Month: April 2010

This afternoon, the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors met to vote on cost increases for tuition, student housing and meal plans. For interested parties, the agenda for the meeting is here, along with a downloadable PDF file of the proposed fee increases.

Or, if you’re a UVA student, you can spot the cost differences in next year’s bills. The board approved each proposed increase, to support projects including dorm renovations and sustainable dining. Along the increases:

• The average rate for a double-room in student housing increases by $222, to $4,732
• An unlimited dining hall entry with $150 plus dollars increases by $140, to $3,920
• In-state student tuition increases by 9.9 percent ($956), to $10,628

Check next week’s issue of C-VILLE for more.

The Charlottesville Pavilion announced a few mammoth additions to their summer schedule today. Willie Nelson is following up his 2006 and 2008 shows with a July 24 date. (Sensing a trend?) Also announced this morning: Al Green (wow!) on September 5 and country rockers Lady Antebellum on July 18. Check the Pavilion’s website for on-sale dates.

So much to do this weekend. Three exciting shows to check out tonight alone: Devon Sproule is swinging through town for a show tonight at the Southern. She released an album at the beginning of the month called Don’t Hurry for Heaven—I won’t even attempt to punctuate it in this blog—for which she was interviewed on NPR. Also tonight at the Paramount Theater is Taj Mahal, who (speaking of interviews!) I interviewed last week. Having a tough time deciding what to do? Enter Parachute, hometown heroes and celebrated skin-cream salesmen who are getting very famous very fast—catch ’em tonight at the Jefferson Theater. (Read C-VILLE’s cover story on the band here, from back in the days when they were known as Sparky’s Flaw.)

Caution: This is not a stand-up routine.

No. 1 Virginia Hosts Robert Morris Saturday on Senior Day

UVa concludes the regular season against nation’s No. 1 scoring team

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers (13-1, 2-1 ACC) return to action as the nation’s top-ranked team once again in both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media and USILA coaches polls after capturing the ACC Championship over Maryland, 10-6, on April 25. UVa concludes the regular season against the Robert Morris Colonials (9-4, 4-1 Away) on Saturday afternoon, inside Klöckner Stadium. Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Live stats will be available at VirginiaSports.com.

Thirteen members of the UVA lacrosse program playing their final regular season home game will be honored prior to the start of the game. Will Bolton, Brian Carroll, Kevin Carroll, Ken Clausen, Rob Eimer, Todd Faiella, Tim Fuchs, George Huguely, Brian McDermott, Ryan Nizolek, Max Pomper, Mikey Thompson and manager Peter Krawczyk will be the honorees.

The game will also be broadcast with a live audio webcast via V-Pass on VirginiaSports.com with John Freeman calling the action and Doug Tarring doing the color analysis.

Saturday’s contest with Robert Morris is the inaugural meeting of a new series with the Colonials. 2010 marks the second-straight season that Virginia scheduled a regular season game against a first-time opponent, facing DI newcomer Bryant in 2009. Robert Morris is playing its second game this season against a member of the ACC and is 0-2 all-time against the league with both losses coming to North Carolina, including in Chapel Hill in 2009.

The Cavaliers fell to No. 2 in both the media and coaches poll for only one week after a setback to Duke, 13-9, on April 17. Six days after the loss UVA was triumphant over the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils in the semifinal round of the ACC Tournament, prompting a showdown with host Maryland for the championship. For the first time since 2006, Virginia brought the ACC Championship trophy back to Charlottesville courtesy of a 10-6 victory over the No. 5 Terrapins.

Chris Bocklet leads Virginia with 37 goals, while Stanwick holds the team lead with 22 assists and 47 points. Stanwick is second on the team with 25 goals, while Bocklet is second on the squad with 46 points. Rhamel Bratton is third on the team with 20 goals, while Brian Carroll is fourth on the team with 19 scores. Freshman Matt White has 16 goals and has tallied at least one point in every game of his young collegiate career. Shamel Bratton is tied with the rookie with 16 goals, while adding 12 assists of his own for 28 points, also tying White. Chris LaPierre has 43 ground balls, followed closely by Ken Clausen and his 42 ground balls. Ghitelman is saving 55.2 percent of the shots against him, while posting an 8.07 goals-against average to go with a team-best 46 ground balls.

Robert Morris head coach Bear Davis is in his sixth season after starting the men’s lacrosse program in 2005. Davis returns 32 letter-winners off a squad that went 9-7 in 2009, placing fifth in the CAA. The Colonials, the nation’s No. 1 scoring team (15.31 goals per game), are participating as an Independent in 2010 before transitioning into the Northeast Conference (NEC) where the rest of RMU’s sports participate.

Trevor Moore leads RMU with 54 points on 32 goals and 22 assists. Corbyn TaoBrambleby leads all Colonials with 37 goals, while Patrick Smith is chipping in 27 scores and 15 assists for 42 points on a team that has eight players registering double figures in goals, assists or both. Mike Grosz leads the team with 50 ground balls, while Dillon Pope is seeing the majority of the time in between the pipes for Robert Morris. Pope is saving 45.0 percent of shots, while posting a12.36 goals against average.

Virginia will next await its destiny in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Division I Selection show will be May 9 and televised live on ESPNU at 8:30 p.m. The first round of the NCAA Tournament will commence May 15-16 at home sites of the top eight seeds.
Tickets for Virginia lacrosse games can be purchased online at VirginiaSports.com, by phone at (800) 542-8821 or in person at the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Single-game tickets to lacrosse games are $7 (adult general admission), and $5 (youth, senior, faculty/staff general admission).
~Official UVA SID Release!

Earlier this week, 18-year-old Christina Floyd detailed the April 5 shooting on the Blue Ridge Parkway that left her hospitalized with a fractured skull and gunshot wounds, and resulted in the death of 27-year-old Charlottesville resident Tim Davis. In several reports, shooting suspect Ralph Leon Jackson allegedly told Floyd that he was attacking because he was "crazy." NBC29 reports that, in a recently filed search warrant, Jackson attributes his "fuzzy" and "foggy" mental state to male enhancement medication.

So, let’s take a look at side effects. Viagra’s common side effects include "headache, facial flushing, and upset stomach," and, "less commonly, bluish vision, blurred vision, or sensitivity to light may briefly occur." Levitra lists a few of the same, and adds "ringing in the ears" and "dizziness," and Cialis follows suit. (HowStuffWorks.com explains a bit of the chemistry behind the drugs, each considered a PDE5 inhibitor.)

Then again, some might simply call it a "Twinkie defense."

Yes, I am newly manicured thanks to a morning of volunteering at Maple Hill Farm in Scottsville. That’s the farm formerly known as Best of What’s Around, for several years a CSA. Starting this year, it’s the educational facility for the Local Food Hub.

I went out to Maple Hill for one of their regular Wednesday morning volunteer sessions, as did three other ladies. (I’m pretty sure you can be a dude and volunteer if you want to.) We got a tour first, from outreach manager Emily Manley and farmer Steve Vargo, both of whom are obviously thrilled with their new gigs. Steve, who’d previously farmed for a decade in Louisa County, described the Hub job as "like being at camp." He’s especially excited to have three apprentices to help him out.

Steve Vargo, Emily Manley and a whole lot of tomato plants.

We looked at Maple Hill’s 120 or so chickens, stuck our heads in the greenhouse where the warm-weather seedlings are looking fine and lush, and poked under row cover in the fields to see pac choi, well protected from flea beetles and other bugs.

Broccoli and cauliflower are looking good!

Emily and Steve explained that the Local Food Hub has arranged for other local farms to supply specific crops to bigger buyers, like schools and hospitals. Then Maple Hill can grow supplemental crops to fill in any gaps. It’s a learning process. One goal this year is to do succession planting, spacing out their crops over the season, to "avoid a glut," as Emily says. Steve remembers planting too much at once in previous years and ending up with "tractor trailer loads of squash."

Oh yeah, and we did some work, too: transplanting tomatoes. Leggy seedlings went into the rows, 24 inches apart, through holes poked in the plastic cover that will help keep the moisture in the soil. As we worked, we chatted and enjoyed the morning—sun, birdcalls, and the unmistakeable scent of the tomato plants.

It was fun, and there’s always something to learn through farm volunteering. If you’re hankering to get out there, get in touch with Emily (emily@localfoodhub.org). She schedules volunteers on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

CrossFit Charlottesville will host a benefit workout to raise money for The Haven in honor of volunteer Matthew Steven King, who died on April 19 after colliding with a city utility truck. On that Monday morning, King was returning to campus on his bicycle after feeding the hungry at the day shelter, located at the intersection of First and Market streets.

King, a regular volunteer at The Haven, joined CrossFit in January. The memorial workouts will start on the half-hour at 10am, 10:30am, 11am and 11:30am on Saturday, May 1, with donations to benefit The Haven. To learn more about the benefit, click here.
 

When word spread that the old Starr Hill concert space (iS Venue, more recently) on West Main Street was hosting hip-hop showcases, the rumor mill got turning. Is someone taking a crack at making it another music venue?

Well, yes and no.

Si Tapas/iS Venue (pictured) closed in October. Part of that old restaurant space is now a deli called Penne Lane. Scroll down for more.

The building is leased to Derrick Jones, a local youth counselor who has founded a corporation called 1st Source Event Planning. Jones calls the venue the Vizion Center—or the V-Spot, for short, and plans to use the space as a community center and catering hall, for weddings and other special events. “I’m more trying to host banquets and stuff like that. Not really trying to sponsor a lot of parties, but I’m definitely not going to turn them down,” Jones says.

And here’s where the yes comes in: "Every other Friday," says Jones, "we’re going to display different talent from Charlottesville and the surrounding counties." The biweekly showcases will feature four or five hip-hop and R&B artists and will be, unlike most of the V-Spot’s other events, open to the public. The first showcase happened two Fridays ago, and the second will take place tomorrow night.

Has Charlottesville hip-hop found a home?

Between signing a few veterans bills (including a piece of legislation to extend absentee ballot deadlines) and a trip to Busch Gardens, Governor Bob McDonnell will drop by Charlottesville this evening to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Madison House.  The UVA-based community service hub turns out more than 100,000 hours of free do-goodery every year.

In addition to the Governor and a few awards recipients, Madison House will also host Democratic Congressman Tom Perriello, who will introduce McDonnell. The invitation-only event takes place at the UVA Art Museum tonight at 7pm, with McDonnell scheduled to speak at 8pm.

Three months after his January 14 arrest, Western Albemarle High School student Patrick Dittmar Crider appeared in Albemarle County Circuit Court this morning, to face a charge of "threatening bodily injury by letter." According to a report from the Charlottesville Newsplex, Crider also faced a violin.

Chief Judge Cheryl Higgins reportedly asked Crider to play a violin as a means of confirming a potential conflict of interest. The Newsplex notes that Higgins "thought an immediate family member of hers might have direct ties to Crider." After a few minutes of string music, Higgins decided to reassign Crider’s case to a new judge; this morning’s hearing is rescheduled for next week.

Last week, the General Assembly approved a bill amended by Governor Bob McDonnell which allows local school boards to offer gun safety programs in elementary schools, so long as they follow the guidelines of a National Rifle Association program. The NRA launched its "Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program" in 1988, and makes explicit the distance between Eddie and the organization: "The program never mentions the NRA. Nor does it encourage children to buy guns or to become NRA members."

The crux of the debate over the bill, which becomes law on July 1, is that local school boards must incorporate Eddie Eagle’s rules. A member of Virginians for Public Safety cried fowl foul in a Washington Post story, and said that material for gun safety courses "should not be the exclusive domain of the gun lobby." Apparently, McGruff the Crime Dog didn’t make the cut.

As it turns out, Albemarle County Sheriff’s Office makes Eddie Eagle available for local organizations and schools; he made a recent appearance at Yancey Elementary School to address roughly 80 students involved in Club Yancey. C-VILLE is working on a story about Eddie’s local presence and wants your input: Is the bird onto something? Specifically, do Albemarle and Charlottesville elementary schools need gun safety courses? If so, do we need input from a source other than the NRA’s eagle?

Watch Eddie in action below, courtesy of the NRA’s YouTube channel: