Big, surprise news just came: Public.Resource.Org has agreed to fund the purchase of the video of the entire 2010 Virginia General Assembly session! Richmond Sunlight operates on a $0 budget, so there was literally no money to buy last year’s video—hence the fundraiser to buy the 2011 video. It was such a surprising success that the folks at Public.Resource.Org noticed and, out of the blue, dropped $900 in our lap to put all of last year’s session online. It all feels a bit like the last few minutes of It’s a Wonderful Life:
Ernie Bishop: Just a minute! Quiet everybody! Quiet, quiet. Now get this, it’s from London.
Ma Bailey: Oh!
Ernie Bishop: [Reading the telegram in his hand] “Mr. Gower cabled you need cash, stop. My office instructed to advance you up to twenty-five thousand dollars, stop. Hee Haw and Merry Christmas! Sam Wainwright.”
We’re all very grateful to everybody who donated, and to Carl Malamud at Public.Resource.Org for matching those donations and doubling the amount of video that we’ll be able to put online for everybody to have. It’s been a great couple of days!
