Tuesday, February 14
Casteen, the Younger takes on accidental shootists Reid and Cheney
Writing today on slate.com, John Casteen IV, a regular contributor to The Virginia Quarterly Review, enlists the recent shooting incidents of Vice President Dick “Fuck Yourself” Cheney and Virginia Delegate John “Invest in Kevlar” Reid to argue that Congress should act to counterbalance the heavy influence the gun lobby exerts on state-level politicians. “Left to its own devices, the Commonwealth of Virginia would require me to be a licensed dealer of cars if I were to sell more than five of them in a year; it wouldn’t, however, consider me a gun dealer even if I were to sell 100 guns in a weekend at a gun show,” he observes.
Warner delivers valentine to college leaders
Reporting in The Chronicle of Higher Education today, former C-VILLE staffer Paul Fain captures the lovefest greeting former Virginia governor and presumed Democratic presidential candidate Mark Warner at a West Coast gathering of college administrators. After what Fain describes as “an enthusiastic introduction” from UVA prez John Casteen III, Warner restated the concerns already voiced by meeting-goers: “Competition for ‘intellectual capital,’ particularly by colleges in India and China, poses an ‘enormous challenge’ to America’s ability to main-tain…the most educated, entrepreneurial work force in the world.”
Wednesday, February 15
USA Today lauds local overachievers
For 17 consecutive years, USA Today has named its All-USA College Academic Team. Today UVA senior Catherine S. Neale, who is also a student member of the school’s Board of Visitors, made the “third team,” and junior Edward Ross Baird drew an honorable mention. Neale, a Richmond native, has other head-of-the-class credits, according to University Relations: president of the Arts & Sciences Council; the first student representative on the UVA College Foundation; and a member of the student South Lawn Task Force, the UVA Master Planning Council, the Buildings and Ground Committee, and the Undergraduate Research Network. To which the C students, looking up from their Jack and Cokes responded, “What. Ever.”
Thursday, February 16
Rumors of its death have been greatly exaggerated
Blogging on his site, cvillenews.com, self-appointed local blogger-in-chief Waldo Jaquith anticipates his own irrelevance as more local blogs take hold: “I eagerly await the day when local media websites are so good, and the local blogging community so strong, that cvillenews.com no longer serves a purpose. I will happily shut down this site on that day, and I encourage area bloggers and media outlets to do what they can to hasten its demise.”
Friday, February 17
From the Department of Whine and Dine
Taking on the big issues of her time, Miriam Levy writes in to The Cavalier Daily today on the subject of…dining hall trays, a hot topic covered in an earlier edition [editor’s note: these are tomorrow’s leaders?]. “We all know that some of the food at the dining hall is less than appetizing,” she writes. “The solution is to not take it in the first place if you probably won’t eat it. Also, trays are not a necessity and having to do a little extra walking in the dining hall isn’t the end of the world.”
Saturday, February 18
“Idol” worship has local ties
He wanted to be in martial arts movies when he was little, according to his profile on idolonfox.com, but “American Idol” contestant and one-time Fluvanna County resident Chris Daughtry is engaged in another kind of combat right now, facing other “Idol” wannabes in the Round of 24. Daughtry’s story has landed on page 1 of today’s Daily Progress, but viewers have to wait until Thursday to see if he makes the next cut. We wish him luck, despite the fact that his favorite male artist is Rob Thomas.
Sunday, February 19
Zimmerman’s hot, but don’t anybody tell him
What’s an MLB manager to do when setting expectations for a smokin’ rookie like former UVA player Ryan Zimmerman? That’s the dilemma Washington Nationals’ Manager Frank Robinson faces with the 21-year-old third baseman, according to today’s Washington Post. “I don’t like to put numbers on a young player, because then they feel they have to achieve those numbers…[but] if at the end of the year he’s driven in 60, 65 runs, that’s fine,” the Post quotes Robinson. “But who’s to say he won’t drive in 70 or 75?”
Monday, February 20
Orr believes in poetry
UVA poet Gregory Orr reads his essay “This I Believe” on today’s edition of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” a segment of the show based on a program by 1950s journalist Edward R. Murrow. Orr, who has taught at UVA since 1975 and has nine collections of poetry among his numerous achievements, talks about how poetry has provided him an emotional outlet over the years.
Who let the crocs out?
PET GATOR TO RELOCATE TO ORLANDO
Extra! Extra! Alligators make crappy pets!
The Wildlife Center in Waynesboro is currently housing a two-and-a-half foot baby alligator that was found in a trailer park off Route 29N at the beginning of November. The little lizard is now waiting to board his flight to Gatorland, a theme park and wildlife preserve in Orlando, Florida.
Alligators—along with any other threatened or endangered species—are not kosher pets according to the Code of Virginia, so whoever was raising the tyke in his or her bathtub was breaking the law. Luckily for the culprit behind this particular pet alligator, he or she won’t face any penalty because no one seems to know who let this croc out. However, if there were a suspect, he would be facing a misdemeanor, subject to a $500 fine and up to six months in prison.
According to the Wildlife Center, of the 2,369 wild animals that passed through their facility last year, only about a half dozen were considered endangered or threatened and illegal to keep as pets by Commonwealth standards. According to Center president Edward Clark, the most common legal issue is when people purchase non-native animals then free them into the wild. (For example, students who get pet turtles and free them at the end of the school year, or couples who purchase doves to let go at the end of a wedding.) Introducing non-native species into the wild is against State law.
City Police Chief Tim Longo says that situations with wildlife almost never arise locally. Sometimes bears or deer wander into town, or a pig breaks loose from the Hogwaller stockyard. But alligators? Not so much.—Nell Boeschenstein
Shiny, happy people
CITY COPS REACH OUT
Police department one step away from Kumbaya?
For your information, the police department isn’t just parking tickets and serial rapist investigations. In the past, many may have been the mysteries into how neighborhoods are patrolled and crimes solved. But lately the department has been making a concerted effort to be more accessible to the public.
As one example, in the middle of February, the City Communications Department posted a survey on their website to gauge citizen satisfaction with the police department. It’s part of a larger phone survey that is being conducted citywide and asks questions such as “How safe would you feel walking alone in your City of Charlottesville neighborhood after dark?” Respondents can choose anything from “very safe” to “don’t know.”
The goodwill extends to the media, too. A day after the citizen survey went out, reporters were cordially invited to a finger- painting—er, make that fingerprinting—party at which Sgt. Steve Dillon demonstrated the department’s new fingerprinting device that allows police to locate fingerprints in the daylight. Reporters were even allowed some hands-on play time with the cops’ new toy.
They care about us! They really, really care about us!—Nell Boeschenstein
It’s my life
CLAIRE KAPLAN TALKS PRIVACY AND THE INTERNET
Sexual assault expert plans a conference on the topic
Who’s watching you? With the government conducting unwarranted surveillance, the September death of VCU student Taylor Behl and subsequent arrest of a man she met through the website MySpace.com, and, most recently, the arrest this month of several Albemarle students allegedly planning a bomb plot via chat room discussions, issues surrounding privacy in the Internet age have been hot topics.
Claire Kaplan, the director of Sexual and Domestic Violence Services at UVA’s Women’s Center, is helping plan a conference on the topic scheduled for May in Virginia Beach. C-VILLE recently sat down with her to discuss the issue. An edited transcript follows.—Nell Boeschenstein
C-VILLE: With the current youth culture being so comfortable with the Internet—sharing their names, their class schedules, their credit card numbers—are they aware of the dangers?
Claire Kaplan: Any information you put on the Internet is really there for the entire world to see. For kids, who do have a certain sense of invincibility, it’s hard to assume that creepy and bad people are going to be seeing this stuff. It’s, “I‘m just putting this up for my friends. They’re the only people that have any interest in me, so why would anybody else look at it?” and that’s part of the problem.
With sites such as MySpace and Friendster, what kind of information is too much information?
In a sense I think that almost anything is too much for kids, even seemingly innocent things like saying your interests are “collecting Neopets.” That could convey something to someone and they could connect to you through that interest for the Neopet. Then you may establish this friendship with someone who may be totally legit, but who may not be.
What sorts of Internet stalking or harassment issues have come through your office?
Posting someone’s phone number and picture on a sex website saying, “I’m looking for dates.” Taking [the photo] off MySpace and posting it so that the victim ends up getting all these calls from random men. People send e-mails from random addresses, sending threatening information. They create creepy websites about a person.
Speaking of kids on the Internet…
POLICE ARREST FOURTH TEEN IN ALLEGED BOMB PLOT
13-year-old Jack Jouett student charged with two felonies
On Thursday, February 16, Albemarle County Police arrested a 13-year-old Jack Jouett student in connection with an alleged plan for an attack on two Albemarle high schools.
The boy was arrested on “recently obtained information,” according to police. He is charged with two felonies: conspiring to use an explosive device to destroy a schoolhouse and conspiring to commit murder. The suspect is currently being held—along with three other teens arrested two weeks ago on similar charges—at the Blue Ridge Detention Center in Albemarle County.
Police say the four teens chatted on the Internet about plans to bomb Albemarle and Western Albemarle high schools by the end of the year. The newly arrested student, whose identity, like the others, has not been released due to his status as a minor, joins another 13-year-old boy from Jack Jouett, a 15-year-old boy from Albemarle High School and a 16-year-old boy from Western Albemarle. All face charges of conspiring to commit murder and other felonies.
“All current leads have been exhausted” in the case, according to a police statement. Police have revealed few details about the case, while parents speculate about the seriousness of the alleged chatter. The newly arrested teen will appear in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on March 8, while the three other teens will be in court on Wednesday, February 22.—John Borgmeyer
There goes the neighborhood
PHA DEFENDS 10TH AND PAGE STRATEGY
Group says rising assessments can be good for homeowners
Driving through the 10th and Page neighborhood just north of W. Main Street, near UVA, it’s easy to see the recent changes—specifically, the big, bright new homes that the Piedmont Housing Alliance built in the historically African-American neighborhood.
The changes are visible on paper, too. Real estate assessments in 10th and Page rose 26 percent in 2005, due in large part to PHA’s new construction there.
This year, PHA will complete a five-year partnership with City Hall to build about 35 new homes and townhouses in the 10th and Page neighborhood. While PHA officials defend the new construction as affordable housing that improves the neighborhood, critics wonder what it all means for longtime residents.
“Affordable? For whom?” says Joy Johnson, a housing activist and critic of PHA. Not only are the houses “ugly” and inconsistent with the character of 10th and Page, says Johnson, they represent a subtle effort to push poor blacks away from the valuable real estate around W. Main.
PHA houses, she says, promote gentrification. “It doesn’t look the same anymore,” she says. “It sends a signal that this is the new 10th and Page. You knew there was a change coming when a tanning salon opened up…most black people don’t tan.”
Further, Johnson says that as new construction pushes assessments higher in 10th and Page, longtime residents may have trouble paying their rising property tax bills.
PHA sells all their homes at market prices. Some are bought by affluent homebuyers, whose money helps PHA provide down-payment assistance of up to $50,000 for low- and moderate-income buyers, according to Peter Loach, PHA’s deputy director of operations. Recently three PHA homes sold in the neighborhood; two for low- income buyers at $219,900 and $229,900; a third sold at full price for $299,900.
In total, PHA has sold 19 homes in 10th and Page, with 15 of the buyers qualifying for down-payment assistance. Loach says the average PHA homebuyer receiving down-payment assistance earns 47 percent of the area median income as calculated by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development—which means the average “low-income” PHA buyer earns $27,944 for a family of four.
Loach agrees that many residents are concerned about keeping up with the higher property tax bills that come with rising assessments. On the plus side, he says, people can borrow off the equity in their house, or sell it for a nice pile of cash.
Meanwhile, Johnson wonders what the changing face of 10th and Page means for longtime residents of neighborhoods now coveted by developers. “This is precious land,” she says. “It sits in the scheme of UVA’s connection to Downtown and W. Main. When it comes time for redevelopment, the property owners are going to be sitting at the table, talking about what they don’t want next to them.”—John Borgmeyer
Come together, right now
MPO MULLS REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY
County officials also urge an end to Meadowcreek Parkway delays
Charlottesville’s three-decade dance with Albemarle County over the construction of the Meadowcreek Parkway is but one example of how Virginia’s political system wreaks havoc with land use and transportation planning. Cities and counties are separate political jurisdictions in the Commonwealth, and that division makes it nearly impossible to make plans for the land and transportation routes we all share.
Last week, the Charlottesville-Albe-marle Metropolitan Planning Organization (a committee of local leaders and planners) discussed the creation of a regional transit authority as one of the tools it needs to cope with these demands. Through an RTA, multiple jurisdictions could coordinate planning for regional transit.
“Most small towns are thinking along a similar line,” says Harrison Rue, Director of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. By coordinating the transportation routes of the city, county and UVA, existing transit lines that overlap could be eliminated. Rue listed W. Main Street as a possible backbone route for transit, a single system that would link the University and the Downtown with trolley, rail or more efficient buses and then branch off to nearby neighborhoods.
Also at the meeting, County Board of Supervisors Chair Dennis Rooker said that any more delays on the Meadowcreek Parkway could cost extra money, especially if land prices in the road’s right-of-way continue to climb. “We should make certain it moves forward before the inflation factor has eaten away huge chunks of the budget,” Rooker said.
The MPO also plans to study how a “southern connector” road near the Route 20 corridor could accommodate the growth from the planned Biscuit Run development project, which could bring more than 4,000 new homes to Old Lynchburg Road.—Jay Neelley
Calling all fledgling Trumps
CITY SEEKS TENANT FOR KIOSK
Are you a bold entrepreneur with a flair for helping tourists?
The City is looking for a sucker—ahem, entrepreneur—to take over the kiosk near Central Place on the Downtown Mall.
According to a Request for Proposals, the City is looking for someone to conduct business in the kiosk and “provide public information to citizens and tourists,” with a special consideration for activities “keeping with the current use and spirit of the Mall.”
We can only surmise that statement means the City doesn’t want to see the kiosk turn into a bar, as it was briefly when restaurateur Andrew Vaughn transformed the kiosk into an extension of nearby Atomic Burrito last spring. The experiment in open-air liquor vending was a Mall hotspot but closed after just a few weeks, apparently because Vaughn had not obtained permission from the State’s Alcoholic Beverage Control.
The kiosk has been home to a variety of short-lived endeavors, with people peddling newspapers or bric-a-brac off and on since it opened in 1995. Ironically, the tiny kiosk was the first construction project from big-talking developer and former Charlottesvillian Lee Danielson, who ultimately built some bigger things—including Regal Cinemas and the Charlottesville Ice Park—in a partnership with investor Colin Rolph.
Anyone interested in joining this illustrious capitalist tradition (and willing to shell out at least $1,500 to the City in rent each year) can make their pitch to Jim Tolbert, the City’s Director of Neighborhood Development Services.—John Borgmeyer
Don’t leave me alone
LOVE ME, BUILD ME, CHAPTER 5
More empty buildings long for fulfillment
Address: 2000 Holiday Dr. (above)
Area: 24,400 square feet
Owner: Andrew Dondero, CEO of Holiday Drive, LLC and CFO of Lakeland Tours
2005 assessment: $2,561,400
Looks like this lonely edifice, known as the Lakeland Tours building, is getting some much-needed attention. Medical Auto-mation Systems, a Charlottesville company owned by Kurt Wassenaar that sells data management systems to hospitals, has taken over most of the building.
The building was recently home to several tenants, including the Ash Lawn Opera Festival Company, Piedmont Housing Alliance, the Building Goodness Foundation, and the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center. Everyone except Ash Lawn has moved out, though, as MAS has expanded to fill the building.—John Borgmeyer
Livin’ on a prayer
LOCAL POLS ASK UVA TO INCREASE PAY
Deeds, Toscano sign on to “living wage” resolution
Charlottesville’s decade-old living wage movement is getting a boost. This spring, the Staff Union at UVA (SUUVA) will present a new resolution demanding a “living wage” for all UVA workers to President John Casteen.
The resolution—which calls for a wage that is tied to local cost-of-living figures, which this year clocks in at $10.72 an hour—already has a long list of supporters, including State Senator Creigh Deeds, Delegate David Toscano and the Virginia AFL-CIO.
Toscano has been preoccupied with his own minimum wage legislation, which recently died in committee. “As a legislator, I’m trying to get wages up for the Commonwealth as a whole,” says Toscano, “but this petition is being encouraged, and I’m supportive of that effort.”
However, while Toscano supports the resolution, he recognizes that, based on his recent defeat, this will be a tough issue to push through UVA’s Board of Visitors.
The living wage movement has had some success. It began with the Labor Action Group at UVA in 1998. Within a year City Council granted all City employees a living wage, and in 2000 UVA raised starting wages to $8 per hour from $6.50—although the benefit was not extended to UVA’s vast supply of contract workers. Frequent living wage protests outside the Courtyard by Marriott on W. Main Street were stopped when hotel owners agreed to provide job training for some of their low-wage employees. The local living wage movement gave rise to SUUVA in May 2002, and has largely stalled since then.
But momentum may be gaining. Abby Bellows, organizer of UVA’s Living Wage Campaign, says 25 student and community organizations and more than 800 individuals support the resolution, the purpose of which she says is “a mechanism to demonstrate the wide base of support; to communicate this to the administration, where the buck stops.”—David Goodman
Grip and grin
WOMEN FIND SOLACE IN HUSBANDS’ HANDS
UVA prof confirms the wisdom of John Cougar Mellencamp
It was John Cougar Mellencamp who told us that “everyone needs a hand to hold on to,” and now a UVA scientist is telling us why.
According to a recent study conducted by psychologists and neuroscientists at UVA and the University of Wisconsin and published in the journal Psychological Science, happily married women under acute stress experience immediate physical relief upon taking hold of their husbands’ hands.
UVA psychologist and lead study author Dr. James Coan says that while “past studies have found a health-enhancing benefit in couples that are the happiest,” this “is the first study that’s really starting to look at the mechanisms in the brain that are responsible [for those health benefits].”
In order to study how the brain responds to cues of danger, the women participating in the study were given multiple MRI scans, each of them knowing they could be subjected to a mild electric shock at any time during the scanning process.
While both spousal and stranger handholding regulated the married women’s responses to threat cues, only the husbands’ hands decreased activity in the brain for “hyper-vigilance,” or the brain’s overreaction to dangers that aren’t really life-threatening. Coan says the regulatory influence of handholding is the brain’s way of saying, If I were alone, this would be really dangerous.
Coan says that existing research provides evidence that “living together doesn’t seem to correspond with the same kind of [health] benefits as marriage does.” Still, in their ability to help us respond to threat cues, “social networks are very, very important to our health and well-being,” Coan says. “As a society, we’re in danger of emphasizing self-reliance too much, especially when it comes to dealing with stress and adversity,” he says.
Similar studies are in the works with male participants and also with homosexual couples. “We are expecting to see the same kinds of results [in gay and lesbian couples],” Coan says. “A lot of homosexual couples go through a public commitment ceremony—I want to see if the same kinds of differences exist within homosexual couples as do with heterosexual couples.”—Esther Brown
Kickin’ class
UVA ARCH PROGRAMS AMONG BEST IN NATION
Architecture and landscape architecture ranked third and fifth respectively
We always knew they were good, but we never knew they were quite that good. On February 10, DesignIntelligence, a magazine that covers the design industry, bumped UVA’s graduate architecture program up five notches in its 2006 rankings, naming it No. 3 in the nation out of 86 schools, behind only Harvard and the University of Cincinnati. The survey also ranked UVA’s graduate landscape program No. 5 out of 36, behind Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, University of Georgia and Louisiana State University. In 2005, the landscape program was ranked sixth.
Architecture school dean Karen Van Lengen attributes the rise in ranks to two things: the school’s emphasis on environmental aspects of design and the comprehensive nature of the programs, enhanced by the fact that they’re housed under the same roof.
“Very prominent in our school right now,” says Van Lengen, “is our capacity to approach the design of the environment in a comprehensive way…[that encourages] an understanding of the environment as a democratic landscape.”
The rankings are based on a survey sent to employers in engineering, design and architecture fields, who were asked what graduates they’d hired in the past five years were particularly “prepared for real world practice.”—Nell Boeschenstein
Dissertations you’ll never read
THE ENDLESS TALES OF CANTERBURY
Sifting through the discharge of higher education
In our pathetic attempts to compensate for our dearth of graduate degrees, we at C-VILLE occasionally peruse UVA’s dissertation stash for fresh cocktail party fodder. However, among the dissertations we won’t be name dropping anytime soon is “Anger in the Canterbury Tales,” by John Lance Griffith.
This is for two reasons. First: We can tell from the title exactly what the work is about. C’mon, John… seduce us!
Second: Good God, haven’t we said enough about Chaucer already? What more can be said? This year alone, according to the Digital Dissertations Database, at least 16 dissertations covered the other English bard. Add that to everything that’s come before, which includes more than 2,000 Chaucer-related titles that pop up on Amazon, and you’ve got what the poet himself would have called “ye olde dead horse.”
Perhaps the mark of a masterpiece is the endless analysis that follows in its wake, but before we ever read “Anger in the Canterbury Tales,” we’re going to first catch up on the stuff we slept through in college…for example, the tales themselves.—Nell Boeschenstein
Assembly Watch
NRA-BACKED BILL PASSES HOUSE
H.B. 704 is bad news for local freedom haters
A Virginia General Assembly session wouldn’t be complete without some string pulling from the National Rifle Association. This year, the NRA’s marionette is Del. Clarke Hogan (R-South Boston), who got help from the Republican-friendly gun group to craft two bills—H.B. 704 and H.B. 705—designed to prohibit local governments from restricting the use of firearms.
H.B. 704 would invalidate every local gun ordinance enacted prior to 1995. Last week the House of Delegates passed the bill 69 to 31; Albemarle Delegate Rob Bell voted for H.B. 704, while City Delegate David Toscano opposed it.
The other bill, H.B. 705, would prohibit local governments from regulating the discharge of firearms. That bill has been killed in committee.
Hogan’s bills reflect the NRA’s aim to rewrite State hunting laws in a way that erases the distinction between hunting (which is, by the way, a constitutionally protected right in Virginia) and shooting a gun in general. This would make it hard for local governments to stop gun clubs from setting up shooting ranges in suburban neighborhoods, recently a topic of debate in nearby Nelson County. The bills are good news, however, for that next-door neighbor who loves to get drunk and fire his .45 in the air on the Fourth of July. Let freedom ring!
Smoking ban passes Senate
Is tobacco culture dying in Virginia, the home of Philip Morris? The crop that formed the backbone of the state’s economy for centuries took a big dis on Monday, February 13, when the Senate voted 21 to 18 in favor of H.B. 648, which would ban smoking in many public places. The bill is expected to die in the House, yet its passage points to the growing influence of suburban voters in the Senate, where the vote crossed party lines and seemed to fall along urban-rural divisions. Senator Creigh Deeds, who represents Char-lottesville but lives in rural Bath County, opposed the ban.
Whew! Harsh pot bill dies in committee
A few weeks ago C-VILLE complained about H.B. 737, which would have imposed harsh penalties for a first-time conviction for simple possession of marijuana. Obviously fearing this newspaper’s wrath, legislators killed the bill last week.
Introduced by Virginia Beach Republican Sal Iaquinto, the bill would have reclassified simple possession to a Class 1 misdemeanor from a Class 2, which could have put first-time pot smokers in jail for up to a year.—John Borgmeyer
Book learnin’
CITY AND COUNTY SCHOOLS TALK BUDGET
Charlottesville trims fat while Albemarle beefs up
Last week the City School Board was looking for ways to cut its budget, while Albemarle’s was spreading the wealth.
In the City, the central office job of director of school improvement, held by Laura Purnell—a central figure in last year’s debacle with now ex-superintendent Scottie Griffin—went on the chopping block during a board meeting on Thursday, February 16, in an attempt to balance the 17 instructional cuts (12 teachers and five assistants) being made across the district.
Meanwhile in Albemarle schools, final budget tweaks were made Wednesday and the school board is ready to give their funding request to the Board of Supervisors. The County School Board expects to finance teacher raises through revenues from increased enrollment—Will Goldsmith
Press releases we love
MR. BARRICK, DON’T LEAVE US!
When the City’s P.R. guy is away, reporters fend for themselves
On February 14, the City’s Interim Director of Communications, Ric Barrick, sent out an unwelcome valentine—a press release announcing he was going out of town for five whole days.
A whole week without Barrick? Nooooooooo!!!!
How are we reporters supposed to survive the wacky world of local news without our chief ambassador to the City? That means five days without the daily crime update where we look for our friends’ names. Five days without the updates on road closures that make our commute oh so hassle-free.
Then, the kicker. Barrick suggested that, in his absence, reporters go directly to the source for questions without Barrick’s gentle touch. You mean, like, extra work? Oh, the horror! Barrick has been doing a bang-up job. He’s a rare flak who actually tries to answer questions instead of merely feeding us press releases. Hopefully this little tribute to Barrick will put us first in line for some juicy scoops when he gets back.—Nell Boeschenstein
Get involved
IT’S BUDGET SEASON
Put your 2 cents into the City and County’s guiding documents
If you’re interested in what the hell your local government is doing all day, and how they’re frittering away your hard-earned tax dollars, you better be ready for budget season. In the coming months the City and County will be crafting their budgets that, starting in July, will set the government’s course for another year. If you care about what they’re doing, make sure you attend the meetings below. —Esther Brown
City of Charlottesville Budget Events
March 6: City Manager proposes budget to City Council
March 20: First public hearing
April 3: Second public hearing
April 5: Final City Council work session
April 11: City Council votes
Albemarle County Budgetary Events
February 28: County Executive’s budget document finalized
March 8: Public hearing on County Executive’s recommended budget
April 5: Public Hearing on Board of Super-visors’ proposed budgets and tax rate
April 12: Board of Supervisors votes
Park it
SOME CITY PARKS READY FOR OVERHAULS
Svetz says pool redesigns in the works for Meade, Forest Hills
Spring is nigh, and soon it will be time to go play in the city’s parks and pools. Will they be ready? Last week C-VILLE sat down with Mike Svetz, the City’s director of parks and recreation, to get the lowdown on upcoming improvements to local parks. Below is an edited transcript.—Meg McEvoy
C-VILLE: What are the biggest demands on the City’s parks and recreation system?
Mike Svetz: People want more trails and pedestrian and bicycle connections through-out the community. Our two heavily used areas would be that of playgrounds, of course, and aquatics. They not only get used heavily by city residents but by county residents as well.
Are there any aspects of the parks that are currently underused?
I would say that we have a system that is aging. Particularly Forest Hills Park, as well as Meade Park. We’ve asked Council to move forward with redesign efforts with both of those parks, centering on failing pool infrastructure.
Do you currently have any plans in place to implement those im-provements?
A feasibility study is underway, and it should be completed early next summer.
What role do parks play in real estate values?
Typically real estate values are higher closer to parks, usually by 10 percent to 15 percent.