Robert Fulghum returned to kindergarten for inspiration — why not UVa?
A University of Virginia group staged what used to be called “a happening” this week, based on a theme as unpretentious as show and tell.

Government by gridlock?         
Surely, we can do better.
Progress on the Meadowcreek Parkway has stalled again, this time over design of the interchange at McIntire Road and the U.S. 250 Bypass. Charlottesville City Council rejected a proposed design — but lacks consensus over what should replace it.

We’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again:
Sen. John Warner is, as Chuck Robb described him, a “true Virginia gentleman.”
We reject the pessimistic idea that his is a disappearing breed, but truth be told there are few leaders left of his stature and strength.
And few, too, with his longevity.

It was sad to lose a pre-Revolutionary War home in Schuyler to a fire recently.
But it was appalling to learn that a pre-Revolutionary War building in Zion Crossroads had been given up for destruction.
Enter rescuers Diane and Paul Manning.
Historic Hall’s Tavern dates to the 1750s; it was a stop for travelers between Richmond and Charlottesville.

Thirty days to win better rail service?
Well, let’s get moving.
Improved passenger service to Washington has long been a goal of rail advocates and ordinary passengers alike.
The one daily D.C. train that now serves Charlottesville and points north and south is typically booked so far in advance on weekdays that many travelers can’t get a seat.
Amtrak did try adding extra seating a few years back. But the cars that it used to provide that capacity were described by commuters as atrocious.

Hindsight is perfect, so it should be clear by now that the U.S. 29 Main Street concept is not working as well as it should and that a bypass ought to have been constructed around Charlottesville.
True, a bypass route once was chosen, and the Virginia Department of Transportation even went so far as to start buying up rights-of-way.
But it was the wrong route.
The so-called close-in bypass was ultimately doomed by politics. But had it been built, it would not have solved the community’s traffic problems.

Virginia has some pretty cool place names, but Alaska may have us beat.
Can we match Dakeekathlrimjingia Point or Nunathloogagamiutbingoi Dunes?
A Virginia resident may be the authority on Alaska place names. Donald Orth compiled the “Dictionary of Alaska Place Names” in 1967 for the U.S. Geological Survey, for which he worked as a geographer and cartographer.

Foxfield is becoming increasingly pro-active in its efforts to curb illegal drinking at the spring event so popular with the college crowd.
And that’s excellent.
At last spring’s races, 85 people were arrested — 84 in the student section. Last year, emergency medical technicians treated 107 people — 106 for alcohol-related symptoms.
Those statistics tell the story about what’s one of the major problems at the Foxfield Races and who are the major problem-makers.

Charlottesville City Council is to be commended for its willingness to try something new to address the affordable housing problem.
Council will make $1 million available to private developers from its economic development fund in the form of loans.
The fund usually is targeted toward traditional development projects such as businesses — even though the businesses themselves might not be conventional (the Pavilion is an example).

“We have to find the right balance between regulation and market demands,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, recently returned from a visit to Asia amid controversy over defective products coming from China.
Events prove that balance remains elusive.
The problem of a contaminated blood thinner containing an ingredient made in China has expanded into a worldwide health risk.

That was a generous compromise the Charlottesville Board of Zoning Appeals extended toward Hope House.
The board affirmed that the homeless shelter is operating illegally in a residential neighborhood.
It would have been within its rights to allow city staff to shut the organization down, as staff had proposed.
Instead, the board ordered a delay of action while Hope House seeks a special exemption from City Council.

An investigation has found improprieties in the handling of a contract to promote the Thunderbirds aerial stunt team. Improper influence and preferential treatment marred the award of the $50 million contract.
Improper influence is bad enough.
But what about the contract itself?
The improper influence finding results from the actions of several senior Air Force officers, one of whom praised one of the contract bidders to the review panel that was supposed to be making an objective decision.

Despite no easy “successes” in the past two-plus years, Virginia was right to start — and continue — a massive DNA project retesting old samples for new evidence in violent crimes.
The project began under Gov. Mark Warner, following a handful of exonerations based on review of DNA evidence.
The first was that of a Hanover County man who had spent 15 years in prison for a rape he insisted he did not commit.

Sorry about that, Maxwell Smart.
And you, Superman … better find another changing room.
Verizon has just dismantled another of the country’s few remaining operational phone booths.
This one was located in Arlington.
Officials said last year that only about five calls a day were being made from the booth, and that wasn’t enough to justify its upkeep.

Memorial services at Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia captured the brave, poignant paradox of the anniversary of the Tech shootings:
The tragedy was so profound, no one could ever get over it. But everyone must somehow move beyond it.
This is the challenge.
Much of the outside world seems to expect Virginia Tech and friends to get over it. After all, a year has passed since a mentally ill killer shot 32 students and faculty and then killed himself.

The phenomenal University of Virginia men’s tennis team notched yet another amazing accomplishment this week.
The team not only finished its regular season undefeated (25-0), but all three seniors on the team won their matches in straight sets. It was a fitting way for them to end the final regular season matches of their university careers.
And not only that. No one on the team lost a set to Wake Forest on April 13, in either singles or doubles play.

Approaching the solemn anniversary of the shootings at Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia adopted a policy allowing notification to parents when a student is mentally ill and U.S. Sen. Jim Webb proposed legislation to remove further obstacles that might discourage such notifications.
The state and nation are still dealing with the aftermath of the Tech killings, in which a deranged student murdered 32 faculty members and fellow students.

Here’s a side of the Iraq war most of us never hear about.
It’s not about body counts, or insurgencies, or political debate — although it touches on all of those.
It is about sacrifice and honor and heroism.
It’s a story about Sarah.

Never say die.
All Night Long, the Charlottesville-Albemarle after-prom party, will go on this year as usual despite some atypical obstacles.
The survival of All Night Long might not have been in question, but organizers have had to battle extra burdens this year because the alcohol- and drug-free event had to be moved forward to avoid conflicting with Albemarle County’s exam time.
April 26 was chosen as the day that city and county high schools could accommodate.

What nation would conclude a treaty with the United States knowing that Congress can change the rules of the game after it is negotiated?” asked House Minority Leader John Boehner.
Indeed.
Political gamesmanship on Capitol Hill is now putting at risk the very honor of the United States.
Also in peril, of course, are the economic and political advantages of the trade treaty with Colombia that is now being subjected to rewritten rules in Congress.

Grrrls rule.
Hillary Clinton might or might not become president, but in the small Panhandle city of McLean, Texas, women already run just about everything in sight — in both the public and private sectors.
A woman mayor leads five women aldermen (yes, aldermen).

Hiding the light from the world is a symbol that powerfully speaks for itself.
San Francisco officials understandably wished to prevent violence in their city as the Olympic torch made its way toward China. The ceremony is meant to be uplighting.
But hiding the torch from protestors and spectators alike serves as prima facie evidence of the debacle into which the Beijing Olympics has devolved.

What is it with signage in Charlottesville?
Every few years, someone proposes redoing the city’s signs, as if it were a fresh and inventive idea. Better signage would boost business, bring more tourists downtown, encourage shoppers to linger by making it easy for them to find their way around.

A judge bans witnesses from using the words “assailant,” “rape” and “sexual assault kit” during a sexual assault trial.
A police officer arrests a woman for cursing inside her own house — and a prosecutor puts her through a trial.
A university president expels a student for protesting the construction of two campus parking garages.

The University of Virginia athletics program leads UVa’s fund-raising campaign — but does not dominate. If this were a sports contest, we might say that athletics holds a comfortable lead.
This truth, from survey of how UVa programs are doing roughly halfway through the campaign, shatters the assumption by many people that athletics overwhelms other fundraising efforts.

The rivalry between the Washing-ton Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys lives on, regardless of how good each team may be at the moment.
The Redskins have a big stadium in suburban Maryland just outside Washington, so the Cowboys, being Texans and all, have a big case of stadium envy and are building a bigger one.
The new Texas Stadium for the Dallas Cowboys is a whopper.

The Charlottesville area is about to get an economic shot in the arm courtesy of the federal government, which decided to move some defense and intelligence operations southwest from Northern Virginia by roughly 100 miles.
In short, the Washington area’s loss of approximately 1,000 defense-related jobs is Albemarle County’s gain.

Charlottesville may have a desire to sign and be signed, but the city should curb it.
Spending $1 million of taxpayer money in four years for signs to point people to and around downtown would be a sure sign of significant overspending.
City councilors are right to balk at the city staff’s suggestion that Charlottesville spend $250,000 in the upcoming budget.

It’s happened again. Another laptop containing sensitive information has been stolen.

Debate- Or do- At last, we are doing something about one of the area’s chief road needs.