News

With fewer stories about Iraq in the media, many Americans are not aware of the great improvements there. Al Qaeda no longer has substantial control of any area of Iraq…

Chan Marshall’s concert at the Satellite Ballroom in 2005 was everything I’d been led to expect it would be: a few sparse, harrowing blues originals from the nervous chanteuse with the dark bangs in her eyes, interrupted halfway through as she voiced her anxieties, saying she “felt like she was being watched by the KKK,” […]

Ten years ago, author Greg Bottoms and I worked together at a local arts and culture magazine called “Gadfly” in an office on the middle level of The Rutherford Institute (which bankrolled the mag). Upstairs, my dad was busy suing Bill Clinton, but down in our purgatory, Greg and I would talk of fringe religious […]

Last November, a report by the City of Charlottesville’s Committee on Environmental Sustainability turned some heads when it revealed that the glass collected locally for recycling ends up in a landfill.

In the 2006 General Assembly, the Republican majority made a substantive rule change that allowed for House bills to be killed in subcommittee where votes are not recorded. Before that, a bill could only be voted down before a full session where the vote is recorded. That year, 459 bills were quashed in subcommittee, and […]

Quick, name Virginia’s state song. If you think you know it, you’re wrong. Since 1997, when “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” was officially “retired,” Virginny…er…Virginia has been a state sans song. But there are bills raring to go in Richmond that will fix this—and a myriad other pressing problems on which senators and delegates […]

Worked for the city for: 3.5 years Resides in: Albemarle County Job title: Permit Technician. You encounter Barmore when you call or walk in to Neighborhood Development Services, in the city hall annex. She answers the phones, directs walk-ins and organizes all kinds of permits for building, home occupancy, temporary parking and all that good […]

If one were inclined to compare the proposed house at 509 Second St. to a Roman god (and let’s face it, who isn’t?), a more appropriate mythological partner than Janus would be hard to find. This particular god had two faces, one of which looked into the future, the other into the past. With its […]

At their January 23 meeting, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors opted to defer a decision on a package of rural ordinances billed as efforts to protect the environment. One would extend stream buffers, one would require more gently sloping private driveways and one would extend the amount of time people own land in order […]