Monday, February 1: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: Gina M Bennett, CIA officer. Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org

Tuesday, Feb. 2: 7 to 8:30 p.m.Left of Center Healthcare Reform: What's Left and What's Right? At: Rapture restaurant, Downtown Mall, Charlottesville. After Democrats lost their 60-vote supermajority in the Senate, is healthcare reform dead? Leading this month's discussion are four University of Virginia professors: Dr. Robert Powers, Carolyn Engelhard, John D. Arras and Dr. Don Detmer.

Free appetizers and socializing (with a cash bar) from 7 to 7:30 p.m. precedes a 20-minute panel discussion and introduction to the issue. Then we open the floor to audience questions. Come join the discussion. Left of Center is a Charlottesville-area group of mostly 20- and 30-something Democrats and progressives. Left of Center is age-centered but not age-exclusive. We gather monthly to discuss and get involved with local issues and politics. Find us on Facebook or at www.leftofcentercville.org. Contact:Brevy Cannon brevy@yahoo.com 256-599-1449 (mobile)

Tuesday, Feb. 2: 7:30 p.m. The Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies announces its spring 2010 lecture series. “The Assassination of Fred Hampton”, a lecture by noted Attorney and Author, Jeffrey Haas. at the Minor Hall Auditorium, Room 125, University of Virginia. This event is free and open to the public.

The Assassination of Fred Hampton is Mr. Haas’s personal account of how he and his People’s Law Office partners pursued Hampton’s assassins. They ultimately exposed the conspiracy between FBI agents carrying out FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s secret and deadly Counterintelligence Program and the Chicago Police conspiracy that led to Hampton’s assassination. Not only a story of justice delivered, the book puts Hampton in a new light as a dynamic community leader and an inspirational speaker.

Friday, February 5: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: Presidential Leadership and the Nature of Change Peter Hannaford, Reagan administration official. Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org

Monday, February 8: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: The Promise of an Interstate Energy Grid .Susan Eisenhower. Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org

Monday, February 8: Fifth District Republican Candidates' Debate sponsored by the UVa College Republicans. Time, place TBD.

Thursday, February 11: 8:00 a.m- 3:00 p.m..Pro-choice Lobby Day in Richmond. Schedule TBD. Registration as well as bus schedules and reservations at http://www.ppaction.org/ppav/events/2010prochoicelobbyday/details.tcl.

Thursday, February 11: 7:00 p.m. Regular monthly meeting of the Monticello Bird Club. “Pollinators: More than just the Birds and Bees”: All those tweets and twitters--what are birds saying to each other? Expert Wil Hershberger reveals some of our local birds’ communication secrets when he presents a seasonal journey through the cycle of bird song in our area. An opportunity to not only see beautiful bird photos but to hear their calls and songs as well. Education Building, Ivy Creek Natural Area, Earlysville Road, Charlottesville. Always free. Beginners always welcome. Further information Patricia Wilczek: 985-4444; Stauffer Miller: 296-5505; Ellen Dudley: 244-2688 or www.monticellobirdclub.org

Friday, February 12: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: The Concept of Capitalism .Bruce R. Scott, the Paul W. Cherington Professor of Business Administration at Harvard. A book signing will follow his Forum.. Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org

Monday, February 15: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: Lincoln: A Life Michael Burlingame, Lincoln scholar. Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org

Friday, February 19: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: The Death and Life of American Journalism John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney are the founders of Free Press and the authors of Tragedy and Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy. Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org

Friday, February 19: 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. The Grace Tinsley Scholarship fundraiser. Enjoy an evening of great music, fine food, and wonderful people while helping deserving Charlottesville High School graduates continue their education! At the Elks Lodge (next to Darden Towe Park, just off Rte. 20 North). Tickets are $30 (includes heavy hors d'oeuvres, dessert, live music and cash bar), and are available at the door, at Quilts Unlimited on the Downtown Mall, and at the Rose Hill Market. Contact Russ Linden at russlinden@earthlink.net for more information.

Saturday, February 20: 9:30 - 11:00 a.m. Regular monthly Albemarle/Charlottesville Democratic Breakfast. This month a panel discussion chaired by Jim Heilmann on Local Elections: Why do we have elected rather than appointed constitutional officers and what are the pros and cons of partisan vs non-partisan elections for constitutional officers, county board members and city councilors? The panel will include Sally Thomas, Dave Chapman and Rich Collins

At JABA. 674 Hillsdale Drive, Charlottesville (behind Fashion Square and adjacent to the Marriott Suites). The event is free, a light breakfast is provided, and the general public is warmly invited. A hat is passed, to offset the modest costs of the room and food.

Monday, February 22: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: Current Debates in Higher Education David W. Breneman, a University Professor and the Newton & Rota Meyers Professor if the Economics of Education. Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org

Tuesday, February 23: 12:30 - 2:00 p.m. LWV Luncheon "Property Rights in Land" Jon Cannon, Director of the UVa Law School's Environmental and Land Use Program. New County Office Building, Room "A" 1600 Fifth Street, Charlottesville. Bag Lunch $8.00 970 1707 or lwv@avenue.org

Thursday, February 25: 4:00 p.m. The 2010 Ambassador William C. Battle Symposium on American Diplomacy: Diplomacy against Terror: America's Allies and Enemies in Pakistan Steve Coll, C. Christine Fair, John Echeverri-Gent, Jeffrey Legro. Please note, this panel will take place at the Harrison Institute Auditorium on grounds. Further info, schedule of other events, directions on the website http://www.millercenter.org.