Month: August 2008

The nonstop activity here is finally catching up with me, and I can feel entire lobes of my brain shutting down. If I start using monosyllabic words only or speaking in tongues, you’ll know why.

I wanted to catch up briefly on some notes I’ve been making about the speeches over the past few days. First off, Biden’s struck me as strong and forthright; I liked that he wasn’t afraid to say "These times require more than a good soldier. They require a wise leader." I thought his right-wing framing of "the dignity of work" was kind of meh — too many low-wage jobs are pretty damned awful, unsafe, and undignified, and it’s time we moved past that overgeneralization (or improved those jobs). But the right is so ridiculously fixated on welfare, I understand why he said it. Overall, a good speech that made him seem likable.

I felt Mark Warner’s speech was effective because it complicated the stupid pro-business/anti-business binary that seems to prevail in most political discourse. Nice name check of TJ.

Would write more, but I need to get ready to leave for the stadium. Not sure about internet access there, but we’ll see.

Local developer Keith Woodard has expanded his empire, buying the former Virginia Work Force building at 400 Preston Avenue from the Commonwealth of Virginia for just over $3 million.

“We feel that the purchase and renovation of 400 Preston Avenue gives us the opportunity to contribute to and be part of the continuing revitalization of the Downtown Mall,” says Keith Woodard in a press release. “Our plans to improve the site take into consideration that the building’s location at the intersection of Ridge/McIntire and Preston/Market Streets anchors two important gateways to downtown.”

The site was once part of the African-American neighborhood of Vinegar Hill before it was scrubbed out of existence by “urban renewal.” It is positioned between development projects—a nine story building slated for the Ridge/McIntire/West Main intersection, renovations to the King Lumber building up Preston Avenue, and the continual activity on the Downtown Mall—and will eventually be fed by the Meadowcreek Parkway.

Woodard, who owns a great deal of residential rental property around the city, recently put off dreams of redeveloping four buildings on the Downtown Mall.

The state department of education released 2007-2008 testing results this morning, and both city and county school divisions failed to meet federal standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act. This marks the second year in a row that the county has fallen short.

NCLB requires schools to make “adequate yearly progress” (AYP) in bringing all students up to snuff on reading and math, as measured by standardized tests. The benchmark this year was 77 percent of students in reading and 75 percent of students in math. The kicker is that all “sub-groups” of students have to demonstrate that level of proficiency—meaning that, for instance, 77 percent of students considered "disadvantaged" must demonstrate English proficiency.

Six of 25 county schools did not make AYP, including all of the middle schools except Sutherland. This is the third year in a row that Greer Elementary, located off Hydraulic Road, hasn’t made AYP. Because it is a Title I school that receives federal subsidies, Greer faces greater sanctions—it will have to spend more than $200,000 on after school tutoring programs.

In the city, three schools didn’t make AYP—Buford Middle, Burnley-Moran Elementary and Walker Upper Elementary. All of those schools met the federal marks in 2006-2007.

Albemarle County Schools are considered to have failed as a division despite having met 28 of 29 criteria. According to a press release from the school system, the criterion missed was a graduation rate for a particular sub-group, and Albemarle is disputing the state’s calculation.

“Our data look a bit different than the state’s data, so we are appealing the AYP decision announced today for the division,” said Dr. Bruce Benson, assistant superintendent for student learning, in a press release. The school system is also appealing Burley Middle School’s status because of conflicting attendance data.

While moving through the security line yesterday, which was considerably longer than the day before, I struck up a conversation with a friendly young Obama delegate from Pittsburgh named Jennifer. I sought her opinion on Michelle Obama’s speech; Jennifer thought Michelle came off as a very human, middle-class mom. Without any prompting from me, she expressed frustration that McCain was painting Barack and Michelle as elitists when they had to work their way up to their current station in life, while McCain was born with many advantages. She felt that the Obamas truly represented "the American dream." What can I say? We Jennifers think alike.

As previously reported, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA) is set to reopen the Section 8 Rental Voucher Program waiting list for the first time since 2004, and now the housing authority has released a date: Starting on September 10, CRHA will accept applications through September 16, when the list will close again.

CRHA will give priority to residents who are working and living in the city, to those who have been victims of domestic violence in the past year, to the homeless or those living in substandard housing, to those paying more than 50 percent of their income in rent and to those affected by a natural disaster.

CRHA will reserve 75 percent of the spots on the list for families with an income that does not exceed 30 percent of the area median income. For a family of four, that is $20,550 per year.

Well, that was dramatic. I just stepped out of the roll call where Hillary stopped the proceedings and released her delegates. Big, big cheers erupted from the crowd when she stepped into the hall, and they kept coming. I found myself sitting next to an alternate delegate for Hillary from San Antonio, Texas named Sabrina Fernandez ("Sabrina like Kate Jackson from Charlie’s Angels, not like the teenage witch" she insisted). Sabrina, who worked for former Texas State Senator Carlos Truan, is a staunch Hillary fan — she admires Clinton’s support for Latinos, wants a woman in the White House, and likes the fact that Clinton knows her way around Washington. "She’s the best person," she said. But Sabrina is a still voting for Obama in November, explaining that she’s been a strong Democrat since she was a kid. She emitted a soft noise of disappointment as Hillary turned over her delegates, but applauded the announcement of Obama as the nominee. Such was the case, I suspect, for many Hillary delegates here.

To follow up on my previous post, I’ve noticed many media outlets are painting a fairly contentious portrait of the convention. While I’ve heard reports of minor confrontations elsewhere — a correspondent for French TV station TF1 told me about a shouting match between Clinton and Obama supporters somewhere outside of Pepsi Center — I have to say the mood inside is civil and overwhelmingly cheerful. I’ve wandered around this place a lot, and I’ve seen no Hillary supporters demonstrating against Obama, I’ve heard no booing when Obama is mentioned, no visible support for McCain except that one guy. So whatever ill will still exists here (and I’m not denying that it does), I think it’s being sensationalized somewhat by controversy-seeking news media.

Side note for wonks: David Kurtz from TPM is blogging a couple seats down from me here in the Blogger’s Lounge.

I’m still down in the blogger bowels — the hall itself is so packed, they’re turning people away. I haven’t been up there recently, but I don’t want to lose my excellent spot (and working internet!) here in the lounge. Judging by the number of high-profile bloggers down here, it seems the place to be. Kerry just gave a more animated speech than I’m used to seeing from him. His line about McCain’s reversals on tax cuts and immigration — "talk about being for something before being against it" got a big rise out of this crowd.

Gonna post this while I can… other people here say their internet connections are cutting out (sigh).

7:53pm — Another huge line from Ret. Navy Admiral and former Repub John Huston: "The Grand Old Party is no longer grand, it’s just old." Got a big "Ohhh!" down here.

8:13pm — Anyone who mentions The Flight Suit, as Iraq War vet Tammy Duckworth just did, is OK in my book.

8:18 — That "YEEEEEEEEEAH!" from the speaker from Delaware just cracked everyone up.

8:32 — Going to try to get on the floor…

9:28pm — Well, I got on the floor all right. Just as Barack Obama came out to ear-splitting applause, medics dropped a collapsed man right in front of me. For a few minutes I wasn’t sure whether he was alive, but then he started breathing visibly. Between the ecstatic roaring of the crowd and my horror at what was happening in front of me, that was one of the most bizarre emotional moments of my life.

Signing off for now…