A loose rein on reality

Oh-six was a year of contradictions and confounded assumptions. The Republican incumbent who was supposed to be unbeatable for the Senate enacted his own Chernobyl-like meltdown; “affordable housing,” the presumed cause du jour, turned into a dictionary game …

The Santaland Diaries

Stage A good storyteller makes you feel like you’re the only person in the audience. A good actor makes you feel like there is no audience. One-man shows—especially adaptations from personal stories—stand on a tricky, razor-thin line between the two. Such is the case in Staunton with the American Shakespeare Center’s production of The Santaland […]

 Ain't Misbehavin'

Stage “Jazz,” said Bix Beiderbecke, “is musical humor”: a definition seemingly rejected by the oh-so-earnest jazzmen of bop and other postwar schools. But it was never forgotten by Bix’s contemporary Thomas “Fats” Waller, and is well reflected in Live Arts’ energetic revival of Ain’t Misbehavin’, the Tony Award-winning revue devoted to Fats’ music. Of course, […]

Survival skills

Dear Ace: The mumps outbreak, year-end Y2K flashbacks and too manyepisodes of “Jericho” have me thinking about emergency preparedness. Where doI go for info in case of a catastrophe?—Calamity Jane Dear Calamity: Zombie outbreaks, alien invasions, roving gangs of bitter George Allen campaigners…there are a lot of things that could go wrong in Charlottesville, and […]

Lone citizen tears down parking deck

The Albemarle County Planning Commission meeting on December 5 was a testament to the power of the individual—or at least a persuasive argument for citizen vigilance. On the docket for a work session were two matters concerning additions to the Hollymead Town Center, which includes Target off Route 29 in northern Albemarle. The commission was […]

The happy start of Slutzky's trade plan

David Slutzky pins the conception of a local transferable development rights (TDR) plan to an April lunch at Lord Hardwicke’s. Phasing, the primary effort to preserve the rural areas of Albemarle County then on the table, was clearly dying on the vine. So he turned first to a group with “a dog in the fight” […]

County planners get royal treatment

“I never thought we’d say this…” Planning Commission Chair Marcia Joseph paused and a smile pursed her lips. “…but can we turn up the volume on Mr. Cox?” Laughs scattered throughout Lane Auditorium. The subject of Joseph’s jab was architect Frank Cox, who came to represent the New Era Properties investment group (rumored to include Coran Capshaw and Biscuit Run developer Hunter Craig).

Spivey out on $50,000 bond

Judge Paul M. Peatross decided former Charlottesville High School Choir Director Jonathan Spivey, indicted on seven counts of sexual abuse while in a custodial role, is not a flight risk and granted him $50,000 bond on December 8. But, Spivey is barred from leaving the state, having direct or indirect contact with any of his […]

A strange man in the house

It was a warm day Friday, April 7, and Leon Mann was doing some yard work at his home in the Ashcroft subdivision east of Pantops, when he got a phone call. Removing his shoes to step inside his house, Mann picked up the phone and heard his next-door-neighbor’s frantic voice on the other end. […]

The profits of tracking sex offenders

After Lorenzo Townes served 32 years for a string of sexual offenses, including the rape of a 10-year-old girl, he spent two years at a treatment center, then appealed and was granted his release. Four months later, he was arrested for raping a 12-year-old girl, according to The Washington Post. Many states are grappling with […]