With so much information available on the web, there are only a few places I turn to on a regular basis to find interesting and updated content. One of the most reliable is CVillenews.com, a meta-news site for Charlottesville, VA (USA), my town of residence. Running since March of 2001, the site carries abstracts and links of stories from other Charlottesville mainstream news sites and provides a forums for registered users to post their own reactions or to submit original items.Recently, there was a thread regarding Charlottesville’s City Council approving a resolution against a pre-emptive U.S. military attack on Iraq (as part of the Cities for Peace movement). The discussion that followed predictably defended and excoriated the council, but also veered into discussions regarding the roles of elected councilors in an representative democracy, providing a cross-section look into the opinions and politics that drive a small University town.
In another example, several months ago I witnessed a remarkable apparition in the skies above Charlottesville, a kind of inverted rainbow high in the sky and pointing toward the sun. At the first opportunity, I logged onto CVillenews, provided a quick description, and asked every one to run outside and take a look, hoping someone could tell me what I had seen. Sure enough, less than an hour later I had my answer: it was a circumzenithal arc.
The site is run by volunteers, with no ads and no one making any money. It provides a lively forum for debate, breaking news, and generally good-natured discussion. Even if you do not live in or near Charlottesville, it is worth taking a look at this shining example of just how good the web can be for a community.