Live From the DNC: Soggy Labor Day Slog

Remember what I said yesterday about getting around easily? Forget it. The bus route I’d mastered practically ceased to exist, thunderstorms pounded the city, and the sidewalks were packed. At one point, I slipped in behind a guy pushing a cart full of ponchos just to get through the crowd. I wound up waiting out […]

PEC works to turn backyards into native wildlife habitats

Who doesn’t love looking out the kitchen window at all the feathered friends Central Virginia’s backyards have to offer? Unfortunately, due to declining grassland and shrubland areas in the region, a number of native Virginia bird species, like the bobolink and bobwhite quail, are in danger of becoming extinct. The Piedmont Environmental Council’s James Barnes, […]

Neighboring counties differ on approaches to school consolidation

Ongoing discussions about rural county schools have raised one question over and over: Are small schools worth preserving for the sake of community, even if it means spending more money? This summer the Albemarle County School Board voted in favor of funding renovations to keep three small elementary schools open, a decision widely supported by […]

Convention check-in: Enduring the parties’ parties

Well, here we go again. With the Democratic party spending this week in North Carolina celebrating the re-nomination of President Barack Obama, and the Republicans still cleaning up from their hurricane-shortened coronation of Mitt Romney in Florida, we are once again forced to endure two weeks of tightly scripted, substance-free political theater that combines the intellectual […]

Live from the DNC: Moseying Around

I spent Sunday getting my press credentials and my bearings in uptown Charlotte, the convention epicenter. The city is festooned with cops and barricades, but I didn’t have any problem getting around. There was plenty of Obama swag for sale at the Convention Center, including some $65 hoodies: I wasn’t sure about the symbolism of […]

Live at the DNC: Houston, We Have Landed in Charlotte

I arrived in Charlotte last night amidst hordes of bubbly convention-goers. Before I begin covering the week’s events in earnest, I’d like to say a few words about my own perspective. Those of you who are familiar with my comics know I have fairly strong political convictions, and I’m going to let ’em rip as […]

Rocco named starting quarterback, will lead UVA in season opener

“I really believe it’s my job to lose, and I’m not going to lose it.” Consider Michael Rocco 1-for-1 in 2012. UVA coach Mike London named Rocco starting quarterback Monday, just 24 days after the junior publicly laid claim to the job. “It became apparent that Michael has the best grasp of the offense right […]

Charlotte-bound: Going to the Democratic National Convention

Greetings! Cartoonist and occasional political blogger Jen Sorensen here. Some of you C-VILLE faithful may recall my coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. Well, I had so much fun last time that I’m doing it again. On Saturday I leave for Charlotte, where I’ll spend the better part of next week immersing […]