Albemarle County finally released its second quarter building report last week, and, as expected, numbers are way down. Only 266 building permits for new residential housing units were issued in the first six months of 2008, putting this year on pace for the lowest amount of new construction since the Weldon Cooper Center started keeping […]
Developer Oliver Kuttner has been spending most of his time in Lynchburg lately. “I have 750,000 square feet in Lynchburg,” says Kuttner, talking on his cell phone while standing in one of his Lynchburg properties. “I’m down here every day.” The city Board of Architectural Review decided that this addition and carriage way for cars […]
In the end, the city approval of its portion of the Meadowcreek Parkway came down to a technicality, one so small that three of five city councilors couldn’t say no. On Monday, August 18, after a dozen speakers implored them not to, councilors David Brown, Satyendra Huja and Julian Taliaferro gave the tiny nudge necessary […]
Funding crunch Two-year state operating budget: $76 billionAnnounced state spending cuts: $49 million, over three yearsCity operating budget, FY 2009: $127 millionCity budget deficit FY 09: $1.8 million Governor Tim Kaine last week announced that nothing was off the table for spending cuts—including the usual sacred cow of education—in order to balance the state budget […]
“Ever since I arrived in the U.S., I’ve always had my people back home in mind,” says Nana Akyeampong-Ghartey. The native Ghanan immigrated from Winneba, a university town, 12 years ago, and he’d like to do what he can to shorten the 5,300-mile distance between Charlottesville and his hometown on the West African coast. “I […]
When one ventures up Route 29 on the way to D.C., one seriously considers the thought of abandoning this worldly existence and becoming a hermit. Traffic and pollution (and, well, distance) make it impossible to enjoy a nice stroll to Washington. So what about the train? Currently, the service offered by Amtrak between Charlottesville and […]
Worked for city transit for: 11 yearsResides in: Albemarle CountyJob title: Customer service rep. Camacho assists in directing people to where they need to go and in handling complaints from users. Best of times: Helping others. “When things happen to peoples’ cars, you want to help them find a proper route to get them to […]
Dear Ace: Where can I go in Charlottesville to buy a boa constrictor/talking parrot/ferret/alligator/elephant/etc.?—Zoe KeeperZoe: Let Ace first address the issue of putting the words “exotic” and “ferret” in the same sentence. Ferrets, faithful reader, are not exotic. They sleep 14-18 hours a day and, according to Ace’s trusty source (thanks, Wikipedia!), include raisins among […]
Sure, most of the swing-state chitter-chatter in recent weeks has focused on Barack Obama’s mighty push to swing Virginia into his electoral column
Gentle Reader, It’s time we had a talk. Things haven’t been the best between us for some time, I think we’ll both admit. While some of you are holding this page in your hand, trying to keep our relationship alive, the Old Media Writer and the 21st Century Reader, I know some of you are […]