I’d like to start this post off with an informational message to all snow boarders: You are not Shaun White. There are no tv cameras following you around. Just because you are on a snow board doesn’t mean anything other than you’re probably a beginner and you are going to be wet from falling down 800 times a day.
I’ve been out of town for the long weekend – went skiing at Wintergreen. The skiing was pretty good until I got run over by a snow boarder. She was probably 15 years old and 130 pounds so she wasn’t big but she was pretty much outta control and f=ma so it hurt. I don’t know what it is about snow boarders but there is always a higher percentage of them that are crashing and out of control than of those on skis.
As reported in the MJM, Mr. Fernandez has indeed submitted a letter to the City asking for guidance through the process of applying to build a 200′ long sign on someone else’s property over at 9500 Liberty. I say “someone elses” as Ms. Alverez claims to have sold the property. In any event, the City has responded with a letter indicating that, generally speaking, large signs are not a permitted primary use on residential property and he needs to apply for a re-zoning or a zoning change.
The sign ordinance referenced in the article (and on BVBL) was passed late last year but has been in the works for some time. This ordinance permits signs on residential property up to 32 aggregate square feet. The ordinance does absolutely nothing to manage the content of the sign – only the size. In crafting the ordinance the primary concern was the preservation of 1st ammendment rights. Those that believe that the City is breaking some sort of new constitutional ground here haven’t been paying attention – we’re probably the only jurisdiction around that doesn’t have a residential sign law. Indeed, as the City’s ordinance currently stands, it is the most generous of any surrounding jurisdiction with respect to the size of the sign allowed.
January 19, 2010 at 1:14 pm
My daughter says the snowboarders who fall and then just sit there are the most dangerous to skiers.
If you don’t already know, Andy, the 9500 Liberty film is scheduled to be screened at George Mason’s Prince William campus on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 6:30 pm in the Verizon auditorium. This is the first film in GMU’s third series of Immigration and Human Rights films and is cosponsored by Unity in the Community. There will be a light reception before, and panel discussion afterward with the award-winning filmmakers. It is open to the public.
January 20, 2010 at 9:30 pm
I wonder if the George Mason would host a showing of a film that showed how illegals rape, murder and cause mayham?
January 21, 2010 at 5:42 am
Chief Deane is also expected to be there to answer questions.
January 21, 2010 at 6:00 am
And citizen, Sin Nombre, which was shown last semester, was one of the most violent films I have ever seen. I saw a gang presentation at the City of Manassas police department, and this film brought that presentation to life.
January 22, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Manassas Gets First Look at “9500 Liberty”
Award-winning Documentary Recounts 2007-2008 Immigration Culture War
MANASSAS, VA — Jan. 22, 2010
Mid-way through a national tour that has netted two film festival awards and two city proclamations, “9500 Liberty” returns to the place where it began when George Mason University’s Verizon Auditorium hosts a Tuesday 6:30 PM screening on Jan. 26.
This is the first time the feature length documentary has screened in Manassas, home to several of the film’s primary figures, including Greg Letiecq, a blogger and political activist who helped engineer the passage the nation’s most aggressive local ordinance designed to “crack down” on illegal immigration, and Gaudencio Fernandez, a building contractor who protested the law by erecting a series of banners on his property near the Old Town Manassas train station. The film reveals in dramatic detail how and why the controversial “probable cause” mandate for immigration status checks was repealed in April, 2008 by the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
6:30 PM
Verizon Auditorium, Occoquan Building
George Mason University, Prince William Campus
10900 University Boulevard
Manassas, VA 20110-2203
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Directors Eric Byler of Gainesville, VA and Annabel Park of Silver Spring, MD have traveled with the film to ten states in recent months, with a host of upcoming screenings that include Hampden-Sydney, VA, Ohio, Montana, and Nebraska. In February, “9500 Liberty” will be presented to Members of Congress at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
Tuesday’s screening, presented with Spanish subtitles, is the opening night for the Immigration and Human Rights Cinema series, hosted by George Mason University and the local interfaith group Unity in the Community. It will be followed by a Q & A discussion with the filmmakers and Prince William County Police Chief Charlie Deane.
“9500 Liberty” won Best Documentary at the Charlotte Film Festival last September, and the Audience Award at the St. Louis International Film Festival in November. The Mayor of Austin, Texas and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors both issued proclamations commending the film prior to public screenings. The filmmakers expect to announce a cable television premiere and a DVD release date in coming weeks.
###