It’s a sunny Friday afternoon in late May, that time of year when school is almost over and the days begin to feel like summer. Ari Berne, a 16-year-old junior at Charlottesville High School and a rapper who goes by the name Ghetti, has no time this afternoon to either study for finals or enjoy the fine weather.

Earlier this month the U.S. House Appropriations Committee allocated $2 million for a pedestrian bridge to cross Jefferson Park Avenue, part of UVA’s $105 million South Lawn project.

Construction contractor Blake Caravati has worked in local government since taking a seat on the Planning Commission in 1989. After losing a Council race in 1996, he won two years later; voters re-elected him in 2002.

The McIntire Golf Course “clubhouse” consists of a tiny brick bungalow, a small office and a public restroom—outside, a single picnic table sits on a shaded patio. There\’s a metal door spraypainted: “Honor System 20006 (sic) $5.00 City $5.00 County.” Credit-card-size manila envelopes on a hook, with blue tickets stapled in each corner. A hand-lettered sign: “Put money in the envelope. Take ticket as your receipt. Envelope with money goes in the slot. Thanks!”

Poor George Allen. Back in March, The New York Times reported that the Virginia Senator is bored with his job. The paper quoted him telling a crowd in Iowa that the Senate is “too slow for me.” Well, be careful what you wish for-he Republican pseudo cowboy now has a pair of Democrats injecting some real excitement into his life.

Are you happy? The question blares at us from magazine covers and pharmaceutical commercials, but most of us realize that true happiness isn\’t as simple as a fad diet or a popped pill.

Another Virginia summer is about to slam us with triple-digit temperatures and Ecuadorian humidity, and local neighborhoods are abuzz with the sound of central air-conditioning. But what about the homeless?