Author: cathy-harding

Landmark sells Weather Channel to NBC and other investors

Landmark Communications came a step closer to breaking up all its assets with the announcement today of a deal to sell the Weather Channel to NBC Universal and two private equity firms. The New York Times is reporting that the deal was valued at $3.5 billion,  30 percent less than the $5 billion that the privately held, Norfolk-based company wanted for the cable property.

Landmark reportedly wants to sell all its properties, which include Style Weekly in Richmond as well as The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk and The News & Record of Greensboro, N.C.

Last year, Landmark patriarch Frank Batten Sr. gave $100 million to UVA to establish the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, the first addition to UVA’s academic structure since the Darden School was established in 1954.

Mike Stark takes on Obama, his candidate, online

Left-leaning blogger, George Allen nemesis and UVA law student Mike Stark makes it into The New York Times today for his online activities connected to Barack Obama. Seizing on the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate’s major success with online networking, Stark suggested that a group form on the candidate’s online portal to lobby him to vote against giving legal immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the Bush administration’s warrantless  wiretapping program. The immunity is part of an update of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. The Senate will debate it this week.

“Obama is getting mad props for social networking,” Mr. Stark told the Times. “Why don’t we use social networking to let him know that he can’t keep elbowing his progressive base — the people who got him the nomination — away from the policy table?”

Senator Obama himself responded to the group, now up to 18,000, according to the Times. Reluctantly, he said, he will vote for FISA.

Stark  feels a snub. “What we have is a stiff-arm to the progressive base, and it has really raised a question of how much of a change is this guy going to bring,” he told the Times.

Not surprisingly, some debate now focuses on whether supporters should be using the candidate’s site itself to criticize him.

Addressing new citizens and a handful of protestors at Monticello, Bush endorses free speech

Three thousand were in attendance. Six of those were escorted from the premises. Seventy-two left of their own free will as newly minted United States citizens. Despite the promise of angry protests against the presence of President George W. Bush who had choppered in from D.C. to tour the house and address the new Americans, the 46th annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony at Monticello went off smoothly. A handful of shouting protesters sprang from their seats when the President began his address, an homage to Thomas Jefferson and the principles of freedom, but once he finished speaking, 9 minutes and 35 seconds later, the hullabaloo died down and the focus of the day returned to the new citizens and the promise of their lives in the United States. No arrests were made, according to Lee Catlin, the County’s spokeswoman and those who jumped out of their seats and shouted their disapproval were asked to leave and complied voluntarily.

Bush’s participation in the event was announced only last week, generating a quick flurry of e-mails and cries among anti-war and anti-administration groups to upset the ceremony. Meanwhile, Monticello had to fly into high gear to handle the security needs that attend any visit by a head of state. The normally open event went into ticketed mode, with people lining up at dawn on Wednesday to secure any of the 1,000 free tickets that were distributed to the public. A long list of prohibited items was circulated (no tobacco, no mace, no umbrellas), and a new park-and-ride scheme had to be devised to get folks up the mountain in a controlled way. It’s a safe bet that the speaker originally scheduled for this year, filmmaker Ken Burns, would have generated far less commotion.

Though signs were listed among the prohibited items, Northern Virginia resident Gael Murphy and others sporting the signature pink t-shirts of feminist anti-war group Code Pink managed to unfurl pink textile signs reading "Impeach It’s Patriotic!." The President was 10 seconds into his speech, mentioning that he was "thrilled to be here at Monticello," when Murphy sprang from her seat, repeatedly shouting, "Defend the constitution, Impeach Bush!"

It was not an unanticipated moment and Bush said, "To my fellow citizens-to-be, we believe in free speech in the United States of America."

More protesters jumped up, shouting about the "police state" and "fascism." One simply said, "Fuck you, George Bush."

Wayne Mogielnicki, Monticello’s spokesman, said the plan of action was to ask protesters to be quiet and sit back down. If they did not comply, then they would be asked to leave. Ultimately six got that request and they left without incident, perhaps to join the several dozen who were by the Monticello Visitor Center on Route 20  bearing signs and Uncle Sam outfits.


Protest is patriotic. Ask Uncle Sam.

Murphy was not escorted from Monticello and leaving partway through the event, she said she’d been moved to attend because of Bush’s "gall." "He is representing that he is the spirit and the voice of Thomas Jefferson, and he’s not," she said. "He is a deplorable president." She had been seated among family members of new citizens. To them, she says, she expressed a hope that her outbursts hadn’t offended them. "I think speaking truth to power that is hurting the country is the most patriotic thing I could be doing today," Murphy said. "There is no holiday from truth and from justice."

When it was all over, Walter Hoffman, wearing a short-sleeved, red plaid shirt with a mini flag peeking out of the pocket and a cap from Virginia Track and Equipment, remarked on the relative smoothness of the event, his first time in attendance. Hoffman was on the Nelson County Board of Supervisors for 16 years. "Bunch of kooks," he said of the protesters. "They seem to disregard the feelings of anyone but themselves. If they want to express their displeasure this is not the place to do it or the way to do it." He was a sight more impressed by Bush, however, whom he was seeing for the first time. "I like Ol’ Boy," the 81-year-old Hoffman said, and then laughed.

Chickens expected at next week’s Assembly session

While most people interviewed today by the Washington Post’s Tim Craig about next week’s special Assembly session to solve Virginia’s out-of-control transportation problem predict there will be a whole lotta nothing go on, at least one lobbyist is trying to find the upside. "At the end of the day, maybe putting a ‘lockbox’ on transportation funds, maybe a local taxing authority, but that is it. Give Kaine credit for pushing for something. The Republicans can be tagged as obstructionists but . . . Kaine came back with almost the identical plan that was shot down last year, so which is more foolhardy? But the session will provide ample opportunity for a lot of social interaction to discuss the presidential campaign and enjoy some wonderful cuisine at the Capitol snack bar," says longtime Richmond lobbyist Charlie Davis.

The snack bar is dubbed Chicken’s. We are not making this up.

McDonough to innovators: TJ was right

About 280 tech entrepreneurs, along with a handful of politicians and higher ed administrators, donned black tie—or at least black—last night at Farmington Country Club for the 2008 Charlottesville Innovation Awards, presented by the tech-loving Charlottesville Business Innovation Council (CBIC). Winners included Meddius, a healthcare support company; Musictoday, the music ticketing and merch company started by Coran Capshaw and now owned by Live Nation; Cellular Materials; Computers4Kids for community involvement; Western Albemarle teacher Beth White; Elizabeth Pyle of Pyle and Associates; Lika Kolker of Leapfrog Solutions; and Michelle Prosser of Energy Focus for her leadership in CBIC.

Keynote speaker William McDonough delivered a quickie version of his boilerplate “Cradle to Cradle” talk, opening with an invocation of Thomas Jefferson, who, he said, “saw himself as a designer first.” “The earth belongs to the living” McDonough quoted TJ as saying in a letter to fellow great thinker John Adams. And the point of Cradle-to-Cradle design, said McDonough, onetime UVA architecture dean and now one of the world’s leading voices for just, sustainable, non-polluting design and technologies, is to honor that wisdom. “Being less bad is not being good,” he said, repeating a favorite line. “Efficiency won’t save us.” He also uttered his by-now famous axiom “Waste is food,” which may have made the assembled contemplate what was on their plates at that moment passing as salmon.

McDonough concluded his brief Power Point presentation by showing some of his firm’s marquee projects, an astounding array of green roofs and solar-powered business campuses for clients like Nike, Wal-mart, Herman Miller and the Chinese government, which truly spoke to the power of unfettered innovation as well as a healthy budget and worldwide connections.


"I’d like to thank Coran Capshaw, who had a spark in his eye 12, 14 years ago," said MusicToday’s Del Wood, accepting the CBIC Spotlight Award on behalf of the Crozet-based ticketing and merchandise company.

Grisham sells another book to the movies

Score another one for the Grish! According to the Hollywood Reporter, Phoenix Pictures has picked up movie rights to Albemarle best-selling novelist John Grisham’s Playing for Pizza. The novel is something of a departure for Grisham, whose legal thrillers have raked in a gajillion dollars. It’s the story of a late-career NFL quarterback who signs with a  semi-pro team in Parma, Italy, and gets a new lease on life. Phoenix, according to reports, is currently searching for a writer for Pizza. We take that to mean a screenwriter! Phoenix is the company that delivered the Robert Downey Jr. thriller Zodiac. Last year Grisham sold the rights to his nonfiction book An Innocent Man to George Clooeny’s production company.


His protagonist may play for pizza, but Grisham plays for box office receipts. He has sold another novel to Hollywood.

Perriello set for official Democratic nomination on Saturday

Democrat Tom Perriello, who actually seems to have a chance of unseating  Fifth District Congressman Virgil ("No habla espanol") Goode,  a.k.a. Virgil ("Allah not welcome here") Goode, on November 4, will become the official Democratic nominee at the fifth district nominating convention on Saturday. Mayor John Wilson of Appomattox will be nominating Perriello at the convention, which is scheduled for 11am at Nelson County Middle School in Lovingston. Perriello has been mounting an aggressive campaign, evidenced at least in part by his fundraising prowess in the fourth quarter of last year.

Perriello’s campaign has earned notice and approbation for its commitment to community service, too, with the organization pledging to tithe 10 percent of its volunteer hours to community service projects in the Fifth District, which is the size of New Jersey and extends to some of Virginia’s most impoverished communities in the southwestern part of the state.


Coattail express? Tom Perriello gets the official Democratic nomination on Saturday and then it’s six short months until he puts Virgil Goode out of a job.

Categories
Living

How we roll

Tight and toned are the buzzwords of the modern workout, as more people move away from the Schwarzenegger look towards longer, leaner muscles. Pilates and yoga can surely lead there, and now add to that a 6” inflatable ball for ultimate fitness. Welcome to Yamuna Body Rolling, a portable exercise program that tones, strengthens and realigns the body by quite literally rolling it out, section by section. Two Yamuna-certified instructors offer classes and workshops in Charlottesville. Recently I took a session with one of them, Rain Krause. Bottom line: After an hour I felt longer through my legs, hips, spine and shoulders, and my overall body awareness was enhanced. I even experienced a slight head rush as if oxygen, previously trapped in my tense neck muscles, had made its way to my brain. I went home with a ball of my own, excited to add Body Rolling to my cardio-Pilates routine.


Cynthia Clarke, one of two local Body Rolling instructors, demonstrates its lengthening and strengthening effects.

The technique involves slowing rolling out and decompressing muscles, following breathing cues and—for more advanced students—balancing. Example: The area around my left shoulder has been twingy for quite some time. Krause led me through a course that released the area around my ribs, trapezius muscles and deltoids as I moved incrementally along the floor on top of the ball. Intense sensations flooded my shoulders, back and chest, but in a warm sort of hurts-so-good way that reminded me of a good massage. When I finished, in the mirror, my left arm looked leaner and more relaxed—less pinned to my side compared to the other, as-yet-unrolled arm. And when I lifted it overhead, the only word that came to mind was “feathery.”

The effects come from moving built-up fluid in muscle tissue. Indeed, Krause says Body Rolling can even break up cellulite in the hips and thighs. Contact her at rain.krause@gmail.com or 249-4296. Cynthia Clark, who introduced Body Rolling to Charlottesville at her Thinking Body studio, has three-hour workshops scheduled for July 19 and October 4. Contact her at 975-0336.

Two teens arrested in weekend armed robbery on Pantops

Albemarle Police have arrested two teens in connection with a Saturday afternoon armed robbery on Pantops. They received a 9-1-1 call at 3:15pm on Saturday from the victim, who reported that he was approached by two black males in the parking lot of the Riverbend Apartment complex. According to Albemarle County Police Sargent Amos Chiarappa, one  man displayed a handgun. The victim turned over his wallet after which the suspects fled on foot in the direction of Pantops Shopping Center.

In pursuit of the suspects, Louisa County police provided a K-9 unit bloodhound that traced the suspects from Riverbend northward to the Wilton Farms apartment complex on Pantops. After giving chase and being apprehended by police, one juvenile suspect was arrested at Wilton. He was charged with armed robbery, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and obstruction of justice.

On Sunday a second juvenile was arrested and charged with armed robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

The youths appeared in court this afternoon and are being held at Blue Ridge Detention Center.

The victim was not injured in the incident.

UPDATE May 9: Rutherford says “Did so” while Albemarle denies allegations on “Virginity Rocks” t-shirts

Local teenage girls who wore "Virginity Rocks" t-shirts to school were allegedly ordered by officials at both Albemarle and Charlottesville high schools to change their shirts or turn them inside-out. Yesterday, Rutherford Institute attorneys  sent a letter to the Albemarle superintendent warning that the schools can face legal action if they don’t let the girls wear the shirts without threat of sanction. Albemarle School division officials denied the allegation. Rutherford stands by its claims, and urges that all public school staff "be instructed that these students have a constitutional right to wear their abstinence t-shirts."

"In light of the fact that nearly 26% (1 in 4) of American girls aged 14-19 have at least one sexually transmitted disease," John Whitehead said in a news release, "I can’t imagine why any school would object to a message that promotes abstinence over potentially risky sexual activity." Whitehead is the president of The Rutherford Institute. He further said "it is our hope that school officials will recognize and respect that these students have a constitutional right to exercise their freedom of speech by wearing ‘Virignity Rocks’ t-shirts."

The t-shirts are distributed by Worth Your Wait, a Ruckersville organization that promotes sexual abstinence to teens.

Annie Kim, Senior Assistant County Attorney and counsel to the Albemarle County School Board, said of the dress code in county schools, as it pertains to message t-shirts, "Students do have First Amendment rights to express their views on their clothing. Schools have the responsibility to ensure that other students have the opportunity to learn and that the operation of the schools will not be disrupted."

Responding late yesterday to Rutherford’s letter, the County "vigorously" denied the allegations, saying it has investigated the alleged incident and AHS students "were never told ‘to change their t-shirts or turn them inside out.’” 

Rutherford affirms that the principal agreed that the kids had a right to wear their Virginity shirts, but "school employees subordinate to the principal and acting in an administrative capacity have nevertheless continued to direct students to cover up the t-shirts."

This is not the first t-shirt trouble for Albemarle Schools. In 2002 Alan Newsom, then a middle-schooler, was instructed to remove or reverse the NRA Shooting Camp t-shirt he was wearing. The case earned national attention and his family sued for $150,000 on First Amendment grounds. Two years later the parties reached a settlement, terms of which were not disclosed.


"It is difficult to imagine how the shirts worn by Albemarle students—shirts promoting the message of abstinence for public health purposes—could reasonably be considered to be so disturbing," Rutherford’s John Whitehead said in his letter to Albemarle County School officials.