Month: October 2011

The Albemarle County Police reports the arrest of Patrick T. Gibson, 20 years of age, a resident of the 2700 block of McElroy Drive in the City of Charlottesville.

Just after 2:30am Officer Jay Morris, while on routine patrol duties, observed Gibson fleeing the Oak Hill Market & Deli located at 667 Country Green Road. Gibson had an undisclosed amount of cash and merchandise in his possession. Officer Morris gave chase and subsequently caught Gibson a short distance from the store and arrested him.

Gibson was charged with Breaking & Entering of a Commercial Business at Night, Grand Larceny and Possession of Marijuana. Gibson is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail without bond.

PRESS RELEASE: Rivanna Trails Foundation–– Between construction of the Meadowcreek Parkway and the seemingly endless sewer replacement project, a number of sections of our beloved Rivanna Trail have been closed all year. Despite that, the dedication of our volunteers and our partnerships with property owners and the City have enabled us to mark detours and rebuild quickly, and the coming months promise both the restoration and continued expansion of our network of trails. The coming year will be–quite literally–one of reconnection.

It is also a time for the Rivanna Trails Foundation to reconnect with our members and supporters. Towards that end, we have a completely new web presence at http://www.rivannatrails.org/. The new site allows us to better communicate news and information about the trails, post news and photos, track registrations for special events, and accept on-line memberships and renewals. Behind the scenes is a new membership database that we’ve assembled from various spreadsheets and email lists, which will allow us to better acknowledge and communicate with our friends (the message sent earlier this week about the postponement of the annual meeting was the first test of the new email capability).
If you’re getting this message, it’s because we already have you–or at least your email address–in our database. Please take a moment to log into our new page and update your contact information or renew your membership. At the bottom-left corner of the page is a “forgot password” link that you can use to generate an initial password.

There are a number of great trail events planned for the next few weeks:

October Work Party: This Saturday, October 8, our monthly work party will finish the rerouting of the trail section immediately north of Hydraulic Road that was begun on the Day of Caring (see the story and photos on the web site). We’ll meet at the RTF Tool Shed, behind the English Inn at 2030 Morton Drive, and make the short walk to the work site.
Loop d’Ville: November 5 is the annual group walk of the entire 19-mile loop. We meet at Riverview Park 6:30 AM, and work our way counter-clockwise around the entire loop. After rest stops at Bodo’s and 5th Street, we usually finish around 2:00 in the afternoon. If you prefer to complete only part of the circuit with the group, that’s okay, too! Please sign up for this event–it helps our planning to know how many people to expect–which you can do on the new web site.
November Work Party: We have an extra-special work party scheduled for November 12, when we will be establishing a new section of the Rivanna Trail loop replacing the long roadwalk along Stribling and Sunset. As part of clearing the new trail, we’ll be building a stream crossing. This will be an exciting opportunity to help create an entirely new link in the Trail!

As always, we value your support and interest in the Rivanna Trails. We look forward to seeing you on the trail!
 

The RTF Board of Directors

PRESS RELEASE: UVa Center for Politics–– Professor Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, will host a discussion with filmmaker Oliver Stone about his landmark film “JFK” as part of the 2011 Virginia Film Festival. Sabato’s discussion with Stone will follow a special screening of the film scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, November 4th at the University’s Culbreth Theatre.

“JFK” tells the story of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who doubts the official story of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and investigates the crime for himself. The film sparked controversy upon its release in 1991, showing how the JFK assassination and the questions behind it still loom large in American life.

Sabato is completing a new book, “The Kennedy Half-Century,” about the political life and legacy of President Kennedy. It will be released in 2013, the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, by Walker & Company, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing.

The 24th Annual Virginia Film Festival will be held in Charlottesville from November 3rd through November 6th. For tickets and additional information on the Virginia Film Festival, visit http://www.virginiafilmfestival.org/.

For years, I’ve had it in my head that the only plastics one can recycle are #1 and #2. I’ve harped on this notion many a time upon finding those pesky #6s in the recycling bin. And I’ve mourned the fact that large yogurt containers, of which I buy several per month, are #5s. (Though I didn’t recycle them, I couldn’t bring myself to throw most of them away, either. There are currently about six of them holding compost scraps in my fridge. And they make decent pots for tomato seedlings, too.)

Then I drive into the McIntire Recycling Center, and what do I behold?

Hallelujah!

As I seem to be rather late finding out, McIntire now takes all grades of plastic. A helpful brochure found on site explains that #1 and #2 plastics are still separated out, but the expanded plastics program means that butter and yogurt tubs, medicine bottles, Styrofoam, detergent bottles, bubble wrap, and lots of other formerly unrecyclable stuff is now kosher.

Come to think of it, I think my home county of Nelson may also accept more types of plastic than I thought. I brought the #1-and-#2-only habit with me when I moved here, but it looks like that was a bad assumption on my part.

Great news, right?

PRESS RELEASE:  On October 12th, the Sexual Assault Resource Agency (SARA) will host a Healthy Relationships Parents’ Forum for parents of Buford Middle School students. This forum is held in conjunction with SARA’s Expect Respect program for students at Buford Middle School, which focuses on developing peer leadership and empathy skills in all Buford athletes. Parents of boys and girls are encouraged to attend!

Topics will include:

Understanding pre-teen flirting and dating culture
Promoting healthy relationships for your son or daughter
Encouraging empathy and social skills for your pre-teen
Talking to your pre-teen about healthy and age-appropriate sexuality

Details:

Date: 10/12/2011

Time: 6:30-8pm

Location: Charlottesville Boys and Girls Club next to BMS

FREE Child Care Provided! Dinner Provided!

More info: youth@saracville.org or 434-295-7273 x25

Virginia Chapter Sierra Club–– The George Washington National Forest is one of the most importantblocks of public land in Virginia and is used by citizens across the commonwealth. There will likely not be any further comment opportunity for the public to make comments before the Forest Service picks the final plan. The final plan will determine how the George Washington National Forest is managed for the next 10-15 years.

A sample comment letter can be found below.

Mailed comments can be sent to the Forest Service at George Washington Plan Revision; George Washington & Jefferson National Forests; 5162 Valleypointe Parkway; Roanoke, VA 24019.

Electronic comments can be submitted to the following address: comments-southern-georgewashington-jefferson@fs.fed.us .

Comments must be postmarked by October 17, 2011 (if mailed) or received by the Forest Service by midnight Oct. 17, ’11 (if emailed).

See http://vasierraclub.org/2011/06/george-washington-national-forest/
for further details.

Thanks for helping to get the word out.

Sherman Bamford
Chapter Forests Committee Chair

#########
To Maureen Hyzer, Forest Supervisor, and Planning Staff
George Washington & Jefferson National Forests

5162 Valleypointe Parkway

Roanoke, VA 24019

Dear Supervisor Hyzer:

Please consider the following comments while you develop and approve a final plan for the George Washington National Forest plan. 


As you know, the George Washington National Forest is one of the most important collections of federal lands in the greater Chesapeake Bay watershed. It is not only incredibly important for the health of our planet but is also a treasured destination for many in Virginia and the surrounding region.

I applaud you for the ban on horizontal natural gas drilling proposed in Alternative G (the agency’s preferred alternative) and other alternatives, and would like all hydrofracking banned on the Forest.

In addition, I support the stronger forest-wide riparian standards in Alternative G that were developed as part of the Fish and Mussel Conservation Plan. 



Alternative C (the Conservation Alternative) is a well-crafted alternative proposed by Virginia citizens. Alternative C should have gotten the thorough analysis and attention that it deserves, but so far has not. I ask you to incorporate the following aspects of Alternative C into the final plan, regardless of which alternative is chosen.

Please plan for climate change by protecting core wilderness areas, reducing forest fragmentation and decreasing and eliminating non-climate stresses such as logging, road building and oil and gas leasing.

Protect all areas identified in the Virginia’s Mountain Treasures publication to the degree possible by designating them as unsuitable for timber harvest, new road building, and surface-occupying oil and gas drilling



Protect all roadless areas to the greatest extent possible. The Forest Service should identify all qualified roadless areas and protect all roadless areas, whether previously inventoried or recently identified, consistent with the provisions of the 2001 Roadless Rule. 


Designate More Wilderness Areas. Only 4% of the George Washington National Forest is permanently protected Wilderness, far less than the national average of 18%. More wilderness (and national scenic area) acreage should be recommended



Protect all existing Old Growth forest. Of particular importance are the sizeable old growth tracts at Peters Mountain North and Frozen Knob areas identified by the Virginia Division of Natural Heritage. All old growth areas should be designated as being unsuitable for logging and roadbuilding and protected as special areas (old growth protection)

or as research natural areas.

No Natural Gas Leasing and Hydrofracking. The full cycle of natural gas development and hydraulic fracking (or hydrofracking) brings roads, pipelines, and noise to national forest lands and disrupts groundwater. There should be no hydrofracking or federal natural gas leasing in the forest. Strong protective measures should be applied to ensure that privately-owned mineral developments do not destroy other values on the Forest.

I support the Friends of Shenandoah Mountain proposal (www.friendsofshenandoahmountain.org/), which would protect roadless areas in the Shenandoah Mountain, Big Levels, and Laurel Fork areas under a combination of designations, including recommended wilderness and recommended national scenic area designation.

Sincerely yours,

Signature_________________________________________
Name_____________________________________________
Address____________________________________________
Phone ___________________ Email ____________________

#####

Sherman Bamford
Forests Committee Chair, Virginia Chapter – Sierra Club
PO Box 3102
Roanoke, Va. 24015-1102
(540) 343-6359
bamford2@verizon.net

Guest post by Sarah Matalone

Some call him the "Biblioracle," that Internet marvel who possesses the power to suggest your next book based on the past five books you’ve read. But in his mortal life, John Warner is the editor-at-large of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, a Professor at the College of Charleston, and the author of the new satirical novel, The Funny Man.

Last weekend Warner was in town as part of a two-day, humor event at WriterHouse, a haven for those with the writing bug that offers classes, seminars and a cozy atmosphere. Perfectly situated for a humor writing bootcamp, I went over to WH Friday evening for the first part of the program: To hear Warner read from The Funny Man.

Based on a comedian whose gimmick, and mostly undeserved fame, derives from his ability to perform jokes and impressions with his fist inserted into his mouth, Warner’s novel is a satire of American celebrity, a novel that he described as taking seven years to write the first 40,000 words and six weeks to complete the next 40,000.

After the reading, Warner had a lot to say about satire and writing more generally, praising the Onion for its valiant critiques and substantiating our writerly pessimisms when he posed: “Is someone gonna write a book that’s gonna make the scales fall from their eyes? No.”

He didn’t leave us on that note, however. He had one truly inspirational thought to leave us with that night: “Books are the only virtual reality that exists, the only world were you can lose yourself in someone else’s consciousness,” and we must strive to make those scales peel away, no matter how sticky they may be, he said.

Inspired, we participants in the “So You Want to Write Something Funny?” seminar arrived at WH bright and early Saturday morning. Adjusting into our seats around the conference table, Warner prefaced his presentation with this advice: always start a talk with something eye-catching, at which point he clicked to a photo of the world’s ugliest dog (would you expect anything less at a humor writing workshop?).

He then jumped into an informative lecture that covered theories of humor, discussing Henri Berson and Freud and finally helping us how to identify and generate our own funny ideas. After his part, it was our turn to write our own premise-based writing, something akin to the “Short Imagined Monologues” on McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. We broke off into our own little corners of WH, struggling for the right incongruous juxtaposition in our 30-minute time bracket, finally returning to the conference room with our own unique ideas (my premise was “In Search of Lost Thyme: Forgotten Family Recipes Remembered and Collected by Marcel Proust,” which I was pretty proud of, considering the time frame.)

I didn’t come into the workshop thinking I was a humor writer, but Warner sold me on this point: Humor writing, a genre where critical thinking skills translate smoothly into other forms, can truly improve you as a writer. “Cast your net wide as a writer,” Warner emphasized to us, and after a weekend with the funny man himself, I couldn’t agree more.  

 

For nearly two hours before their helicopter lifted off from the grounds of the newly christened Trump Vineyard Estates and traveled north towards New York, business tycoon Donald Trump and his son, new winery owner Eric Trump, entertained hundreds of area residents, elected officials and businessmen on the grounds of the former Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard.

Between opening remarks and a toast led by Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell, the message from both the elder Trump and Governor Bob McDonnell was job growth as much as it was wine.

"This is really great for Virginia jobs," said McDonnell, who referred to the winery as Trump’s third major investment in Virginia and said he looked forward to "a greater Trump presence." Trump told C-VILLE that he had no immediate plans for other winery acquisitions or ambitions, but "will concentrate on Virginia." More after the slideshow, below:

Former winery owners Bill Moses and Patricia Kluge, whose rumored bankruptcy began to see confirmation in early 2010, joined the Trumps, McDonnells, and Secretary of Agriculture Todd Haymore on a dais yards from the pavilion where Trump’s colleagues purchased the Kluge properties in April. Asked whether the wine operation would put more acres under the vine, Kluge responded, "No," before Eric Trump pledged more acres in the near future, and mentioned (but did not elaborate on) new products. The younger Trump, 27, said he will continue to employ those individuals hired by the former Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard.

Kluge, who called her new boss "delightful…with a great brain," offered closing remarks before McDonnell’s toast. "I feel like I gave birth to this place," she said, and added that she was pleased to see the property in the hands of a longtime friend. "Donald has been the wind beneath my wings." Governor McDonnell followed, and thanked Trump for what tax revenue the winery might generate for the state’s coffers.

"Bobs is still for jobs, Mr. Trump," said McDonnell.

Just got back from the Virginia Film Festival’s announcement press conference and, well, wow. Looks like a banner year. Let’s get the big names out of the way. Oh, and tickets go on sale tomorrow, October 7.

Oliver Stone chats with UVA’s Larry Sabato after a screening of JFK. (Sabato is writing a book about the assassinated prez.)

Stone may or may not be at a 15th anniversary screening of his The People Vs. Larry Flynt. Who will be there? The, er, First Amendment crusader Larry Flynt himself. Naturally, that one’s presented by the TJ Center for Free Expression.

Festival head honcho Jody Kielbasa also announced a program that he’s been working on for a year, for which they had projectors refurbished, and so on and so forth. All of it was to screen a series of classics from the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, which archives culturally significant films. TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz introduces those, and…

Local husband-and-wife powerhouse film duo Sissy Spacek and Jack Fisk present the movie where they met on set: Terrence Malick’s Badlands as part of that series.

Opening night film (last year’s Black Swan) is The Descendents, described as, "Alexander Payne’s story of a rather uninvolved dad (George Clooney) forced by a tragic accident into a new level of engagement that sends him toward discoveries he never could have imagined."

Stars and big ticket stuff aside, there’s a host of great-looking independent films, some of which I’ve been dying to see. Those include…

A film by a director who is as controversial as his films are, Melancholia, directed by Lars von Trier.

…and…

Butter, from director Jim Field Smith, which Kielbasa described as a send-up of Michele Bachman starring Jennifer Garner. 

The Festival’s site will be live later tonight so you can click around and find out more. So yeah, you get the idea. Oliver Stone and Larry Flynt are coming to Charlottesville. 

PRESS RELEASE–– RideShare Week is October 17-21. It’s nice to share! Pledge to share the ride during RideShare Week and you are eligible to win great prizes!

To take the RideShare Pledge, visit www.rideshareinfo.org and pledge to share the ride at least one day between October 17th and 21st. Sharing the ride includes carpooling or any alternative to driving alone, like transit, biking, walking or even working from home. If you want to carpool but don’t know how to get started, RideShare can help. Just click “I want to pledge but need to find a carpool match!” on the pledge form. Then register at www.rideshareinfo.org for online carpool matching.

Prize list includes:

· Fuel for your carpool: $25 gas cards

· Fuel for you: Starbucks coffee

· Fuel for your wallet: Visa gift cards!

· RideShare travel packs to hold all your commute stuff

By taking the RideShare Pledge, you could start a good habit that will pay you back all year long. Typically, carpooling will save hundreds of dollars a year in commuting expenses, including gas, oil changes, tires, repairs, and parking fees. Additionally, fewer cars on the road mean cleaner air, less congestion and less noise. We all benefit from a healthier, more pleasant environment.

To kickoff RideShare Week, representatives from RideShare will be at the Zion Crossroads Park & Ride lot on Monday, October 17th from 5:00-6:00 PM and the Waynesboro Park & Ride lot on Tuesday, October 18th from 5:00-6:00 PM to thank commuters for sharing the ride.

About RideShare: RideShare is a program of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission in cooperation with the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission, working to reduce traffic congestion and increase mobility throughout Central Virginia and the Central Shenandoah Valley. We offer free carpool and SchoolPool matching, vanpool coordination and a Guaranteed Ride Home program to provide free rides home in an emergency. RideShare also works with employers to develop and implement traffic reduction programs, and we market the region’s Park and Ride lots.