The home front Foster parents open their doors while localities search for cash Evelyn and George Riner want more kids. From the prodigious amount of laundry flapping from sagging clotheslines in their backyard, it would seem their household is already overflowing. In fact, 11 people, nine dogs and eight cats live in the Riners’ house […]
Inside the studio of East Village Radio on the weekend before the New Hampshire primary, the hip hop activists cue up their mental scripts while awkwardly climbing past each other for their turn at the mic. The low-power underground FM station broadcasts from a Manhattan storefront the size of walk-in closet. As is often the […]
The South shall rise Downtown goes modern with newest building projects During contemplative moments, John Gibson looks up from his desk on the fourth floor of the City Center for Contemporary Art on the corner of Water and Second streets, and gazes out the window at the bricks of the Jefferson Theater’s fly loft. During […]
Benefits struggle begins again “Insure our families,” say gay UVA staff When Ellen Bass, an assistant professor in the department of systems and information engineering at UVA, came to the University two years ago, she knew she and her lesbian partner would have problems with the school’s stance on domestic partner benefits. “I knew I […]
You’ve got love Hope and hookups on match.com When “Cynthia’s” husband died last year, the 51-year-old mother of five grown children felt lonely, but terrified to reenter the dating scene. “It was like I had to get a whole new life,” says Cynthia, who asked not to be identified by her real name. “And they […]
No payoff on Lobby Day The Assembly’s Christian Right doesn’t let science get in the way of its anti-abortion agenda On the corner of his desk in the offices of the Virginia Legislature in Richmond, Senator Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) keeps a copy of Why One Way: Defending an Exclusive Claim in an Inclusive World by […]
Ticket masters Outside U-Hall the call is “I got your tickets right here” The UVA men’s basketball team and Clemson’s squad are only minutes away from tip-off, and two men who have driven from Afton and Crozet to see the game have yet to land tickets. But on the walkway to the entrance of the […]
Architecture and politics. To anyone acquainted with Charlottesville’s history, it’s a familiar combination. In 1996, Maurice Cox joined the ranks of those who wed the two disciplines in the name of the greater good. That’s the year Cox, an architect and UVA professor, was first elected to City Council. Last July, Cox, who is now […]
Paved with good intentions The MCP debate is a give and take on what’s best for the Mall Downtown Charlottesville is one of the few places where you can hire a lawyer, mail a letter, drink a freshly brewed ale, look at leafy trees, smell gutterpunks, watch a play, hear banjo music and purchase a […]
Minority report Local African-American business owners face the challenges of an open market A white Charlottesville resident is about two-and-a-half times more likely to be a business owner than is a black resident, according to U.S. Census figures. But though this statistic is hardly something to cheer about, it’s less skewed than the national white-to-black […]