Dear Ace: What’s this about Monticello and UVA being declared a UNESCO “World Heritage Site”?—Hester E. Buff Hester: Sounds prestigious, huh? It is. This ain’t “world’s greatest grandpa” here; being a World Heritage Site is a pretty big deal. So who decides which sites get to bear that designation and how do they decide? Is […]
Dear Ace: What’s this about Monticello and UVA being declared a UNESCO “World Heritage Site”?—Hester E. Buff Hester: Sounds prestigious, huh? It is. This ain’t “world’s greatest grandpa” here; being a World Heritage Site is a pretty big deal. So who decides which sites get to bear that designation and how do they decide? Is […]
Due to a reporting error in “Westhaven residents air complaints,” Government News, April 24, 2007, we incorrectly stated that “a generous donation from IMPACT, a group of local faith congregations, paid off $17,000 in overdue rent for nearly 80 residents of city public housing.” In fact, the money was given directly by several local congregations, […]
book A review of a review of self-help books…hmm. Initially, Practically Perfect’s subject didn’t interest me, as I’m not generally given to fits of self-doubt—at least, not the kind that can’t be quelled by rearranging the furniture or eating half a Toblerone. But Niesslein—editor of Brain, Child magazine and a former C-VILLE staff member—writes with […]
stage A production of Cyrano at the Blackfriars adds some twists to the question of appropriate theatrical technique. The play is set in the French 17th century, when staging practices were similar to those which the American Shakespeare Center seeks to reproduce. Indeed, the first act of Cyrano unfolds in a small theater much like […]
cd Here are my two Helen Horal anecdotes: I first met Helen on November 16, 2006—the night that she won the First Amendment Writes competition at Starr Hill. Horal plugged her acoustic guitar into an amp in a back room at the Biltmore and ran through a victorious-if-giddy rendition of “Wonderwall” by Oasis. Up there […]
Most of the groups who work on the Rivanna have a wealth of printed and online information about the Rivanna, but for sheer history, nothing tops Mr. Jefferson’s River, a book about the Rivanna by William E. Trout and Minnie Lee McGehee. A resident of Palmyra, McGehee and her husband Henry were largely responsible for […]
In 1998, Moore’s Creek, which drains parts of Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville and forms much of the southern boundary of Charlottesville, was placed on Virginia’s Impaired Waters list for levels of fecal coliform bacteria that indicate the creek is unsafe for swimming and fishing. The next year, the Thomas Jefferson Planning District […]
There are some simple ways to help the Rivanna, but the most efficient method may be installing a Rooftop Runoff Collection System. According to the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District, an average of 34,300 gallons of rain falls on a 30′ x 40′ roof in Central Virginia each year. That could potentially provide […]
As Charlottesville’s economy moved from an agricultural base to an industrial one, the threat to the Rivanna shifted. Suddenly there were impervious surfaces like the asphalt parking lots that spread like smallpox after World War II. They created an incredible storm runoff, a wave of filth that cascaded down into the streams and rivers. “It’s […]
The Rivanna hosts a number of species of wildlife, from mammals like beaver, otter and mink to birds like heron, osprey and the bald eagle, and, of course, fish, with bass and perch chief among them. Of all the species, the most treasured is the James River spiny mussel. Globally rare and federally endangered, the […]