International Women's Day

If I were still in China, I might get the afternoon off, maybe even tickets to the local cinema. Alas, here in the United States we don't even seem to be aware of this international day to recognize and celebrate women. It's just another way we seem to set ourselves apart from a large portion of the world community. A sad commentary on this fine nation....today, I'm missing China!

Have we seen our last snow yet?

Reading Peter Kleeman's Squeaky Wheel column in the Hook this week, Look out below: Icy walks make hard landings reminded me of some unpleasant pedestrian experiences I had on West Main Street this year after snowfalls (specifically, on the north side of the street from 10th St. to Stacey Hall) Several businesses decided to push the snow off their parking lots and leave it piled high on the sidewalk!! Many bus stops are also treacherous, so I wonder who is responsible for clearing those?

I've seen these problems every winter in Charlottesville and I've been here since 1996. What good is an ordinance if it is never enforced? We are "cursed" by having fairly mild winters and so the problem usually melts away by the time citizens express themselves and the slowly turning wheels of government begin to address the problem. This year I heard courtesy reminders over local media about clearing sidewalks several days after the snowfall. What gives? How about enforcing the existing ordinance? Could we try focusing first on major corridor businesses which have no excuse for failing to pay attention to their sidewalk frontage? Neighborhood Development Services has inspectors and in the summer they are out scouting for weeds over 18 inches tall. Can these same city employees be directed to issue ordinance violation notices after each snow event?

The other option is to publicly post names of businesses in violation - what do you think?