Falwell answers questions about growth
Christmas on Ice was held Dec. 3
A7
LIBERTY CHAMPION Today: Showers 62/48 Tomorrow: Showers 54/31
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Libertychampion.com
Volume 29 • Issue 11
train tragedy
Train claims life Student dead, 4 injured after mishap Jenna Vanden Brook jvandenbrook@liberty.edu
An accident involving a train and five Liberty University students on Thursday, Nov. 17, claimed the life of a student and left one in critical condition, while the other three incurred minor injuries. Hannah Williams, 18, was with her four friends on the train trestle that towers over the James River stargazing the night of the accident. A train, heading north from Lynchburg, emerged
FYI The trestle rests 200 feet above the river, spanning 1800 feet onto the bridge from a tunnel and struck Williams, Vice President for Executive Projects Johnnie Moore Jr. said. Julianne Ashbaugh, a freshman from Georgia, jumped off the trestle and fell about 90 feet before hitting the river bank
See TRAIN, A4
Fond memories remain
Family, school recall special moments Katherine Lacaze kelacaze@liberty.edu
Ruth Bibby | Liberty Champion
In the air — Liberty University hosted its second annual Rail Jam at the Snowflex Centre Dec. 3.
Hannah Emmaline Williams was described by her friends as encouraging, kind and spontaneous. She was known for knocking on the doors of individuals on her hall, just to check in and see how they were doing. Hannah, 18, died in a train accident the night of Nov. 17, and those attributes are ones that Hannah’s Spiritual Life Director (SLD) and friend Camille Chuks, 21, said people will miss about her. According to multiple sources, Williams and four other Liberty students were on the railroad trestle that
spans over the James River in Amherst County, Va., stargazing, when a train struck the 1 8 - ye a rold. Hannah was born on April 6, Williams 1993 in Chapel Hill to parents Terri Williams and Jonathan Hayes Williams. She lived in Sanford, N.C., before starting as a freshman at Liberty
See WILLIAMS, A4
City council modifies zoning inspection regulation Inspection regulations regarding number of unrelated inhabitants in apartments changed on 4-3 vote Jenna Milleson jmilleson@liberty.edu
The laws contained within Lynchburg, Va.’s Zoning Ordinance require that three or more persons who are unrelated do not obtain residency together. Lynchburg City Council amended the law Oct. 11 to allow homes or apartments to be lawfully searched if there is presumed to be more than three unrelated residents living there. The College Constitutional Conservative Christian Coalition (C5) has been following this story since July and is a club on Liberty’s campus. The Board, which is comprised by Craig Storrs and Anthony Simonetti, issued a formal statement against the amendment. The statement begins: “We denounce this new law on Constitutional and ethical grounds,” and continues in a nearly 700 word document, which outlines their justifications and deductions on the matter. Lynchburg could, however, be facing what is the lesser of two evils. Before the existence of the current law, there was a prior inspection proposal that was not accepted by city council, but was molded
“The Planning Commission authored the first one, which was just abysmal” - Storrs and refined into what Lynchburg has today. “The Planning Commission authored the first one, which was just abysmal,” Storrs said. One member of city council, who rejected the initial plans set forth by the commission, took it upon himself to pen what has now gone on to pass city council by a 4-3 split. Councilman Randy Nelson modified the sections of the previous proposal that he found to be ambiguous or incomplete and is the author of the Zoning Inspection Regulation that is currently in place. Under the previous code, there was no clarification as to when an inspection could be performed. Under the current regulation, it reads, “to enter the subject dwelling during a specified period of time during daylight business hours.” “(There was also) the need for a judge to hear the petition and not a magistrate who possesses lesser knowledge of Consti-
tutional safeguards,” Nelson said. Under the previous proposal, a hearing could be brought before a magistrate, which is no longer permissive under the law. The minimum requirement for a magistrate is a bachelor’s degree and they do not hold a law degree. Nelson modified the first proposal and denied a magistrate the right to grant a zoning warrant. One area that Nelson and others differ is the protection of the Fourth Amendment right. Nelson did not feel the protection in the commission proposal was adequate of personal privacy, and though he made changes, this is still the area that most reject despite his efforts. “(There was a) need for greater notice to residents who had little to do with the objectionable conditions of their residence but whose privacy would be directly impacted by an inspection,” Nelson said. Because of the changes he appended, the law now provides five days to appear before the judge in a hearing or to provide
a written defense and five days of notice before the inspection can occur if it is deemed necessary by the judge. According to Nelson, the five days of notice that the current law provides supersede the first proposal in privacy protection. “(During an inspection, the agent) would look for zoning violations of nonpermitted uses or excessive occupancy, but he does not have to ignore anything else he observes that is in plain view while there. That is why I wanted the advance notice, to allow residents to clean up the interior before inspection,” Nelson said. Although Nelson felt it was imperative to add greater protections of this right in the fine-tuning of the original proposal, others still feel that not enough was done, or that inspections linked to the number of unrelated people in a private residence, are altogether unconstitutional. Storrs and Simonetti represent a number of constitutional conservative voices in the community who are unhappy with a violation of rights and attended the public hearings.
See ZONING, A6
INSIDE THE CHAMPION
News
CiCi’s Fundraiser
Arnold Air Society partners with restaurant to raise money. A2
Sports
Events
Lady Flames duke it out with JMU Thursday night. B1
Liberty Theater Department performs Shakespeare’s classic. B10
Women’s Hoops
Romeo and Juliet
News Opinion Sports Feature
A1 B5 B1 B8