“Virginia is for lovers, not pipelines.” “You shall not pass.” “Humpback wails over pipelines.” The gauntlet of signage on the sidewalk outside Nelson Middle School Tuesday evening ahead of the community’s first public meeting with representatives from Dominion Resources made the sentiments of hundreds of local residents clear: They don’t want to see the company […]
Spectra Energy has suspended efforts to build a $4 billion, 427-mile natural gas pipeline through Virginia, a spokesman confirmed this week. The Houston-based company was one of three so far this year to float proposals for gas pipelines cutting through the Commonwealth. Its pipeline would transport fracked gas from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, skirting Albemarle […]
It’s here. After a slow but productive spring and a gorgeous early summer, we’ve hit the gardening doldrums. The heat and humidity are stifling and it’s tempting to give up until September returns with cooler weather and a whole new harvest. But don’t give up yet! The tomatoes are just coming on, we’re awash in […]
It’s 3:30am on a Thursday, and I’m sloshing through a flooded stream near the confluence of the north and south forks of the Rivanna River in rubber boots that are just about an inch too short, straining to hear bird calls through a deafening chorus of spring peepers. I’ve done crazier things in the name […]
Earth Week is upon us, and local resiliency group Transition Charlottesville Albemarle is encouraging you to fire your dryer. At 5pm on Friday, April 25, the group will hold a pop-up clothesline party near the Central Place fountain on the Downtown Mall to share information about renewable energy alternatives for clothes drying. The event will include games, […]
Teri Kent runs Charlottesville’s Better World Betty, a non-profit organization and online resource for locals looking to shrink their impact on the environment. Every month, Betty—Kent’s ’50s-housewife-meets-earth-goddess alter ego—answers the most burning eco-questions from our readers about energy use, water, waste and recycling, transportation, and green buying. The majority of my junk mail is credit […]
When Paul Beyer launched the first Tom Tom Founders Festival in 2012, he billed it as Charlottesville’s answer to Austin’s SXSW, a smorgasbord of music, art, and innovation in a city that always wants more of all three. The festival returns for a third time April 9-14, and true to its young roots, it’s got a schedule […]
It’s Wednesday morning, February 12, and all over Charlottesville—in fact, up and down much of the East Coast—residents are making storm preparations, snapping up groceries and rock salt by the ton. While the storm—dubbed “Pax” by the Weather Channel and “Snochi” by the Olympic-minded Twitterverse—is a Nor’easter created by converging air masses in a low […]
There were no bugles, hounds, or riders in red coats, but the fox hunt that took place at the Southwood Mobile Home Park on Friday, January 31, was high stakes nonetheless for three people who now require rabies prevention treatment, and it didn’t end well for a fox, who was killed in cinematic fashion later […]
Winters in Virginia sure can be fickle. Last winter it was so warm that the ground barely froze, and I had clients harvesting tomatoes well into December. And then March hit, with sleety, slushy snow and cold temps, and my spring gardens couldn’t be planted until April—compare that with planting spinach on February 22 several […]