Tuesday, March 6
UVA offers subpar gym benefits
 Virginia State Senator R. Creigh Deeds thinks domestic partners of UVA employees ought to go to the gym just like everyone else. UVA is behind the curve in domestic partner benefits. |
The Flat Hat, the student newspaper at the College of William & Mary, reports on the shameful state of domestic partner benefits at UVA. “While UVA allows the heterosexual spouses of professors and staff to purchase memberships for the recreational centers on campus, it does not allow the partners of gays to receive the same benefit.” Virginia state Senator R. Creigh Deeds voiced concerns that the policy was overly strict. Though chaps at The Flat Hat didn’t gloat, they certainly could—William & Mary is one of several Virginia schools that does offer fitness benefits to domestic partners.
Wednesday, March 7
Bigger library for Crozet
 Downtown Crozet will see a new 20,000-square-foot library, thanks to a favorable Board of Supervisors vote and $1.7 million in private fundraising. Supervisor David Slutzky had the one dissenting vote, saying a smaller project would suffice. |
The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors heard strong support from library administrators and county book lovers to add 5,000 square feet to a planned 15,000-square-foot library that would bolster Crozet’s downtown. With construction costs estimated at $254 per square foot, Supervisor David Slutzky voiced concerns that the project was too large and too expensive. But other supervisors said the library would be important for drawing people into Downtown Crozet. Private citizens will try to raise the additional $1.7 million for the add-on to the $8.5 million project. The supes approved the space increase by 5-1.
Thursday, March 8
Culpeper says “No ICE”
 Tim Freilich of the Charlottesville-based Virginia Justice Center thinks local cops should stick to local policing. The Town of Culpeper recently denied a citizen the right to pay for Immigration and Customs Enforcement training for local police. |
The Public Safety Committee for the Town of Culpeper defeated a proposal that would have allowed a private citizen to pay for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) training for local police officers, CulpeperTimes.com reports. Attorney General Bob McDonnell recommended in January that Governor Tim Kaine let state police and local cops enforce federal immigration laws by permitting them to detain immigrants. Tim Freilich, legal director of the Virginia Justice Center in Charlottesville, said, “There is a real danger in local law enforcement fixing national immigration problems…you destroy the trust between local law enforcement and the local immigrant communities.” Charlottesville and Albemarle police have said they’re not interested in helping with ICE.
Friday, March 9
The shoulders of giants
Welcome to Charlottesville, America’s No. 1 city, where it’s tough to get a sandwich without paying a tithe to Coran Capshaw, and major moguls inevitably merge. According to a UVA press release this week, Musictoday Executive Vice President Jim Kingdon has been named director of UVA’s Law & Business program. The enhanced J.D. program offers “training in business practices and culture so [students] may better communicate with and advise corporate clients.” With their powers combined, UVA and Kingdon could turn this dive-y little town into the Blackberry consortium it was destined to be.
Saturday, March 10
Writers: Win a free trip to Charlottesville
This weekend, The Daily Progress tackles the question of whether free meals and hotel stays provided by the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau might possibly influence the travel writers who receive those freebies. Ann Witmer, a Pennsylvania-based freelancer who scored three nights at the Inn at Court Square while writing an article on local used bookstores, is quoted thus: “The Convention & Visitors Bureau people were really, really helpful. They do a real service.” According to the Progress, 384 articles were written about the Charlottesville area in the first half of 2006. The city and county can take some credit for the mostly positive press, with $800,000 in contributions to the Charlottesville-Albemarle tourism bureau each year.
Sunday, March 11
Is it brighter than usual?
In an effort to save energy (and perhaps increase national cheer, thereby miraculously saving the Bush Administration’s approval ratings), the government is “springing forward” today rather than the first Sunday in April. The L.A. Times warns of “mayhem lite” as geeks everywhere wring their hands—what about all the computers programmed for regularly scheduled daylight savings? “Heat and lights in some buildings could come on an hour later than they should,” among other digital disasters, the paper writes. Call us low-tech, but we at C-VILLE will probably just flip on the light switch an hour earlier.
Monday, March 12
Cavaliers headed for NCAA
The UVA men’s basketball team is prepping to head to their first NCAA Tournament since 2001. The Cavaliers will appear in the first round matchup—scheduled for March 16 in Columbus, Ohio—as the fourth-seeded team in the South Region. The tournament pairings, announced yesterday, have the ’Hoos up against the mighty Albany Great Danes. The Cavs are no doubt hoping for a better outcome this year; in 2001 the team didn’t make it past the first round after an upset loss to Gonzaga, 86-85.
