cvillenews.com

Give Kids a Christmas

Waldo Jaquith — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:06:42 +0000

Adopt a needy family for Christmas. I’ve done this—it’s guaranteed elevation.

West Mainers Propose Charrette

Waldo Jaquith — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:01:42 +0000

West Main business owns are pushing for a charrette on the history of the corridor, Rachana Dixit writes in today’s Daily Progress. (For those who aren’t familiar with the process, Wikipedia provides a good definition. It’s basically when a bunch of stakeholders get together and try to collaboratively solve a design problem.) The West Main of today is vastly improved from the West Main of just fifteen years ago, but it’s got a long way to go if it’s to be as vibrant as the Corner to the west of it and the Downtown Mall to the east of it. Real estate owner Bill Atwood and Maya owner Peter Castiglione are pushing for a city-facilitated charrette, in the style of the 1989 charette that preceded the downtown renaissance, in hopes of moving things along.

I note that Dixit has used a term new to me in the second-to-last paragraph: “midtowner,” apparently referring to those who live or work on West Main Street.

UVA’s Miller Center to Record History of Bush Presidency

Waldo Jaquith — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:52:32 +0000

President George W. Bush has assented to participate in the Miller Center’s ongoing presidential history project, The Daily Progress reports. Every president since Carter has been interviewed—along with hundreds of administration officials—for their Presidential Oral History Program, which has used that extraordinary level of access to create an extraordinarily in-depth treasure trove of information for historians present and future. (For instance, here’s Zbigniew Brzezinski talking about President Carter (253k PDF) back in 1982.) The Miller Center is willing to go to great lengths to get answers of the utmost honesty and frankness: they’ll embargo interviews until the subject’s death, or even until the death of the subject and his family. And if they believe that an interview subject isn’t being honest, they’ll kick him out, rather than taint the record with inaccurate information. Chronicling each president takes many years, so they should stay busy with Bush for a long time to come.

Cav Daily Scaling Back

Waldo Jaquith — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:54 +0000

The Cavalier Daily is scaling back the number of issues they’ll publish each year, they announced in today’s lead editorial, going from 136 down to 131, or thereabouts. It’s a financial decision, a result of decreased advertising revenue, so they’re eliminating five Friday papers, the day that generates the least revenue. As a reminder, the paper is independent, unfunded by UVA, and relies on advertising income to exist.

Zipcar Coming to UVA

Waldo Jaquith — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:56:18 +0000

Zipcars are coming to UVA starting next week. I’ll use one just to try the iPhone app.

Deer Hunting Classes

Waldo Jaquith — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:53:49 +0000

My brother’s second “deer hunting for locavores” class starts on Sunday, and there are still slots available. It’s $50, with neither experience nor a rifle of your own required.

Jefferson Opens in Three Weeks

Waldo Jaquith — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:50:43 +0000

The Jefferson opens on November 27.

Friday’s Funeral March

Waldo Jaquith — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:37:08 +0000

Video of Friday’s New Orleans-style funeral march for Johnny Gilmore.

John Mark Donnelly Sentenced for Fraud

Waldo Jaquith — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:15:18 +0000

The guy running that Ponzi scheme got seven years in prison.

A Story of a Man and His Train

Waldo Jaquith — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:03:52 +0000

A first-hand account of riding the new Amtrak line to D.C. for the day.