong wood, with less tendency to develop co-dominant leaders, an unstable con-
Many trees fell victim to the derecho winds that hit Roanoke on June 29th. dition of multiple main trunks. Besides oaks, Wiseman recommends hickory, fruitless sweetgum, beech, and blackgum as storm-tolerant lawn trees. He advises against landscape plantings of silver maples, willows, ashes, white pines, and loblolly pines, as well as the notoriously fracture-prone Bradford pear. These faster growing
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trees tend to be weak-wooded and decay-prone, he explains. Even the right tree can be easily uprooted if not planted properly. Selecting a tree with a well-developed root system and planting it at the correct depth is crucial to the tree’s longevity. “You get what you pay for,” he warns, “so buy your tree from a reputable
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nursery.” Trees need routine maintenance, particularly during their “adolescent years,” Wiseman says. Periodic pruning improves a tree’s structure by removing dead and defective branches, such as multiple leaders or trunks and weak branch attachments with embedded bark. Both of these conditions make trees susceptible to storm damage. Topping, or indiscriminate reduction of tree height, is not an appropriate pruning practice. In fact, topping will likely weaken the tree in the long run. When pruning alone cannot remedy a structural issue, a professional tree service can sometimes install cables or bracing to support weak branches. Signs that a tree is in trouble include cracks, cavities, decay, dead limbs, and sometimes mushrooms at its base. Recent excavation beneath the tree damages its roots, which in turn weakens the tree, increasing its susceptibility to decay, pests, and wind damage. > CONTINUED P2:Trees