Month: August 2007

Categories
Living

We Ate Here

More out of curiosity about atmosphere than a specific craving, we decided to lunch at The Pointe, which is the Omni Hotel’s oft-overlooked—and very acute—eatery. From inside the angular, formal dining area, through acres of shaded glass that define the seven-story atrium, the Downtown Mall was visible but seemed a world away. And the meal—a baby spinach salad with crab meat, mandarin oranges, red peppers and Virginia peanuts—was hotel-fancy too: heavy silverware, butter served in balls and a very attentive waiter. It all seemed like a visit to an alternate, but nearby, universe.

Categories
News

Breaking news: Warner Senate Switch?

Virginia Senator John Warner, the second-longest serving member of the United State Senate, announced today that he will not seek a sixth term. He made the announcement in front of the Rotunda on the Grounds of UVA, where he received a law degree in 1953.

 

Surrounded by students and television cameras, Warner said that his service in the Senate will “come to a conclusion on the first Tuesday of the new Congress.” His announcement thrusts another Warner into the political spotlight, former Virginia governor Mark Warner (no relation), who has been eyeing a run for the older Warner’s Senate seat.

 

The younger Warner, a Democrat, lost to John Warner in a close Senate race. The possibility of a Democrat taking Warner’s seat in the next elections hurts Republican chances at winning control of the Senate, which they lost in 2006.

 

After brief remarks, Warner answered questions from the press. Many focused on the war in Iraq. Warner, a staunch supporter of the military, recently called for a troop reduction in Iraq by next Christmas, a sharp break in policy from President George Bush. Warner, a World War II and Korean War veteran, called Iraq “the most complex series of problems I’ve ever seen in my life.”

 

After speaking, Warner walked into the crowd of students that had gathered to his right. Shaking hands and sporting a wide grin, he said “Goodbye, all!”

 

But before walking away for good, he bent down to shake a small boy’s hand. The child, suddenly in the Senator’s gaze, shyly lowered his head. “Always look a politician in the eye,” said Warner, still pumping the child’s hand. “Don’t ever take your eye off him.” 

C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.

Categories
News

Buford Middle has cause to celebrate

At Buford Middle School, optimism was up this year even before parents found out that the school, for the first time in four years, met the performance goals imposed by the federal government. "The parents just seem to have a very positive reaction to the new principal [Eric Johnson], and to the school in general," says Sumner Brown, parent of an eighth grader and president of the Buford PTO. "You can just feel it. They seem to feel a lot better about it even before people heard about this."

While August 22 was the big day for students, August 23 was almost as big for administrators. That’s when the state issued preliminary "report cards" for Virginia schools, revealing which met all 29 criteria set by the federal government and made what is called Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

It was a first for Buford—and for Charlottesville City Schools as a whole—to make AYP. Many of the criteria for AYP come from English and math scores on state tests, as well as figures like attendance rates. At least 73 percent of students in a district have to pass English tests and 71 percent have to pass math tests in order to make AYP.

But while one middle school celebrated, many other area middle schools got disappointing news. Four of five Albemarle County middle schools did not make AYP. Where many districts run into trouble is that all sub-groups—such as African-American students, "Limited English Proficiency" students or special ed students—have to hit the passing rate. As a whole, county schools fell short because not enough "disadvantaged" students passed English and math tests.

"In math, we missed it by 11 students. Eleven," says Bruce Benson, the county’s assistant superintendent for student learning. "We have 12,460 students, and we missed it by 11. In reading, we missed it by 55, which in a division our size isn’t a large number of students. But it really emphasizes the issue that every kid counts. …We’re going to make it next year."
"We know that our middle schools are a place that we need to put additional resources," Benson says. "We’ve already begun conversations with our principals that will cause our data to look different when we have this conversation next year."

Stakes are even higher for schools like the city’s Johnson Elementary, a Title I school that receives significant federal funding because 85 percent of students are considered poor. As the federal government has so much funding leverage, it can impose significant penalties on underperforming Title I schools, including taking them over if they don’t meet standards in five years.

In the 2005-06 school year, Johnson did not make AYP. But for 06-07, 89 percent of students passed English tests, up from 68, and 87 percent passed math tests, up from 67.
"[Teacher] morale is really at a high level, and people are really excited," says Johnson’s new principal, Vernon Bock. "The results are great, but we can’t rest until we’re at 100 percent, because if we’re not, there are students who are not passing and not achieving."

The state itself failed to make the grade, largely because of the limited English students.

Local schools that didn’t meet federal standards in 2006-07

City

Charlottesville High
Clark Elementary

County

Agnor-Hurt Elementary
Greer Elementary
Yancey Elementary
Burley Middle
Henley Middle
Sutherland Middle
Walton Middle

C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.

Categories
News

City considering cutting out bottled water

Even Mayor David Brown admits that bringing up the idea during a drought warning may not have been the best move, marketing-wise. But Brown says it’s an idea that he believes in. So at the end of the last City Council meeting, he proposed that the city stop buying bottled water.


Bottled water, begone! City Mayor David Brown wants Charlottesville to take a small symbolic step by refusing to buy bottled water with city funds.

It’s a largely symbolic gesture, says Brown, since the city provides bottled water on a small scale, at meetings, during city events and through vending machines. But it’s a small symbol that highlights a much larger issue.

If the city stops buying water, it would be following the lead of cities like San Francisco, which has cut off city funds for bottled water, and New York, which is running a public campaign to urge its residents to drink tap water. Chicago is considering a 25-cent tax on bottled water.

According to Harper’s Magazine, an estimated 16,000 barrels of oil were used last year to make the bottled-water containers sold in the United States. It takes twice the amount of water used to make the plastic bottles than the containers actually hold.

"It’s wasteful," says Brown. "The idea is to follow the lead of some other cities. We wouldn’t ban [bottled water], and we wouldn’t ban people bringing it in. It’s more like we’re bringing it to people’s attention. The city would basically try to set an example."

The idea met with skepticism from other Council members. At the meeting, councilors ultimately decided to have the city’s Sustainability Committee look at the idea. "I don’t think I did a very persuasive job," Brown says, laughing. "I don’t think Council was real negative, but I don’t think they were ready to move on it. Plus I brought it up late at night. That wasn’t a great idea."

Brown’s proposal is just one move in a larger trend gaining momentum across the nation at a part of the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. The initiative calls for cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to levels suggested in the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement the federal government has yet to sign. Not surprisingly, bottled-water manufacturers aren’t big supports of the trend to phase out the ubiquitous plastic bottles of water.

"The problem is, symbolic gestures can be hurtful," says Chris Saxman of Shenandoah Spring Water, who points out that Shenandoah’s building is geothermally heated and each five-gallon bottle they sell is reused and recycled. "We contribute to the economy. We produce something that otherwise would not be produced. It confounds us why we’re being singled out."

C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.

Categories
News

Drought warning may become emergency

The Charlottesville area is smack in the middle of what Public Works Director Judith Mueller called the worst drought since 2002. With scant rainfall in August, typically the area’s driest time of year, the city and county declared a Drought Warning on August 16, complete with mandatory restrictions on watering plants, washing cars and serving drinking water at restaurants. Since then, the total demand for water has dropped 7.9 percent, according to Thomas Frederick of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA). But even combined with last week’s rainy days, that doesn’t mean the warning will be lifted anytime soon.

"We won’t be able to determine the time frame [for ending the warning] in advance," says Frederick. "We continue to look at the risk assessment of running low on water supply based on the current weather conditions."

The 7.9-percent drop in water usage exceeded RWSA’s goal of 5 percent. Frederick says that stream levels, after running as low as 15 percent of normal volume in the past two weeks, are back up to 28 percent. Area reservoirs, however, are down. The Sugar Hollow Reservoir is the lowest, sitting at 7′ below run-over.

If current conditions don’t change, the area could move from a Drought Warning to a Drought Emergency, which would impose tighter water-use restrictions. The goal for water-demand reduction would rise to 20 percent.

"That’s pretty challenging," says Frederick. "If we get some rain within the next 30 days, we may not have to go to an emergency. If rainfalls stay scarce, then unfortunately that will increase the risk that we could have to."

C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.

Categories
News

The fountain of truth

Dear Ace: It’s hot and I don’t have a pool. Can I bathe in public fountains?—Steve Freefontaine

Steve: Nothing beats the heat quite like wallowing in filthy water. Just ask any water buffalo. And hey, if you’re in a fountain, you can probably make quite a racket out of collecting the coins people toss in. By doing so, as Ace understands it, you’ll also be harvesting any wishes associated with said coins. It’s simple sorcery. So yeah, bathing in public fountains is a pretty sweet deal. But is it legal? Ace checked with Ric Barrick, Charlottesville city spokesperson, to find out.


Think before you leap in: The water in public fountains like this one on the Downtown Mall may be less pristine than it looks.

"It depends on where it is," explains Barrick. "If it’s on the Downtown Mall, for example, that isn’t considered a parkland, so we can’t impose stringent regulations. We can’t force people to wear shirts"—though Ace reckons maybe they should anyway, given some of the folks he’s spotted waddling down the Mall—"or stay out of public areas." Basically, the city really doesn’t want you swimming laps in their fountains, but they can’t do anything about it if you so choose. Unless, of course, you’re indecently exposing yourself. If, say, you’re making your own private fountain in a public fountain, one of Charlottesville’s Finest will probably be throwing a pair of bracelets on you faster than you can say, "But officer, it’s perfectly natural!"

But (and there’s always a but, though not the kind that’ll get you arrested under decency laws, har har) Barrick advises against even the most Victorianly attired dip in a public fountain. "I certainly don’t want to encourage people to do it," says the city spokesperson. "If I saw someone in a fountain, I would probably personally go up to them and let them know that the water’s not filtered and not particularly clean." Ever notice that it’s actually pretty difficult to climb into some of these fountains? That’s largely because the city doesn’t want you catching malaria from the mosquitoes that breed on the surface of standing water, or any other nasty disease that might be lurking in the murk that settles at the bottom of fountains. But if the heat’s really getting to you, Steve, Ace recommends a long sit-down on your front porch with a mint julep or seven. You’ll stop noticing that 99 percent humidity in no time.

Categories
Living

Staging a cover up

Never will I utter the words "talking heads" again. Nor will I knock sports TV anchors for just being pretty people with pea-sized brains who can read a prompter.


The big easy: Legendary NFL coach turned seasoned sportscaster John Madden makes being in front of the camera seem like a cinch.

Two weeks ago a nice lady named Christine from Comcast’s "Washington Post Live" called about having me on their TV show:

Her: Look forward to having you on next week to talk about the Cavaliers upcoming football season.

Me: Great, be happy to do it.   

Her: Ever do live TV before?…(without waiting for an answer). Well, Russ Thaler is a terrific guy, it will be a great show, see you next week….click.

Then it hit me like Jose Offerman cracking a Minor League catcher in the head with a bat. …Live?

Sure, I do live radio every day but this is a beast of a different breed. People can see me. What if I mess up? What if I sweat? What should I wear? What happens if a light bulb explodes on the set and ignites my hair?

Uncontrollable sweating and panic sets in.

Live? She didn’t say anything about live. That’s when my producer, Kevin, piped in, "Uh, the name of the show is ‘Washington Post LIVE.’" (Writer’s note: Kevin was a good producer. If you would like to apply for his position, my e-mail is below.)

After calming myself down with a wet towel and four consecutive shots of Jack Daniels, it dawns on me that some of my closest friends are TV sports anchors. Their advice can only be warranted. I know sports and they know TV and sports.

Some of their e-mails follow:

Kris Budden of ABC 16 instantly demanded: "Makeup! Lots of makeup (still don’t know if I should feel insulted over this) and wear a solid suit because pinstripes don’t show up on television and did I mention makeup?"

Chuck Wade at NBC 29: "Everybody will be wearing blue or gray on the set. Wear that sweet brown pinstripe suit and you need to wear cover up…keep the shine down on your face."  Chuck obviously forgot what I look like, as sometimes my hair tends to appear as if the Exxon Valdez had its second spill all over it.

Dave "Yogi Berra" Strumph at CBS 19 gave me some useful advice: "Look at the panel and the host 80 percent of the time and the camera 10 percent of the time."  Where to look the other 10 percent still remains a mystery.

So here I sit a week later in the Green Room. Makeup done by Donna, the Comcast makeup lady, who added some positive reinforcement by declaring my skin was terrific for a 28-year-old, so nervous that Pepto Bismol would upset my stomach, and beginning to sweat so obnoxiously I believe the pinstripes in my suit are running together.

And then the dreaded voice of the loudspeaker: "Wes McElroy to the studio!"

The segment is 12 minutes long but it feels like two. The host is all class and the panel sticks to the topic that I know—Virginia football. My voice doesn’t crack like I’m 13. Nothing I say sounded stupid or can get me sued in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mike Wise of The Washington Post even offers a handshake at the end of the segment and it is official: I’ve survived my live TV debut.

For the record, though, there is no other medium that I love more then writing. Not radio, not TV. Just a laptop, a couple of thoughts…and some cover up.

Hey, what can I say? It makes me feel pretty.

Wes McElroy hosts "The Final Round" on ESPN AM840. M-F 4pm-6pm.

Categories
News

Amnesty comes but twice a year

Local residents looking for an environmentally friendly way to dispose of their household hazardous waste must wait until October 6 to get rid of potentially harmful adhesives, pesticides and cleaners. The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority (RSWA) hosts only two "amnesty days" for the proper disposal of certain household hazardous waste at its Ivy Materials Utilization Center and the next one is six-and-a-half weeks away.

Here’s the big exception: You can legally dispose of all household hazardous waste in your garbage as long as all liquid items are in sealed containers—though RSWA officials don’t want to draw a lot of attention to that fact, and it sure isn’t very nice to the planet to do so.

Got hazardous waste? You have two options: Take it to a twice-yearly amnesty day (and feel right virtuous), or cap and toss it any old time (and feel like a jerk).

The RSWA originally offered proper disposal of such waste products once a month from spring through fall. But budget concerns were among the reasons for the change, says Ivy Landfill Manager Mark Brownlee.

"It costs between $50,000 to $60,000 each [amnesty day]," says Brownlee, adding that New Jersey-based Care Environmental currently holds the contract to dispose of the waste during these events. "Whether that would diminish if you did it every month, I don’t know. We just can’t have that much extra expense in our budget."

Last year, the RSWA spent $90,545 of $95,000 budgeted for two such events. Director of Finance Lonny Wood notes that the ultimate cost of disposal depends on the amount of participation from the public, as Care Environmental charges by the kind and volume of waste discarded.

Though RSWA widely publicizes the two "amnesty days," a small sample of items commonly regarded as household hazardous waste can be properly disposed of daily at the Ivy dump, including antifreeze, motor oil, household batteries, fluorescent lights, and oil-based and latex paint. All other household hazardous waste—including adhesives, pesticides and household cleaners—can only be disposed of there on the "amnesty days."

Care Environmental has contracts with a number of localities in the Commonwealth, including Fauquier, Prince William and Loudon counties. A number of these localities with larger populations offer household hazardous waste disposal on a weekly basis, according to Care Environmental Office Manager Diane Cilenti.

C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.

Categories
The Editor's Desk

Please please me

J. Tobias Beard, what a super job you did with the Westhaven Community Day story ["Where’s Westhaven at?"]!

I have attended the annual Westhaven Day for many years—I do their slide show of the event—and I am so pleased with your feature and Kelly [Kollar]’s photos.

Your story was in depth and kind and revealing. I think that Joy Johnson and Holly Edwards and all the people in the community must be pleased with your efforts.

Thank you so much for such an interesting portrait of Westhaven and the Community Day event.

I’ve been away but finally got an August 14-20 edition of C-VILLE today at the Pantops Giant!

Way to go, super reporting.

Mary Miller
Charlottesville

No love for clove

Miller’s: tobacco-friendly bar in Charlottesville? ["Think you know what’s best?" August 14, 2007.] Ask anyone who smokes clove cigarettes how "friendly" it is when they are banned from smoking there. Thank goodness there are establishments where clove cigs are not maligned (Dürty Nelly’s, Charlie’s in Crozet, etc.). I do not understand at all how Miller’s rates as being tobacco-friendly.

Sherry Moon
Afton

Lending some advice

Insightful article ["100 doorbells in 90 degrees," Government News, August 14, 2007]. Thought you might also find this interesting. The Center for Responsible Lending estimates that Americans lose $9.1 billion each year to predatory lenders.

For many mortgage loan officers and brokers in dealing with minorities and the elderly, lives of trickery and deceit are rewarded annually with six-figure incomes. 

But as a senior loan officer for a regional mortgage bank, I had enough. I walked away from the industry and, as my "penance," wrote Kickback: Confessions of a Mortgage Salesman. Its purpose: to disclose predatory lending schemes to potential borrowers before they transact a mortgage.

I believe that education, not legislation, is the best method to eliminate predatory lending in this country.

From the book, here are the Top 10 Mistakes Mortgage Borrowers Make:

1. Not knowing which mortgage fees the borrower can—and cannot—negotiate.  

2. Choosing and trusting the first loan officer the borrower interviews. 

3. Using an interest-only or "payment option" adjustable-rate loan primarily to qualify for a more expensive house than you could normally afford.

4. Thinking the interest rate is always the main thing. 

5. Not comparing the final fees listed on the closing documents to the up-front estimates to avoid the lender packing the loan with added-on fees without the borrower’s knowledge.

6. Not knowing if the mortgage has a pre-payment penalty—until it’s too late. 

7. Thinking that renting is always just throwing money away. 

8. The borrower does not know if he or she is paying a back-end yield spread or Service Release Premium.  

9. Paying for mortgage life insurance, credit insurance or other expensive lender add-ons to increase the amount of kickbacks the lender can receive from various vendors.

10. Paying hundreds of dollars to have a company set up a biweekly mortgage payment plan, something the borrower can generally do for herself or himself—for free.

Ted Janusz
tjanusz@gmail.com

Categories
Living

Sex Files: Know your anatomy

A few years ago I received a desperate e-mail from a woman in her late 20s. She had never been able to have intercourse and finally turned to the Internet for help. No boyfriend had ever been able to put his penis into her vagina and she was convinced that she "had bones around her vagina."

It turns out she had no concept of her own sexual anatomy—it had been a taboo topic both at home and at school.

I sent her a link to a webpage with anatomical drawings and explained that the "bones" simply were her tense pelvic floor muscles causing a tight grip around her vagina. (This is not unusual for women who have been sexually assaulted as I learned she had been.)

My advice to her: Find a good time of the day when she was relaxed and alone and could create a comfortable setting in her bedroom or someplace else where she felt safe. She should take a handheld mirror and look between her legs and compare herself to what she had seen on the webpage.

This was a woman who had never looked at her own genitals! She’s not so different from many other women. If you have never examined your own orchid, I invite you to get comfortable and to get your mirror out. Get ready for your anatomy lesson—it could change your life, or at least your sex life!

Put a few pillows behind your back while sitting on your bed (or anywhere else you like), spread your legs, and hold the mirror in front of you. Here is what you will see:

There are two parts to your genitals, the outside area, called vulva (not to be confused with a Scandinavian vehicle) and the inside part, called vagina. Most people call everything "vagina," but you won’t have to make that mistake once you learn the correct terms.  

You will discover three openings, the anus at the very bottom, the vaginal opening in the middle (this opening may be covered by a hymen if you have never had intercourse), and above that a small hole (urethra) where urine comes out. Two layers of skin-folds surround the vaginal opening. The outer one is called labia majora and the inner one labia minora. These "big and small lips" fill with blood when you get turned on. You will see a small rounded structure (the clitoris) above the urethra, immediately under the point where the smaller skin-folds merge (the hood of the clitoris). The clitoris is the most sensitive area in a woman’s body. Gently stroke it and feel for yourself!

The bony area covered with pubic hair is called mons pubis. It’s part of the pelvis that surrounds and protects the sexual organs.

So, what’s inside your vagina? Imagine your uterus looking like a pear with the round part pointing up and the thin part (the neck, or cervix) forming the dead end of your vagina. This is the opening through which sperm gets inside the uterus during conception. The cervix also has lots of nerve endings, which means it usually feels really good when the penis bumps into it during thrusting.

If you insert your index finger about 2" into your vagina and point it up toward your belly button (from the inside), you may be able to feel a cushion-like area that gets congested with blood when you’re turned on. Not every woman can feel this area called the G spot (don’t worry if you cannot—you’re still completely normal!). It too adds to your pleasure when stimulated during sex.

Finally, you cannot see the pelvic floor muscles but you should know about them. They help keep your uterus and bladder from sinking down into your vagina (really!). You can learn to strengthen these muscles by squeezing the muscles you use to stop the flow of urine. Especially if you have had babies or if you suffer from incontinence, it’s important to do what are known as Kegel exercises. And as a bonus, having toned pelvic floor muscles helps being able to form a nice grip around your partner’s penis during intercourse—which everybody enjoys.

Annette Owens, MD, Ph.D. is certified by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. She sees clients in her Charlottesville office (www.cvillewellness.com) and answers questions online at www.LoveandHealth.info and www.SexualHealth.com. She has co-edited the new four-volume book, Sexual Health (Praeger).