Month: September 2011

I bike, U Bikes: UVA pushes for bike-share program

The University of Virginia is seeking $500,000 from the Virginia Department of Transportation to launch its own UBikes chapter, part of the nation’s largest bicycle sharing program.

If the program gets rolling, students would pay into the program and enjoy access to over 100 bikes at 13 stations around UVA. Scanning their student ID at a station, they would be able to unlock and ride a bike to their destination, then return it to a nearby UBikes station upon arrival. The university estimates that each bike would be used three to five times per day, according to NBC29.

UVA received a $35,000 grant last year from the Commonwealth Transportation Board in order to assess the scope of the UBikes project, including the station locations and safety concerns for bikers and pedestrians.

The program is similar to Charlottesville’s 2005 Yellow Bike program, which failed because many of the bicycles were quickly stolen or damaged. However, keeping track of users and property would be easier now thanks to advances in technology.

If VDOT awards the approximately $500,000 grant to UVA, students can expect to see UBikes on the roads by spring of 2013.

Of course, biking around Charlottesville can be a complicated feat. Read more of C-VILLE’s bicycle coverage here.

Categories
The Editor's Desk

Read This First

 I spent two years teaching high school English on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and the way I look at the world will never be the same. If there was one idea I took away from my experience with the Lakota, it is how differently oral and written cultures operate. 

Oral cultures are mediated by relationships between individuals. Written cultures by individual relationships to universal ideas.

The value of oral history is that it is tailored to the listener. The truth is ultimately prismatic if not obscure, and the different accounts you get on the Rez of the same event, the same legend, the same prayer convey that reality.

This week’s feature on Chief Gordon and the old Fellini’s exemplifies what is so groovy, and valuable, about narrative non-fiction, our written culture’s attempt to get at the same notion, which is the not so fashionable idea that truth is illusive and we have to be nimble to get close to it.

My wife and I saw Hamlet at the Blackfriars Playhouse Friday night. John Harrell was funny and complicated in the title role. From “conscious doth make cowards of us all” to “the play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king” he mocked the gap between the stories we tell our ourselves and the ones we tell others.

Back to Chief…every town has its unwritten legends, and some of them should be written down.

Charlottesville, like a lot of places in America, is molting from a regional seat with great accents, flavors, and histories, to a cosmopolitan node in the new economy. Development, politics, ideas, and individuals will shape how this turns out. But so will stories.

THE WIRE: Releases from Charlottesville and Albemarle Police. –

Press Release from Albemarle County Police Department – September 28, 2011

The Albemarle County Police have made an additional arrest related to the string of residential daytime burglaries that have occurred over the last month and has impacted multiple jurisdictions.

James Walter Buddington, 32 years of age, of Madison, Virginia has been charged with one count of breaking and entering and one count of grand larceny.

Mr. Buddington is currently being held at the Albemarle/Charlottesville Regional Jail awaiting a bond hearing at 9:00 A.M. in the Albemarle County General District Court.

This investigation is ongoing, anyone with information is encouraged to call the Albemarle County Police Department at 434-296-5807, Crime Stoppers at 434-977-4000 or their local law enforcement agency.
 

 

James Walter Buddington, of Madison, is charged with one count of breaking and entering and one count of grand larceny.

Sierra Club endorses Neff, Dumler and Mallek for Albemarle Board

Today, the Piedmont chapter of the Sierra Club endorsed three candidates for the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.

In a press conference in the lobby of the County Office Building, Sierra Club representatives endorsed Democratic candidates for the Scottsville District Chris Dumler (Scottsville), Ann Mallek (White Hall, current chair) and Cynthia Neff (Rivanna). In turn, the candidates vowed to work to protect the county’s land.

Tom Olivier, the group’s president, said that the Sierra Club endorses candidates “we believe have the ability to simultaneously protect the environment and provide opportunities for better lives for people.”

Dumler, an attorney running against Republican Jim Norwood, said that the city he grew up in in the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia, was “the poster child” for unchecked growth, something he opposes happen in Albemarle County. Dumler has served on the Albemarle County Natural Heritage Committee. 

More after the photo.

The candidates with Sierra Club officials in the lobby of the Albemarle County building. Chiara Canzi photo.

Dumler said that he is “tired of the old divide” between environmental organizations and developers and wants to create an atmosphere of collaboration in attracting businesses to the county.

Mallek said that Albemarle County has a reputation of being a “progressive and sustainable place,” characteristics that can be appealing to businesses and companies thinking of making Albemarle their home. No business would want to be associated “with a place that is backwards,” she said.

Neff, who is running against Republican incumbent Ken Boyd, said that when she was a young child, her hero was John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club. She emphasized the need to keep conservation easements an active tool in protecting the county’s land from sprawl and overgrowth.

The Sierra Club previously endorsed two candidates for Charlottesville City Council, Democrats Dede Smith and Colette Blount. Smith won one of the three Democratic nominations.  

THE WIRE: Releases from Charlottesville and Albemarle Police

Press Release from Charlottesville Police Department, September 28, 2011

2 Separate Incidents (1) Robbery (2) Aggravated Assault

Incident # 1

Officers responded to the 500 block of Rugby Road this morning at approximately 2:24 am for a reported armed robbery. The male victim, a student at Uva reports that he was walking north on Rugby Rd near Grady Ave behind three black males. As they approach the intersection of Grady Ave. two of the males turned and began walking towards the victim. One of the males pulled a hand gun, pointing it at the victim and told him to "Give me all your shit". Taking in the robbery was an undisclosed amount of cash and personal items.

The suspect with the hand gun was described as a black male between 20 and 25 years old, 6`2 to 6`3 and 180 to 190 pounds, light complexion, and was wearing a dark colored clothing.
The second suspect was described as a black male 20 to 25 years old, approximately 6` tall, and 170 to 180 pounds darker complexion, wearing dark clothing.

Anyone with any information is asked to call Crime Stoppers (434) 977-4000.

Incident # 2

Officers responded to the 400 block of Garrett St. for a shots fired Tuesday, September 27th at 11:22 pm. Officers checked the area and while on the scene, ( 12minutes later) the victim
of a gunshot wound arrived at the University Medical Centers’ Emergency Room with non-life threating injuries. The victim reports he was walking in the Garrett St area when he heard shot and was struck. He was unable to provide a description of a suspect or how he arrived at the hospital.

Anyone with any information in this case is asked to call Crime Stoppers (434) 977-4000.

 

Make friends with kohlrabi

Among the veggies we get from our CSA, there are a few that I can honestly say we’ve never bought from a grocery store. Edamame in the pod is one. We tend to get lots of that from the farm, and we usually strip it off the stems, blanch it and freeze it, then pull it out and add to miso soup or stir-fry.

Kohlrabi is another. This has to be one of the most curious-looking veggies there is, and at first we were a little stymied by it. We’d cut off the leaves and carve away the tough exterior from the bulb, then slice up what was left and eat it raw on long car trips. This was plenty tasty, but nothing compared to what we finally discovered this year: Steamed kohlrabi is SO GOOD.

Which makes sense–it’s closely related to broccoli and cauliflower, and definitely reminiscent of those old friends in terms of its cooked flavor. Yet it has a certain sweetness all its own. We serve it very simply, with butter, salt and pepper.

My next task is to figure out a more elegant way to slice it than the random trapezoidal chips I’ve been creating. Matchsticks, perhaps. And there must be so much more to be done with it. Anyone have a tip on kohlrabi soup, or quiche, or…? Anyone experienced with eating the greens?

 

Crozet Music Festival has been postponed

The Misty Mountain Music Festival was set to take place where the CMF has traditionally taken place, at the Misty Mountain Campground, with a mission curiously similar to CMF; meanwhile, the 5th annual CMF, had been moved this year to locations near Downtown Crozet. As one Facebook user asked on the Crozet Music Festival’s page, "Is this the same weekend at the same location as Misty Mountain Music Festival? Are they actually seperate or being put together. Or do we buy tickets to both and bounce back and fourth?"

With the postponement of the Crozet Music Festival, the most confusing weekend in local music is now much less confusing. (Very) long story short: CMF organizer Biff Rossberg wasn’t able to secure the necessary permits in time after nailing down a location for the festival. But he says that he’s learned from the experience, and has tentatively rescheduled the festival for later in the fall.

“I appreciated [Albemarle County Zoning Administrator] Amelia McCully’s strong urging that we could work together instead of in opposition, and we thought it would be best for all concerned if we waited for a later date in the fall,” said Rossberg.

Legendary reggae group the Itals, originally scheduled for the Crozet Music Festival festival, will instead perform this weekend at Brasserie Montiel/Cucina del Sol. (Details are here.)

Meanwhile, the Misty Mountain Music Festival continues through this weekend, with performances by a host of local bands. Details are here.

As for the confusing weekend lineup of festivals: After the inaugural CMF in Claudius Crozet Park in 2007, the festival moved to the Misty Mountain Campground from 2008, where it stayed through 2010. Rossberg says that he was in touch earlier this year to try to schedule Crozet Music Festival for the campground again, but the two parties never struck a deal.

"It was never agreed upon that the Crozet Music Festival was going to happen at Misty Mountain this year,” said the local musician John Howard, who was listed as a contact for the Misty Mountain Music Festival. "For a while we’ve been wanting to take a weekend and bring in a few local bands."

"We’ve only put this together in the last month and a half," Howard said of the Misty Mountain fest.

 

Albemarle, PVCC nab Governor

The Albemarle County Information Technology (IT) Department and Piedmont Virginia Community College took honors in the annual Governor’s Technology Awards. According to a press release, the program was established 11 years ago and “recognizes innovative technology initiatives in the public sector throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Albemarle County’s “eProcurement” received an honorable mention in the category “IT as Efficiency-Driver.” This program moves many of the Finance Department’s procurement and purchasing processes online, thereby eliminating paperwork and offering a cost effective means of supporting local schools and government agencies.

The IT Intern Program also received an honorable mention for “Innovation in Higher Education.”

Piedmont Virginia Community College and Albemarle County’s IT Department worked together to place information technology interns with local businesses and government agencies. These students gain hands-on work experience while filling Central Virginia’s need for skilled electronic, computer, and IT technicians. The program led to at least $16,200 dollars in cost-savings for Albemarle County from 2010 to 2011.

Click here for more information and the full list of winners.

Categories
News

Fair and square?

Spurred by data obtained by Virginia Organizing (VO) through a Freedom of Information Act request, community members have urged City Council to review the city’s hiring practices, and have voiced concerns about the perceived under-representation of minority supervisors and managers in city jobs.

Councilor Kristin Szakos said she does not believe racial discrepancies in supervisor roles are intentional. "And yet whether or not it’s intentional is almost irrelevant, because if the effect is the same, we need to fix it."

“There are a lot of minority groups leaving the city and working in other states or counties because there aren’t adequate jobs here,” said Jona Noelle Baily. “We want them to stay here, and City Council needs to create an incentive for them to stay here.”

Backed by VO, Baily and other community organizers urged City Council to make this issue a high priority and conduct an anonymous survey to ask city employees about barriers that prevent them from becoming supervisors or managers. The campaign also called for the establishment of set goals to measure progress and hold departments accountable. Council pledged to organize a work session to explore the issue and find solutions.

According to documents provided to VO, 35 percent of Charlottesville’s 291 public works employees are African-American, but only 16 percent are supervisors or managers. In the Social Services department, African-Americans account for 24 percent of the total employees, but only one of the 17 supervisors is black. The only Hispanic supervisor works in the Community Attention department. Overall, only 1.1 percent of the city’s employees are Hispanic.

Councilor Kristin Szakos, whose husband is executive director of Virginia Organizing, said that the educational levels of those who haven’t been able to move up might be one area to study.

“Are there policies for moving up the ranks that might hinder newer employees, or employees with young families?” asked Szakos. “There may not be, but something is and we’re really trying to figure [it] out instead of just randomly throwing programs at it.”

Galloway Beck, director of human resources for the city, said there is work to be done on the issue. However, he disagrees “with the conclusions that Virginia Organizing reached in terms of…inherent racism in the city’s hiring practices.”

There are processes in place to help employees move up within the organization, said Beck. Mentors, for example, are a critical component in identifying and working with employees to advance within city departments. However, Beck acknowledges that it is also vital for employees to learn that the process is not immediate and may take time.

“If you look in terms of the people and how we recruit… I think you walk away with a different conclusion,” said Beck.

Szakos said she does not believe racial discrepancies in supervisor roles are intentional. “And yet whether or not it’s intentional is almost irrelevant, because if the effect is the same, we need to fix it.” Although a date has not been set, the City Council work session may happen sometime in November.

Kevin Wilson reads from “The Family Fang” tonight at the UVA bookstore

Guest post by Sarah Matalone

A very cool reading is set for tonight at 8pm at the UVA Bookstore. Author Kevin Wilson will be reading from his much-talked about New York Times bestselling novel, The Family Fang, a story about two artsy parents’ unconventional (and destructive) approach to child-rearing. 

The novel, which has been called “delicious” (Houston Chronicle), “irresistible” (Time), “wild” (Christian Science Monitor) and “genius” (Ann Patchett), has a comic edge that will truly illuminate with Wilson’s live reading. 

The Family Fang is the story of two performance artists, Caleb and Camille Fang, who are constantly manipulating their children, Annie and Buster, into taking part in their grandiose and absurd art pieces.

Annie, an actress who becomes disillusioned when a director connives her into doing a scene topless, and Buster, a journalist for Potent magazine who get shots in the face with a potato gun in a Gonzo journalism assignment gone awry, both return home to Tennessee where they begin to ponder the effects of their parent-artists’ strange parenting strategies.

Read an excerpt of the novel here.