Hostel territory

Dear Ace: Some friends of mine are passing through Charlottesville, but I don’t have enough room in my apartment to put them up for the weekend, and their shoestring budget—to say nothing of their enormous, shaggy beards—puts most local hotels, inns and bed & breakfasts out of their range. Where in this town might a […]

Charlottesville and Albemarle are locked in a battle over $2.6 million in school funding. Who will come to the breaking point first?

In November 2009, when the Albemarle County School Board sat at a table with Delegate Rob Bell and informally gave him the nod to ask the 2010 General Assembly to revise the state’s school funding formula, members knew Charlottesville officials would not be happy. Bell’s proposed amendment would subtract $2.6 million in school funding from […]

County budget: $10 million less?

After Albemarle County executive Bob Tucker finished his hour-long budget presentation for Fiscal Year 2010-2011—the proposed grand total is $293.85 million, for you eager readers—he asked members of the Board of Supervisors if they had any “general questions.” Board chairman Ann Mallek responded first: “Sobering news.” Likely, plenty of tax payers will pore over Tucker’s […]

UVA's Board of Visitors accelerates student housing project, aims to cut emissions

While both the city and county continue to grapple with unprecedented budget cuts—especially within their school systems—University of Virginia administrators are trying to capitalize on the positive outcome of the recession: competitive construction prices. Cheryl Gomez, UVA’s director of energy and utilities, calls lowering annual carbon emissions at the school “a 152,000 ton challenge.” In […]

Bioshock 2; 2K Games/2K Marin; XBox 360, PlayStation 3; Rated: Mature

The triumph of the ego versus the power of the collective. A ruined underwater city packed with murderous, genetically enhanced freaks. A clash of ideals and an unbreakable, if creepy, bond between father and daughter.  Admit it—it’s not exactly the stuff you expect to find in your standard-issue save-the-world shooter game. Then again, the Bioshock […]

Ace on the hill

 Dear Ace: What kind of effect has all this snowfall had on Charlottesville-area snowsports? I’ve never tried any, at least without the vicarious aid of a Nintendo 64, but everywhere I look now I see these scintillating heaps of powder, and I would hate for it all to go to waste. What does it take […]