Dear Ace: What happened to the Atomic Burrito kiosk on the Downtown Mall? One minute, it was there, and then the next minute it was gone.—Ivana Taco Dear Ivana: Choking back a nostalgic lump in his throat, Ace felt his heart aching for a love recently lost: a burrito, backed up by a Mai-Tai and […]

Dear Ace: As any good modern consumer, over the years I’ve acquired a good amount of computer equipment. Rather than throwing the old models out, I’d much rather take them to a recycling center. Is there any such facility in, or near, Charlottesville?—Electronic Clutterbug Clutterbug: Just to test the limits of the City’s recycling program, […]

Dear Ace: As I was strolling to Fridays After 5, I noticed a sign in the window of the former Virginia Diode company on W. Main (the building with the cool blue tile work façade). The sign was written in Arabic. What does it mean and who occupies the space?—Stan Skrit Stan: Arabic, eh? Well, […]

Dear Ace: Admiring the new Charlottesville Pavilion, I noticed something, or rather a lack of something: lightning rods. Big and metal, the Pavilion is a prime electrical target. Where are the safety mechanisms?—Searching for Ground Ground: Growing up, Ace played on a Little League baseball team. Whenever an electrical storm approached, Big Daddy Atkins would […]

Dear Ace: I’ve got central air in my house as well as a car that dips down to Kelvin if need be, and I’m hardly surviving this summer. Tell me, how are the homeless dealing with the heat wave?—Sympathetic Sweater Sweater: Heat wave?!? What heat wave? Then again, when you’re as ice cold as Ace, […]

Dear Ace: It’s been a year since the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA moved into the new building. How are things going over there? Is the new facility paid for?—Puppy Love Pup: To respond to your question about the building’s financial status, Ace can offer you two answers. The first answer is: Yes, the $6 million building has […]

Dear Ace: Why is the Albemarle County Fair set to happen in August this year?—Fairly Confused Fairly: Ace also wonders about this unexplained change in date. He knows when he wants his funnel cakes and farm animals, and that’s in September, darn it! But nooo…this year Ace has to book his partying for August 2-7, […]

Dear Ace: I live within ear-shot of the railroad, so I have to know, what is going on with all of the railroad whistling?—Not Whistlin’ Dixie Whistlin’: All Ace can say is it’s about time someone asked about these railroad horns! Ace is fed up with late-night train horns unexpectedly interrupting his beauty sleep.    Puffy-eyed, […]

Dear Ace: Why do so many restaurants not have high-chairs? My wife and I discovered five that didn’t—and could have kept looking. Shouldn’t high-chairs be standard equipment? Is this town so pro-student that it can’t permit serving more people with children?—Sourpuss in Booths Sourpuss: Ace immediately posed your question to the experts, seasoned local parents. […]

Yo, Ace. Our letter carrier needed a note from us—no joke—to give him permission to not walk on our lawn. He said the post office wants its letter carriers to deliver mail quickly, so quickly that they are obligated by job requirement to walk on the lawn to get the mail to the doors of […]