Political Meet-and-Greet in Charlottesville

Questions ranged from public education to health insurance premiums. 25th District Democratic Senator Creigh Deeds (right, facing crowd) and 57th District Delegate David Toscano (center, facing crowd)
took part in the forum. / Picture: Marguerite Gallorini

On Sunday, the League of Women Voters of the Charlottesville Area organized a Meet and Greet between residents and their delegates - including Democratic House Minority Leader David Toscano. WMRA’s Marguerite Gallorini was there.

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[Crowd chatting]

The League of Women Voters had invited House Delegates and State Senators from Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Nelson, and Louisa counties. Unfortunately, only two of them answered the call – 25th District Democratic Senator Creigh Deeds, and 57th District Delegate David Toscano. Fortunately, the audience turnout was good at CitySpace downtown and the debate was fruitful, says Del. Toscano.

DAVID TOSCANO: The League of Women Voters always puts on a good forum where there are very substantive questions that are very difficult to answer. But it's important because it's a great way that we hear from our constituents about what's on their minds.

And many things are on their minds: gun safety, public education, the pipeline, the consequences for graduate students of the recent House’s tax bill. As well as the recent spike in health insurance premiums in Charlottesville.

TOSCANO: The Bureau of Insurance, they approved these rates based on what these companies submit to them, and that's pretty much where we stand. Now, the Bureau of Insurance is set up in a way, in kind of the outside of political pressure. But I could see the legislature exert more control over these rates to the Bureau of Insurance.

To achieve this, they’ll have to be creative, he says. Another topic that came around the end of the session, was about facilitating registration and voting.

EVAN: Hi, my name's Evan and I live here in Charlottesville. It was mentioned earlier, about no-excuse absentee voting, to make voting easier which I think is a great first step. But I think it's that: a first step. Would you all support legislation or introduce legislation for automatic voter registration or same-day registration, mail by voting, automatic restoration of felons' voting rights, or even relaxing voter ID laws?

And here’s Sen. Deeds’ response.

CREIGH DEEDS: I introduced legislation last year that called for a study of the same-day registration because I think we ought to be making it easier to vote. It would make more sense for us to have voting over a weekend.

[Applause]

This story appeared on WMRA News.

National Adoption Day

Every Saturday before Thanksgiving, National Adoption Day is celebrated through various events in the country - and in the region. WMRA’s Marguerite Gallorini has this preview.

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The Foster Care Adoption Awareness Coalition will honor several families on Saturday at 11.30 at Blue Ridge Community Church in Barboursville.

MARNIE ALLEN: All of these families have adopted out of the foster care system.

Marnie Allen is the Family Support, Training, & Recruitment Specialist at Community Attention Foster Families, an organization part of the coalition. They have been providing foster care services in the area since 1976. Over the years, Allen says they have seen a sort of philosophical evolution in their approach to foster care.

ALLEN: We are working really hard on facilitating continued relationships with birth families, even when children are adopted. We don't want to create more loss for the children.

She says it helps the children understand that even though their birth families don't have the ability to meet their needs, it does not mean they stopped loving them.

ALLEN: It's great for the kids.

Saturday's event is also a way to remind the general population of the continued importance of the issue.

Besides the event in Barboursville, in  Charlottesville, Trinity Presbyterian Church has an Adoption and Foster Care Ministry open to anyone who has adopted, fostered, or is interested in learning about the process. They are hosting a lunch on Sunday at 12:45.

This story appeared on WMRA News.

Hillary Clinton Wraps Up Women's Conference at UVa

After an introduction by UVa President Theresa Sullivan and outgoing Governor Terry McAuliffe, 

Hillary Clinton arrived to give the final remarks of the university's Women's Global Leadership Forum. 

Picture: Marguerite Gallorini

Former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton provided the closing remarks of the University of Virginia's two-day Women's Global Leadership forum Tuesday afternoon, as part of the university's bicentennial commemoration. Topics included sexism in politics and elsewhere, but also the protection of democracy in the U.S. WMRA's Marguerite Gallorini has more.

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A standing ovation from a majority female audience welcomed the 2016 Democratic candidate.

[Crowd shouting]

Hillary Clinton talked about the challenges and double standards women leaders face in their professional lives – and about how to stand their ground even if they're the only woman in the room.

HILLARY CLINTON : Be prepared to speak up. I was asked the other day "Well what do you do when you're in a meeting and maybe you're the only woman there, and you express an idea and nobody pays attention to you. And then, ten minutes later, a man at the same meeting expresses the same idea: what do you do?" Well, look, I think you can say "You know, I'm so glad John heard me." (crowd laughs)

She also addressed new threats, including those she says the Trump administration is ignoring, such as the national security threat posed by the Russian interference with last year’s election. Clinton also cited the leadership of Virginia’s outgoing governor.

CLINTON : One area that I want to give another shout out to Terry [McAuliffe] is: when Virginia saw - what everybody saw - that our voting machines could be hacked so easily, Virginia decided to move to paper ballots. More states need to do that: our voting machines are not safe and secure. Voter suppression is a tactic meant to shrink the electorate. If you cannot win a fair fight in an election, you don't deserve to win.

Clinton did not mention the recent controversy within her own party over allegations that the Democratic primary selection process was unfair. But she did mention the challenges that face voters in sifting through information and news, and the danger of 'alternative facts' to democracy.

CLINTON : There is no such thing as an alternative fact. Those of you who study History know that trying to blur the line between fact and fiction is what dictators and authoritarians do. They want you to see the reality they want you to see. We can't let that happen.

This story appeared on WMRA News.

Virginia Film Festival Lights Its 30th Candle

The 30th annual Virginia Film Festival kicks off Thursday, with more than 120 films over the weekend throughout Charlottesville. WMRA’s Marguerite Gallorini has this preview.

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[Clip from Beetlejuice trailer]: The fun has just begun...

The renowned Virginia Film Festival will blow out its 30th candle this year with blockbusters, short films plus new discoveries and foreign films. And you can ease into it with the classics: Bonnie and Clyde, Broadcast News, Beetlejuice.

[Clip from Beetlejuice]

ADAM MAITLAND: Can you be scary?

BEETLEJUICE: What do you think of this?

[Screams]

A recent big hit nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, is Hidden Figures, based on the book by UVA alumna Margot Lee Shetterly. It recounts the true story of a group of black female mathematicians working during the early days of the space race at NASA, while also dealing with segregation.

[Clip from Hidden Figures]

KARL ZIELINSKI: Let me ask you: if you were a white male, would you wish to be an engineer?

MARY JACKSON: I wouldn’t have to. I’d already be one.

If you missed the chance to see the film when Shetterly presented it at the Paramount back in September, you have another chance to catch it on Sunday. And you’re in luck: the author will be available again for a discussion after the screening.

[Clip from Hidden Figures]

CATHERINE JOHNSON: Yes, they let women do some things at NASA Mr. Johnson. And it’s not because we wear skirts. It’s because we wear glasses.

Hidden Figures is part of the festival’s special focus this year: Race in America. VFF collaborated with James Madison’s Montpelier, which has revisited its own slavery legacy with exhibitions and even the re-creation of slave dwellings on its historic property. As part of this focus on race, the festival will also screen the documentary 4 Little Girls, telling the story of the 1963 terrorist bomb attack by white supremacists on a Baptist Church in Alabama that  killed four black girls.

[Clip from 4 Little Girls]        

RICKEY POWELL: These little girls will never get the chance to realize life, because of some person’s decision to make them the - maybe the victims of why the movement should stop.

And as usual, notable Hollywood names will be present again this year. Director and Oscar winner Spike Lee will engage in  a discussion of the film prior to the screening on Saturday afternoon. As a side note: the last living convicted bomber of this attack, former KKK member Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. who was convicted only in 2001, was denied parole last year.

[Chants]                      

It was also inevitable that the events of August 12 would be addressed somehow: so on Sunday the festival will screen a documentary – which is still a work in progress – entitled Charlottesville: Our Streets compiling the work of local journalists, photographers and filmmakers, and 20 interviews with witnesses. Director Brian Wimer and writer Jackson Landers will be present for a discussion.

But that’s not the only way Charlottesville will make its mark on this festival.

[Clip from Double Dummy]

PATTY TUCKER: The game itself is elegant and beautiful and interesting and fun. But the people that you meet and the friends that you make: that’s the treasure.

VFF again this year is showcasing Virginia filmmaking through a collection of movies made or having roots in the Commonwealth. And one of them is Double Dummy, a documentary on the game of bridge by local bridge aficionado John McAllister.

[Clip from Double Dummy]

JORI GROSSACK: I’m Jori Grossack, mother of Adam and Zachary.

ADAM GROSSACK: When I have to tell my friends on a Saturday night or Friday night that I can’t hang out because I have a bridge tournament, eh… Alright, fine - eventually they got used to it though.

Saturday is the festival’s Family Day, hosted on UVA Arts Grounds, and it will feature crafts, performances, music, and free arts-inspired workshops; and you can see – for free – Harry Potter and the beloved Aristocats in the Culbreth Theater.

[Clip from The Aristocats]

SCAT CAT: Everybody wants to be a cat, because a cat’s the only cat who knows where it’s at.

This year’s festival also reaches around the world to feature international movies from Australia and Estonia to Russia and Nepal; there will also be a 100th Anniversary screening of Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant; and even the season 6 final episode of the series Homeland. And this year, the famous Shot-by-Shot Workshop will look at the quirky black comedy drama Harold and Maude, which the Library of Congress selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1997.

[Clip from Harold and Maude]

MAUDE: Try something new each day. After all, we’re given life to find it out - it doesn’t last forever.

This story appeared on WMRA News.

Virginia Votes: Election Day 2017 - Charlottesville

Charlottesville's Walker Upper Elementary School opened its doors
to voters of the precinct until 7 p.m. / Picture: Marguerite Gallorini

Polls opened at 6 o’clock this morning. Marguerite Gallorini made it early to one polling station in Charlottesville, where voters were selecting two new city council members, in addition to candidates for the statewide contests.

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Several hours before the rain hit the city, people braved the cold to go vote before work at Charlottesville’s Walker Upper Elementary School. Independent City Council candidate Nikuyah Walker, doing a tour of all the precincts with her son Dante, was here encouraging people - or maybe was it people encouraging her.

NIKUYAH WALKER: Turnout has been really good. Lots of 'I got you', 'you already have my vote' so…

Whatever the results, she considers it all to be a success.

WALKER: I've been able to share this whole what I've been talking about the campaign that there's two Charlottesvilles and not one; and even the problems within the local Democratic party that we saw on a national level that got Trump elected.

Speaking of problems, John Worozbyt is a little confused about the candidates he voted for.

JOHN WOROZBYT: I tend to be a Democratic Party hack and so I voted for Northam for Governor, and Herring for, I want to say lieutenant governor, and then attorney general... That's terrible, that's why I'm a Democratic Party hack! I can't tell you... I know that John Adams was a Republican candidate…

He particularly disliked some of the attack ads that Republicans ran, he says. So did  UVa professor Hector Amaya.

HECTOR AMAYA: It was so, so important to vote against Gillespie and his politics of hate. I hope you understand, coming from a Latino, how hurtful it is to be exposed to the type of advertizing that Gillespie has issued, and we will remember.

A kind of rhetoric that might have fostered a little more commitment to vote on the part of Virginians, says chief election official Sheila Haughey:

SHEILA HAUGHEY: I know we've had a lot of absentee voters in the City, and I hear that's true in the County as well, this time.

This story appeared on WMRA News.

Virginia Votes: Election Day 2017 - Crozet

There was a good turnout at Crozet's 601 Precinct at the Elementary School,
 says chief election official Lynn Rutherford-Snow. / Picture: Marguerite Gallorini

Turnout in Virginia’s elections tends to be lower in off-years, and on rainy days.  But that didn’t deter the voters at one polling station in Crozet.  Marguerite Gallorini has this report.

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Cars pulled in and out of the parking in a constant stream at Crozet Elementary School.

ELECTION OFFICIAL: Thank you for voting!

Turnout has been good, says Lynn Rutherford-Snow, chief election official at Crozet’s Precinct 601.

LYNN RUTHERFORD-SNOW: At 8 a.m. we'd already had 397 registered voters to come through and vote. I think it's supposed to be a close-knit race for our governor and I think that's why we're having a fairly good turnout today.

She says a lot of older people came to vote - but also parents with their children, since Albemarle County Public Schools are closed yesterday and today.

RUTHERFORD-SNOW: We do strongly urge our parents. If you can and you have the time, bring them with you so they can see how the system operates.

Parents also came with their children who are now old enough to vote, including PVCC student Emily ThomasClarke :

EMILY THOMASCLARKE: It was my first time voting so it was exciting. I missed the presidential voting cut off by exactly a month so I was like uhhh, so it was exciting to come out here and vote today.

This morning, the rallying call was...

ELLEN AND EMILY THOMASCLARKE: Vote! Get out and vote! No matter who you're voting for, every vote, it matters.

This story appeared on WMRA News.

TEDx Charlottesville 2017

TEDx Charlottesville is back for its 8th edition this year, and promises a full day of inspiring talks Friday, Nov. 3 at the Paramount Theater. WMRA’s Marguerite Gallorini has this preview.

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[Sound from TEDx Charlottesville 2016 Youtube video]

Twenty-three speakers, four sessions, and an after-party are at the program of this year’s TEDx Charlottesville. There are speakers from all over the country ranging from musicians and science professors to writers and journalists - and there’s even a cave explorer from Denver, CO. There are also Charlottesville folks, like David Swanson, an author, journalist, radio host, and anti-war activist.

DAVID SWANSON: They're giving me five minutes. You know I'll take it and I'll do my best. The topic is: Why abolish the institution of war.

It is a topic he wants to connect to the issue of war memorials – and not just the Lee and Jackson statues.

SWANSON: If you took down all the racist war statues in Charlottesville, that would be Lee and Jackson, plus the memorial to the war that killed some six million people in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia - they weren't usually called Vietnamese by the people killing them, there were other words for them… You know, not just Charlottesville: go across the country and the world, take down the racist war monuments, you take down all the war monuments. It's very hard to get people to kill people: you have to get them to kill something other than people.

More to come on Friday [November 3]. Early registration is available today at the Paramount Theater until 6 p.m.

This story appeared on WMRA News.