 Ashley Mauter, who was rescued by Charlottesville firefighters from a house fire on Lewis Mountain Road on March 18, 2007, joined the firefighters who were involved in the rescue last Tuesday to mark the one-year anniversary, talk with the media and warn citizens about the importance of smoke detectors in their homes. Mauter’s boyfriend, Brett Quarterman, died in the blaze. |
Tuesday 3/18
CHS principal selection narrowed, then finalized
The Charlottesville City School System came closer to finding a new CHS principal after Monday night’s meeting with parents, teachers, staff and students at the Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center. On the stage were two candidates (narrowed from a list of more than 20) who gave opening statements and then submitted to written questions from the roughly 60 people in attendance. The audience also gave their thoughts and impressions, and on Friday their wishes were revealed when CHS announced that Thomas W. Taylor (currently an assistant principal in Virginia Beach) has been selected as the new principal, effective July 1.
Wednesday 3/19
UVA wins meaningless game…barely
It was a night full of the excitement that only the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) can bring. To quote Whitelaw Reid of The Daily Progress, UVA “played one of its most lethargic, uninspired games of the season before getting its act together.” Still, UVA won its first-round game against the University of Richmond 66-64, making a forgettable season a little less forgettable.
Thursday 3/20
VQR nominated for national awards again
 “It’s remarkable what we’ve been able to accomplish,” says VQR Editor Ted Genoways. His magazine is up for three national awards, including one for General Excellence. |
The Virginia Quarterly Review has garnered three nominations for the American Society of Magazine Editors’ National Magazine Awards, and will be vying for a win with the likes of Gourmet, Print and The Georgia Review. “We have an annual budget that’s smaller than what Vanity Fair spends on their Oscar party and a staff of only five people,” Editor Ted Genoways says on the VQR website, “but we’ve been able to put out a magazine that is consistently among the best in the country.” The winners will be announced May 1 in New York City.
Friday 3/21
Downtown Transit Center snags LEED certification
The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded Charlottesville’s Downtown Transit Center with a gold LEED certification. LEED? That stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a rating system for green building. The Transit Center includes various design elements that help keep environmental impact low, including a “cool roof” system, waterless urinals and a geothermal heat pump system. “This huge achievement is just the beginning…,” says Kristel Riddervold, the city’s Environmental Administrator. The LEED certification system also includes a platinum level.
Saturday 3/22
Problems with green bill
House Bill 239 was the great green hope of 2008: Signed into law by Governor Tim Kaine on March 4, the young law expands the definition of what makes a building “energy efficient” to include a number of different government-sponsored systems of evaluation, and offers the tantalizing possibility of tax breaks for any building that proves itself 30 percent more efficient than listed in the Virginia Building Code. However, the General Assembly has yet to pass a rule to regulate the lower tax rate for certified efficient buildings. The Daily Progress reports today that tax breaks will not be awarded before 2009.
Sunday 3/23
Klarman talks race
Since Barack Obama’s speech last week, even C-VILLE’s editor is talking about race. So it should come as no surprise that The New York Times is quoting UVA law Professor Michael Klarman today on the subject. “Nixon talks about ‘law and order,’ which is a code term for the urban race riots and rising crime rates,” said Klarman in a piece that breaks down politicians’ speeches for their intended message on race.
Monday 3/24
Was TJ like Obama’s pastor?
A letter to the editor of The Boston Globe, written by one Nancy Kaplan and published today, draws a surprising comparison between the recently controversial rhetoric of Barack Obama’s former pastor Jeremiah Wright (“sound bites cherry-picked from Wright’s voluminous writings and sermons,” says Kaplan) and certain select commentary by our own Thomas Jefferson. Here’s TJ on slavery: “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.”
