Marked Man

Dr. Jeff Lee had often found the names of sweethearts and mothers tattooed on dead mens’ biceps, but on October 26, 1998 he found something unusual. While performing an autopsy on a Charlottesville man that morning, Lee, a pathologist at the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Richmond, noted the mark on the dead man’s left […]

Mission impossible

By the time you read this, America will have entered its fifth year of occupation in Iraq. And for what? In the last four years of occupation, Iraq has devolved into one of the most violent places on Earth. Some 3,000 or more Iraqi civilians die violent deaths every month, victims of the insurgency and […]

Ma’am I am

Dear Ace: I hail from New York City, where we reserve the word “ma’am” for women over 60. I’ve noticed that in Charlottesville, pretty much any female can be “ma’am.” Why the difference?—Thea Soros Thea: If that’s the only difference you noticed between New York City and Charlottesville, Ace suggests you pay a little less […]

Let's make a deal

A little less than a year ago, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors gathered in Room 235 of the County Office Building to ratify a last-minute Resolution of Intent. "Whereas, the Albemarle County Comprehensive Plan's Land Use Plan designates certain areas of the

First, know the enemy

The National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) is a fortress at once impregnable and approachable. Looming over Route 29N, it invites inspection but at the same time is mysterious. What is that up there? What it is: One of the Army’s main intelligence branches, NGIC’s specific purpose is to gather information on America’s opposing armies. “We […]

Follow the money

Wendell Wood is a shrewd businessman. When I said this to him he blanched. Shrewd has negative connotations, as in the Merchant of Venice pound-of-flesh sense, but I didn’t mean it that way. Wood was 12 years old when his dad died. He says his father owned country stores all around the area, in Earlysville […]

The Devil is an Ass

stage Ben Jonson’s comedies, conceived in the crabbed spirit of Roman satire, can be difficult for modern audiences. Largely lacking the lyricism of Shakespeare, and filled with the now-obscure allusions to urban society that came naturally to a lifelong Londoner who was a bricklayer and repeat-offender felon as well as an actor and playwright, they […]

The Velvet Rut

cd Don’t be surprised when Paul Curreri lurches at you like a Southern gothic balladeer, a red-handed Nick Cave character, on “Mantra,” the first track on The Velvet Rut. Named for the comfortable clutches that Charlottesville wraps residents in, Curreri’s new record is certainly one of comfort and routine—The Velvet Rut includes contributions from and […]