Friday, March 1: The Community Resource Board of the Junior League of Charlottesville announces its: NINTH ANNUAL FOCUS AREA AWARD

The Community Resource Board of the Junior League of Charlottesville is accepting applications for its Ninth Annual Focus Area Award. This award of $2,000 will be made to the agency whose program best exemplifies the League's community vision statement: "We believe the quality of children's lives can be improved through the education and support of their families."

The award is intended to recognize the successful achievements of a program which has been operational for at least one calendar year (start date of April 1, 2001 or earlier). Please note that this is a change from previous Focus Awards.

Award Criteria:

In addition to considering the how the applicant's program exemplifies the League's community vision statement, the Focus Award committee will also consider the following points:

(1) The program's impact on its target group, including the number of individuals served
(2) The program's impact on the community at large
(3) The program's goals and projected outcomes

Application Process:

Applications must be received (not post marked) by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3, 2002, by mail to The Junior League of Charlottesville, P.O. Box 135, Charlottesville VA 22902 or hand-delivered to 317 East Main Street, The JLC Opportunity Shop on the Downtown Mall. The winner will be announced at a press conference in April.

Applications must include:

(1) Contact information:
Name and full postal address of organization
Contact person(s) and title(s)
Email address, telephone and fax numbers of organization and contact person(s)

(2) A project summary, not to exceed 3 double-spaced pages, which discusses how the project addresses the League's Community Focus, and documents the project's achievements. Please refer to the three criteria listed above, and include evidence that the project has been in operation since April 1, 2001 or earlier.

(3) A one-page project budget

The selection committee may request additional information from applicants as needed.

Please direct any questions about the award or the application process to League President-Elect Kelly Sundberg Seaman at kseaman@adelphia.net or (434) 977-0705 (daytime). Interested applicants may also refer to the League's website at: http://avenue.org.jlc

Previous Focus Award winners:

2001 Westhaven Clinic
2000 Rural Health Outreach Program, Nelson County
1999 The Family Learning Lab, Venable Elementary School
1998 Math, Science and Technology, Johnson Elementary School
1997 Families Learning Together, Johnson Elementary School
1996 The Imani Project, Walker Upper Elementary School
1995 Barrett Day Care Center
1994 The Council on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention

Friday, March 1:

March 2002 has been designated as Security Awareness Month at the University of Virginia.

A joint effort by the U.Va. Police, the U.Va. Health System, the Office of Information Technologies (OIT) and the Department of Information Technology & Communication (ITC), Security Awareness Month is designed to promote personal safety, security, and privacy among all members of the University and Charlottesville community.

The theme of this year's Security Awareness Month is Fight Back, emphasizing the fact that every person can take the initiative to safeguard self and property and put would-be attackers on the defensive.

See their calendar of events for the March 20th "U.Va. Security Conference 2002: Fight Back Against Cybercrime" and more.

Wednesday, March 6: Charlottesville City Council Budget Work Session

Friday, March 8:John McCutcheon will be in concert at 7:30 PM on Friday, March 8 at Old Cabell Hall in a Benefit Concert to raise money for the new home for Live Arts, Second Street Gallery and Light House. A great songwriter, legendary multi-instrumentalist, social activist and one of America's foremost interpreters of our great folk music heritage, John is a stalwart of the Charlottesville arts community.

The new venue for Live Arts, Second Street Gallery and Light House will be a keystone for the arts renaissance which continues to bring vitality and excitement to Charlottesville's downtown.

Tickets are on sale at Plan Nine on the Corner and in Albemarle Square, at Spencer's 206 at 218 W. Water Street - just off the Downtown Mall - and at the Live Arts Box Office during the week.

This is John's only concert in Charlottesville this year. Supporters of the arts in Charlottesville and those who enjoy John McCutcheon's uplifting performances should all be there. Join in the celebration of John's 30th anniversary as a performing artist.

Wednesday, March 13: Charlottesville City Council Budget Work Session

Thursday, March 14: RALLY/VIGIL AT THE CHARLOTTESVILLE COURTHOUSE, High St., at 12 noon, for the execution of James Earl Patterson

This is an unusual case, since Patterson requested the death penalty. However, our public protest will show that we do not condone the use of capital punishment under any circumstances.

Anne Meador (electronic mail, February 25, 2002)

From the VADP website:

James Earl Patterson confessed and pleaded guilty to rape, capital murder, and abduction with intent to defile in the 1987 rape and murder of Joyce Snead Aldridge. At the time of his confession, Patterson was serving a twenty-five year sentence in Greenville for raping an 18 year-old Hopewell woman.

Patterson became a suspect in the Aldridge murder in March 1999, when DNA evidence taken from the crime scene was matched to Patterson’s blood. State law required blood samples of convicted felons. Patterson pleaded guilty against the recommendation of his attorney. Even Patterson’s fervent religiosity could not convince him that he deserved to live. Prince George County Circuit Judge James F. D’Alton Jr. said that he granted Patterson’s request for the death sentence because of the vileness of the crime and the threat that Patterson would commit future offenses. At sentencing, Patterson told Judge D’Alton, “I pray today that it will be some type of closure for these families.”

Thursday, March 14: VDOT Public Hearing

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has for years been planning to build a 6-mile, 4-lane highway to the west of Route 29.

One of the most serious concerns is the project's threat to the Rivanna River reservoir - the main drinking water supply for more than 80,000 people - from erosion, runoff and catastrophic spills. About 3.4 miles of the highway would cut through the reservoir's watershed. At one place, the road would come within 550 feet of the reservoir on a steep slope.

VDOT is currently under federal court order to fully examine these threats, which the agency failed to do in its first environmental study in 1993. (The court order is the result of a lawsuit brought by SELC on behalf of the Piedmont Environmental Council and the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club in 1998.)

Learn more about this important issue (you can start by visiting the Southern Environmental Law Center website , calling SELC's office (at 977-4090) and by attending the public hearing.

VDOT will hold a public hearing on this issue on Thursday, March 14 at the DoubleTree Hotel. An informational session will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., followed by the formal public hearing at 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 16: The Albemarle/Charlottesville Democratic Breakfast will meet at Jefferson Area Board for the Aging at 9:30 a.m. and is open to the public.

The speaker will be Professor and Research Fellow at Yale University W. Bradford Wilcox.

His topic will be "Public Vows, Public Purposes: Marriage, Civil Society, & Public Policy."

Saturday, March 16 - Monday, April 1: Friends of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library - Year 2002 Book Sale

For more information, call 434-977-8467 or send an e-mail to friends@avenue.org

Sunday, March 17: Saint Patrick's Day.

Sunday, March 17: "Mirroring Evil Nazi Imagery/Recent Art" opens at The Jewish Museum in New York City.

Tuesday, March 19: The City Committee of the Charlottesville Democratic Party will meet on Tuesday, March 19th at 7 pm in City Council Chambers. (located in City Hall - you must use the front entrance).

The agenda will include comments on the Convention, a report on Fundraising efforts and planning for the City Council campaign now underway. Half of the meeting will be devoted to precinct committee meetings so that each might develop their own plan for the weeks leading up to the City Council election on May 7th.

Your participation is very important. We will adjourn no later than 8:30 pm. Please plan to attend.

Tuesday, March 19: VFH FELLOW SUSAN D. PENNYBACKER TO SPEAK ON 'RACIAL POLITICS FROM SCOTTSBORO TO MUNICH' from 4-6 p.m.at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 145 Ednam Drive, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Susan Dabney Pennybacker will present her work on "Racial Politics from Scottsboro to Munich" as part of the Virginia Foundation for the
Humanities' Conversations with Fellows series. Pennybacker is an associate professor of history at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and a Fellow at the VFH Institute on Violence and Survival. She is researching racial politics in the Atlantic world and the British Empire during the nineteen-thirties, and writing a collective biography of individuals involved in interracial activism just before WWII. Pennybacker explores the transnational roots of the Civil Rights movement in the US and the independence movements in former colonies. Pennybacker's is fascinating interdisciplinary work that shows how new scholarship is addressing the realities of globalization and tracing its development and effects.

Directions to the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities:

From the North, South, and East: take I-64 or Route 29 to 250 West. Take
250 West to the Boar's Head Inn. Turn left at the Boar's Head Inn sign.
Make your first left, before the Inn. Come to the top of the small hill.
The VFH is on the left.

From the West: Take I-64 East to 29 North. Take 250 West. Follow
directions above.

Conversations are open to the public. They are supported by the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Margaret Grattan Weaver Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and additional private sources.

Wednesday, March 20: William Miller will speak at the Miller Center on his book, Lincoln's Virtues.

Wednesday, March 20: Charlottesville City Council Budget Work Session

Wednesday, March 20 - Sunday, March 24: The Virginia Festival of the Book is March 20-24, 2002 in Charlottesville. The five day festival is free and open to the public except for events which have food! You can find out all about it by checking the website: www.vabook.org. Information: (924-6890) or email vabook@virginia.edu.

Wednesday, March 20: William Miller will speak at the Miller Center on his book, Lincoln's Virtues.

Thursday, March 21: Robert Mann will speak at the Miller Center on his book, A Grand Delusion: America's Descent into Vietnam.

Thursday, March 21: Thursday at 11:45 AM - 12:15 PM in front of City Hall

Enjoy the refreshments & take a spin on a yellow bike!

For more details about the YELLOW BIKE PROGRAM, please contact Diane Taylor at 970-3794.

Thursday, March 21

Saturday, March 23: AIDS/HIV infections are again increasing in VA after many years of decline and half of those infected are under 25 years of age. Over 10% are over 50 years old. Two thirds are men, one third are women. Two thirds are straight, one third is gay. Over three quarters are African American. AIDS is an issue we must all be aware of!

This is a reminder that AIDSWALK is next Saturday, March 23rd. Registration begins at 9:00, warm up at 9:30 and the walk takes off at 10:00.

We have no K, 2K, 3K, and 5K routes. We start at the Wild Wing-Amtrack Lot in Charlottesville - go down Main to the mall, across 2nd to Market. Then the 2k route returns up Mcintire, the 3K route continues to 10th, the 5K route goes past 10th onto Grady, over Rugby and then returns via Main. This is truly a walk for anyone!!!

Monday, March 25: FORUM FOR CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT FEATURES IRVING GOTTESMAN ON 'INTELLIGENCE AND RACE' at Noon in Room 190 Gilmer Hall at the University of Virginia.

Irving Gottesman, Professor Emeritus in the Psychology Department, will speak on "Intelligence and Race -- Seeking a 'Wooden Stake." Sponsored by the Forum for Contemporary Thought.

Monday, March 25: SOCIOLOGIST REGINE OSTINE-JACKSON ON 'RACE, COLOR, AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN POST-REVOLUTIONARY HAITI' at 2 p.m. in the Commonwealth Room at the University of Virginia.

Regine Ostine-Jackson, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Richmond, will speak on "Race, Color, and National Identity in Post-Revolutionary Haiti: A Case for Making Race and Nation," as part of the Spring 2002 Woodson Colloquium. Respondent: Milton Vickerman, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Virginia.

Tuesday, March 26: THEOLOGIAN ROBERT M. FRANKLIN TO SPEAK ON 'TOUGH LOVE: RELIGION AND AMERICAN PUBLIC LIFE' at 5 p.m. in Minor Hall Auditorium at the University of Virginia.

Robert M. Franklin, President of Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, will speak on "Tough Love: How Religion Enriches and Complicates American Public Life." He is the author of Another Day's Journey: Black Churches Confronting the American Crisis and Liberating Visions: Human Fulfillment and Social Justice in African-American Thought. He holds a Master's in Divinity from Harvard, and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Reception to follow. Contact: Phyllis Leffler, pkl6h@virginia.edu