Tuesday, May 2: Election Day in Charlottesville. Two City Council seats, Three School Board memberships. Vote.

Tuesday, May 2: 5:30 pm. Miller Center Forum, Total Cold War: Eisenhower's Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad. Kenneth Osgood discusses his new book. A book signing will follow. Information/Directions http://www.millercenter.org

Friday, May 5 - Sunday, May 7: New Orleans Jazz Fest. Live bands and Creole cookin' at the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course. Tickets / information http://www.nojazzfest.com.

Monday, May 8: 11:00 am. Miller Center Forum, American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. Jon Meacham discusses his new book. A book signing will follow. Information/Directions http://www.millercenter.org

Wednesday, May 10: 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm The Senior Statesmen of Virginia present John J. "Butch" Davies, Commissioner of the Culpeper District on the Commonwealth Transportation Board, speaking on "Overview of the Commonwealth Transportation Board Projects in Port, Public Transit, Rails and Roads in Virginia" at Northside Library in Albemarle Square. 

Thursday, May 11: 7:30 pm Education Building, Ivy Creek Natural Area, Earlysville Road, Charlottesville. "Our Best Nature Slides”: Talented photographers who are members of the Monticello Bird Club share their best slides and photos. Also, Stone Robinson Elementary 4th graders thank the bird club for their bird feeder kit and report on the birds they saw at their school this year. Information: Ellen Dudley: 244-2688 or Ron Kingston: 293-5173.

Friday, May 12: 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm 5th Annual Light House Youth Media Festival. We'll be screening the best short films made by middle and high school students in the past year. Tickets are available at Light House, Live Arts, Plan 9 and C-ville Weekly or contact Cassandra Barnett, 293-6992 cassandra@lighthousestudio.org.

6 pm Show - $10 / $5 for middle and high school students. 8 pm Show / Rooftop Party with live music from "The Wave" - $25.

Friday, May 12: 6-8 p.m Second Fridays, social time for Charlottesville and Albemarle Democrats at Rapture on the Downtown Mall, upstairs -- $6.00 (a bargain) for food, cash bar.

Saturday, May 13: 9 am - 3 pm, Incarnation Parish Activity Center. Virginia Organizing Project sponsors a Dismantling Racism Workshop.

The workshop will include listening circles around the topics of class, race and ethnicity with the goal of creating space for us to speak honestly from our own experiences about these topics. Also we will discuss institutional racism, the history of race issues in the US, and ways to take action to recognize and dismantle racism. There is no cost for the workshop and lunch is included. All are welcome to participate - you do not have to be Catholic/Christian.

Please RSVP to Rhonda at 973-4381 by May 10 if you would like to participate. There is a limit of 30 participants.

Saturday, May 13: 6:00 - 9:00 The cinema club of Charlottesville presents Rabbit-Proof Fence (PG) from Phillip Noyce (Australia 2002) Living Education Center for Ecology and the Arts at 609 East Market Street. Parents must be present prior to leaving their children at the club. There is a suggested donation of $2 per child.

This remarkable film, based on a true story, follows three Aborigine girls who escape from government captivity and travel 1500 miles on foot in order to return to their parents, using the sprawling fence built across The Nation to prevent the spread of rabbits as a guide.

Wednesday, May 17 (Syttende Mai): Norwegian Independence Day.

Wednesday, May 17: 11:00am. Miller Center Forum, Room for Growth: President Lincoln's Early Stumbles. William Freehling's past writings consider the runup to the Civil War. Information/Directions http://www.millercenter.org

Wednesday, May 17: 7:00 pm. Cindy Sheehan and Ann Wright will speak on the Iraq War and answer questions at The Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center, 1400 Melbourne Rd. (CHS) Charlottesville, Va.

The event will begin with a performance by Terri Allard. Suggested Donation - $5.00 (No one turned away) Sponsored by the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice, www.charlottesvillepeace.org. For more info contact Sarah at 434 961-6278 or lanzbrod@cstone.net

Thursday, May 18: 7:30 pm Peter Loach, Deputy Director of Operations at Piedmont Housing Alliance; Ed Olsen, Prof. of Economics at UVA; and Francis Fife, Retired Banker & ASAP Board Member will lead a discussion on: "Providing affordable housing in our community while maintaining an optimal sustainable population size: Can we do it?" Westminster Presbyterian Church Library, 190 Rugby Rd. The public is invited and encouraged to join in the discussion.

Contacts: Dave Barish at david@stopgrowthasap.org Jeff Sobel at jeffasap@aol.com

Friday, May 19: 5:30 p.m. Cultural historian and social critic Morris Berman, author of The Twilight of American Culture, will discuss his latest book, Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 East Main Street (on the Downtown Mall) Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 434-295-2552 ndb@cstone.net.

In Dark Ages America, Berman examines the disappearance of democratic ideals and the lack of public discourse in America. He likens changes in America today to those of western civilization after the fall of the Roman Empire. He also discusses why our legal and health systems, along with much of our scientific and industrial output, lags well behind many other nations. Berman argues that unless we change our imperial trajectory, we are inching toward irrelevancy abroad and economic collapse at home. Join us for what promises to be an enlightening discussion.

Saturday, May 20: 9:30 am Regular monthly Charlottesville / Albemarle Democratic Breakfast. Matthew Holden, Emeritus Professor of Politics at UVa will speak on the Presidency, Article II of the U.S. Constutution and the incumbent. Learn more about Prof. Holden at http://www.virginia.edu/politics/staff/print/holdenvita.pdf

The event is free, a light breakfast is offered, and the public is warmly invited. At JABA, 674 Hillsdale Drive, behind Fashion Square and next to the Marriott Courtyard. Info: (434) 971 8082 or george@loper.org

Saturday, May 20: Fifth District Convention, Buckingham County HS, Dillwyn. Business to be conducted includes selection of nominee to run for Congress. Each local committee will need to have a caucus on either a Saturday or Monday between April 17 and April 29, 2006, for the purpose of selecting delegates to the convention.

Saturday, May 20: 4:30 pm on the street side of the Rotunda, facing Madison Hall. The University of Virginia Faculty for Student Social Responsibility will be awarding its first (annual) prize to graduating students who have have been leaders in the pursuit of social justice and human dignity. The first award goes to the twenty students who are graduating on Sunday who have been engaged in the Living Wage Campaign at the University.

Monday, May 22: 10:00 Trial for all 17 UVa Students arrested at the Living Wage Sit-In, plus Asst. Prof. Wende Marshall, in the Charlottesville General District Court.

Monday, May 22: 11:00 am. Miller Center Forum, America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power and the Neoconservative Legacy. Francis Fukuyama proposes a post-Bush foreign policy which he calls "Realistic Wilsonianism." A book signing will follow. Information/Directions http://www.millercenter.org

Tuesday, May 23: 5:00 pm. League of Women Voters Annual Meeting. Westminster Church Social Hall, 190 Rugby Road, Charlottesville. Beginning with a member and guest social and continuing at 5:45 with a buffet lasagna dinner followed by dessert and beverages. The after dinner speaker is Judge Jannene Shannon speaking on "Are Juveniles Receiving Justice?" Following her speech is the annual meeting. Cost: $20. Make check out to LWV and mail it to League of Women Voters, 1936 Arlington Blvd., #116, Charlottesville, VA 22903 by May 18 or call 970-1707 by 3:30 pm on May 18 for dinner reservations.

Saturday, May 27: 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Monticello Bird Club event, “Binoculars Show and Tell” Ivy Creek Natural Area Education Building

Everything you always wanted to know about binoculars but were afraid to ask! Experienced birders from the Monticello Bird Club will bring their favorite binoculars so you can try the different types and learn the pros and cons of each. For details, contact Jenny Gaden: 293-6275.