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Wednesday, May 29, 2013 DAILY PRESS

PORTS

Authority charts a new course

By Michael Welles Shapiro
mwshapiro@dailypress.com | 757-247-4744

The Virginia Port Authoritys board of commissioners kicked off an agency overhaul at its regular meeting Tuesday, tapping a global headhunting firm to help find a new top executive. The board unanimously approved a restructuring measure to combine certain VPA functions with those of state-formed nonprofit port operator Virginia International Terminals. As part of the plan, VPA and VIT will merge their human resources and procurement offices and offer early retirement packages to employees at both organizations. The board did not say how many such packages might be offered. The reorganization process also turns VIT into a limited-liability corporation, and the measure indicates the Internal Revenue Service has said that change would

have minimal implications in terms of the organizations current tax-exempt status. Based on a multi-month detailed analysis and critical introspection conducted by leaders from both VPA and VIT, the states secretary of transportation and attorney general, private attorneys and consultants, a plan to restructure VPA and VIT was developed and today the agency will begin to execute that plan, VPA board chairman William H. Fralin Jr. said in a news release issued following the vote. The restructuring plan was crafted by Rodney W. Oliver, who now leads the VPA in an interim capacity. Oliver, who stepped in after the departure of Jerry A. Bridges in October, has indicated his desire to take on the role permanently. The recruitment of Bridges permanent successor will be organized by global executive search firm Boyden. The hiring of the firm was announced and voted on at the meeting.

Bridges, who was lured to the VPA in late 2006, was recruited by Boyden, which has its headquarters in Hawthorne, N.Y. A subset of commissioners already has scheduled a special search committee meeting Friday in Manakin-Sabot near Richmond to talk with Boyden. Fralin said the position should be attractive for potential candidates, and especially so because the VPA reorganization will make the agencys next executive director more powerful than past leaders. I anticipate this will be a pretty coveted job given our natural advantages, he said. That person will have the ability to affect the totality of the port. Fralin, who has chaired theVPAboardforthepastsix months, announced he wouldturnoverthatposition at the commissioners next meeting. A special board nominating committee was formed to find his replacement among current commissioners.

Lobbying efforts

In one of a handful of closed-door sessions, the VPA board discussed the agencys lobbying game plan. Without divulging details fromthatsectionofthemeeting, Fralin said we talked about what our legislative strategy ought to be, and we talked about what our limitations were in terms of hiring lobbyists and what we can and cant do. We need to figure out how to explain to the federal government that every port in America doesnt have to be dredged to 50 feet and that mightnotbeawiseuseofour federal funds, particularly when youve got one sitting herewithtwoclass1railroads (and) 50 feet of depth. Fralin and VPA spokesman Joe Harris indicated the port authority does not employ an outside lobbyist. AskedwhethertheVPAhasa lobbying budget, Fralin said, I dont think so. Harris said theVPAdoesnthavealobby-

ist at all. But it appears they were either unaware of lobbying work thats been done on the VPAs behalf or they were making a technical distinction. Federal Advocates Inc., a lobbying shop that specializes in transportation work, includes the Virginia Port Authority on an online client list. Represented through Moffatt & Nichol, the Port of Virginia is a key national gateway for the movement of goods throughout the countryandthefifthlargestportin the United States, the lobbyists website states in its VPA blurb. Moffatt & Nichol is a longtime port authority contractor that specializes in maritime planning and engineering. Federal Advocates also listsasanaccomplishmentits success securing $162 million fortheVirginiaPortAuthority,constructionoftheHeartland Corridor. Meredith McGehee, a public interest lobbyist in

Washington and policy director at the Campaign Legal Center, described assertions that the VPA doesnt have a lobbyist as too cute by half. Clearly the impression here in Washington is that the Virginia Port Authority is being represented, McGehee said Tuesday. She said federal rules allow an agency such as the portauthoritytohirealobbyist provided it doesnt use federal dollars to pay for that activity. So why hide a permissible act? McGehee asked. Answering her own question, McGehee suggested agency leaders might be concerned about potential bad public relations arising from the use of state dollars for lobbying activities, but she then added, its worse PR if theyre looking like theyre trying to hide it. Harris couldnt immediatelybereachedlateTuesday to discuss the apparent lobbying activities described on Federal Advocates website.

HAMPTON

FORT WOOL

MARK ST. JOHN ERICKSON/DAILY PRESS PHOTO

The mysterious pipe that washed up at Fort Wool features a bowl with carved decoration. But how old the pipe is and where it came from before splashing up in the waters of Hampton Roads has experts guessing.

Mysterious pipes origin unknown

merickson@dailypress.com | 757-247-4783

Taste-testing the strawberries

BRIEFS

KAITLIN MCKEOWN/DAILY PRESS PHOTO

By Mark St. John Erickson

Mamie Spears feeds 1-year-old Nicholas Spears a strawberry at Woods Orchards Farm Market in Hampton on Tuesday morning.

Police have charged a 38-year-old Newport News woman after an accident Monday afternoon in which a man in his 70s died and his wife was injured. Jennifer Mangum, of the 900 block of Nicklaus Street, is charged with DUI, reckless driving, DUI maiming and DUI manslaughter after police said she crashed into the home in the 2200 block of Timberneck Lane in Kiln Creek, according to a Newport News Police Department news release. Police responded to the accident about 3:45 p.m. and found a white 2008 Nissan had hit 75-year-old Charles Stitt Sr. and his 73-year-old wife while they were standing in their kitchen. Stitt was transported to the hospital where he later died, the release said. Stitts wife also was taken to the hospital but was reported in stable condition.
HAMPTON

Woman charged in fatal accident

NEWPORT NEWS

ton Police Division. Police responded at 7:50 p.m. in the 300 block of Michigan Drive, where they found a 34-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the leg, the news release said. An ambulance took the man to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call 727-6111 or the Crime Line at 1-888LOCK-U-UP. Tipsters also can text the keyword 757HPD with the information to the police division at 847411.
YORK

surveillance photo is asked to call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.

NEWPORT NEWS

Hampton police are looking for a 22-year-old man in connection with a shooting Monday at an apartment that sent another man to the hospital. Kenneth Winston Major, whose last known address was in the 200 block of Prince George Drive, has warrants for one count of maiming and one count of use of a firearm in commission of a felony, according to a news release from Hamp-

Warrants out for man in shooting

York-Poquoson investigators are looking for information regarding the identity of a woman seen using a stolen ATM card at a bank earlier this year. According to York-Poquoson Sheriffs Lt. Dennis Ivey Jr., the card was stolen from a womans purse March 8 at H&R Block on Waller Mill Road in upper York County. Later the same day, the card was used at Langley Federal Credit Union in the 1200 block of Richmond Road in Williamsburg. A surveillance camera at the credit unions ATM captured an image of a woman believed to have used the stolen card. At the time the photo was taken, the woman, who appears to be black, was wearing large sunglasses and a dark sweater or shirt with her hair in a bun. Anyone with information about the suspect in the

Police: Woman used stolen card

A Newport News man was injured Tuesday morning in a shooting off Aqueduct Drive, police said. Police responded to the 13200 block of Sojourner Court about 5:20 a.m., according to a Newport News Police Department news release. There they found a 34-year-old man with gunshot wounds to both legs. The victim was sleeping on a couch at his friends house when a man brandishing a handgun woke him up and demanded money, he told police. Before leaving the scene with some items, the man shot the victim, the release said. Medics took the victim to a local hospital to treat non-life-threatening injuries. The man is described as black with facial hair on his chin, about 30 years old and about 5 feet 8. Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Crime Line at 1-888LOCK-U-UP.

Man, 34, suffers gunshot wounds

cording to a news release from Hampton Division of Fire and Rescue. Crews responded about 5:39 p.m. Wednesday to a fire in the 2400 block of West Mercury Boulevard. They put out a fire of carpet and construction debris about 150 feet inside the building, the news release said. From their investigation, crews found evidence of a second fire in a different part of the building, according to the news release.

A Hampton man was arrested on arson charges after the Hampton Fire Marshals Office determined a fire at a local business was set intentionally. Donald R. Furr was taken into custody Thursday, ac-

Man arrested in arson case

HAMPTON

Hampton police are looking for two men in connection to a robbery early Tuesday morning at a 7-Eleven. Two men went to the store at 2:30 a.m. in the 2700 block of West Mercury Boulevard, showed handguns and demanded money, according to a Hampton Police Division news release. After taking an undisclosed amount of cash, they fled on foot. Two employees in the store were not injured, the release said. The men were described as black and wearing dark clothing and baseball caps, according to police. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Hampton Police Division at 727-6111 or the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCKU-UP. Tipsters also can send an anonymous text with the keyword 757HPD and the information to 847411. From staff reports

Two sought in 7-Eleven robbery

HAMPTON

HAMPTON Hampton History Museum curator J. Michael Cobb has seen a lot of unusual objects wash up at historic Fort Wool during nearly three decades as the chief caretaker of the tiny manmade island. But when he was handed a small pipe found there last year, he knew he was looking at something special. Measuring less than 4 inches long and stained red and green across its stony-looking surface the pipe shows convincing signs of age as well as carved decoration that looks Native American, Cobb says. But exactly how old it is and where it came from before splashing up in the waters of Hampton Roads has the curator and other experts buzzing. As the keeper of the artifact vaults at Historic Jamestowne, curator Beverly Bly Straube has won international renown for her ability to zero in and identify virtually any object that archaeologists find on the site of English Americas oldest permanent settlement, including Native American material. But after reviewing pictures of the pipe by email, she can only say that it doesnt look like anything made by local Indians and that its certainly worth additional study. Archaeologist Dennis Blanton, the former head of the College of William and Marys Center for Archaeological Research, examined the pictures, too, and came away wanting to know more about the diminutive object. A critical piece of evidence will be the source of the stone, he wrote, noting several colleagues who might be able to identify its origin by chemical analysis. At this point Id say the

best explanation for it is loss by some modern interloper or a bona fide connection with some of the native captives. Cool stuff. Perhaps the most famous of the Native Americans with whom the pipe may be connected is Chief Black Hawk, who was sent to Fort Monroe along with more than half-a-dozen companions including Whirling Thunder and The Prophet after their defeat in the 1832 Black Hawk War. The Indians became a tourist sensation during their six-week stay, which included frequent social meetings with commander Abraham Eustis at Quarters #1. But despite being given the run of the fort, its not known if they traveled out to Fort Wool for a visit. Still, the group did meet with President Andrew Jackson in Washington, D.C., before their arrival at Fort Monroe, and Jacksons fondness for the solitude of Fort Wool brought him there so frequently in the 1820s and 30s that the island became the first summer White House. So some kind of connection with Black Hawk and the other Sauk Indians is not completely implausible, Cobb says. Still, he thinks its just as likely that the pipe may have come along with the Susquehanna and Potomac river stone that was used to build the forts underwater foundation. Then there are the unpredictable waters that envelop the island. Things get churned up here all the time, Cobb says, describing the deposits that have been found washed up on Fort Wools foundation. So it could have come up from the bottom of the bay. Find more stories about Hampton Roads history at dailypress.com/history and Facebook.com/hrhistory