Monkey business

Two months ago, George Allen was an unbeatable Southern senator with his sights set on the White House. One “Macaca” later, he’s a gaffe-prone hothead in the political fight of his life.

New planning commissioner likes to trade

Even though it’s just an advisory board, the County Planning Commission wields significant influence over many major development projects, suggesting which can move forward—and how they will look upon completion. So we caught up with the most recently appointed commissioner, Duane Zobrist, who replaces departing Jo Higgins.

Something’s fishy

Though a September 7 Associated Press article noted an unusually high percentage of inter-sex fish in the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, local experts say they’d need more research to determine if male fish growing eggs are cause for alarm in the increasingly developed and polluted Shenandoah watershed.

Plan on it

By the end of October, Charlottesville City Council should have appointed four individuals to fill out the seven-member planning commission (one current commissioner is applying for reappointment). The commission, which advises Council on development decisions, meets the second Tuesday of each month to discuss matters ranging from designating zones for public and private development. Sixteen people seem to want to take on this headache, and here\’s a brief look at the reasons they give for their ambition. For more on these well-meaning citizens, visit the Clerk of Council\’s office in City Hall. And if you want to get in the running yourself? Sorry, Charlie—you\’ll have to wait until next time, as the deadline to apply was August 3.

Gross indecency

At the end of August, Charlottesville police indicted five former employees of the Whisper Ridge Behavioral Health facility on abuses ranging from sex with a minor while in a custodial role and contributing to delinquency to failing to report abuse.

Glossary of Terms

Glossary of TermsDon’t understand the beer gibberish the author is yammering about? See if this helps. Abv Alcohol by volume (percentage alcohol). Most beers are 4-5 percent abv, though some, like the Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, exceed 20 percent abv. Ale One of the major classifications of beer, ales are brewed with top-fermenting yeasts […]

Hop springs eternal

It’s early on a Friday night, we’ve got a town to paint, and Tex recommends we go to a Corner bar that shall remain unnamed. I put down my Tröegs Hopback Amber Ale in protest.
Enough. No more drinking just to get drunk, no more dubiously mixed drinks, and definitely—definitely—no more discussions of Pinot Noir…

Cross words

Dear Ace: As I drive up 29N, I always see people trying to hoof it across those eight lanes of high-speed traffic. I can’t believe that there’s not a single crosswalk anywhere on this stretch of highway! Are there any plans to remedy this alarming situation?

The once and future fan

I didn’t want to like the Dave Matthews Band. In fact I tried hard not to. It was late 1991, I was 16 and a friend of mine told me about a friend of hers, Stefan, who went to Tandem and was in this band and we should seriously go see them. Right. Like I was going to go see a high school band