Publisher's Notebook

Civil war aficionados here in Virginia have been angry at the state of Minnesota for years, because officials at the Minnesota Historical Society have refused to return a Virginia battle flag that was taken at the Battle of Gettysburg.

This item somehow remains in the Gopher State despite the fact that in 1905, Congress passed a resolution requiring all stolen/borrowed Civil War flags to be returned to their home states.

Here’s a historical tale with a happier ending. And in Virginia, there is no history like old history.

During the war, in 1862, a Union Army captain named William Treadwell, of the 4th New York Regiment, swiped a volume of court records from the Stafford County Courthouse. The volume ultimately made its way to Jersey City, N.J.

The leather-bound book includes a transcription of Stafford court records from 1749 to 1755. The pages are yellow and the binding on the book is broken. It was compiled by John Fox, who was the Stafford County deputy clerk in 1791.

Earlier this month, John Beekman, the assistant manager of the New Jersey Room in the Jersey City Free Public Library, found the Stafford records in a box; he was gathering information for a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the war.

Did the library, Minnesota-style, try to keep the book? No, officials in Jersey City called officials here, and on Oct. 20, they turned the volume over to Carl Childs, director of the Local Record Services at the Library of Virginia.

It turns out that Stafford is one of those counties that has lost a lot of its history. Childs told The Jersey Journal that so few records remain from Stafford County Court from before the Civil War that the state has classified it as a “catastrophic loss.”

“This helps fill one of those holes,” Childs said.

There are interesting tidbits of history throughout the volume.
* For example, one man was fined for cursing in church.
* Witnesses who testified before the court got paid, but in tobacco. Two days of testimony was worth 50 pounds of the weed.
* And some things don’t change: There was a lawsuit filed by an angry widow who contested the fact that she only got one third of her husband’s stuff.

Childs said that the Library of Virginia will make a copy of the book for the public. The original will be restored and filed away for safekeeping. Here in the Old Dominion, after all those years.

— with material from the AP

Using an investment into a cemetery as a tax shelter sounds kind of creepy.

But it gets creepier: The Justice Department says the cemetery tax shelter, centering on Northern Virginia, is a sham and has filed an injunction to stop it.

According to a DOJ press release, the department filed in Washington federal court to stop three men from seeking contributions to a cemetery fund involving a proposed cemetery near the Chancellorsville battlefield in Spotsylvania County.

Civil War heritage and all the brave fallen…

A memorial garden near the scene of their sacrifice…

Get five bucks in tax benefits for every dollar you invest…

You see how this could fly.

The feds allege that the trio, which includes a father-son team from the Metro DC area, made millions used illegal tactics and made unfounded promises; however, this is just a civil action seeking an injunction.

The release adds that DOJ has obtained “hundreds” of such injunctions “to stop the promotion of abusive or fraudulent tax schemes.” Who knew?

What is the worst city in America for commuters? Where do people sit in traffic the longest?

If you’re from Northern Virginia, you already know the answer, based on sad, sad experience.

According to the latest Urban Mobility Report, compiled by the Texas Transportation Institute, the worst place for traffic is the Metro Washington, DC area. Actually, it is tied with the Chicago area for that honor.

Commuters in those regions spend a total of 70 hours a year sitting in their cars, waiting out delays. That’s nearly two work weeks’ worth of time wasted.

One hopes the General Assembly takes note of these statistics.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana area of California is third, with 63 hours sitting in traffic behind the wheel, and metro Houston is fourth, with 58 hours.

Fifth place is held by the worst mid-sized city, Baltimore, where commuters log 50 hours in traffic. If you’ve ever been through Charm City at rush hour, that ranking makes sense.

Give props to the headline writers at the Wall Street Journal, which featured the report in their edition this morning. Their headline for a piece about people in this country just sitting in traffic: “American Idle.”

When I was a newbie lawyer years ago, I got one of those nuggets of advice you hang on to.

I was discussing case files with one of the partners, describing the legal research I’d done and what the case law seemed to be. He asked, “What does the Code say?” He added, only half in jest, “When in doubt, always look at the Code.”

A week or so later, different partner and different set of files. Same question after I delivered my spiel: “What does the Code say?”

It took hearing this question about three times until I realized it was a good idea to check the Virginia Code before meeting to discuss files.

And, after changing careers and moving to this newspaper, I myself have asked that question of every reporter I’ve worked with when we’ve reviewed stories before publication. Different venue, same important point.

The Code of Virginia controls. The Code is complicated, with clauses that have to be harmonized with other pieces and parts. In numerous sections, it looks like what it is: a patchwork put together over a number of years, sometimes haphazardly. But it’s the law, so you always look at the Code.

A lawyer named Eric Clingan in Fairfax looked at the Code and won a big victory for a traffic client a few weeks ago, in a case that drew national attention.

The guy was charged with passing a stopped school bus, which is a reckless driving offense.

The General Assembly amended the law in 1970, but it inadvertently wiped out a two-letter word, “at,” in the statute. Haphazardness at work, no doubt.

Virginia Code § 46.2-859 states, “A person is guilty of reckless driving who fails to stop, when approaching from any direction, any school bus which is stopped…for the purpose of taking on or discharging children.”

Clingan argued to a general district judge that the “at” was missing. Thus, the statute applies, he argued, to the driver of the bus, not another motorist. Take out the clause that starts “when approaching” and you’ll see: “A person is guilty of reckless driving who fails to stop…any school bus.”

Clingan said the general district judge told him, essentially, “Very interesting argument, Mr. Clingan. Guilty.”

Reckless driving is a six-point traffic offense. The client, whose name was Mendez, wanted to appeal, Clingan said.

In circuit court, Clingan argued again the word “at” had been dropped when the statute was amended 40 years ago. And he repeated the theory that the statute as worded now is pointed at the bus driver. He consulted a composition professor at George Mason who concurred.

Fairfax Circuit Judge Marcus Williams listened to the argument, Clingan said, then dismissed the charges.

You know you have an important case when a legislator immediately jumps on your case and promises a legislative fix. Del. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, already has introduced House Bill 1469 for the 2011 General Assembly session; the bill will restore the word “at” to the law.

You know you have a really important case when it’s turned into a hypothetical for legislators interviewing judges seeking another term.

On Dec. 10, a couple of legislators asked a general district judge about the school bus case, and what he would do if he had the matter on his docket.

In so many words, he said the Assembly obviously intended to protect children when it passed the statute, and he would convict the defendant.

Along with the Fairfax general district judge, that makes two judges who read a statute, knew or should have known the law had a mistake, but convicted, or would convict, despite that error.

When in doubt, look at the Code.

Doesn’t that apply to judges too?

Trend Alert: Here’s one you may not have seen yet, but odds are, it will make its way into your life soon.

There is a movement, mostly spurred by social media such as Twitter, to start referring to the Metropolitan DC area as “the DMV” (as in District/Maryland/Virginia).

What’s wrong with “Nation’s Capital” or “Metro DC,” you ask? When you’re limited to 140 characters a post, those titles take up much-needed room.

The Washington Post first flagged the development with an article back in July. The Post writer’s take was generally positive, likening the need for a cool regional nickname along the lines of “H-town” for Houston, or “the 612″ for Minneapolis (taken from the area code) or “the ‘nati” for Cincinnati. OK, Cincy needs to work on this.

TBD, the TV station/news website covering the Metro DC area (I’m not succumbing yet), notes that “the DMV” has been pretty controversial. TBD has solicited comment from Twitter users with alternate hashtags, #dmv and #nodmv.

The “no” votes are winning. Reasons for the thumbs-down:

One guy tweeted, “@TBD #nodmv, mostly because I live in #NoVA and want nothing to do with Maryland. #EffMD”

Another woman said, “@TBD No DMV. Don’t associate my favorite city with the most god-awful place on earth: the Department of Motor Vehicles.”

That sounds pretty reasonable.

There’s a famous scene in the 1992 thriller “Basic Instinct,” starring Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas.

No, not that scene.

This exchange takes place a bit before the part where Stone crosses and uncrosses her legs. Stone, a wealthy socialite, has been hauled into the police station for questioning about ice-pick murders she may or may not have committed.

She disdainfully answers the cops’ questions, then lights a cigarette. The cops rush to say she can’t do that.

“What are you going to do, arrest me for smoking?” Stone asks coolly.

I thought of that scene yesterday when I saw the reports that 13 people in Falls Church had been charged with violating the commonwealth’s ban on smoking in restaurants.

According to state officials, the 13 are the only citizens who have been charged with breaching the ban, which took effect Dec. 1. Nine were people who allegedly were smoking and four were allegedly enablers, i.e., people who allowed smoking in a restaurant.

The Falls Church busts came as part of a police “crackdown.” But how hard are those cops, or any others, cracking? These are the first reported perps since last December. The Associated Press story has a telling detail: “Responding to months of complaints, police charged…”

The complainers apparently have been complaining for months and finally, just finally, the cops did something about it.

Apparently most restaurants have gotten with the program. State inspectors have visited more than 23,000 restaurants since Dec. 1. A full 97 percent are in compliance.

Maybe the cops in Falls Church and other places believe they have more important things to do than “arrest someone for smoking.” Plus, the penalty isn’t very much – you can be fined a mere $25 for lighting up in a restaurant.

But the law is there, championed by former Gov. Tim Kaine and passed by our General Assembly. The prediction here: Anti-smoking activists and other people who hate smoking in public will be militant, demanding full compliance from the 3 percent who don’t enforce the ban. The cops will be feeling even more heat on this.

So what would Sharon Stone do? I’m guessing people would pay good money to see what the cops would do, if Stone fired up a cigarette here then asked her question.

Here’s a nugget, so to speak, that I gathered last weekend on the drive home from Pittsburgh (where my daughter is attending grad school this fall):

Did you know that they used to mine gold in Northern Virginia?

There’s a sign along Highway 17 in Fauquier County commemorating that fact, not far from Goldvein.

A little Internet research, and I learned they used to mine a lot of gold in Northern Virginia. A couple of quick facts:

There used to be gold mines and prospecting sites all throughout Virginia in the 19th century, more than 300 at one time or another. Serious mining began in 1804; the last time gold was mined commercially was in 1947.

The 200-mile-long gold streak starts roughly in Fairfax County and runs through many of the Northern Virginia counties, more or less follows Interstate 95, then veers southwest to the North Carolina border.

Thomas Jefferson allegedly was the first to discover gold in the Old Dominion. TJ supposedly found a big nugget in Fauquier County and set off a minor rush.

Virginia was the major producer of gold in the country until the glittery stuff was discovered in California in 1849. At that time, many prospectors ditched Virginia and headed west.

The Franklin mine in Fauquier was one of the biggest and most lucrative mines, producing more than a million dollars’ worth of gold between 1825 and 1860. That’s pre-Civil War dollars. During the war, Union forces destroyed a number of mines in an effort to cripple the Confederacy economically.

Best names of mines: The Bull Neck Mine in Fairfax, the Rough and Ready Mine in Buckingham and the Rattlesnake Mine in Stafford.

There is a museum commemorating Virginia gold mining at Goldvein. On Sept. 11, Goldvein is hosting a Jubilee, with activities that include, yes, panning for gold.

Lake Anna State Park in Spotsylvania includes the site of the old Goodwin gold mine; the park offers mine tours, panning and historical info on mining there.