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Despite the threat of 1/10th of an inch of ice today, traffic is rolling, non-governmental workers are busily doing their jobs, and the winter jasmine is blooming on Carr’s Hill. (Eleven months ago ago, the Hook had the temerity to misidentify this stuff as forsythia, but we have learned our lesson and offered up this snap as an extra apology and as a visual primer on the subject.)
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Okay, this has become the Hook’s bellwether for the weather: the flowering of the winter jasmine along University Avenue. Its blooms were visible, as shown here, Thursday morning, February 12. Last year, it didn’t look like this until February 22. (But two years ago, it erupted in January.)
The Ash Lawn Opera Festival announced this morning that it will not be partnering with developer/music mogul Coran Capshaw in the renovation of the Jefferson Theater, saying the old theater “could not be adapted to meet the specialized needs of the opera company within its capital budget.” Last August, the Company announced with great excitement that it was embarking on a $4.5 million capital campaign to pay for some of the $7.5 million in improvements slated for the Jefferson, which would have included an orchestra pit, dressing rooms, and advanced acoustics for the company. Capshaw will proceed with plans to renovate the theater as a live music and event facility, said the announcement.
Remember when we celebrated Abraham Lincoln and George Washington’s birthdays on their real day? Today– February 12– is the 200th birthday of the Great Emancipator. Oh, and it’s Charles Darwin’s 200th, too.
(4)School is canceled Thursday, February 12, at Covenant Lower School because 25 percent of the students have the flu and were out Wednesday, February 11, according to an NBC29 report. Students already were scheduled to be off Friday, February 13, and Monday, February 16, for winter break.
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Embattled Peanut Corp. of America owner, and Lynchburg area resident, Stewart Parnell, plead the Fifth today and refused to speak to a Congressional subcommittee investigated whether or not his company knowingly shipped peanuts infected with the salmonella bacteria, causing a national outbreak that has claimed nine lives, infected hundreds more, and led to the recall of 1,800 peanut products, the AP reports.
What’s more, a lab tester told the committee that the company had discovered the deadly bacteria as far back as 2006. The investigation also includes some revealing emails from Parnell, which showed he ordered infected products shipped and complained that the lab tests were “costing us huge $$$$$$.“
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Hey, armchair horticulturists, that’s forsythia!