Friday, April 2: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: Toward a New Haitian State? Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Robert Fatton will discuss the future of Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated the Haitian capital on Jan. 12. Fatton is the Julia A. Cooper Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs in Politics at U.Va. and is the author of several books and numerous scholarly articles on democratization.Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org

Monday, April 5: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: Problems Confronting the Nation's Governors. Raymond C.Scheppach, Executive Director of the National Governors Association. Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org

Monday, April 5: 6:00 p.m. The Slave Experience at UVa: Uncovering the Truth Presentations by Ervin Jordan, Phyllis Leffler, and Scot French in Minor 125 .

Tuesday, April 6: 7:00 p.m.Healthcare Reform: What's Right and What's Left? Rapture restaurant, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville. This is rescheduled, as weather obliterated last month's meeting of left of center.

Tuesday, April 13 - Wednesday, April 14: Noted poet Gary Snyder will be the visiting writer at UVa's Brown College on Monroe Hill. He will give a reading Tuesday, 5:30 at Newcomb Hall. Tickets at the box office or 924 3376.

Wednesday, April 14: 10:00 a.m. City of Charlottesville / County of Albemarle meeting to resolve disputes over revenue sharing. Called by Delegate Toscano, in response to a City/County dispute over Delegate Rob Bell’s budget amendment to transfer $2.8 million from Charlottesville’s school funding allocation to Albemarle County. Members of Albemarle Board of Supervisors, Charlottesville City Council, and Albemarle and Charlottesville School Boards will be in attendance.

Friday, April 16: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum Presidential Leadership and the Nature of Change How did President Reagan develop his strategy for ending the Cold War, and how did he muster support for his plan? Peter D. Hannaford.

Saturday, April 17: 9:30-11 a.m. Monthly Charlottesville/Albemarle Democratic Breakfast at JABA, 674 Hillsdale Drive. Immigration Reform: Donny Draper, 5th District director for the Campaign to Reform Immigration For America, will speak on efforts to pass national Immigration Reform legislation. The campaign is a united national effort to bring together individuals and organizations to build support for immigration reform. A light breakfast will be served, the public is warmly invited, and the event is free, although a hat is passed to offset costs of food and room.

Saturday, April 17: 5:30 - 10:30 p.m. Men Who Cook MACAA Monticello Area Community Action Agency Announces its 23rd Annual Gala Benefit! Omni Hotel in Downtown Charlottesville. Wine, Dine & Dance!! Join Honorary Chair UVA Football Coach Shawn Moore and 50+ courageous local amateur chefs for a fabulous gourmet evening! The Bootsie Daniels Band. Silent Auction. $75 per person ($100 at the door) Black Tie Optional. Please call 295-3171 ext 3034 for information & tickets – Reserve now to avoid disappointment. $35 of the ticket price is tax deductible.

Sunday, April 18: 3:00 p.m.The film, Soldiers of Peace, which was a hit at a United Nations film festival in New York recently, will be shown at the April meeting of the BRV Chapter of the United Nations Association at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church, 717 Rugby Road, Charlottesville. The film, narrated by Michael Douglas, features fourteen stories from around the world on positive actions for peace. We hope you will join us.

Sunday, April 18: 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Fund raiser for Tom Perriello at City Space (in the Community Design Center), 100 5th St. NE. Live music, good food and the Congressman hisself. Admission: $50. Sponsorships: $250, $500, $1000. Information: deputy finance director Ashleigh Crocker, ashleigh@perrielloforcongress.com; 434-548-0508.

Monday, April 19: 2:00 p.m. Harvey Wasserman will speak at an event organized by UVA student groups, Student Environmental Action and Democracy Matters, at Newcomb Hall's Kaleidoscope Room.

6 p.m. Earth Week Benefit, Beans and Rice Dinner at the Haven, First and Market Streets, Charlottesville, Va. Suggested donation: $5.

7 p.m. Wasserman will speak on "The Way to Solartopia and Away from Nuclear/Fossil Fuel Energy Dependence." Discussion and book signing to follow.

For more information, contact Elena Day 434-296-2494. Wasserman is a longtime anti-nuclear and political activist.

Monday, April 19: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum:The War in Afghanistan. New York Times National Security Correspondent Mark Mazzetti has reported on a wide range of pressing issues, including the U.S. military, post-9/11 D.C. politics, and political conditions in the Middle East. This Forum is part of the Miller Center’s military preparedness series. More information is available at: www.millercenter.org/public/forum/series/military.Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org

Friday, April 23: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: The Gamble A senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, Tom Ricks presents his most recent book which examines the inside story of the Iraq War. Having covered the military for the Washington Post, Ricks is also a contributing editor for Foreign Policy and author of its online blog, “The Best Defense." This Forum is also part of the Miller Center military preparedness series. A book signing will follow his Forum.

Saturday, April 24: 1:30 p.m. The joint meeting to promote cooperation between Charlottesville and Albemarle County, in the Central Library McIntire Room near the Downtown Mall. Members of City Council, the Board of Supervisors, and both school boards have agreed to attend.

Delegate Toscano will be gathering citizen input in advance of the meeting through a blog set up for comments, at http://city-county.blogspot.com, and at a Town Hall Meeting Thursday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center with Senator Creigh Deeds.

Monday, April 26: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum America's Energy Future: The Promise of an Interstate Energy Grid Are the challenges of creating an interstate energy grid any less than they were for creating an interstate transportation network? Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of the president who fathered the interstate highway system in the 1950s, works on energy issues as President of the Eisenhower Group, Inc. She also chairs the Eisenhower Institute's Leadership and Public Policy Programs. Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org

Tuesday, April 27: 7:30 p.m. The Ixtatan Foundation, a Charlottesville-based nonprofit, will present the premiere feature screening of the documentary “Brother Towns,” plus a panel discussion led by NAACP chairman Julian Bond, in the V. Earl Dickinson Building at Piedmont Virginia Community College.

The film by Charles Thompson of the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies explores how a Florida community has embraced the presence of Guatemalan immigrants, prompting a new look at the American dream and the role of immigration in its future.

There will be food, prizes and discussion. The event is free. For details, call 296-1263.

Friday, April 30: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: Haleh Esfandiari was arrested by the Iranian security authorities in 2007 and endured 105 days in solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin Prison. She has written of her ordeal in My Prison, My Home: One Woman's Story of Captivity in Iran. Esfandiari is Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, which she joined in 1995. She taught at Princeton University from 1980 to 1994. Esfandiari is the author of numerous articles, and her books include Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran's Islamic Revolution. A book signing will follow her Forum.