Mountain intervals

Ace, I’m leaf-peeping along 64W, and I’m presented with a difficult choice. I can turn left, and head south along the Blue Ridge Parkway for free. So why is it that, if I turn right, I have to shell out $15 to enter the Shenandoah National Park, for basically the same scenery? What exactly am […]

Twenty years of local news and arts in the spotlight

If there’s one thing we’ve learned in 20 years of covering Charlottesville, it’s this: Folks here are political animals, but they’re not always electoral animals. Consider that seven years ago winning a measly 11 percent—11 bleedin’ percent!—of city voters was enough to land a new guy on City Council. We’re hoping that the pollsters are […]

Deeds done?

If Creigh Deeds becomes Virginia’s next governor, it will be in spite of himself. If, in a shocking turn of events, Virginia voters elect Creigh Deeds the Commonwealth’s next governor next week, Deeds will have a lot of thanking to do. In the waning weeks of the campaign, the job has increasingly fallen to others […]

Candidates for Albemarle County Board of Supervisors

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that the Charlottesville region has lost close to 8 percent of its farmland in only five years. Between 2002 and 2007, 56,836 acres were lost. Across Virginia, more than half a million acres were lost, making it the largest decline in the last 20 years. What is the role […]

Candidates for Charlottesville City Council

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2005, in Charlottesville 9,101 residents were living in poverty. That’s 23.7 percent of the total population.   What is the role of City Council in addressing this problem? Why, in your estimation, have past Councils failed to make strides in this area? Bob Fenwick, (I) Twenty three point […]

Candidates for Charlottesville Sheriff

The latest budget reductions announced by Gov. Tim Kaine in early September included a 4.7 percent cut for sheriff’s offices. Given the budget cuts to the Charlottesville Sheriff’s Office, what are your priorities? What programs would you consider funding and which one would you consider cutting? Paul Best, (I) These are tough times for all […]

Candidates for Albemarle County School Board

According to the Virginia Department of Education, the drop-out rate for county schools, although lower than that of the city, is still significant. How would you address this question? What measures would you recommend, specifically, to lower the rate? JACK JOUETT DISTRICT Diantha McKeel (Incumbent) When a student does not obtain a high school diploma, […]