Charlottesville SPCA Helps Florence-Afflicted Four-Leggeds in N.C.

Angie Gunter, Executive Director of the
Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, and
her dog Birdie. / Courtesy Angie Gunter

Charlottesville was spared from the worst of Hurricane Florence, but the community is trying to do its share to help out neighbors who were less lucky. As WMRA's Marguerite Gallorini reports, Charlottesville’s SPCA is helping out some four-legged friends in North Carolina.

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[ANGIE GUNTER: How many adoptions have we had today?]

Following Hurricane Florence, four employees from the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA were sent down to New Bern, North Carolina to bring some animals back.

ANGIE GUNTER: There's no chance that these animals belong to anyone else. They were already "homeless," but in a pound.

This is Executive Director Angie Gunter.

GUNTER: The reason for bringing these animals back - it was a total of 30: 16 dogs, 14 cats - is to make space for those that are displaced by the storm in hopes that families can be reunited with their pets.

[Dogs barking at the shelter]

The SPCA partnered with the Best Friends Animal Society and the Humane Society of the United States; they also brought supplies donated by the Petco Foundation down to New Bern.

GUNTER: These folks have been devastated, they're without everything. So just giving them large crates, dog food, cat food, it really helped out the shelter there.

As it stands, the mission is ongoing.

GUNTER: Last year when we helped with Hurricane Harvey and Irma, we took 183 animals total. But that was over a long period of time, so we're just getting started with this. It requires financial resources; it also requires community members adopting the animals that we have so we're just truly grateful to this community for allowing us to do this life-saving work.

This story appeared on WMRA News.

Brett Kavanaugh: Outlook for SCOTUS from the Miller Center

At the Miller Center Tuesday, Sept. 11, Supreme Court expert Barbara Perry (l) interviewed UVA law professors Saikrishna Prakash (c) and Micah Schwartzman (r) about the makeup of the new court. /
Youtube Snapshot

The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to take the place of Justice Anthony Kennedy was the subject of a forum at the Miller Center yesterday. Supreme Court expert Barbara Perry talked about the makeup of the new court with UVA law professors Saikrishna Prakash and Micah Schwartzman. WMRA’s Marguerite Gallorini reports.

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Justice Kennedy was seen as a swing vote – or deciding vote – especially on social issues, as UVa Law professor Micah Schwartzman explains.

MICAH SCHWARTZMAN: He was a conservative centrist: on a range of cases, he really was the deciding vote. You might have expected him to side with a conservative majority to reject abortion rights in Roe v. Wade, but he didn't do that; you might have expected that he would side with a conservative block too to eliminate affirmative action, but he didn't quite do that. Justice Kennedy voted with the liberals on the Court to narrow the scope of those rights but not to reverse them outright. The question will be: What happens to those rights after he is gone?

The balance of the Court will shift with a new member. So could that affect what we call "settled" laws?

SAIKRISHNA PRAKASH: The idea that everything that we have now will be with us forever, I think, is not borne out by any experience.

This is Saikrishna Prakash, another UVa Law professor and Miller Center senior fellow.

PRAKASH: Micah mentioned one case last term: the controversial case of union fees, where they overturned a case involving the First Amendment. That's going to happen on both the Left and the Right. I think what people are most concerned about is Roe v. Wade, and they have reason to be concerned.

This story appeared on WMRA News.

Cville Pride Prepares Its 7th Festival

What started as informal LGBTQ community picnics of 100 people grew into a full-blown festival. Last year, it attracted around 8000 people. The Charlottesville Pride Festival takes place each year in September, and is 100% volunteer-led. / Credit Guillermo Ubilla

Preview events for the seventh annual Charlottesville Pride Festival began over the weekend. WMRA’s Marguerite Gallorini reports.

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Last year, the Pride Festival attracted more than 8,000 people. And this year, twice as many vendors are participating, according to Amy-Sarah Marshall, the founding President of the Charlottesville Pride Community Network.

AMY-SARAH MARSHALL: People just want more and more and more! [laughs]

This is a pretty big feat, considering how the festival is put together:

MARSHALL: This is all volunteer-led, this is all based on sponsors, this is all based on community support. Everybody's welcome to perform: for us it's about the community celebration.

Expect a week of family-oriented events, business cocktail hours, karaoke, and two free movie screenings: Moonlight, and Weekend.

MARSHALL: Because of all the events last year with August 12, I think our area has become aware of how important it is to be visibly supportive of things that we believe in, and not just assume everything is fine. We still do have a lot of work to do, we still do have a lot of youth, especially, who face just higher levels of mental health issues. So that's why we keep doing this.

The festival itself happens Saturday between 11am and 7pm at the Sprint Pavilion - with shows, performances, and competitions.

This story appeared on WMRA News.
More information on the festival at cvillepride.org.

Miller Center Talk: 1967 Riots and the Kerner Commission

Historian Steve Gillon spoke at the Miller Center in Charlottesville Thursday, Sept. 6 to discuss his new book about the Kerner Commission and the investigation into riots that swept the country in 1967./ Youtube Snapshot

More than 50 years ago, race riots swept across the United States during what became known as the “long, hot summer of 1967.” Historian Steve Gillon spoke at the Miller Center in Charlottesville Thursday to discuss his new book about the appointed by President Lyndon to investigate the unrest. WMRA’s Marguerite Gallorini reports.

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In July 1967, race riots in Newark and Detroit lasted several days, and killed and injured hundreds of people. The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders was set up, and a team of social scientists were stunned by what they saw on the field, says author Steve Gillon:

STEVE GILLON: These field reports are intensely critical of the police. They show that the one common thread that ran through all of the riots: that everybody who participated in the riots either was a victim of police brutality or had witnessed police brutality.

The commission issued its report in 1968. While its overall proposals were largely disregarded by President Johnson, some of its recommendations on law enforcement did have an impact.

GILLON: There is a real effort, after 1968: a number of police organizations meet with members of the commission, they take their recommendations seriously and they incorporate them. One of the central recommendations that the commission had was that the police not be militarized, and that when events take place, there are ways of controlling without bringing in tanks. There was a positive impact of the commission on policing; I think it’s – we’re going backwards in some ways.

This story appeared on WMRA News.

PACs Endorsement Graphics

On November 17, 2017, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Senator Rich Madaleno was endorsed by Victory Fund, the only national organization dedicated to electing openly LGBTQ candidates who can further equality at all levels of government. Since 1991, Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBTQ candidates win local, state and federal elections.

On March 8, 2018, Democratic gubernatorial team Rich Madaleno & Luwanda Jenkins received the endorsement of the Baltimore Washington Laborers’ District Council, an affiliate of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), which represents more than 3,000 members in Maryland.

On June 18, 2018, the campaign of State Senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rich Madaleno and lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Luwanda Jenkins announced the endorsement of Maryland NOW PAC, a leading women’s issues advocacy group in the state. They joined NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland PAC and the Baltimore Women United PAC in endorsing the Madaleno-Jenkins ticket. 

These graphics were made as the Press Secretary/Digital Manager for the gubernatorial campaign or Rich Madaleno in Maryland.

Officials Endorsement Graphics

Back when he was a State representative in Maryland, Congressman Jamie Raskin worked with State Senator Rich Madaleno on a number of issues in the State legislature of Maryland. Together they abolished the death penalty, raised the minimum wage, restored voting rights to former prisoners, banned military-style assault weapons, passed fingerprint licensing for all handgun purchases; and thanks to them Maryland became the first state in the union to pass marriage equality before the Supreme Court case.

Doug Gansler, former Attorney General of Maryland and President of the National Association of Attorneys General, worked with Rich Madaleno on a number of issues while Attorney General. He declared his endorsement of Madaleno's gubernatorial candidacy on March 19, 2018 in Kensington, MD.

Rep. Will Smith and Rich Madaleno are both State Senators from Montgomery County, MD, and they have known each other and work together in the legislature for many years. Will Smith said of Rich Madaleno: "There’s one clear, cogent, and progressive voice in the Senate, and it’s his. He is our leader on the Senate floor."


These graphics were made as the Press Secretary/Digital Manager for the gubernatorial campaign or Rich Madaleno in Maryland.

Legislation Infographics

Sponsored by State Senator Rich Madaleno, the bill banning the controversial practice of conversion therapy was signed into law on May 15, 2018. 

The Youth Mental Health Protection Act provides that certain mental health or child care practitioners are prohibited from engaging in conversion therapy with individuals who are minors. It further provides that if they do, they shall be considered to have engaged in unprofessional conduct subject to disciplinary action. 

The Maryland Meals for Achievement bill (SB818) and Maryland Cares for Kids Act (HB315 – cross-file to Madaleno’s successful bill) were signed into law on May 8, 2018.

Thanks to the first bill, 31,100 more students at 50 additional schools will be able to benefit from the free breakfast program. The second bill eliminates the reduced-priced category for school breakfast and lunch, and makes it free, providing meals to 48,000 more children statewide; prior to this bill, a single mom making $22K could not qualify for free meals for her kids.

Ahead of the now-reversed Janus v. AFSCME decision by the Supreme Court tipping the balance in favor of companies and endangering the existence of unions, Rich Madaleno introduced legislation to provide the exclusive union representative access to new employee orientations for state personnel as well as public school personnel in Maryland.

The employer is required to negotiate regarding the time and manner of such access, and should provide information on certain employees to exclusive representatives within 30 days of a new employee's date of hire. 

These graphics were made as the Press Secretary/Digital Manager for the gubernatorial campaign or Rich Madaleno in Maryland.