Tuesday, January 31
Harding could look for GOP nod
City Police Captain Chip Harding is eyeing public office in Albemarle County, where he has lived for 25 years, according to today’s Daily Progress. If Albemarle County Sheriff Ed Robb decides against running for a second term next year, then Harding will seek the Republican nomination. Harding took a three-day candidate’s training course at UVA’s Sorensen Institute, the same program attended by Rob Schilling, the City’s lone Republican Councilor, before his successful campaign four years ago. Harding is nearing retirement and would welcome an opportunity to speak his mind at last on certain public issues, according to the report.
Wednesday, February 1
Tim Kaine: a star is born
Governor Tim Kaine responded to President Bush’s State of the Union address last night in a nationally televised broadcast, and this morning The New York Times dubbed his performance “a coming-out party for a new Democratic star.” His party appeal, like that of his gubernatorial predecessor, presidential candidate-apparent Mark Warner, lies partly in his ability to win one for the blue team in a red state. In his remarks, Kaine questioned whether Bush’s policies were “the best way to win this war [on terror].” “There’s a better way,” Kaine said.
Thursday, February 2
Mild temps don’t thwart storm team
The Emergency Operations Center that serves Charlottesville and Albemarle County is getting prepared for severe weather and power outages despite the unseasonable temperatures and confused crocuses, WCAV reports today. Using computer simulation, the emergency group staged a three-day storm that would leave 90 percent of the area in the dark. “In the winter time, in this part of Virginia, it is a very realistic scenario,” WCAV quotes Michael Cocker as saying. Cocker is with the State’s Department of Emergency Management.
But do they want paper or plastic?
Head football coach Al Groh has signed
24 players to the 2006 incoming class, and though none of them are “glittery,” in
the words of Daily Progress Sports Editor Jerry Ratcliffe, that may be the least
of Groh’s issues today. More troubling
is Ratcliffe’s incomprehensible simile in the DP to describe the recruiting process: “Football recruiting is kind of like going
to the grocery store. It’s only a successful trip if you brought home what you really needed.”
Friday, February 3
Potts is sad, doggone it
Senator Russ Potts is today mourning the loss of his trusted golden retriever Maggie, according to the Associated Press. The Win-chester Republican, who ran an Independent campaign for governor and may have cost fellow Republican Jerry Kilgore the election, reportedly eulogized the 9-year-old, dessert-loving dog in the Senate yesterday. “There is a great big hole in my heart,” he said. “I hope they’re serving frozen custard in heaven.”
Saturday, February 4
Sunrise stumper: What if Duffy leaves WVIR?
Lead topic today on cvillenews.com? Morning TV anchor Beth Duffy’s rumored defection from WVIR. The chipper broadcaster is effectively “the face of NBC 29,” wrote blogger Waldo Jaquith, and, if true, her departure would deal a blow to the leading local TV station. But not everybody was buying it. “What if NBC 29 lost an anchor and nobody noticed?” wrote Big_Al in response.
Sunday, February 5
Local investor leads political gift-givers
In a report that was widely reprinted today, AP reporter Bob Lewis identifies Governor Kaine as the recipient of last year’s biggest political gift—a 10-day Caribbean vacation for him and his family from Albemarle County businessman James B. Murray Jr. Last year, Virginia’s elected officials accepted nearly $315,000 in gifts, with Kaine’s $18,000 rest at Murray’s Mustique home leading the pack. Kaine “saw this as a unique opportunity to get away with his wife and three children after a year of campaigning and on the eve of four years in the spotlight,” press secretary Kevin Hall told Lewis.
Monday, February 6
Why not repeal the seat-belt law, too, while you’re at it?
“When it’s a 35 mph speed limit on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the middle of summer, why not be allowed to take the helmet off?” That’s the rationale the Richmond Times-Dispatch today attributes to Del. William R. Janis, the Henrico Republican who is sponsoring a bill to turn back the State’s motorcycle helmet law. The bill made it out of committee, but faces an uphill battle. Other no-helmet bills have failed in the Assembly in recent years.
Assembly Watch
LOCALS LOBBY FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
TRAP, parental consent and family life programs on the agenda
On February 2, Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge packed 280 local pro-choicers—including 70 high school students—onto chartered buses and shipped them to Richmond for Planned Parent-hood’s Lobby Day.
They were primed for a fight over three bills in particular: House Bill 189, the Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP), which would make abortion providers subject to the standards of ambulatory surgery centers; House Bill 868, which would require parental consent before a minor could obtain emergency contraception; and Senate Joint Resolution 171, which calls for a statewide survey of family-life education programs.
Planned Parenthood favors the Joint Res-olution, and opposes the two House Bills.
First up for many of the lobbyists: Del. Rob Bell’s (R-Albemarle) office, where 35 people squished themselves in like sardines. The day’s tactic was moderation—i.e. safeguard contraception and sex ed first, then tackle abortion. Appealing to moderate Republicans like Bell was a popular refrain. Bell was in committee at the time, but his aide Mike Broomfield played host.
Although TRAP legislation is proposed every year—passing the House before dying in the Senate’s Education and Health Committee, chaired by Sen. Russ Potts (R-Winchester)—Broomfield’s response was, “This is the first I’ve heard about all three of these [bills].” A woman then passed the hapless aide information sheets on each bill.
Supporting Potts was a big theme. If and when he leaves office, the passage of TRAP is a distinct possibility, and would qualify only two existing abortion facilities—the Planned Parenthood offices in Charlottesville and Roanoke.
Next up, a joint meeting with David Toscano (D-Charlottesville) and Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath County). Lobbying Deeds and Toscano, both of whom Planned Parenthood considers “allies,” is preaching to the choir, but they urged lobbying moderate Republicans because, as Deeds put it, “politics is about choices, but not between perfect or evil.” The best part? Deeds and Toscano wore matching olive green suits.
Earlier that morning the Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee had voted in favor of the TRAP legislation. This is where Bell had been; he voted in favor of the bill.
Last up, a rally with the 550 citizen lobbyists from around the state. In keeping with the bipartisan theme, featured speaker and founder of the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition, Delegate Katherine Waddell (I-Richmond), expressed her position to cheers.
“I’ll support the full range of choices for women: abstinence, contraception, marriage and abortion,” she said. “I will stop focusing on how wide the halls are in an abortion clinic.”
The morning ended with a variation
on an old classic: What do we want?
PREVENTION! When do we want it? NOW! But the buses were waiting and having done what they came to do,
the group gradually dispersed.—Nell Boeschenstein
WEED AND EWERT SQUARE OFF
Dem Congressional hopefuls vie for nomination
On Wednesday, February 1, Democrat Congressional hopefuls Al Weed and Bern Ewert squared off in a debate at the Jefferson Area Board for Aging on Hillsdale Drive. It was the second of what is sure to be many chances to hear from the two guys who want to challenge Fifth District incumbent Virgil Goode, Jr. (R-Rocky Mount). He trounced Weed in 2004. Weed is back, but first he must contend with former Charlottesville Deputy City Manager Bern Ewert, who boasts an extensive public record and more than 3,000 TV appearances in 13 years. The Democratic primary will be June 13.
Despite their appeals to bipartisan solutions, both candidates spent plenty of time Bushwhacking, spouting the Howard Dean-ian “we need to take our country back” rhetoric, eliciting whistles and applause from the crowd of more than 100.—David Goodman
CITY SCHOOL BOARD LOSES MONEY IT NEVER HAD
Accounting turnabout means budget cuts needed after all
Elation quickly turned to gloom at the Charlottesville School Board meeting on Thursday, February 2 when it was revealed that nearly $300,000 had never, in fact, been lost and thus was not regained.
The Daily Progress had reported the day before that a surplus had been “found” in the budget, giving many hope that some tough staff cuts wouldn’t take place.
At meeting’s start, however, financial director Ed Gillaspie said that he was “right the first time” and that the current budget is balanced.
This deflation didn’t deter community members from advocating for the retention for certain school staff currently on the chopping block. That includes several special education positions at some elementary schools and high school dance teacher Miki Liszt.
Board member Louis Bograd tried to spin the accounting snafu as “probably a good thing.” According to Bograd, “Now we can trim the budget to free up the things we thought we were going to be able to pay for from this free money.” During the meeting, the board amassed a long wish list, as if the system had triple the surplus it never had to begin with.—Will Goldsmith
OUR VOTES FOR THE NEXT STATE SONG
It’s time to get this party started
Forget roads and schools and unchecked sprawl—the Commonwealth has real problems. We need a state song!
Until recently, Virginia was the only state without an official state song. On January 24 lawmakers voted to make the 19th-century folk song “Shenandoah” the interim official state song until something better comes along. To do our part, this week C-VILLE offers suggestions for Virginia’s next state song.—John Borgmeyer
Song: “I Can’t Drive 55,” by Sammy Hagar
Sample lyric: “One foot on the brake, and one on the gas/there’s too much traffic, I can’t pass.”
Relevance: The Red Rocker speaks to Virginia’s mounting traffic woes.
Song: “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell
Sample lyric: “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Relevance: See Route 29N.
Song: “Bad Man, Chi Chi Man” by Been-
ie Man
Sample lyric: “I’m dreaming of a new Jamaica/come to execute all the gays.”
Relevance: Who knew right-wing delegates would have so much in common with a reggae star?
Song: “You’re Having My Baby” by
Paul Anka
Sample lyric: “Didn’t have to keep it/You could have swept it from your life/ But you wouldn’t do it.”
Relevance: We’re pretty sure this is the only song on Del. Bob Marshall’s Ipod.
Song: “Okie From Muskogee” by Merle Haggard
Sample lyric: “We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse/and white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all.”
Relevance: Ripped on moonshine, wavin’ the flag, and kicking some hippie ass in Virginia. Yee-haw!
MILLER CENTER RECONSIDERS REAGAN
New interviews reveal ex-prez as “the anti-Nixon”
It’s been a busy week for Stephen Knott. The associate professor and research fellow at UVA’s Miller Center for Public Affairs spent last week fielding calls from The Washington Post, the Associated Press, National Public Radio and even the London Daily Telegraph.
The hubbub was all about Ronald Reagan. Last week the Miller Center released 33 transcripts of interviews Knott conducted with some of the 40th president’s closest colleagues—Cabinet members, White House staff, campaign advisors—between 2001 and 2004. The release accompanied a daylong forum on Reagan at the Miller Center on Monday, February 6.
Knott, a presidential scholar who has written a book on The Gipper, says the Miller Center’s new Reagan Oral History Project will add to the discussion of a man who has been exalted and vilified (perhaps, in both cases, unreasonably so) since his death in June 2004.
“In some ways, it is a political thing,” says Knott. “Conservatives have been looking for their own FDR for years. There has been a concerted effort to lift [Reagan] into the American pantheon.”
These new transcripts will only help that effort. They are mostly fond reminisces from people who worked by Reagan’s side. “We try not to go into these interviews with an agenda,” says Knott. “We try to put ourselves in the place of scholars 100 years from now. What would they want to know?”
Knott says he found two surprises in the interviews. One is the image of Reagan as a kind person incapable of suspecting the worst in people, a figure Knott describes as “the anti-Nixon.”
“He couldn’t fire people,” says Knott. “It’s hard to imagine how he got as far as
he did.”
Reagan could be uncompromising, however, when it came to the two central concerns of his presidency: his deep fears of communism and nuclear weapons. “Everything else was far, far removed for him,” says Knott. Reagan was branded a warmonger for escalating the arms race, but today scholars say his plan to outspend the Soviet Union led to arms reduction and that nation’s collapse in 1991.
While Knott says Reagan would probably have been embarrassed by the right-wing’s efforts to name infrastructure in his honor, he remains a hero to many Americans—perhaps more for his words than his deeds.
“For a lot of Americans coming out of the ’70s, he made them feel better,” Knott says. “I think his words will live long after we’re gone. I put him up there with JFK.”—John Borgmeyer
DIVERSITY CHIEF SPEAKS
William Harvey plays his greatest hits for first major speech
On Thursday, February 2, UVA’s new vice president and chief officer for diversity and equity gave his first major address to the school.
In his talk entitled “Issues of Race in Predominantly White Institutions,” William Harvey mostly read excerpts from his past writings, as well as those of other race scholars. He said that American colleges do not have enough black faculty, a problem he said is caused by racism and can be remedied by more aggressive affirmative action.
“Academic institutions must strive to reflect the diversity of the society,” Harvey said to an overflow crowd at the Small Special Collections Library auditorium.
Digging as far back as 1981 into his file of past writings, Harvey emphasized how little the problem of black faculty has changed over the years. Even though many colleges have the official will to recruit more African-American faculty, Harvey said those goals have been thwarted by subtle and overt racism. Subtle racism keeps blacks and other minorities out of the “informal networks” that help potential professors navigate the highly subjective tenure process. Moreover, the faculty “gatekeepers” who make tenure decisions tend to choose people who look and think just like them, said Harvey.
But when asked, Harvey did not know how many black professors are currently on UVA’s faculty. “I’ve only been here for 90 days,” he said.
Addressing incidents of racial harassment earlier in this academic year, Harvey said that if, in fact, the people who wrote racist messages on some students’ dry erase boards were students themselves, he is distressed that no one has turned in the perpetrators.—John Borgmeyer
MORE ON HOUSING THOSE ’HOOS
At capacity,UVA dorms only hold half of all undergrads
Of the 20,399 students enrolled at UVA for the 2005-06 school year, 13,401 are undergraduates. According to UVA’s Housing Division, the school has a total of 7,071 dormitory beds available for all students, with 6,325 beds available for undergraduates. John Evans, UVA’s director of accommodations, says that those undergraduate beds are currently 95 percent occupied. Last week, UVA’s Board of Visitors voted to raise the cost of a double-occupancy dorm room to an average of $3,639 per student in 2006-07, an increase of $350.
Currently 13,328 Wahoos—7,076 of them undergrads—live off campus. As the debate rages between developers and preservationists and the City and County over how to house these off-campus students, C-VILLE hit the streets to ask students this question: “Given the same location, would you rather live in a new apartment complex or an old house? Why?” Here’s a sample of their responses.—John Borgmeyer, with additional reporting by Esther Brown
ALBEMARLE POLICE ARREST JUVENILES IN VIOLENT PLOT ON SCHOOLS
Teens communicated their plans via Internet chat room
Seated side-by-side at a press conference on February 3, Albemarle County Police Chief John Miller and County Schools Superintendent Dr. Pamela Moran announced that after an anonymous source contacted them on January 30, three Albemarle County school kids had been arrested and charged with felonies in connection with a plot to use an explosive on either Western Albemarle High School, Albemarle High School or both.
“We really believe these acts would have been carried out,” said Miller. “Probably in the next couple of months.”
A 16-year-old Western Albemarle High School student is charged with communicating a threat in writing to kill or do bodily injury and with commanding or entreating others to commit a felony; a 15-year-old Albemarle High School student is charged with conspiring to commit murder and conspiring to use an explosive on a schoolhouse; a 13-year-old Jack Jouett Middle School student is charged with conspiring to commit murder and conspiring to use an explosive on a schoolhouse.
If convicted, the kids, all of whom are male, could remain incarcerated until their 21st birthdays.
According to police the three are friends—two live in the same neighborhood—and they communicated their plans in an Internet chat room. Two shotguns and three computers were seized by police in connection with the investigation.
While none of the children had been previously identified as “at risk” by police, in the course of the investigation, Miller said that evidence surfaced that there were “problems at home.” Moran declined
to say whether the teens had difficulties
in school.
This is the second time in a year that juveniles have been arrested in plots against their schools. Last May, two Covenant School students were arrested and charged in a purportedly Columbine-like attack they were plotting against their school.
The Albemarle teens are currently out of school and being held at the Blue Ridge Juvenile Detention Facility. No further information is being released until County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Camblos reviews the case.—Nell Boeschenstein
TEENS CAUGHT BURGLING WHERE THEY’D BURGLED BEFORE
Been caught stealing before, but that didn’t stop a second act
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s usually good advice, but not for 18-year-old Joseph Albrecht and his 16-year-old cohort.
The pair, both from Charlottesville, were arrested in November on charges of breaking and entering, larceny and vandalism of businesses and churches in the Airport Road area. They had been released on bond, but on January 29 they were rearrested again at the same place, for the same charge.—Nell Boeschenstein
THEN AND NOW: UVA’S POLICIES ON SEXUAL ASSAULT
Beebe case questions how administrators responded in 1984
Of the many issues raised by the case of William Beebe, the question of how UVA handles—and has historically handled—student re-ports of sexual assault is center stage.
Beebe, of Las Vegas, turned himself into Charlottesville police in mid-January on charges stemming from an incident 21 years ago at a UVA frat party. In addition to alleging rape, Beebe’s accuser, Con-necticut resident Eliza-beth Seccuro, alleges that when she originally reported the incident
to UVA administrators in 1984, she was discouraged from going to local police.
UVA spokesperson Carol Wood declined to comment on the Beebe case since it is an ongoing criminal matter, but she did say that UVA reviews and evaluates its policies on sexual assault every two years. Wood also says, “Certain policies were in place [20 years ago] that are still in place today,” including going to police and providing the victim with options—like counseling—to deal with his or her individual health and safety.
Comparing UVA’s policy from 1984 to what’s on the books today illustrates how ways of addressing the issue have evolved, even if the basic principles have remained constant. It’s clear from UVA’s policy in the ’80s that sexual assault was just emerging in the cultural consciousness as a serious issue: The definitions and procedures in the 1984 policy are notably less fleshed-out than in the 2005 version.
Perhaps the most glaring contrast between the two policies is that now
“sexual assault” is defined as a separate offense from “sexual misconduct.” The operative word in the definition of “sex-ual assault” is “force.” “Sexual misconduct,” according to UVA’s current policy, “occurs when the act is committed without intent to harm another” and takes into account the fact that “the use of alcohol or other drugs can blur the distinction between consent and manipulation.”
Brett Sokolow, president of the National Center for Higher Ed-ucation Risk Manage-ment, says that recognizing the difference be-tween the two illustrates a growing understanding on college campuses that force isn’t what date rape is about. In addition, says Sokolow, as campus administrators have gotten better versed in sexual assault, definitions of “consent” have become much more explicit in university conduct codes; UVA falls right in line with this trend. He goes on to say that because the criminal justice system relies so heavily on defining “sexual assault” by violence, it shows how disconnected the system is from collegiate culture.
The other most prominent difference between the two versions of UVA’s sexual assault policy is the level of information. While Wood said that reporting incidents to the police is a policy that’s been in place from the beginning, that intention was not in writing in 1984. By contrast, the 2005 document provides all the contact info for City, County and University law enforcement.—Nell Boeschenstein
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH RICO
Albemarle’s newest officer loves “Cops,” chew toys
Full name: Rico
Breed: Belgian Malinois crossed with German Shepherd
DOB: October 2004 (no record of day)
Height: Unknown
Weight: 80 lbs.
Provenance: Holland
Family: Albemarle County Police Officer Andrew Gluba
Diet: 6 cups of Professional Lamb and Rice dog food daily
Education: Roughly 1,000 hours K-9 training; ongoing with a minimum 16 hours
per month
Fitness regimen: 20-45 minutes tracking or ball chasing daily
Last crime solved: On January 29 Rico identified where two burglars were hiding after he and Gluba responded to a building alarm.
Law and order heroes: Ingo, Rin Tin Tin
Crime fighting specialty: Excellent at narcotics searches, but, says Gluba, “[Rico is] squared away in just about all the areas we do. He’s a rarity.”
Favorite toy: Kong
Favorite primetime crime drama: “Cops.” Says Gluba, “I record all the ones that they use K-9s in.”
(Finish this sentence) “Rico can’t live without…”: His Kong. According to Gluba, Rico has been clocked at 41 mph while chasing his Kong.
Fun fact: He flies. When he “heels,” Rico jumps from six feet away and flips in beside Gluba. He’s jumped up eight feet to retrieve his Kong out of a tree.