Liberty blocks The Plaza from those wishing to park to see Obama
Advertisement
Text size: small | medium | large
By Dave Thompson
and
Alicia Petska
Published: August 20, 2008
Drivers hoping to park at the Plaza and make the short walk to E.C. Glass for the Obama event Wednesday evening were met by blocked entrances and Liberty University police officers directing them instead to City Stadium.
That’s where city officials had hastily arranged shuttle service after learning Wednesday morning that LU, which owns the Plaza, would not allow event parking at the shopping center.
A few hundred vehicles ended up using the stadium lot, where city school buses had made about 15 trips to E.C. Glass by 6:15 p.m.
Lee Beaumont, LU’s director of auxiliary services, said the university never received a request to use Plaza parking space.
“There was no conversation at all,” Beaumont said. “… Nobody bothered to talk to us about it.”
He added LU had multiple concerns about allowing the event parking, including the impact on tenants of the midtown shopping center and the school’s liability if an accident were to occur.
LU officials were also apprehensive about how the participation would affect the school’s status as a 501(c)(3) organization, a designation that prohibits partisanship.
The school has previously invited Obama to speak at its campus, and has played host to former presidential candidates, including Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.
“When you only have half a day or a day to react to something, you can’t make a good decision,” Beaumont said, adding the school based its decision on practical concerns.
“We’re not trying to make a political statement.”
JoAnn Martin, the city’s director of communication, said the city was not involved in designating the Plaza for parking.
“We were told by the local campaign there would be parking there, and that was also printed on their tickets,” she said. “I think they were operating under the assumption that was public property.”
Nancy Cloyd and Bruce Johnson drove from Buckingham County for the Obama event and headed straight for E.C. Glass, where officers near the school directed them to City Stadium.
“That was pretty good, actually, because we’re not familiar with Lynchburg,” Cloyd said. “He (the officer) gave us pretty good directions.”
Sonny Witt, Lynchburg City Schools’ director of facilities and transportation, said everything went smoothly, considering officials only had about four hours to put the impromptu system together.
Witt said some of the six buses on hand probably were unnecessary, as buses were usually only half full when they left the parking lot.
“We didn’t get the surge we thought,” he said.
Post a Comment
The commenting period has ended or commenting has been deactivated for this article.
Can't find what you're looking for? Try our quick search:
Reader Reactions
Posted by ( Freedom ) on September 04, 2008 at 2:37 pm
hey SAND CRAB !! Y GOTTA go to the darrell story about bush being pushed under the bus !!lol
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( scrivsand ) on September 04, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Freedom thanks for the info now I feel I know enough to be better prepared for the next family bout… I think you are right live and let live what people do in the privacy of their own home should be their business and it is not up to me to judge them.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( Freedom ) on September 04, 2008 at 11:30 am
,,yea i do my darnest to embrase the 7 SPIRITS of GOD ,,revelations,,so i figure he,s talking about the 7 world religions,,7 continunte,7 sea,s,,and 7 is his perfect #,,POET,,yea he,s something elce,,he called me a RACIST,,heck,,i rode the FREEDOM bus and SOUL train !!anyway i asked him to take me shoping,,and buy me a robe,hood,and some rope,,!! i never heard from him again!!,,i wonder why??gee could i have been to forward or do you think asking a man to take you shoping was just a little to GAY ??speaking of gay,,yea the HOLY ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH,,preformed same sex marriages for its first 500 year history,,but then a problem arose,,no kids,no future money for the church and no armies for the crusades and wars the church was always in,,after 400 years of being killed,,they adopted the moto,,NO MORE ,,NO WAY,NO MACAIN,,i mean no more gettin kill and beat up !!the bully syndrome kick in !!,,and ever since then the church has been armed to the theeth,,so the church had to get rid of the same sex marriage and push man/woman,,and then push no sex except for procreation,,and drop babies left right and in-between,,and are still doing it today,,and using that same approach to conqure the usa via illegal mex,s,,they have a one way mission ,,to control the world,,and secure the throne for when JESUS comes back, ,,(((they have been doing it for centries and it has worked well for them,,i keep warning falwell that lu is gonna be RED DUKE ANNEX,))),,,personally ,,if i were JESUS,,i,d stay as far away from this planet as i could !!oh you can read all about that homo mariages in the VATICAN LIBARAY,,so personally,,hey this is GOD,S creation,,not mine,,so who in the heck am i to JUDGE,,live let live,,and live by what JESUS said,,let no man put a stumbling block in anybodies path,,and again personally,,them silly nilly,,girlly ones do kinda freak me out,,i do get uncomfortable around them,,u know,,but hey when i do become sinless,,then i,ll pick up that first stone!!u know what i,m mean,,and again truthfully ,,i really dont see that ever a happining,,then you got the science that have found that gene,,extra something,,but again its his creation,,i,m just here trin to enjoy it and save it !!but you do make a great point,,divoiced should be illegal,,and it is in the HRCC,,they make you go through hoops,,but only if you were married in a catholic church,,if not they dont reconize the wedding,,and i cant help but feel that if the sexes were left alone to do as they please,,it would be split down the middle,,half would be same sex and the other man/wife,,thus a real threat to christanity and its collection plate !!sorry but to me its all about the money,,,,cause if it aint in the ten commands i dont by it,,just trin to stay in the relm of those ten is way hard enough without adding more,,and if everyone were to tell the truth,,we all have someone in the family thats gay,,a brother/sister,,aunt/uncle..and yes a divorce parent,,and i think there would be less divoices if gay wasnt such a religious proscuted lifestyle,,i mean how many people get married ,,out of social pressure,,heck these priest said that they became priest to avoid the gay issue,,thus irronic that the HRCC who stop the practiced of same sex marriage would have it blow up in its face ,,big time !!and i say when you conqure the BIG TEN,,then go ahead and..u noticed i stoped,,ahh cause i really dont think you can,,see you around,,
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( scrivsand ) on September 04, 2008 at 9:06 am
Hey your teacher must have been a good debater and he taught you well. I do believe in being a Christian, but not necessarily every single thing that is preached. Oh yes I did read poet he is a wicked one for sure, you really don’t seem like clan material . But I love the debate with you its like with my own family, we do more of this than they do on here. It’s great. The big one this weekend was gay marriage, I say they should be allowed to be married and they say no, no, no its wrong according to the Bible. Then, when I say well so is divorce, they say well that’s man law, then I am back with why don’t you lobby to have that changed since the Bible says it wrong? Then my point is if you don’t use the Bible to end divorce how can you use it to defend not letting gay people get married after all its all about mans law and not the Bible. I thought you may have some insight on this cause it just really throws me with them. Anyway good to be back and chat with you soon.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( Freedom ) on September 03, 2008 at 7:51 pm
one more thing SCRIVSAND,,well thanks for the compliment about your GRANDFATHER,,i dont know where he learn his skills from ,,but i learned mine from my DEBATING COACH,,of course everyone hated him,,but when we placed 1,2,3, in the state debating competition,,we loved him,,what that mean teacher would do,,was take all the current events,,write the issue/debate topic down,,pass the hat around,,what you picked you defended to the death,,HARD,,HARD,,so you were forced to debate and support why you wnated war,,and then you would pich from the hat the total opposite !!talk about a brain meltdown !!,,it was a real eye openiner,,and it expanded your mind and made you a better debater cause you found your faults and thus could plug up the holes and pray that your oponite,,would,nt go there !!so yes i do use that tech,,but i want everyone to know that things are a lot more GREYER than they are black and white,,i was knowN ‘'CRAZY AS A FOX”“,,HEY I ALWAYS GOT MY RABBIT!!anyway go to “"falwells palin to help mccains in key area”“,,thats where 14mets and poet are locking horns,,and me of course my veiw of WOMAN via my veiw of the PALIN VP,S W/H..so i know she,s crin about the mets !!then there is :“"mccain picks alaska gov as running mate,“”,again i,m awful !!and “"kain calls ads linking obama to ayers slimy”“,,that a hot one,,and the newest hot one is “"former amhearst county high school quarter back in court,“”,i,m takin a beating there !!i,m fighten back !!,,that should keep you real busy,,i tell you this place is a blast !!afterall its your hometown !!sweet,,its better than a CHESS MATCH !!..p/s DONT YOU dare quote me on that “"i never make a mistake”“,,i will,denign,denign,,nope never said that !!..good night got to watch what the VP is saying !!
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( Freedom ) on September 03, 2008 at 7:20 pm
heySCRIVSAND,,good to see you !!ahhh read you !!and i,m glad you had a blast,,i was holding the fort down for you ,,NYMETS needs help over at,,ahh got to look that up ,,ill get back to u ,,POET is a wicked one,,anyway,,ok i must warn you I STUDIED DIVINITY and was real close to becoming ordained,,but just could,nt do it,,i explained that somewhere ,,i ,ll get u that post too,,anyway ,,let me get my bible out,,see you are leaning to the TRICK PART whereas i,m leaning to the temple and the temple changers,,ahh money exchangers like the banks today you know take your euro and convert to dollars,,cause neither country wants your money,,go to france get the euro,,go back to the states then convert the euro to dollars,,of course at a small fee..so if you wanted to INSULT CEASAR ,,YOu paid him in JEWISH temple money,,and if you wanted to get STONED (jokeing),,drop a ceasar coin in the collection plate ,,this leads us to JESUS,s first get in your face,,get pissed off,,go crazy,,flip tables,,nuts O,,cause they were making a profit off the conversion of ceasar,s money which he fealt was short changing the temple,,he really hated bankers,,any way he said pay taxes,,and pay church 10%,,pay ceasar w/ceasar coin,,pay church w/church coin..and this is the first place(usa) that they got by without paying any,,and now this country is so broke,,i say pay taxes,,especially since you r so involved in its polotics,,and are the largest land holder in this nation,,and since so many are UN-LIKE your humble preacher,,but rather live lavish lifestyles maga homes,,planes,,world travel,,limo,s,,in truth they arenot churches but the thevies that have taken church over,,IF you are gonna put JESUS robes on then you mirror his lifestyle,,he didnt live but in a cave,,he traveled on a donkey not a grand camel caravan with silk tents ,,belleydancers,,etc,,and if you dont,,i,m commin after you !!,,right jolly jerry and walled maga house,,with high carbon print,,and swaragrat and his limo,s and REV WHITE and his really really big mega house in a gated white community,,and these people think when JESUS comes again ,,he is gonna be smillin on them ,,lol,,i,m just his instrument,,well what can i say i do have my little demons and have to do like JESUS,,get them out,,its an on going thing,,and i did have to put my boxing gloves on,,i,m mean you do throw a MEAN punch !!you slamed me hard on the beating up a mental,,and bad gay/fag talk etc,,you r a most welcome changledger sp.,,warrior !!so only debating slaming is my intent,,like a wrestler or a boxer,,they always shake hands when done killing each other,,ok,,shake on it !!
that will work,,trust me ,,i,m the nicest person you would wanna meet ,,and equally well my enemies have warned others ,,not to mess w/me thats my reputation here as in my physical plane ,,not this hide behind computer and really be a jerk !!,,and i,m a fighter !yea ,,you see i,m never wrong,,make no mistake,,thus am always with the winning team,,,,so go mets !!i,m thinking because they fell one,,that 14mets is hiding in the cornor crin,,i even did my best to insult her and she,s ,,well i,ll get the posting to u,,later,Freedom,,
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( scrivsand ) on September 03, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Hey Freedom sorry it took me so long but as I explained I had family coming in to visit for the holiday..and Thanks I had a great time with them. Also I did look up Christian socialism and I see some of your point, however at my church the house is there for whom ever is the pastor at that time when they leave the church they leave the house. My grandfather was a farm manager for years and every farm he managed provided him with a home my guess was so that they could pay a small salary and I am of the opinion that is why my church does also. Believe me my pastor does not receive a large salary by any means and the house is a modest one. Now when your wrote this “AND THE BIBLE ALSO SAYS TO GIVE UNTO CEASAR WHAT IS CEASER,,WHICH MEANS PAY TAXES” were you referring to Matthew 22:17? If so that was explaining how they were trying to trap Jesus into either saying God or Caesar was wrong. Now I am going to need you to explain this one because these were all YOUR words “fag is to gay what the N word is to blacks ,as is the B word to woman,,and your hatered to them is reflected in your 3,000 mile reach to change calif law”. And as far as “normal people with abnormal problems,,kinda like you,“ you helping me would be like the blind leading the blind, huh? HA HA HA I did think that was funny. You remind me of my grandfather he would always take one side of the issue and then when he convinced you he was right he would turn around and argue the other side that he just got done convincing you was wrong. Anyway in closing I see where you are now a METS fan but just remember “and anybody who loves the METS,(14nymets),,has to be a socialist!!that just deductive reasoning,,go yankees,,“ (your own words) I hope you had a great time with your family during the holiday an I look forward to chatting with you soon.
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( Freedom ) on August 27, 2008 at 6:55 am
,,yea ,yea,yea,SCRIVSAND,,sounds like that one about the dog eatin the homework!!anyway you have fun and enjoy yourself,,but if you have time look up CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM,,and the Buddist and the Islamic equally embrase that theory,,and look up COMMU NISM,,but do not be shocked to find out that JESUS was the first WORLD COMMUNIST..now ,,wherez that 14NYMETS at,,hello,,where r u !!quit hidding,,and come out to play,,ahhh did the PHILLY,S upset you !! :( goooo phillys
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( Freedom ) on August 26, 2008 at 5:37 pm
crabby sand you didnt answer my ??..isnt lu socialistic,,because as you define it where “"placing ownership and control of capital /land in the community as a whole”“and the 10 % is to maintain it and cover the cost of it and expand it ,,whereas no-one owns it but the community of the CHURCH,,,,yes or no,,or are churches by nature ,,COMMONISTIC,,,,yes or no,,so ,, no i,m not trin to make lu socialistic,,i,m saying it is by your own definition so what are you a socialist or a commonist,,AND THE BIBLE ALSO SAYS TO GIVE UNTO CEASAR WHAT IS CEASER,,WHICH MEANS PAY TAXES !!..thats all i want an 10 % sounds good to me !!and to name calling,,fag is to gay what the N word is to blacks ,as is the B word to woman,,and your hatered to them is reflected in your 3,000 mile reach to change calif law,,now if the gays were smart they would counter with prop.6669,,tax churches for getting into civil/private rights ,,kinda like no regilious things on gov.property,,no religious laws in secular society,,and you are right i know nothing about lc/rc crime stats,,cause i,ve nevered heard them in the news like lu,,now to assulting a mental ill man,,it gets better/funnier,,its called in psycho terms FRIGHT/FLIGHT,,he scared me(FRIGHT) when he reached for my bealt and grabed it,,i had no place to go(FLIGHT) so i instinctally smack his hand away,,yes he was stun and so was the staff,,an i was embarrsed,,i then appologized to the patient and gave him a hug,,and as i was hugging him i started to take my bealt off to give to him ,since he liked it so much,,as a sign of my apology,,but he freak out and went nuts,,again the staff step in and informed me that he was beaten a lot by bealts and thought i was going to beat him,,like i said it was a hell of a job interview,,i left and never came back,,and decided to work with normal people with abnormal problems,,kinda like you !!and as far as me living in a gated community because nobody likes me,,lol,,i live there to keep trbc/and jahovia/etc from bothering me..and because when i lived at stuwart heights some church was always parking in my permit parking only !!and i have lots of friends,,money buys everything !,,and anybody who loves the METS,(14nymets),,has to be a socialist!!that just deductive reasoning,,go yankees,,
Report Inappropriate Comment
Posted by ( scrivsand ) on August 26, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Freedom hey have some family coming in so I will read more in a few days after they are gone and I have the free time.Anyway hope you and your family have a great holiday weekend together and I will look forward to more lively chats with you!!
Report Inappropriate Comment