WEEK’S END This week Gov. Tim Kaine called a special session of the General Assembly to address a Supreme Court ruling that complicates the prosecution of cases with crucial evidence from lab tests, breathalyzers, and the like. The issue lacks ideology’s divisive edge. Kaine appropriately has solicited input from the leaders of both parties.

Herewith a random walk among various headlines and stories:

• Vice President Joe Biden recently attended a fundraiser in Central Virginia. The event was well advertised. Gov. Tim Kaine’s office cites security concerns for its refusal to include Kaine’s appearances on behalf of the Democratic National Committee on his official schedule. Hmmmm.

Gov. Tim Kaine initially turned down Barack Obama’s invitation to serve as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. When he changed his mind, he said he would put his gubernatorial duties first and would work on DNC matters primarily on weekends and during after-hours. A headline in yesterday’s Washington Post reported: “Va. Governor Uses 1½ Days of Workweek for DNC Job.“

Public officials have private lives. The public itself should respect that privacy. Private activities are not necessarily created equal, however. Attendance at a child’s spelling bee or soccer match is one thing. Attendance at a partisan fundraiser is another. Tim Kaine’s day job (governor of Virginia) and his night job (chairman of the Democratic National Committee) share a significant public component. The party chairmanship has implications for policy and for politics that would not exist if Kaine served as chairman of a Bugle Corps and Chowder Society. Kaine has said his duties as chairman create contacts with the potential to benefit the commonwealth—which means the job involves the state’s business, which means travels and meetings involving the DNC belong on the official schedule.

Virginia Republicans will appeal to the court of public opinion instead of a court of law to fight over access to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s out-of-town travel records as Democratic National Committee chairman. “To continue our pursuit of the documents in question would leave us with the only option of taking the issue to litigation,“ state GOP chairman Pat Mullins said in a statement released today, responding to a letter sent by Kaine’s office late last week denying his request for the records.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is refusing to turn over to the Republican Party of Virginia records of his out-of-state travel as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In a letter late yesterday afternoon to state GOP Chairman Pat Mullins, Kaine communications director Lynda Tran said Kaine has no legal obligation to make public such documents.

Tim Kaine holds down two high-profile posts. He serves not only as governor of Virginia but as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. When he accepted President Obama’s invitation to head the DNC, Kaine said he would not let his second job interfere with his first. Jim Gilmore attempted a similar balancing act when he became chairman of the Republican National Committee while still in the governorship. His RNC gig ended unhappily.

Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and General Assembly Republicans are wrestling over who should run Virginia’s computer super-agency as a state report urges financial penalties for delays by the giant firm hired to provide information technology services. During an online chat yesterday at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Kaine said the Virginia Information Technologies Agency would be more accountable if its director reported directly to the governor.

The Republican Party of Virginia has filed a Freedom of Information request with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to disclose the extent and costs of his political travels as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The request was filed today. Kaine is in Kansas City now raising money on behalf of President Barack Obama. The trip to Kansas City was not on Kaine’s public schedule.

Virginia is partnering with computer giant Microsoft to offer free technology training and skills certification to thousands of displaced workers in Virginia. Working with the Virginia Community College System, Microsoft’s “Elevate America” program will provide 5,000 vouchers for online training, 5,000 vouchers for online testing and 1,250 vouchers for advanced training in one of the programs in the Microsoft Office Suite.

Our eye recently fell upon several items—unrelated and not of equal import:

• Members of the Democratic National Committee came to Richmond to enjoy some quality time with their chairman. When we read that Gov. Tim Kaine told his mates, “I am trying to juggle two pretty challenging jobs. It’s not an easy time to be a governor,“ we thought, “Oops.“ Sure enough, on almost every one of his public occasions since, Republicans have teased him for his workload. He can’t take a recess, throw a Frisbee, or kick back with a paper without hearing a GOP taunt.

Beverly Butler doesn’t usually get a police escort for her morning commute. But since the governor led the last leg of her bicycle ride yesterday morning, she pedaled to work with sirens blaring and traffic stopped. On Bike to Work Day, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones met more than a hundred cyclists in Monroe Park to lead a procession down Franklin Street to Capitol Square.

Martinsville has the state’s highest unemployment rate, and nearly 65 percent of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch. A few years ago, its test scores were lackluster. Now, its schools are fully accredited, and its dropout rate bests the state average. “This did not happen by accident,“ Martinsville schools Superintendent Scott Kizner told members of the State Board of Education yesterday. “This happened by design.“

Key elements of the state’s settlement over the Virginia Tech massacre continue to be dogged by delays that many families and victims say are frustrating. The settlement eight months ago resolved 46 lawsuits alleging Tech officials delayed warning the campus after senior Seung-Hui Cho’s first two of 32 murders on April 16, 2007.

The life of condemned killer Edward Nathaniel Bell is in the hands of Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who has been asked to stop tonight’s scheduled execution. Bell, 43, a Jamaican national, is set to die by injection at 9 p.m. for the Oct. 29, 1999, capital murder of Winchester police Sgt. Ricky L. Timbrook, 32, who was shot once in the head while pursuing Bell on foot.