Cover Stories


Bar none: "The Cookie Lady" delivers Published on Nov 21st, 2002 0 comments The summer of 1976 ushered in a new era in cross-county bicycling with the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, aka "Bikecentennial Route 76." Thanks to one Afton woman, that summer also saw a new era in...
Crozet: The town followed the man Published on Nov 21st, 2002 0 comments Claudius Crozet put his tunnel on the map, but it took an Albemarle town to put him on the map. The construction of the nearby Miller Manual Labor School (now known as just the Miller School) in 1875...
Crozet's Blue Ridge Tunnel Published on Nov 21st, 2002 0 comments Construction period: 1848-1858 Stone-removal: black powder, hand drills, chisels Smoke-removal: He built a Burgoyne exhaust system, in which inverted tubs trapped the fumes and, after they were...
The others: Three out of four ain't bad Published on Nov 21st, 2002 0 comments Published November 21, 2002 in issue #42 of The Hook What happened to the other three tunnels Claudius Crozet designed to make the march through Afton Mountain? *Greenwood, 538 feet long, was blocked...
Ain't no mountain wide enough: To keep Crozet from tunneling a new attraction Published on Nov 21st, 2002 0 comments Claudius Crozet is more than a name on a neighborhood park or a tiny town. Although he's been dead for 138 years, he's a hero in engineering circles. "He was ahead of his time," says Howard Newlon,...
Cismont ceremony: Bless the beasts and the hunters Published on Nov 14th, 2002 0 comments On November 28, an atypical religious service will take place at Grace Episcopal Church near Keswick. For over 70 years, the dozens of hounds belonging to the Keswick Hunt Club have received a...
Hounded: What's so wrong with fox hunting? Published on Nov 14th, 2002 0 comments On a steel gray October morning, dozens of horses and riders gather below a white colonial-style home called Jacquelyn Hall near the pastoral Orange County burg of Somerset. Despite the lowering...
Steamy story: Fossil fuel plants near U Published on Nov 7th, 2002 0 comments According to the Piedmont Environmental Council, in Virginia alone there are 33 new or proposed power plants representing 21,721 megawatts of proposed generation, enough to handle over 30 percent of...
The green blade: Local firm finds kilowatts in the sky Published on Nov 7th, 2002 0 comments "This is real stuff," says 36-year-old Albemarle entrepreneur Sandy Reisky. He talking about wind power, long known for operating without water or pollution, and he says it's now cost-competitive...
Cheap heats: UVA grapples with smokestacks Published on Nov 7th, 2002 0 comments In truth, it's not always that easy being green, especially when you're a cash-strapped university dealing with a 50-year old heat plant and you need to generate more steam. Last March,...
It's easy being green: a fossil fuel story Published on Nov 7th, 2002 0 comments The more I surveyed my new car, the happier I got. "New car" is one of those phrases that make Americans unreasonably happy to begin with. And this one well, it was a particularly shiny metallic blue...
Say it ain't so: Museum to go Published on Oct 31st, 2002 0 comments From gold records to fan mail to American flag-decked leather jackets, Staunton's Statler Brothers have amassed large quantities of memorabilia over their 40-year career. And fans have come from all...
Statlers say goodbye to all that Published on Oct 31st, 2002 0 comments Along the way there have been countless concerts at school gyms and churches and county fairs, flat tires in the middle of Wyoming, and pre-dawn searches for good takeout. After 38 years on the road...
Farewell in Salem: Legendary Statler Brothers call it quits Published on Oct 31st, 2002 0 comments "That's how you're going to beat 'em, Butch. They keep underestimating you." –Bruce Willis, Pulp Fiction. I still have vivid memories of K-Tel record commercials, golden oldies...
Roger and thee: What not to ask Ebert Published on Oct 24th, 2002 0 comments Roger Ebert's scene-by-scene seminars have been a Charlottesville mainstay since 1992 when he dissected Citizen Kane. But if you're planning to attend Roger Ebert's scene-by-scene seminar on...
All wet: Ebert wades into water crisis Published on Oct 24th, 2002 0 comments Since Charlottesville is locked in a major drought, we decided to ask Roger Ebert what he thought about the substance around which this Festival was organized. "Water," Ebert says, "will be the most...
Festival lifejacket: Tips for staying dry at the Fest Published on Oct 24th, 2002 0 comments You're ready to take the plunge and dive headfirst into the Film Festival. To help you navigate the treacherous shoals of multiple movies in one day, The Hook throws a lifeline to make the experience...
All Wet: The Hook's guide-o-rama to the Film Festival Published on Oct 24th, 2002 0 comments With over 60 Virginia Film Festival events, how do you decide what to attend? To help you home in on the best choices, The Hook has blatantly stereotyped moviegoers based upon the broadest of...
Pump and cover: Petrol purveyors stay the course Published on Oct 17th, 2002 0 comments Northern Virginian gas stations have been on high alert since sniper attacks there and in other D.C. suburbs began two weeks ago, but it wasn't until two shootings in Spotsylvania County that...
Killer course: a school for civilian snipers Published on Oct 17th, 2002 0 comments The would-be warriors at Storm Mountain's Sniper School, not far from where a killer stalks human prey, don't all have their sights set on the same target. Tom Fitzpatrick, a burly, tattooed ex-...
Stand and deliver: City schools add uniformed officers Published on Oct 17th, 2002 0 comments The biggest change at local schools is that Charlottesville has added uniformed officers, already a presence at its middle and high school, to all of its elementary schools at the beginning and end...
Cross to bear: Southern pride-- or prejudice? Published on Oct 10th, 2002 0 comments When Lewis Dickerson pulls into the driveway of the business he owns on Harris Street, he's proud to see a symbol of his family's heritage flying overhead. Across the street, when Jasper Bell steps...
Cooter's race: Don't mess with the General Lee Published on Oct 10th, 2002 0 comments Larry Sabato doesn't give Cooter a snowball's chance in hell of winning the heavily Republican 7th District's congressional race against GOP incumbent Eric Cantor. Back in February, when Democrat Ben...
Whistlin' Dixie: Fairgoers "appalled" at racist items Published on Oct 10th, 2002 0 comments Waunema Smith was strolling with her children toward the rides at this year's Albemarle County Fair when some booths to the left caught her eye. Her boyfriend, Colten Noakes, checked them out and...
Fan fare: Collectors treasure local mementos Published on Oct 3rd, 2002 0 comments Preston Coiner grew up in Charlottesville, where he remembers Miller's Drugstore as the place to go for a milkshake after seeing a Western in the Lafayette Theater downtown. Miller's is no longer a...
The ultimate swag: Enron's sign goes for $44,000 at auction Published on Oct 3rd, 2002 0 comments The big "E'' went for big green. Enron Corp.'s trademark "tilted-E'' sign sold for $44,000 last week as the bankrupt former energy giant began auctioning off surplus items. Jimmy Luu, sent by his...
Doomsday: What happens when it's all gone? Published on Sep 26th, 2002 0 comments We've heard the dire prediction: no water by December if current water usage rates continue. Daily, we're deluged with drought facts: Reservoirs are at 50-some percent; wells are running dry; car...
Dry days: Dealing with the drought is serious business Published on Sep 26th, 2002 0 comments Water. Like air or food, it's a luxury we don't think about until it's gone. Which might be soon. If you're like most people, you haven't ever had to give serious thought to that hot morning shower,...
Locals only: Wagner vows to get Anjlz off the shelf Published on Sep 19th, 2002 0 comments Charlottesville's Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Paul Wagner, recently announced plans to make his second feature film. Unlike his first dramatic feature, Windhorse, shot surreptitiously on...
Bluest skies: The shelved movie that won an Oscar Published on Sep 19th, 2002 0 comments Sitting on the shelf can poison a movie. Tastes change; fads change. But one movie with a lot of Charlottesville connections has the distinction of having sat in a can for four years– and then...