New Old Lynchburg Road is like Christmas

For Becky Sims of Old Lynchburg Road, the biggest problem on her block is “feeling safe. It’s the traffic. Obviously, the police can’t keep up with the speeding, and the traffic violations. We have huge speeding issues,” she says. Old Lynchburg Road at the JPA intersection. Sims is one among many of the road’s residents […]

Phish; John Paul Jones Arena; Saturday, December 5

As during a full moon, strange things happen when Phish comes to town. Glow sticks burst forth from hidden sources. Clumps of hair mysteriously clump into dreadlocks. On Friday night, I met a man who came to a party wearing a kooky hat. Nobody knew him. He carried with him a case of Mexican beer. […]

Our American Ann Sisters; Live Arts; Through December 19

If, when you go to the theater, you require a heaping helping of linear narrative smothered in a thick gravy of realistic character, then Live Arts’ current offering, Our American Ann Sisters, is not for you. But if you enjoy a variety of spicy tapas offering an unexpected mix of piquant flavors, then this play […]

Ten steps to a greener Charlottesville

Even as freezing rains tear autumn’s last leaves from branches, things in the city and county seem to be getting greener. Local greenies are jazzed about a $500,000 grant that’s bankrolling the Local Energy Alliance Program, an initiative that will offer loans to one out of every two homeowners to pay for efficiency upgrades—and will […]

Leading Charlottesville’s green charge

ALLYSON MELLBERG and JEREMY TAYLOR Artists and advocates of nontoxic art materials If it’s not enough that Allyson Mellberg and Jeremy Taylor’s art focuses on the dysfunctional relationship between people and nature, consider what else they’re doing. According to Mellberg, most books about visual art focus on the kinds of toxic materials that artists should […]

Purple pros

December arrives, and thereby the onset of my discontented literary winter approacheth. Well, not “discontented” so much as “lacking content,” verily. Lacking inspiration, space wherein to work, and desperately needful of coaching and critique: What is a would-be writer to do, good sir? Very long, my supply of Browning and Milton will last not.—O. Veritten […]

Twenty years of local news and arts in the spotlight

In the 20 years that we’ve been hitting the streets over the winter holidays, we have not always taken a consistent approach. In 1990, for instance, we practically begged readers to turn away with our promise of a “Boring XMAS Issue.” But by 2006, we were fully in the spirit, putting Special Correspondent Sweet Cakes […]

Unafraid to buck his party, Freshman Democratic Congressman Tom Perriello readies for the 2010 campaign

READ MORE • Click here for an exclusive interview with freshman Congressman Tom Perriello. The trouble with getting elected a Democratic congressman from a Republican leaning district? Staying elected a Democratic congressman from a Republican leaning district. Tom Perriello was one of 2008’s biggest surprises, eking out a recount win over six-term incumbent Virgil Goode […]