Perriello, Goode spar for first time

Where was the place to be at 1:30pm last Wednesday? It wasn’t some celebrity guest lecture at the Miller Center or a matinee performance at Live Arts or some restaurant’s grand opening. Nope. It was the Senior Center, where more than 400 flocked for a 90-minute “forum” between Fifth District congressional incumbent Virgil Goode and […]

Reservoir levels drop precipitously

“Chance of showers” is one of the most familiar refrains of late summer, echoing virtually every morning from TVs and radios. But the number of showers actually hitting our area—and, most importantly, filling our reservoirs—has been next to nothing in the past month, leaving our area vulnerable to a third consecutive year of drought restrictions. […]

Your tax dollars, at work

Worked for the city for: 7 years Resides in: Charlottesville Job title: Facilities maintenance manager. Stewart and his office are responsible for maintenance of city offices and school buildings, including the heating, air conditioning, painting and other various repairs. Best of times: Being helpful on different projects. “I think that men are problem solvers by […]

Billy with butterfly wings

“Hey, kids, rock and roll. Rock on.” Glam rock wannabe David Essex’s hit single was recorded in 1973, and it’s a song that Smashing Pumpkins have dropped into setlists every now and then

VQR writers on the outside, looking in

The key word is “special.” Perhaps the American Society of Magazine Editors’ recent decision to honor The Virginia Quarterly Review’s fall 2007 special issue on South America will in the future inspire editor Ted Genoways to put together more than the journal’s usual share of special issues. Already, the summer 2008 edition can almost be […]

No contest

Dear Ace: In light of the “Best Of” voting, I was wondering: What’s the best church in Charlottesville?—Evan Lee Evan: Ace was really hoping he’d be assigned to cover “Best Place to Stumble Home From At 4am” this week, as he’s already been preparing for that assignment a hefty portion of his adult life. Alas, […]

Nights in Satin

Needled by the thorns of flowery 19th century poetry and its grip on the first years of the 20th century, Ezra Pound made a now-famous pronouncement: “Poetry should be at least as well written as prose.” The monster that this concept inadvertently spawned is in some ways a friendly monster. There are plenty of contemporary […]

The beat goes on

Although best known for supplying the sample beat for Grandmaster Flash’s “White Lines (Don’t Do It),” downtown New Yorkers Liquid Liquid left behind a catalog that deserves as much praise as that seminal rap hit. Like “Sex Machine”-era James Brown, Liquid were determined to melt rhythm down to its purest essence. Unlike the funk showman, […]

Homebuilders get extra pinch from upped fees

Developers can be hard cats to pity, but it does kind of suck to be a builder right now. On top of the woes that come from a slowed real estate market, increased construction costs and tightened credit, fees are going up for a slew of government services, from building inspections to sewer hook-ups. The […]