Monday, January 30, 2017

Episode 353 (1-30-17): Voting on Water in the 2017 Virginia General Assembly


CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:19)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 1-27-17.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of January 30, 2017.

SOUND – ~12 sec

As of late January, these five men and 135 other members of the Virginia General Assembly were collectively considering over 2000 bills in the Assembly’s 2017 session.  About 160 of those bills concern water resources, either directly or indirectly through energy, transportation, or other land uses.  This week is Virginia Water Radio’s annual episode giving YOU a chance to imagine being an Assembly member, and to consider how you’d vote on four water-related bills.   I’ll give you brief descriptions of the bills, followed by a couple of seconds to decide if you would vote for or against the idea.  Then I’ll use these two sounds [SOUNDS – ~3 sec – bell and buzzer] to indicate the bills’ status as January 27; the bell means the bill was still alive, the buzzer means it had already essentially failed.  Ready?

No. 1: Senate Bill 1349 would create a new cabinet secretary for coastal protection and flooding adaptation. [SOUND – ~4 sec - bell]   The bill had passed two Senate committees.

No. 2: House Bill 1859 would direct the Department of Environmental Quality to publish an inventory of sites that contain hazardous substances, but that are not listed on the federal National Priorities List, also known as the Superfund list. [SOUND – ~5 sec - bell then buzzer]  The bill was still alive in a House committee, but a sub-committee had recommended against it.

No. 3: House Bill 1679 would authorize the Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy to require certain information about chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, otherwise known as “fracking,” and to disclose such information to state or local officials assisting the Department in emergency response. [SOUND – ~4 sec - bell]   The bill was still alive in a House committee.

And No. 4: House Joint Resolution 677 would request the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to study the current and potential impact on Virginia waters of two invasive, non-native species: Zebra Mussels and Quagga Mussels. [SOUND – ~4 sec - buzzer]  The bill failed in committee.

Obviously, this short game can’t capture the scope of the General Assembly’s potential impact on a subject as complicated and important as water.  Any bill involves more information and details than you heard here.   The General Assembly’s Web site, virginiageneralassembly.gov, has tools to help you get the details and to express opinions to Assembly members.  But don’t wait too long: the 2017 session is scheduled to adjourn on February 25.

Thanks to Soundbible.com for making the ticking clock sound available for public use.

SHIP’S BELL

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.   In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The voices at the beginning of the episode were members of the Virginia House of Delegates’ Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee/Natural Resources Subcommittee, recorded by Virginia Water Radio at the subcommittee’s meeting in Richmond on January 18, 2017.  The members you heard introducing themselves were the following:
Del. Richard C. Sullivan (D-48th House District), of Arlington;
Del. Kenneth R. Plum (D-36th House District), of Reston;
Del. Thomas C. Wright, Jr. (R-61st House District), of Victoria;
Del. James E. Edmunds, II (R-60th House District), of Halifax;
Del. Jackson H. Miller (R-50th House District), of Manassas.

The ticking clock sound was recorded by Kevan GC and made available (10/25/10 upload) online at the Soundbible.com Web site, http://soundbible.com/1580-Ticking-Clock.html, for public use under the Creative Commons “Public Domain” dedication.

PHOTOS

House of Delegates Chamber in the Virginia State Capitol Building.  Photo by the Virginia General Assembly, accessed at https://www.flickr.com/photos/virginiageneralassembly/8006920285/, 3/13/17.
Senate Chamber in the Virginia State Capitol Building.  Photo by the Virginia General Assembly, accessed at https://www.flickr.com/photos/virginiageneralassembly/8006763439/, 3/13/17.

EXTRA FACTS ABOUT LEGISLATION MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Following are Virginia Legislative Information System summaries of the bills mentioned in this episode, as of 1/27/17, accessed at http://lis.virginia.gov/ (edited in some cases for space or clarity).

Senate Bill 1349 (and companion House Bill 1964), Coastal Protection and Flooding Adaptation Secretary: Would.create the position of Secretary for Coastal Protection and Flooding Adaptation (the Secretary).  The Secretary would be responsible for consolidating into a single office the resources for coastal flooding threats and adaptation; would be the lead in providing direction, ensuring accountability, and developing a statewide coastal flooding adaptation strategy; and would, in cooperation with the Secretary of Natural Resources, identify sources of funding for needed implementation of strategies for coastal protection and flooding adaptation.

Senate Bill 820 (and companion House Bill 1577), Management of menhaden: Would require the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) to adopt regulations to implement the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden and would authorize the VMRC to adopt regulations for managing the Commonwealth's Menhaden fishery; currently that authority rests with the General Assembly.  The bill also would require that any moratorium on the fishery remain subject to legislative review.  Several existing codified provisions relating to quotas, allocation of allowable landings, and administrative procedures would be repealed and would be included in a regulatory framework for managing the fishery.

House Bill 1859, Non-federally managed hazardous sites: Would direct the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to publish and update annually a Virginia Non-federally Managed Hazardous Site Inventory, consisting of a list of sites of which DEQ is aware that meet certain criteria regarding the presence of hazardous wastes or other hazardous substances, but that are not listed on the federal National Priorities List.  The bill would also require any owner of an inactive non-federally managed hazardous waste site to notify DEQ of its existence.

House Bill 1679 (and companion Senate Bill 1291) Well permit applications; disclosure of trade secrets: As introduced, would authorize the Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy (DMME) to require disclosure of chemical ingredient names, chemical abstracts numbers, or the amount or concentration of chemicals or ingredients used to stimulate a well notwithstanding exclusion from mandatory disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act as a trade secret.  The bill would authorize the DMME director to disclose such information to additional DMME staff or state or local officials to assist the DMME in responding to an emergency, but would prohibit such individuals from disseminating the information further.

House Joint Resolution 677, Study of impacts of zebra and quagga mussels in Virginia waters: Would request the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to study the current and potential impact of Zebra Mussels and Quagga Mussels in Virginia waters and propose strategies, campaigns, and necessary state actions to protect Virginia waters from infestation by these non-native species.

SOURCES USED IN AUDIO AND FOR MORE INFORMATION

Travis Fain, Fracking bills draw concern from environmentalists, McAuliffe, [Newport News] Daily Press, 1/25/17. This article is regarding HB 1679, Senate Bill 1291, and related bills.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Learn About Superfund,” online at https://www.epa.gov/superfund/learn-about-superfund.

Virginia General Assembly Web site, http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/. This site offers several useful features, including member lists, session calendars, links to the video of floor sessions, and information on legislative processes).  To learn about Virginia’s legislative process: see the “Capitol Classroom” link at http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/capitolClassroom.php?secid=23&activesec=5To express an opinion on legislation: citizens can find their representatives and their contact information by using the online “Who’s My Legislator” service, available at http://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/; or find members’ contact information at these links:
House: http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/house/members/members.php;
Senate: http://apps.lis.virginia.gov/sfb1/Senate/TelephoneList.aspx.

Virginia Legislative Information System, at http://lis.virginia.gov/.  This is the online location for following the legislation of General Assembly sessions.

Virginia Water Resources Research Center, “Virginia Water Central News Grouper” posts on the Virginia General Assembly, available online at http://vawatercentralnewsgrouper.wordpress.com/?s=General+Assembly.

Virginia Water Resources Research Center, “Virginia Water Legislation” page, online at http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/virginia-water-legislation/.   This site has inventories of water-related bills in the current and previous sessions of the General Assembly.

Robert Zullo, Legislation to create Virginia coastal office gaining ground, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1/23/17.  This article is regarding HB 1964 and SB 1349.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).

Previous episodes on the Virginia General Assembly are the following:
Episode143, 1/7/13
– Music for the Past and Present of the Virginia General Assembly;
Episode 147, 2/4/13
– Committees Guide the Flow of Bills in the Virginia General Assembly;
Episode 196, 1/13/14
– The Virginia Legislature on its 396th Opening Day, January 8, 2014;
Episode 247, 1/5/15
– January Means State Budget Time in the Virginia General Assembly;
Episode 252, 2/9/15
– Voting on Water in the 2015 Virginia General Assembly;
Episode 297, 1/4/16 – Water’s on the Agenda—along with a Whole Lot Else—When the Virginia General Assembly Convenes;
Episode 302, 2/8/16 – Voting on Water in the 2016 Virginia General Assembly;
Episode 350, 1/9/17 – Old English Music Helps Preview the Old Dominion’s 2017 General Assembly.

STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS
This episode may help with the following 2010 Science SOLs:

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.7 - natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; and water monitoring.

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
6.9 – public policy decisions regarding the environment.

Life Science Course
LS.11 - relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

Earth Science Course
ES.6 – renewable vs. non-renewable resources (including energy resources).
ES.10 – oceans, including economic and policy decisions affecting oceans, the coastal zone, and the Chesapeake Bay.
ES.11 – the atmosphere, including human influences on climate.

Biology Course
BIO.8 – dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including effects of natural events and human activities.

The episode may also help with the following 2008 Social Studies SOLs:

Virginia Studies Course
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.

Civics and Economics Course
CE.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.10 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Government Course
GOVT.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.16 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.

The episode may also help with the following 2015 Social Studies SOLs, which become effective in the 2017-18 school year:

Virginia Studies Course
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.

Civics and Economics Course
CE.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.10 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.18 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Government Course
GOVT.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.15 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Episode 352 (1-23-17): Fish Crow

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:33)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, images, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 1-20-17.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO


From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of January 23, 2017.

SOUND – ~ 2 sec


This week, we feature another mystery sound.   Have a listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you can guess what’s making these calls.  And here’s a hint: what might you get if you combined fins with feathers in large, calling flocks?

SOUNDS - ~19 sec

If you guessed Fish Crows, you’re right!  The Fish Crow is one of four species of crows that live in North America, along with two species of ravens, similarly black-colored but larger birds that can be confused with crows. T wo species of crows are found in Virginia—the very common and well-known American Crow, and the slightly smaller Fish Crow.  Fish Crows look so much like American Crows, however, that the best way to distinguish them is the difference between each species’ basic call.  Have another listen for a few seconds to the Fish Crow’s basic two-note call, followed by the basic one-note call of the American Crow.

SOUNDS – ~ 3 sec

Historically, Fish Crows were primarily found near beaches, marshes, rivers, and other water bodies along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.  But over the past few decades the species has expanded inland and into more northern areas, particularly near water and near human structures that offer food, such as fishing piers, garbage containers, and agricultural fields.  Like other crows, Fish Crows will eat many kinds of food, including crabs and other marine invertebrates, turtle eggs, bird eggs and nestlings, carrion, trash, fruit, grain, and anything they can steal from other birds, according to the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.   Other generally crow-like behaviors shown by Fish Crows include making a variety of sounds; gathering in flocks of hundreds or thousands during non-breeding times to feed and roost; forming mobs to drive away hawks and other predators; and displaying remarkable curiosity about objects they find.

Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week’s sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.

SHIP’S BELL

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.   In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The sounds of the Fish Crow and American Crow were taken from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott, whose work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/.

IMAGES


Above: A Fish Crow with a broken wing being treated in November-December 2016 at the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro (http://wildlifecenter.org/).  Photo used with permission of the Wildlife Center.  The story of this bird’s rehabilitation, “Fish Crow #16-2468,” is available online at http://wildlifecenter.org/critter-corner/current-patients/fish-crow-16-2468.

Above: Segments of the Fish Crow painting done in the 1830s by John James Audubon in Birds of America (plate CXLVI [146]), as reprinted in 1985 by Abbeville Press, New York.  Upper photo is the male, lower is the female.  Photos taken January 23, 2017, from the reprint copy (no. 6 of 350 copies printed in 1985) owned by Special Collections of Virginia Tech Libraries.  Virginia Water Radio thanks Special Collections for permission to photograph their copy and for their assistance. 


SOURCES

Used for Audio

Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org.

Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and American Ornithologists’ Union, “Birds of North America Online,” online at http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna (subscription required).

Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, “eBird” Web site, “Identification Pitfalls–Crows and Ravens,” March 22, 2011.

Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson, Life in the Chesapeake Bay, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md. (2006).

Chandler S. Robbins et al., A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin’s Press, New York, N.Y. (2001).

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at http://vafwis.org/fwis/; link for Fish Crow; link for American Crow; link for Common Raven.

For More Information about Birds

Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Bird Academy/Caw vs. Croak: Inside the Calls of Crows and Ravens,” 2 min./58 sec. video, online at https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/caw-vs-croak-inside-the-calls-of-crows-and-ravens/#_ga=1.211694807.375477325.1481202825.

Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Merlin Photo ID.”  The application for mobile devices allows users to submit a bird photograph to get identification of the bird.  Information is available online at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/.

Virginia Society of Ornithology: online at www.virginiabirds.net.  The Society is non-profit organization dedicated to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of birds in the Commonwealth.

Xeno-canto Foundation Web site at http://www.xeno-canto.org/.  This site provides bird songs from around the world.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Birds” subject category.

A previous episode featuring the sounds of American Crows is Episode 309 (3-28-16): A Pondside Temperature Tale.

STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may help with the following Virginia 2010 Science SOLs:

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
3.10- impacts on survival of species.
4.9 - Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.

Grades K-6 Life Processes Theme
K.7 – basic needs and processes of plants and animals.
1.5 - animals’ basic needs and distinguishing characteristics.
3.4 - behavioral and physiological adaptations.

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
2.5 - living things as part of a system, including habitats.
3.5 - food webs.
3.6 - ecosystems, communities, populations, shared resources.
4.5 - ecosystem interactions and human influences on ecosystem.

Life Science Course
LS.4 - organisms’ classification based on features.
LS.8 - community and population interactions, including food webs, niches, symbiotic relationships.
LS.10 - changes over time in ecosystems, communities, and populations, and factors affecting those changes, including climate changes and catastrophic disturbances.
LS.11 - relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

Biology Course
BIO.8 - dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2008 Social Studies SOLs:

World Geography Course
WG.2 - how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2015 Social Studies SOLs, which become effective in the 2017-18 school year:

World Geography Course
WG.2 - how selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth’s surface, including how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Episode 351 (1-16-17): Rivers and Human Connections in “Best Friends” by Bob Gramann


CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:46)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, an image, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 1-13-17.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of January 16, 2017. This week’s episode, marking seven years of the show, is dedicated to Virginia Water Radio co-founder Patrick Fay and his family, now in Greenville, N.C.

MUSIC – ~ 14 sec

This week, music from a Fredericksburg, Va., musician and instrument maker, reflects on two of life’s most valuable treasures: friendship and flowing water. Have a listen for about 50 seconds more.

MUSIC - ~47 sec

You’ve been listening to part of “Best Friends,” by Bob Gramann, with Laura Lengnick on fiddle, from the 2000 album “That Squirrel Song.” Since the early 1990s, Bob Gramann has been writing and performing songs that raise listeners’ awareness of human connections, natural resources, and the intersections between them. Virginia’s Rappahannock River basin is Mr. Gramann’s home watershed and the subject of much of his music. Like other rivers, the Rappahannock’s rich with history, nature, cultural significance, and—not least—metaphors for human lives: rising and falling, ebbing and flowing, never really still, and defined by connections.

Thanks to Bob Gramann for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 30 more seconds of “Best Friends.”

MUSIC - ~ 28 sec

SHIP’S BELL

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“Best Friends,” from the 2000 album “That Squirrel Song,” is copyright by Bob Gramann, used with permission. More information about Bob Gramann is available online at http://www.bobgramann.com/.

“Best Friends” was previously featured in Episode 121, 7-30-12; that episode has been archived.

PHOTO
A winter view of the Rappahannock River looking upstream near Remington, Va. (Culpeper County to the left, Fauquier County to the right), Dec. 27, 2009.

SOURCES USED FOR AUDIO AND FOR MORE INFORMATION

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries: “Rappahannock River—Upper,” online at https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/waterbody/rappahannock-river-upper/; and “Rappahannock River—Tidal,” online at https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/waterbody/rappahannock-river-tidal/.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).

Previous episodes featuring music that uses water imagery for human connections and situations include the following:
Episode 142, 12/31/12;
Episode 194, 12/30/13;
Episode 200, 2/10/14;
Episode 296, 12/28/15.

STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

The episode may help with Virginia 2013 Music SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2010 English SOLs:

Reading Theme
8.5 (symbols and figurative language)
9.4 (imagery and other literary devices)
10.4 (imagery and other literary devices)
11.4 (imagery and figures of speech)

This episode may also help with the following Virginia 2010 Science SOLs:

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 - Va. natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.7 - natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; and water monitoring.

Earth Science Course
ES.8 - influences by geologic processes and the activities of humans on freshwater resources, including identification of groundwater and major watershed systems in Virginia.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2008 Social Studies SOLs:

Virginia Studies Course
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.

World Geography Course
WG.3 - how regional landscapes reflect the physical environment and the cultural characteristics of their inhabitants.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2015 Social Studies SOLs, which become effective in the 2017-18 school year:

Virginia Studies Course
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.

World Geography Course
WG.3 - how regional landscapes reflect the physical environment and the cultural characteristics of their inhabitants.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Monday, January 9, 2017

Episode 350 (1-9-17): Old English Music Helps Preview the Old Dominion’s 2017 General Assembly


CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:50)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, an image, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 1-6-17.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of January 9, 2017.

This week is our annual preview of the Virginia General Assembly.  We start with some music that dates back to the time when Virginia’s legislature first convened.  Have a listen for about 30 seconds.

MUSIC – ~34 seconds

You’ve been listening to part of “Sir John Smith, His Almayne,” performed by Timothy Seaman, from the 2006 album, “Jamestown—On the Edge of a Vast Continent,” from Pine Wind Music.  This tune—written NOT for Captain John Smith but for another Englishman with that name—was composed by John Dowland, a popular English musician during the early 1600s reign of King James I, for whom the English settlement on Jamestown Island was named.

At a Jamestown church in 1619, 22 colonists gathered for the first meeting of the Virginia House of Burgesses, which along with the royal governor and his council formed the colony’s General Assembly.  2017 marks the 399th year of this annual Assembly.  Beginning this year on January 11, 100 members of the House of Delegates and 40 state senators will consider some two-to-three thousand bills and resolutions, along with amendments to the Commonwealth’s current biennial budget.  Water will be part of that agenda, just as it has been since Captain John Warde’s fishing success was a consideration in his being seated as one of the original burgesses.   Probably 100 to 200 bills will address aquatic environments, fisheries, water supplies, wastewater systems, or energy and land uses that affect water.  The session will move fast, and the decisions may have widespread and important consequences.  You can be part of Virginia’s 399-year tradition of representative government by following the General Assembly’s work and by contacting your delegate or senator about issues of concern.

Thanks to Timothy Seaman for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of the almayne for Sir John Smith.

MUSIC - ~ 10 seconds

SHIP’S BELL

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.   In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“Sir John Smith, His Almayne,” from the 2006 album “Jamestown: On the Edge of a Vast Continent,” is copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission.  More information about Timothy Seaman is available online at http://timothyseaman.com/en/.

According to Timothy Dickey (“John Dowland—Sir John Smith, his Almain, for Lute, P47,” AllMusic Web site, online at http://www.allmusic.com/composition/sir-john-smith-his-almain-for-lute-p-47-mc0002373007), an almayne, or almain, is a dance typically considered to be of German origin, or a tune for such a dance.  The “John Smith” in the title is not the Captain John Smith, famous for his role in the Jamestown settlement, but another Englishman with that fairly common name.

IMAGE
List of the first members of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1619.  Page vi. of the Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1619–1658/59, H. R. McIlwaine, ed., Virginia State Library, Richmond, 1915.  Image accessed at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities’ Encyclopedia Virginia, “Primary Resource: Burgesses for the Assembly of 1619,” online at http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Burgesses_for_the_Assembly_of_1619.

EXTRA FACTS ABOUT THE FIRST MEETING OF THE VIRGINIA HOUSE OF BURGESSES

Following are the 22 colonists elected to serve in the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1619, listed by the areas or plantations that they represented (* = representatives not allowed to serve).

Argall's Gift: Thomas Pawlett, Edward Gourgaing;
Charles City: Samuel Sharpe, Samuel Jordan;
Flowerdieu Hundred: Edmund Roffingham, John Jefferson;
Henricus: Thomas Dowse, John Polentine [probably Pollington];
James City: William Powell, William Spense (Spence);
Kiccowtan: William Tucker, William Capp;
Lawne's Plantation: Christopher Lawne, Ensign Washer;
Martin's Brandon: * Thomas Davis, Robert Stacy;
Martin's Hundred: John Boys, John Jackson;
Captain Warde's Plantation: John Warde, John Gibbes;
Smythes Hundred: Thomas Graves, Walter Shelley.

Source: Virginia Foundation for the Humanities’ Encyclopedia Virginia, “Primary Resource—Burgesses for the Assembly of 1619,” online at http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Burgesses_for_the_Assembly_of_1619.

SOURCES

Used for Audio

Timothy Dickey, “John Dowland—Sir John Smith, his Almain, for Lute, P47,” AllMusic Web site, online at http://www.allmusic.com/composition/sir-john-smith-his-almain-for-lute-p-47-mc0002373007.

Encyclopedia Britannica: “John Dowland—English Musician” (October 24, 2003), online at https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Dowland; and David Mathew, “James I—King of England and Scotland” (Feb. 25, 2014), online at https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-I-king-of-England-and-Scotland.

Historic Jamestowne, “The First General Assembly,” online at http://historicjamestowne.org/history/the-first-general-assembly/.

Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia Web site US History.org, “Britain in the New World/House of Burgesses,” online at http://www.ushistory.org/us/2f.asp.

Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, “John Dowland,” online at http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/john-dowland.

Sarah J. Stebbins, “A Short History of Jamestown” (April 2011), National Park Service, online at https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/a-short-history-of-jamestown.htm.

Virginia Foundation for the Humanities’ Encyclopedia Virginia: 1) Matthew S. Gottlieb, “House of Burgesses,” online at http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/House_of_Burgesses; 2) John G. Kolp, “Elections in Colonial Virginia,” Virginia Foundation for the Humanities’ “Encyclopedia Virginia,” online at http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Elections_in_Colonial_Virginia; and 3) “Primary Resource—The General Assembly Convenes (1619),” online at http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/The_General_Assembly_Convenes_1619 (please see the latter reference for minutes from the 1619 gathering's consideration of Captain John Warde's contribution of fish to the colony during deliberations about whether to seat him as a member, as was mentioned in the audio).

Virginia General Assembly, “About the General Assembly,” online at http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/index.php (click on “Virginia’s Legislature,” then “Legislative Essentials”).

For More Information about the Virginia General Assembly

Virginia Legislative Information System, online at http://leg1.state.va.us/.  This site provides access to member bills and the state budget for each session going back to 1994. I t also has information on members and committees, the Virginia Code, the Virginia Constitution, and more.

For More Information about Music in Colonial Virginia

John W. Molnar, “A Collection of Music in Colonial Virginia: The Ogle Inventory,” The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Apr., 1963), pp. 150-162, Oxford University Press, online at http://www.oxfordjournals.org/en/ (direct link, requiring subscription: https://www.jstor.org/stable/740643?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents).

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).

Previous episodes on the Virginia General Assembly are the following:
Episode 143, 1/7/13
– Music for the Past and Present of the Virginia General Assembly;
Episode 147, 2/4/13
– Committees Guide the Flow of Bills in the Virginia General Assembly;
Episode196, 1/13/14
– The Virginia Legislature on its 396th Opening Day, January 8, 2014;
Episode 247, 1/5/15
– January Means State Budget Time in the Virginia General Assembly;
Episode 252, 2/9/15
– Voting on Water in the 2015 Virginia General Assembly;
Episode 297, 1/4/16
– Water’s on the Agenda—along with a Whole Lot Else—When the Virginia General Assembly Convenes;
Episode 302, 2/8/16
– Voting on Water in the 2016 Virginia General Assembly.

STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may help with the following 2010 Science SOLs:

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.7 - natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; and water monitoring.

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
6.9 – public policy decisions regarding the environment.

Life Science Course
LS.11 - relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

Earth Science Course
ES.6 – renewable vs. non-renewable resources (including energy resources).
ES.10 – oceans, including economic and policy decisions affecting oceans, the coastal zone, and the Chesapeake Bay.
ES.11 – the atmosphere, including human influences on climate.

Biology Course
BIO.8 – dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including effects of natural events and human activities.

The episode may also help with the following 2008 Social Studies SOLs:

Virginia Studies Course
VS.3 – first permanent English settlement in America.

Civics and Economics Course
CE.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.10 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Government Course
GOVT.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.16 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.

The episode may also help with the following  2015 Social Studies SOLs, which become effective in the 2017-18 school year:

Virginia Studies Course
VS.3 – first permanent English settlement in America.
VS.10 – knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia.

Civics and Economics Course
CE.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.10 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.18 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Virginia and United States History Course
VUS.4 – Major pre-Revolution events.

Government Course
GOVT.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.15 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.