Tuesday, December 5
Pardon?
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Percy Levar Walton, on death row for three brutal homicides, had his execution stayed this summer pending an investigation of his mental competence. Governor Tim Kaine’s office today announced that Walton has been found unfit for execution. People who are executed in the United States must be aware of “the punishment they are about to suffer and why they are to suffer it.” Walton is said to laugh and smile inappropriately, hear voices and apparently thinks his execution will bring his victims back to life. He will have another competency review in 18 months; if he is found fit, Walton could be executed on June 10, 2008.
Wednesday, December 6
General Assembly says: Lend on
Despite publicity about the evils of payday lending, a service that fronts loans of up to $500 at exorbitant interest rates, a General Assembly committee voted to preserve the practice in Virginia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. The House Commerce and Labor Committee voted down a measure 10-8 which would repeal the Payday Lending Act. Currently, lenders can charge up to 780 percent interest on short-term loans; a reform would have capped interest rates at 36 percent. Delegates determined to get rid of payday lending say they will reintroduce the measure in the 2007 session. Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds has said he would vote for stricter regulation of the payday loan industry.
Thursday, December 7
Rough airwaves
Newcomer CW network (known in Charlottesville as The CW29 on channel 17) is finding the market a little tougher than execs anticipated, USA Today reports. The network, a composite of the defunct WB and UPN, tried to up its appeal by adding shows like “America’s Next Top Model” to regulars like “Gilmore Girls” and “7th Heaven.” But, so far CW has had fewer viewers than either WB or UPN at this time last season. The network isn’t nervous yet—as the company builds its brand, ratings are slowly on their way up.
Friday, December 8
National honors for Waldorf
California-based Dwell magazine honored the Charlottesville Waldorf Foundation with its “Nice Modernist Award” for thoughtful and eco-friendly design at a ceremony in Los Angeles today. Local Waldorf leaders, engineers and the architect for the “Greenest School in America” project were there to accept the award on behalf of a building we still haven’t seen. The $6.1 million “Greenest School” project aims to construct the nation’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum-certified elementary school off of Rio Road. Dwell also featured the “Greenest School” campaign with a two-page article in May, speaking to the power of a well-connected publicist.
Saturday, December 9
Fair is fair
On September 14, due to legal pressure from the conservative Christian legal group, Liberty Counsel, the Albemarle County School Board voted to allow religious fliers to be distributed in schools. Now, a Pagan group is likely making Liberty Counsel wish they’d stayed home with their New Testament. Local organization NatureSpirit earlier this month sent a flier through the schools advertising a Pagan ritual to celebrate Yule. The ceremony and educational session took place today at the Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Universalist Church on Rugby Road. Public reaction so far: religious conservatives gasp, super-liberals gloat, fans of strict church/state separation and schools where students can actually, um, study wish the School Board would just squelch fliers altogether.
Sunday, December 10
One dead in plane crash
A pilot is dead today after his small plane crashed into a wooded area about 2.5 miles east of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Airport, the Associated Press reports. The Richmond-Times Dispatch later reported the pilot to be 51-year-old Richmond cancer specialist Dr. Christopher Desch. Desch was trying to emergency land a 30-year-old, six-seat Piper Lance which belonged to the Wingnuts Flight Club of Chesterfield County Airport, of which Desch was a member. He had been cleared for landing at Charlottesville-Albemarle, and radioed in at about 1:30pm, saying he was having problems and the engine was off. Desch perished instantly when the plane crashed and burst into flames.
Monday, December 11
Who’s laughing now?
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Tina Fey graduated from the UVA Drama Department in 1992 with a Midas touch—the gal sinks her nails into projects and turns them into solid gold. In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Fey talks with Gavin Edwards about racing through the ranks to become the first female writing supervisor at “Saturday Night Live,” as well as the success of her latest show, “30 Rock,” which features Fey as head writer, producer and star on a program that mirrors her own life. Fey comments on Bill Clinton, castmate Alec Baldwin and the development of her writing career—yet makes no mention of returning to UVA in the near future. Young male intellectuals in town remain heartbroken.
