Virginia’s not the only red state with recent experience with a popular Democratic governor. Brian Schweitzer has been Montana’s chief executive since January 2005, and has a 69 percent approval rating according to Wikipedia. Schweitzer spoke on March 1 in the Rotunda as the guest of University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. He’s introduced by Center director Larry Sabato and speaks for about seventy minutes including a Q&A session.
Thanks to CPN Volunteer Sean McCord for recording the sound.
Growth seems to be on everyone’s minds in Central Virginia. Will our community become even more ridden by sprawl and property tax increases? That’s what happened in Loudoun County, according to Jim Burton of the county’s Board of Supervisors. He’s an advocate of slow growth, and in this February 28 presentation to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, he describes why and how Loudoun’s population grew from 57,427 in 1980 to nearly 270,000 today. If you want to skip the introduction by Jack Marshall of Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population, fast forward to 4:00 to get right to Burton’s comments, followed by a question and answer period.
This past Saturday, the two Democratic candidates for the Charlottesville City Council faced questions from their peers at the party’s monthly breakfast. Dave Norris and Julian Taliaferro are the only two declared Democrats vying for the two open council seats. Charlottesville Tomorrow recorded the event, which we present here. Visit Charlottesville Tomorrow’s blog entry on the topic for a run-down.
We bring you now the fourth and final in a series of community conversations on poverty sponsored by the Quality Community Council and the University of the Poor. This conversation from February 1 centers around education, and how a poor education or no education can factor into someone’s likelihood to fall into poverty.
The session is introduced by U.Va religious studies professor Corey Walker and speakers include: Deidre Gilmore, Chair of the Public Housing Association of Residents; Professor Robert Q. Berry from the Curry School of Education; Kendra Hamilton of Charlottesville City Council & Black Issues in Higher Education; Emily Dreyfus of Legal Aid’s JustChildren; William Harvey, U.Va’s vice president for diversity and equality; Kenneth Jackson, QCC Volunteer. Janet Legro, Youth Minister of St Paul’s Memorial, served as moderator.
Thanks to CPN Volunteer Sean McCord for recording this event.
Should the Virginia Railway Express be extended from Northern Virginia to as far south as Charlottesville? This could be one of the most important transportation questions to be discuss over the next few years, as more and more developments come to Charlottesville and Albemarle County. An overview of the project, which is still just an idea at this point, was given by former City Councilor Meredith Richards at the September meeting of Charlottesville Citizens for Better Rail Alternatives.
Many lectures from the University of Virginia are available through the U.Va podcast. But individual lecture series are beginning to develop their own specialized podcast feeds as well. One such is the History of the Health Sciences series, produced by the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library and the University of Virginia School of Medicine Continuing Medical Education Program. The most recent lecture is available here. It’s a talk by Duke University’s Margaret Humphreys about the health of the 180,000 African-Americans who joined the Union Army during the Civil War.
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More than 100 local business and technology leaders gathered February 7 as the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council and the Thomas Jefferson Economic Development Partnership co-hosted “Toward a Common Vision: A Call to Action”, the third in a series of annual conversations about issues shaping our region’s economic development. This year, as for the past two years, the event was sponsored by Wachovia. The luncheon was held as part of the VPTC Speaker Series at the Omni Hotel. Former VPTC Chair Bryan Wright and partner in the law firm Williams Mullen served as moderator.
The speakers are: Dr. Catherine Renault, program manager for technology-based economic development with RTI Tech Ventures in Research Triangle Park; Jeff Anderson, executive director of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership; Robert De Mauri, executive director of TJPED.
Rundown of event:
00:00 – 01:23 – Opening comments from VPTC Director Gail Milligan 01:23 – 02:54 – Comments from Scheline Moore of Wachovia 02:54 – 09:53 – Comments from moderator Bryan Wright of Williams Mullen 09:53 – 12:13 – Bryan Wright introduces the speakers 12:13 – 32:53 – Catherine Renault of RTI International 32:53 – 35:38 – Introduction of Jeff Anderson by Bryan Wright 35:38 – 45:57 – Jeff Anderson of the VEDP 45:58 – 47:23 – Introduction of Robert De Mauri by Bryan Wright 47:23 – 58:40 – Robert De Mauri of TJPED 58:40 – 1:17:11 – Question and Answer session 1:17:11 – 1:18:02 – Closing comments from Gail Milligan
In the third of four conversations on the “The Persistence of Poverty”, a series of speakers address the poverty of underemployment. This event was held on January 31 at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church. Speakers include Meredith Richards, Jan Cornell of the U.Va Staff Union, Labor History Professor Claudrina Harold of the University of Virginia, Westhaven resident Theresa Arabie and Joe Szakos of the Virginia Organizing Project. The program is moderated by Neil Halvorson-Taylor of the Quality Community Council. Thanks to CPN Volunteer Sean McCord for recording this event.
Could this be the year that the Democratic party can beat Virgil Goode in the Fifth Congressional District? He was elected to the seat twice as a Democrat before becoming an independent in 2000 and switching parties in 2002. Ever since, Democrats have been looking for a way to knock him off.
This year, two candidates are vying for the right to challenge Goode in the general election. Goode defeated Al Weed in 2004 by a 64 to 36 percent margin, but Weed says he has learned valuable lessons. Bern Ewert is the former city manager of Roanoke and county executive of Prince William County, and says his economic development skills and name recognition in Southside will help win voters. The two met for the first time in debate at a Democratic breakfast on January 21, 2006. The Charlottesville Podcasting Network is the exclusive media provider of this debate, which is provided as a public service.
(00:00 – 02:00) – introductions and ground rules from moderator Tim Heaphey (02:01 – 07:30) – opening statement from Al Weed
(07:31 – 13:21) – opening statement from Bern Ewert (13:21 – 17:28) – Moderator Question 1: Do you have specific plans to attract jobs to the region, especially in the Southside (17:28 – 21:46) – MQ2: What would you do to reform lobbyists in Congress? (21:46 – 25:41) – MQ3: Directed to Al Weed: How would Weed pay for a single-payer health care system? (25:42 – 29:12) – MQ4: Directed to Bern Ewert: How would Ewert pay for his proposed teacher education plan, which cover the costs of teachers who sought a master’s degree in their field? (29:13 – 34:24) – Audience Question 1: What would you do to reverse the trend towards dismantling of environmental regulations, and how would you promote environmental stewardship? (34:24 – 38:48) – AQ2: Would you propose extricating our troops from Iraq, and what do you do as a Congressman? (38:48 – 44:03) – AQ3: What will you do to spur development in the Southside, and how can you help Central Virginians assist their neighbors to the south? How will you get Southside voters to vote for you? (44:03 – 48:00) – AQ4: What do you see as the role of government in addressing poverty and income disparity? How do you feel about raising the minimum wage and the “Living Wage” movement? (48:00 – 51:45) – AQ5: What is your opinion on tax cuts for the wealthy, specifically estate tax cuts? (51:45 – 54:48) – AQ6: How would you vote on the proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage? (54:48 – 59:30) – AQ7: What lessons has Al Weed learned from his last campaign in 2004, and how can Virgil Goode’s popularity in the Southside be overcome? (59:30 – 1:04:01) – AQ8: What should the Democratic party stand for? How would the candidate try to attract Republican voters? (1:04:01 – 1:07:11) – AQ9: How much money will you need to raise in order to be competitive in the general election? (1:07:11 – 1:07:40) – AQ10: Will you support the nominee if you are defeated? (1:07:40 – 1:11:48) – Each candidate asks the other a quick question. Ewert asks Weed what he will do to increase jobs over the next five years, and Weed asks Ewert how he will pay attention to rural areas given that most of his work experience is in urban management. (1:11:48 – 1:16:13) – Members of the audience stand up to ask questions. The first one concerns civil rights as it appeals the prison population. (1:16:13 – 1:19:24) – Question for Ewert to clarify his stance on the proposed pull-out of troops from Iraq. (1:19:24 – 1:22:03) – How will you prepare for a tough fight against a Republican incumbent? (1:22:03 – 1:25:09) – A follow-up question on the incarceration question, would you vote to restore voting rights for felons who have served their time? (1:25:09 – 1:28:04) – What should Congress do to investigate the N.S.A. wiretapping project? (1:28:04 – 1:29:34) – Bern Ewert’s closing statement (1:29:35 – 1:32:00) – Al Weed’s closing statement
This program has been edited for time and continuity. Three questions from the event were edited due to technical error.
Today’s classroom is filled with computers, and technology-assisted instruction is an excellent way to help students quickly learn important concepts. That’s the general topic of discussion at the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council’s January Speakers Luncheon Series.” Three panelists discuss how education is moving Beyond the Book: Using Technology to Enhance K-12 Learning. Paul Cholmsky demonstrates how gizmos created by Charlottesville-based ExploreLearning help students grasp math and science skills. Bill Ferster with the Curry School of Education is working on a project called PrimaryAccess to help students develop documentaries using historical films and images. Terry Levinson of Broaddus Wood Elementary School helped test the program in her classroom. Michael Latsko of Proquest moderates the panel.
Are you thinking of starting a small business? If so, have you considered what form of company will best serve your needs? That’s the subject of the January meeting of the Neon Guild, an association of technology professionals in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area. Each month the group gathers to meet and greet, and hear a speaker talk about some issue related to technology.
This month, the topic is My Company 101, a primer by attorney Dan Smith on the many different types of business arrangements possible for small business owners. This talk does not consist of legal advice, and if you have legal questions, consult an attorney. But, this hour-long talk should give anyone a good overview on the differences between sole proprietership, limited liability companies and corporations.
If you found this program useful, please send it on to as many of your friends and colleagues as possible. CPN is also looking for other programs and speeches to cover. Please contact us at info@cvillepodcast.com.
What is a blog, and why should businesses care? On November 17th, the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council convened a panel discussion to explore the issue called ‘Casting for Customers: How Blogs, Podcasting and RSS Feeds are Changing Business Communications. I sat on the panel, along with Waldo Jaquith of cvillenews.com and cvilleblogs.com, Edward Cossette of Explore Learning and Michael Prichard of Willowtree Interactive. Jerry MacLean of PERCC Research moderated the discussion.
