Tuesday, January 1
Kaine stumps for Obama
 Virginia Governor Tim Kaine stumped for Barack Obama (pictured) days before his Iowa victory. |
Days away from the Iowa caucus, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine joins presidential candidate Barack Obama as the Senator travels from Sioux City to Council Bluffs, reports today’s Baltimore Sun. Along the way, he is introduced by Kaine, who received help in his 2005 election bid from the Illinois Democrat and returned the favor when Obama made stops in Virginia last year, including in Charlottesville on October 29. “If he were our candidate, we could get the 13 electoral votes in Virginia,” Kaine said in Sioux City. “We could put the Virginia votes— and other state’s votes—in the Democratic column and win this race. Virginia is a red state, but we’ve got a lot of independents and a lot of moderate Republicans who don’t like what the Republican Party is doing.”
Wednesday, January 2
Viagra for women
UVA researchers are currently testing a testosterone-laden ointment called LibiGel which is intended to boost the libido of women who have lost interest in sex, reports Radar Online. Rubbed into the upper arm, the drug would provide users with 24 hours of sexual interest. While it is currently being prescribed only to women who have had both ovaries surgically removed, LibiGel’s manufacturers hope that it will eventually be made available to the roughly one-third of all American females who complain of having a low sex drive. The maker, BioSante Pharmaceuticals, recently received a $3.5 million cash infusion to facilitate development after a clinical study showed that the drug “increased the number of satisfying sexual events by 238 percent,” from 2.1 to 7.1 events per month.
Thursday, January 3
Landmark on the auction block
Norfolk-based Landmark Communications confirmed media reports late Wednesday that it had hired two national investment firms to “assist in exploring strategic alternatives, including the possible sale of the company’s businesses,” reports today’s Virginian-Pilot. Parent company to that newspaper and employer to more than 9,000, Landmark was founded by Frank Batten, Sr., who gave UVA $100 million last April. The decision to sell the company was made by Batten’s son who took over leadership of the media company in 1998. “There was consensus among all of the family members that this was the right course of action to explore,” said Frank, Jr. Company revenues topped $2 billion last year for holdings that include The Weather Channel, one of the last privately owned cable channels. It is estimated that the channel could fetch more than $5 billion.
Friday, January 4
UVA basketball flounders in Cincinatti
 Despite a blowout against Xavier, Sean Singletary defended the UVA men’s basketball team’s character. |
The UVA men’s basketball team lost 110-76 to the Xavier Musketeers on Thursday, The Daily Progress reports. Xavier’s score was the highest that the Cavs have allowed in a game under head coach Dave Leitao, who is in his third season. “Obviously when you have a recipe for disaster, then a train wreck happens and that’s what tonight was about,” Leitao said. Captain Sean Singletary acknowledged that it was a tough loss, but tried to stay sanguine. “It’s pretty embarrassing, but you can’t fold under these types of situations and adversity,” he said. “We need to come out on the positive end of it. We have enough character to turn it around.” The Cavs will face 9th ranked Duke on January 13 in Durham, North Carolina, for their first ACC match of the season.
Saturday, January 5
Goode? Well, they’re grrreat!
Tom Perriello and Dave Shreve, in competition with one another as Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, arrived in Danville with a unified message: Goode better get while the getting is good. The Danville Register & Bee took time to speak with both candidates about Virginia Fifth District Rep. Virgil Goode (who has held the seat for 11 years and had raised more than $350,000 according to third quarter reports from the Federal Election Committee). Perriello, who is a lecturer at the UVA Law School, is listed in the same report as having earned more than $110,000 in campaign contributions, although an e-mail from his campaign claims he has earned more than $250,000.
Sunday, January 6
Former sheriff passes away
George Bailey, former Albemarle County sheriff, died January 4 at the age of 80, The Daily Progress reports today. He shared both the name of the It’s a Wonderful Life lead character as well as the local notoriety—the DP writes that “just about everybody” knew him. Bailey was sheriff from 1970 to 1987 and served concurrently as the first Albemarle County Police chief in 1984. He stayed up on politics right to the end. “Even at 80 years old, he still had valuable insight,” says Chip Harding, newly elected county sheriff. “There was never a dull moment with George. He was a character.”
Monday, January 7
Greek goddesses headed home
Demeter and Kore—or at least two 2,500-year-old sculptures of those two Greek goddesses—are to return to Italy after a stint at the UVA Art Museum, reports the website insidehighered.com. The two acroliths were excavated in 1978 in a Sicilian Greek city, then made their way into the private market; in 2002, they were donated to UVA with the condition that they be repatriated after five years. Officials at UVA told UVAToday that returning the sculptures is a gesture of support for proper stewardship of archaic artworks. They’re also planning a sendoff party on February 2—not with cake and balloons but with a gaggle of scholars discussing the antiquities market and preservation of archaeological sites.
