Monthly Archive for June, 2010

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AHS Censors Student Newspaper

The principal of Albemarle High School yanked an article from the final issue of the school newspaper, Lisa Provence writes for The Hook. The editor of the ironically named Revolution was told that he couldn’t publish their last issue if it included an editorial about the problems with high school level gym class, which happens to be written by the student who will edit the paper next year. The article—which is utterly unobjectionable—raised the ire of the gym teachers, who insisted that they couldn’t teach class if students were to read the article. The paper’s advisor decided to pull the entire issue. Student Press Law Center attorney Adam Goldstein calls the principal’s objection to the article “one of the goofiest I’ve ever seen—it’s not even controversial.”

As a student at Western Albemarle High School, some friends and I published an alternative to the school’s newspaper, The Western Hemisphere, which we called The Eastern Hemisphere. For any AHS students considering doing likewise after this incident, allow me to recommend against it. While fun, it did my academic record no favors.

New Albemarle County Website

Albemarle has a new website. They explain.  #

A Tale of Two Murders

In the current C-Ville Weekly, Brendan Fitzgerald contrasts two Charlottesville murders, the accused in one a rich, white UVA student, the accused in another a poor, black high school dropout. One—George Huguely—is accused of killing fellow student Yeardley Love at her apartment on May 3. The other—Demonte Burgess—is accused of killing Miguel Salazar at a trailer park on January 22. The question, of course, is what the outcome of each trial will be, and the extent to which the difference is because of their respective race and class. (A stark illustration of that contrast comes in the form of sentencing guidelines for cocaine versus those for crack. Selling coke will get you a slap on the wrist; selling crack will get you a decade in prison.) It seems entirely likely that, should they be found guilty, these two men will receive significantly different sentences.

Noise Limits May Be Dropped Further

Council is considering lowering noise limits even more, just to deal with Bel Rio. Dude—just turn down the damn volume and save taxpayers a lot of money.  #

C’ville Candidates Lose 5th CD Republican Primary

Sen. Robert Hurt (D-Chatham) won the seven-way race for the Republican nomination for the 5th District, Brian McNeill writes in today’s Daily Progress. The Southside resident won much of the district, but he lost Albemarle, Buckingham, Greene, Fluvanna, and Nelson. Board of Supervisors member Ken Boyd won a plurality of votes in Albemarle, Michael McPadden—of North Garden—got a plurality in Nelson, and Feda Kidd Morton won her county of Fluvanna. The narrative here was that Hurt was the establishment Republican, with the other six candidates representing, to varying degrees, the interests of the far-right “Tea Party” group. Today begins the general election, pitting Hurt against freshman incumbent Tom Perriello (D-Ivy). The election is in November.