Governor Tim Kaine had said that he would sign legislation outlining plans for rail options on the Interstate 81 corridor into law– and he has finally made good on that promise.

“I am pleased that Governor Kaine supports the General Assembly’s passage of HB 1581,” said Rockbridge Republican Delegate Ben Cline, the sponsor of House Bill 1581, which will require a comprehensive study of the impact of the use of intermodal rail on long-haul, through-truck freight traffic on I-81 in Western Virginia.

The bill was at the top of the wish list for the Emory-based group called Rail Solution - whose executive director, David Foster, worked with Cline on the language of the legislation.

Rail advocates say that the Virginia Department of Transportation needs to look more seriously at options for improving rail lines along the I-81 corridor as it considers what to do to improve traffic flows on the highway.

“By signing this legislation, the governor recognizes the importance of developing a plan that will address safety and congestion issues through the use of rail and intermodal transportation along I-81,” Cline said.

“I look forward to working with the secretary of transportation, interested parties such as Rail Solution, and the Rail Advisory Board to implement the provisions of the bill,” Cline said.

- By Chris Graham

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A 65-year-old man came East a few years ago to be closer to his son, a Staunton musician, died May 6. What makes this story so unusual is that the father was a participant in the 1963 kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr., the only son of the legendary crooner.

In a copiously detailed story published in the Roanoke Times, the late Joe Amsler comes to life as a quiet man regretful of his crime and, his friends suggest, reticent about his prior life in Hollywood.

Still, there’s that key detail that he participated in taking then 19-year-old Sinatra Jr. from a Lake Tahoe hotel at gunpoint, holding him for three days, and accepting a $240,000 ransom for the physically unharmed victim.

The Times reports that although handed life sentences, the two kidnappers served less than five years in prison. The ringleader, Barry Keenan, now a successful Texas-based real estate developer, accepts full responsibility for the crime and downplays Amsler’s role. The crime was the subject of Stealing Sinatra, a 2003 movie made for the Showtime channel, with William H. Macy playing the role of the third conspirator.

Amsler’s son is Chris Amsler, who is half of the husband-and-wife Staunton-based acoustic Americana musical duo called The Rusticators.

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Hook journalist Courteney Stuart will appear on the WINA radio show “Charlottesvile, Right Now” around 4:30pm today to discuss the story of a businessman who allegedly shot a neighbor’s pet cat. As detailed in this week’s Hook cover story, “Claws and effect: Cat killing shocks Bentivar,” the big black cat’s name was Carmen, and she died April 24 after allegedly taking a bullet from George Seymour, a neighbor in a plush subdivision who operates an import car store at the corner of Emmet Street and Hydraulic Road.
“Charlottesville, Right Now” can be heard on AM 1070, and the host is author Coy Barefoot.

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�I�ve been in law enforcement for 30 years and I�ve never seen a case like this,� says Charlottesville police Capt. J.E. �Chip� Harding, commenting on the case of confessed peeping Tom, 26-year old David Lee Long Jr., who was recently arrested and released after a psychological evaluation deemed him unfit to stand trial.

Long was arrested last summer after being caught breaking into a residence. At 12:30am on August 18, 2005, a woman on Cherry Avenue discovered Long in her bedroom, started screaming, and scared him off. Long later confessed to peeping on six couples while he masturbated, said Harding, even going so far as to show police where the couples lived. Long also showed police where he had pried a screen open, saying he planned to wait for the women to come back. In a separate peeping incident, Harding said a man approached Long with a gun after catching him outside his home and scared him off. During a police interview, Long was asked if he planned to rape the woman whose bedroom he had broken into. �No, but I would have had sex with her if she wanted to,� said Long. Despite all this, Long was released on May 4. As of this posting, Mr. Long could not be reached for comment. (more)

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If last week’s pedestrian death did not merit the usual attention that such a calamity might normally precipitate, there could be a reason why. The victim was already receiving near daily attention from local authorities.

Cecil Ray Garlic was struck and killed by a car while crossing U.S. 29 near Woodbrook Drive on April 30. “Alcohol may have played a role in Mr. Garlic’s death,” said Albemarle police’s Lt. John Teixeira. The alcohol was not consumed by the driver of the vehicle, however. The drinker was Cecil Ray Garlic.

Frequently arrested for “public swearing/intoxication,” Garlic had a lengthy police record. According to the summary reports issued by City spokesperson Ric Barrick. Garlic was arrested 13 times between February and April.

Garlic, 45, with no fixed address, is a native of West Virginia with more than one tragedy in his background. Lisa Provence has the story in today’s Hook.

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While Highland County continues boil over the hot topic of allowing a father and son team to cover a ridge with 19 wind turbines, two new wind energy proposals have emerged: one’s for Patrick County and other, a posssibly 50 turbine deal, eyed for Roanoke County, according to the Roanoke Times.

One of the hottest debates in America right now, supposedly “green” wind energy often splits environmentalists when proposed for Eastern ridges because of concerns that the giant, often 400-foot-tall, turbines kill bats and birds in pristine backwoods areas.

The Highland County project was the subject of the Hook’s March 16 cover story.

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