Scottsville Businesses endure retrofit

Try to pin down Scottsville’s Mayor R. Stephen Phipps on the era the town’s shooting for in its downtown streetscape redesign, and he won’t get specific. “It’s not a certain era, per se,” he says, “just a time when we didn’t have power lines.” Scottsville is just one of the towns across Virginia that’s returning […]

Supes take first stab at Biscuit Run

Steve Blaine, the attorney representing Biscuit Run developers, was quick to inform the Board of Supervisors about all the meetings that had taken place prior to that evening on July 11: two public hearings at the Planning Commission, 13 information sessions and more than 200 informal meetings, by Blaine’s count. But last Wednesday’s meeting was […]

Correction from previous issue

Due to a reporting error, the listing for Ash Lawn-Highland’s Fourth of July celebration was mistakenly listed as “free.” The events scheduled for Independence Day were included in the regular price of admission to Ash Lawn-Highland. We hope that the kind folks at Ash Lawn-Highland will forgive the error because, much like freedom, admission isn’t […]

Speaking in tongues

Dear Ace: Why is Rio Road pronounced “rye-o”? Friends from out of town always look at me funny when I pronounce the thing correctly.—Tom Townie Tom: You see, back in Jefferson’s time, there was a farmer who had some bread. Ace thinks you can guess what its name-o was. Wow, that was terrible. But yes, […]

Lake Anna’s in hot water

The Water Control Board of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ) has scheduled a public hearing on Wednesday, July 18, 7pm at Louisa Middle School, 1009 Davis Highway (Rt. 22), in Mineral, Virginia. VADEQ plans to reissue the permit that allows Dominion Power (formerly VEPCO/Virginia Power) to continue dumping very hot water without any […]

Miss Blues’ Child; ElectricHolyFireWater

cd You might say that Eli Cook is at a crossroads. Recently, his solo CD, Miss Blues’ Child, has been picking up steam. The album, recorded in a single session in October 2005, is being distributed internationally through New York-based Valley Entertainment, and has gotten looks from allmusic.com, which lauded Cook’s “deep voice that sounds […]

The Virginia Quarterly Review

words Let’s begin at the end. The final piece in the latest Virginia Quarterly Review is John T. Casteen IV’s incisive look at Poetry magazine’s long, strange trip since Indianapolis heiress Ruth Lilly bestowed some $200 million to it in 2002 and the young Christian Wiman took over as editor. Casteen compares the general voice […]

“Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus Vol. 1”

comics Thirteen years after his death, Jack Kirby is still considered “The King” by many comic fans. The artist co-created most of Marvel’s enduring super-heroes, including Captain America, the Fantastic Four, The Hulk, the X-Men and Iron Man, and then jumped shipped to the company’s “distinguished competition,” DC Comics, in the ’70s. There, Kirby had […]

Food fights

This summer, take a break from the drive-through and get out to the county to see tractors roving the land or a few bent backs—people picking vegetables from

Local food, a glossary

CSA: Community Supported Agriculture, a model of food production in which consumers buy “shares” and sometimes help farmers work the land in exchange for a helping of fresh, locally grown vegetables orother goods. EAT Local: “Everyone At the Table,” a group of UVA professors, farmers, retailers and interested consumers, based in Charlottesville, that meets to […]