Of all the tiny bits of electoral arcana hidden in the Code of Virginia’s candidates and elections section (24.2-520, for those playing along at home), the most amusingly named has to be the so-called “Sore Loser” law. This little-known provision, probably inserted at the behest of a disgruntled candidate on the losing end of a […]
“It seems strange to say we are thrilled—I mean, how can you be thrilled about such an obscene thing?” said Gil Harrington, reached last Thursday at her family’s home in Roanoke. Roughly an hour before, Virginia State Police (VSP) released news of a forensic link between the death of her daughter, 20-year-old Morgan Harrington, with […]
The cost of repairs is still being tallied after 60 mile-per-hour winds barreled through Charlottesville on Thursday, June 24. “There was obvious overtime and some damage to our parks,” said Ric Barrick, city director of communications, via e-mail. “We will be applying for federal aid. At the least it gives residents a chance to apply […]
“Roads?” a famous, fictional scientist once asked. “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” When it comes to the Meadowcreek Parkway, however, Albemarle County disagrees. During a recent 10-hour traffic transplant, cars on East Rio Road were directed to a new two-lane bridge that crosses above the Norfolk Southern Railroad. The Virginia Department of […]
Clocking in at just over three hours, the Heritage Theatre Festival’s season-opening production of The Sound of Music is a full night of musical theater. Blessedly, it is also a fully satisfying evening out. Let me say right now that if American musical theater—the kind of showy show where people break into song to move […]
It’s a mistake to open Rob Sheffield’s new book looking for another Love is a Mixtape, Sheffield’s Charlottesville-loaded debut about the sudden, unexpected death of his young wife. In that book a natural tension arises in the disconnect between Sheffield’s corny, pop-obsessed voice and the book’s dark subject. His second book, Talking to Girls About […]
According to Halsey Minor, owner of the Landmark Hotel, the results of the arbitration hearing between him and former hotel developer Lee Danielson, which took place from April 19 to 23 at the Omni Hotel Downtown, favor Minor. Lee Danielson (left) and Halsey Minor, at the groundbreaking for the Landmark Hotel in March 2008. Two […]
In each of the past two years, at least one person has died while walking or riding a bicycle in Charlottesville. During the same time—for the last seven years, in fact—the City of Charlottesville’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Facilities Master Plan has been sitting on a shelf. Could these accidents have been avoided with an updated […]
Hi Ace. Bastille Day is coming up, and I was wondering: Can you, gourmand that you are, explain to us why French toast is neither French nor toast? And what are French fries, really?—She-Don’t-Use-Jelly-in-Charlottesville Why are carrots more orange than oranges? Why is Iceland greener than icy Greenland? Why does time fly like an arrow, […]
The shortest distance between any two points—crosswalk signals, for instance—is a straight line. The same goes for a stroll down Water Street, from the front doors of Second Street Gallery to the rear entrance of CVS Pharmacy. Or, that’s how it worked before the Landmark Hotel. Where the sidewalk ends: Pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike […]