UVa. rallies in 11th to nip W&M
Freshman Mike Papi (Tunkhannock, Pa.) hit a two-run walk-off single in the 11th inning to propel the Virginia baseball team to a 6-5 victory over William and Mary Tuesday in front of 2,598 fans at Davenport Field. UVa (2-1-1) also rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the eighth inning to send the game to extra innings.
William & Mary (2-2) scored a run on a UVa error in the top of the 11th, but Virginia came back in the bottom of the inning. Chris Taylor (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) hit a leadoff single and Mitchell Shifflett (So., Midlothian, Va.) walked. Stephen Bruno (Jr., Audubon, N.J.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners in scoring position, and Papi ripped the 3-2 pitch over the drawn-in infield into right field, with Shifflett touching home plate with his left hand just before the tag of catcher Chris Forsten. Continue reading “UVa. rallies in 11th to nip W&M” »
UVa. wins nailbiter at Virginia Tech, 61-59
A 17-2 second-half run erased an eight-point deficit, and Virginia held on after losing its starting guards to foul trouble in the final two minutes to post a 61-59 win over Virginia Tech in Blacksburg Tuesday night.
The Hokies had won two of their last three on buzzer-beaters, and had a chance to win another one at the end after Akil Mitchell missed the front end of a one-and-one with 22.5 seconds left. Tech coach Seth Greenberg called timeout to set up a game-winning play, but his team never got a shot off.
UVa. (21-6, 8-5 ACC) had several chances to close the game out down the stretch, but missed the front ends of three consecutive one-and-ones in the final minute to leave the door open. Continue reading “UVa. wins nailbiter at Virginia Tech, 61-59” »
Win two tickets to the John Prine concert
AugustaFreePress.com is giving away two tickets to the John Prine concert at the Charlottesville Pavilion Saturday night at 7 p.m.
To win, post a comment on the Augusta Free Press on Facebook giving us in 25 words or less a reason for us to give you the tickets.
The deadline to enter the contest is Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Here’s a brief sketch of Prine from the Charlottesville Pavilion website:
Some four decades since his remarkable debut, John Prine has stayed at the top of his game, both as a performer and songwriter. Recently honored at the Library of Congress by US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, he’s been elevated from the annals of songwriters into the realm of bonafide American treasures.
Long considered a “songwriter’s songwriter,” John Prine is a rare talent who writes the songs other songwriters would sell their souls for. Evidence of this is the long list of songwriters who have recorded gems from his extensive catalog, including Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, the Everly Brothers, John Denver, Kris Kristofferson, Carly Simon, Ben Harper, Joan Baez, and many others.
“He’s so good, we’re gonna have to break his fingers,” Kris Kristofferson once said after being justifiably stunned by a Prine performance. Bob Dylan remarked, “Beautiful songs… Nobody but Prine could write like that.” And now he’s back with a brand new live album, In Person & On Stage, which is perfectly balanced between classic hits and new treasures from his Grammy Award-winning Fair & Square. It’s a culmination of his last few years touring and features duet renditions of some of early songs such as “Angel From Montgomery” (here in a breathtaking duet with Emmylou Harris) as well as later ones like “Unwed Fathers” (with Iris DeMent) and one of the most poignant songs ever from a husband to a wife, “She Is My Everything.”
From “Long Monday” to “Saddle In The Rain” and “The Late John Garfield Blues (with Sara Watkins),” Prine’s songs are so hauntingly evocative of the laughter and tears inherent in the human condition, so purely precise and finely etched, that lines from them linger in our hearts and minds like dreams, separate from the songs.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Derby team looks for new members
Want to be fresh meat for the Charlottesville Derby Dames?
The roller-derby team will look for new members at a Fresh Meat practice on Wednesday, Oct. 6, from 7-9 p.m. at the Charlottesville National Guard Armory.
Fresh Meat practices are no-contact/no-hitting practices for new members. Equipment and skating tips are provided.
The Derby Dames are holding Fresh Meat practices on Wednesday nights throughout the month of October – on Oct. 13, Oct. 20 and Oct. 27.
All of the Fresh Meat practices are at the Charlottesville National Guard Armory from 7-9 p.m.
More information: http://groups.google.com/group/FriendsOfCDD?hl=en.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Waynesboro-Charlottesville connector debuts
A fixed-route service connecting Waynesboro and Charlottesville began operations on Monday.
The Shenandoah Express, a service of Virginia Regional Transit, will run three days a week – on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.
Express users will be able to travel from Waynesboro to Charlottesville for 50 cents each way. The Express will connect with existing VRT and Coordinated Area Transit Services routes at the Waynesboro Wal-Mart and the Water Street transfer station in Charlottesville.
For the full schedule, call 800.305.0077.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Groups ask court to block Cuccinelli on climate case
Four defenders of academic freedom have joined forces to file an amicus brief asking a Virginia judge to set aside a demand from Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for documents related to the research of a global warming expert once employed by the University of Virginia.
Signing the amicus brief, filed on Tuesday in Albemarle County Circuit Court, are the ACLU of Virginia, American Association of University Professors, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression.
Cuccinelli, whose opposition to global warming theories is well known, created a public stir earlier this year when he sought records from UVA related to the communications and research of former professor Michael Mann, a widely published proponent of global warming theory. Among the broad range of records sought were e-mails that Mann sent to and received from colleagues since 1999.
After learning of Cuccinelli’s demand for information on Mann and reading media reports indicating that UVa. was inclined to comply, the American Association of University Professors and the ACLU of Virginia urged university officials to exercise their right to oppose the demand.
In late May, lawyers for UVa. filed papers in court arguing that the attorney general does not have the authority to demand the records and private communications of a college professor without justification. Today’s amicus brief supports UVa.’s position.
“If the court permits the attorney general to gain access to the private communications among scientists whenever he disagrees with their ideas, the scientists will simply stop sharing their ideas,” said ACLU of Virginia executive director Kent Willis. “The chilling effect on academic freedom and scientific inquiry is incalculable.”
A copy of the amicus brief filed today is available online at http://acluva.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/08-17-10.pdf.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Busy season for the Artisans Center of Virginia
The Artisans Center of Virginia is having a busy August, announcing this week several initiatives and programs aimed at promoting the work of Virginia artisans.
The Waynesboro-based Artisans Center will be collaborating with the Lynne Goldman Studio located in Barracks Road Shopping Center in Charlottesville. Lynne Goldman Studio is celebrating 18 years of being at the forefront of artisan jewelry and unique shopping. In addition to Goldman ’s custom designs, the studio is known for showcasing emerging designers. Lynne Goldman Studio continues this tradition by adding the handmade jewelry, sculpture, pottery and textiles of the Artisans Center of Virginia.
“Lynne Goldman Studio offers Virginia artisans a unique opportunity to feature their one-of-a-kind artist works in an inviting retail environment that represents the highest quality products to it’s patrons and we are proud to facilitate this relationship between our ACV artisans and such a well-respected artist-entrepreneur,” ACV executive director Sherri Smith said.
Recognized for its stringent artisan jury process, ACV will facilitate from its eligible professional artisan membership, the consignment of exquisite and unique craft items to expand the Lynne Goldman Studio’s repertoire with retail products that represent the highest quality craft that Virginia has to offer.
Virginia artisans interested in being considered for representation by the Lynne Goldman Studio must first be practicing ACV Juried Professional Artisans and members of ACV. All Virginia artisans are welcome to apply to the ACV’s Jury.
The application deadline for the next jury session is Sept. 1, 2010. Visit ACV’s website at www.artisanscenterofvirginia.org to download the application materials.
Another collaboration will have the Artisans Center partnering with Piedmont Virginia Community College to offer classes and workshops in PVCC’s Stultz Center for Business and Career Development in Charlottesville.
“ACV is proud to establish our Studio School program in this strategically state-centralized location and looks forward to working with PVCC to establish accessible entrepreneur-based arts educational programming for students and artists from all over the state.” Smith said. “The artisan industry in Virginia is one of the state’s greatest untapped economic assets. Skilled craftsmen and women, with expertise in design and manufacturing techniques, form the backbone of the creative economy in many communities across the Commonwealth and thus we look to them to help us create a sustainable education program that strengthens and perpetuates Virginia’s greater arts industry.”
The ACV Studio School at its core is a workforce development initiative that focuses on the vocational and trade skills of Virginia artisans while providing them with the business training needed to advance their marketable talents and sell their products and services. In addition to entrepreneur development courses, incorporated in the practical applications that give an artist a broader functionality or transferability of skills, they will be encouraged in an attempt to offer cross-training in skill based trades utilizing similar equipment and procedures.
The ACV Studio School will include educational outreach to the next generation of Virginia artisans, facilitation of programs in a wide variety of artist-entrepreneurial, contemporary and traditional craft courses, establishment of The Artisans Center of Virginia Instructor’s Bureau, for the purpose of offering rural communities satellite education opportunities and the development of an official craft vocational syllabus in support of the Virginia Department of Education’s “Career Pathways” for the arts.
“The ACV Studio School recognizes that artists and craft-persons are a vibrant part of our economy,” said Valerie Palamountain, Dean of Workforce Services. “PVCC is very excited about this new venture, and our involvement in developing this sector. We look forward to offering classes designed specifically for the arts and crafts industry in entrepreneurship, business, and skilled crafts, and are honored to be associated with the ACV.”
Craft courses will be taught by practicing, ACV juried Virginia artisan members, many of whom are nationally renowned. ACV welcomes any Virginia craft artisan not yet an ACV juried artisan to apply to the Sept. 1, 2010 Jury, should they be interested in teaching a craft course at the Studio School.
A third collaboration announced this week will have the Artisans Center of Virginia teaming with Artisphere to open a new ACV Gallery in Arlington featuring professional juried Virginia artisans from all corners of the state.
“This unique gallery will be solely dedicated to ACV professional juried artisans and their work with every piece of artwork hand-crafted by Virginia artisans,” Smith said.
Combining the newly-renovated former Newseum space with the existing Spectrum Theatre next door, Artisphere’s multi-disciplinary cultural offerings will permeate this 62,000 square foot cultural campus seven days a week, 12 hours a day, offering more than 100 events per month.
Recognized for its stringent artisan jury process, ACV, serving as Artisphere’s fine craft purveyor, will select from its eligible professional artisan membership, exquisite and unique craft items to create an inviting retail venue representing the highest quality craft that Virginia has to offer.
ACV’s mission of bringing economic opportunity to Virginia artisans while strengthening local economies is realized in this sustainable alliance that combines ACV’s networking and artisan jury strengths with the retail and marketing reach of the Artisphere’s locality and support systems.
“Artisphere is ‘Arlington’s art space for everyone,” says Mary Briggs, cultural development director for Arlington Cultural Affairs. “To be able to provide a prominent showcase in the DC metropolitan area for artisans from throughout the state of Virginia helps us to fulfill that mission.”
Virginia artisans interested in being featured at ARTISPHERE must be practicing ACV juried professional artisans and members of ACV. All Virginia artisans are welcome to apply to the ACV’s Jury. The application deadline for the next jury session is Sept. 1, 2010. Visit ACV’s website at www.artisanscenterofvirginia.org to download the application materials.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Virginia Organizing: Taking issues to action
You’re mad as hell, and you’re not going to take it anymore. What makes America America is how we take our frustrations to action.
“The role that we play is helping citizens be able to know enough about what bothers them to be able to verbalize that to the power-brokers,” said Janice “Jay” Johnson, the chair of the Charlottesville-based Virginia Organizing, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this month.
“Citizenship is an active role, not a passive role. We’re here to support people being active in their communities,” said Johnson, who got involved in Virginia Organizing in Newport News 10 years ago because she was “looking for a way to get involved” and wanted to do more than sit around and talk and drink coffee and call that being involved.
The civic awareness and sense of civic duty that the Founders had as the cornerstones of their American experiment compete in our modern American life with work and careers and family and recreation and entertainment.
Just keeping up with the daily news can be tough, and being able to do more than yell at the TV when elected leaders do something dumb is a challenge.
“What happens is we elect people to represent us at the state and national levels and then tell them to go do their thing. But their thing isn’t necessarily the citizens’ thing,” Johnson said. “Citizens elect these people, and then they give them power. We give the power to them, and then we’re afraid to talk to them about what we really need. So then citizens feel helpless. They feel powerless to do anything. Unless they’re able to say what it is that is bothering them and they think needs to change, then they aren’t going to be listened to.”
Virginia Organizing provides people with the tools they need to empower themselves to action.
“A lot of people have things that bother them or affect them in terms of the communities they live in, but they don’t know the background of the issue or the history or what the possibility of change and what things would look like if there was change. What we do is talk with people about what they see are the issues and help them set priorities for what it is they really want to work at getting to happen and strategies for effecting change,” Johnson said.
An important part of what Virginia Organizing does is help people “find the people who can make that change,” Johnson said.
“It can be school boards, it can be state elected officials, it could be the local housing authority, it could be local businesspeople. You have to find out who your allies are,” Johnson said.
Efforts are ongoing on issues including health-care reform, financial reform and predatory lending, to name just a few of the topics that have Virginia Organizing’s attention.
Anniversaries are good times to think about what has been done to date and what will be done in the future. The future of Virginia Organizing, Johnson said, “is doing more of what we’re doing now.”
“The work never really stops,” Johnson said. “There’s always something going on that needs to change. The way the state looks at its revenue situation needs to change. We have an administration that’s looking at getting rid of revenue-producers instead of looking at ways to produce more revenue otherwise. We have to look at the perspectives and priorities of the administration of the state and whether it’s doing what is in the best interests of its citizens and where people are with that and the concerns that they have.”
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Kids now have HOPE
Music for HOPE, an acronym for Helping Other People Everywhere, is a nonprofit organization that will help those who are interested in playing a musical instrument, but that do not have the funds to do so, obtain the instrument of their choosing.
The idea for Music for HOPE was developed in Las Vegas by Mike Jones in 1994. “I ran into the same problem when I was in school with the music program and not having an instrument,” said Jones. Although the operation’s headquarters has been moved to Charlottesville, the Las Vegas business is still in full effect
The money is raised through donations and small fundraisers. The funds go toward cleaning up instruments and refurbishing them as well as providing cleaning kits and reeds for the various instruments.
“People go through their closets and find old instruments that they used to play in middle school or high school and send them to us so that we can clean them up and give them to someone who wants to play in the school band,” said Jones. The kids who receive the instruments are ones who are brought to the program’s attention by the school. “The school contacts us and lets us know that there is someone who would benefit from Music for HOPE, and we do what we can to help them out.”
Up until the recently, 98 percent of the funding has come from the pocket of Mike Jones. “The program was discontinued for a couple of years because I ran out of money to fund it, but now we are back, and since 1997 we have helped over 200 kids and school programs.”
Music for HOPE is currently entered in a contest called the Pepsi Refresh Project. All you have to do is tell all your friends to vote, and Music for HOPE could win $50,000 to go toward their organization.
The money would help with advertising, instrument repairs/parts, purchasing additional instruments, etc.
If you want to help out this great organization please visit: http://www.refresheverything.com/musicforhope.
Story by Jenny Hypes. Jenny can be reached at jenny.hypes@emu.edu.
Keywords: charlottesville virginia
Coach Dex and the Zen of Kicking
Football isn’t rocket science.
“My philosophy is just to get them to play hard, play fast. To me, football is a simple game. Run, tackle, catch. On special teams, if we’re returning it, block the guy and try to get our guy to return it. If we’re kicking it off, tackle the guy. Bottom line, to me,” said Anthony Poindexter, the new special-teams coordinator at the University of Virginia and the only holdover on the staff of Mike London from the Al Groh era.
Poindexter was an All-America at safety at UVa. in the 1990s. Those were the good years, and they look better the further down the road we get from the end of the George Welsh era, when fans got so complacent with the run of seasons with at least seven wins that Welsh was essentially run out of town because he didn’t do more.
Consider 8-16 in the past two seasons, including a Dick Bestwick-like 3-9 in 2009, Groh’s last year.
“The last two years have been hard for me personally as an alum, then as a coach and former player. It’s tough seeing our program at the state it had gotten to. So it’s very important to me to get our program back to being the number-one program in the state and competing every year for the title and going to bowl games every year,” Poindexter said.
Poindexter’s role is coordinating the efforts of the third of the game that fans tend to overlook. Poindexter and London are of the same mindset with their approach to special-teams play.
“I’m going to use the best players. I don’t look it as a feel-good, that’s the way people get on the field, get into the game. You can win and lose games on special teams. And me and Coach London are on the same page with that. We’ll use whoever we have to use to perform well on the special teams,” Poindexter said.
The headline comes from a line of questions from reporters at UVa. football media day on Wednesday on one facet of special teams that one can assume the former defensive back has little personal expertise with – kicking.
Take his answer to a query on his approach to working with kickers.
“Teaching the kicker? Try to get the best one I can, that know how to kick when they get here,” he said.
“I think with these kickers, a lot of it is mental. They’ve got all these guys they go to in the summertime. All my guys were out at this specialist, that specialist. I’m not a specialist. They go and learn the techniques and work on their techniques with these guys. I just want to give them an atmosphere where they feel comfortable that we ain’t going to be jumping down their throat if they miss one. They’re human, too, but obviously at the end of the day, they’ve got to make kicks, make punts, that kind of stuff, but we’ve got to give them a comfortable environment so they can succeed,” Poindexter said.
“They’ve just got to learn to relax and do their thing. I mean, that’s all these guys do, is kick. I’m like, just do what you do. You’re over there all day practicing your kicks and all that kind of stuff. When you move to the team part of it, it’s the same thing. Just relax, ain’t nobody out there, it’s just you and the ball.”
Your moment of Zen.
Story/Audio by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Keywords: virginia football, uva football
Reid: ‘A great adventure’ on the way
Jim Reid, you could say, discovered Mike London, hiring London as an assistant when Reid was the head man at Richmond, starting London on the track that led him to being named the head coach at the University of Virginia and later hiring Reid as his defensive coordinator.
Reid told reporters at Wednesday’s UVa. football media day that he’s had more fun this spring and summer than he’s had in decades of coaching.
“There’s a level of excitement and anticipation here with all the change with Coach London running the program that isn’t just for the first day, first week, hump day, which is usually about the seventh or eighth day of practice. There’s just a determination to get this thing changed, turned, in a great way,” Reid said.
Story/Audio by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Keywords: virginia football, uva football
Not oldies, but goodies: ‘Les Temps Per Due’ host marks three years on show
Posted by afp on October 21, 2010 · Leave a Comment
“I still listen to a lot of the music that my parents listened to,” said Drew Thompson, the host of the Charlottesville-based WNRN’s “Les Temps Per Due,” which highlights the best music of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.
The Wilson Memorial and Bridgewater College alum has been a DJ of sorts dating back to childhood when he’d play his parents’ records in between listening to ’80s and ’90s music on the radio.
“My taste in music is ever-evolving. I’m always adding to the base that I grew up with and what I’m comfortable with when new stuff comes out,” said Thompson, who marked his third anniversary as host of “Les Temps Per Due,” loosely translated as “The Times Gone By,” on Oct. 3.
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with charlottesville virginia, les temps per due, wnrn