February 27th, 2003 issue #0208

February 27th, 2003

Icons or eyesores? VDOT vows to replace roadside memorials

The small white cross surrounded by a wreath of faded flowers stands on the shoulder of the road. At another spot, someone has used black electrical tape to fasten a second cross to a tree, but that inconspicuous cross, its wood rotting, escapes the casual glance. Some roadside memorials, like that one, exist almost anonymously. Only friends and family of the victims notice them. Other memorials grab your attention like neon signs.

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The week in review

Worst week for clubbing: Twenty-one people are killed when club-goers stampede to the exits in a Chicago nightclub February 17. And at least 97 people die in a Rhode Island...

Scuttlebutt: Elliewood's Crab is back

The Crab has had it with hibernating. As of last Friday, the newest eatery on Elliewood Avenue is back in action, and just in time for Spring- not to mention crab season....

Where's the pot? Straining for an elusive bargain

The ad for Kohl's department store in my Saturday morning newspaper reported the astounding news that Kohl's had the pasta pot on sale. Not an ordinary pasta pot, but the p...

Foreclosure auctions

February 27, 2003, at 9am at the Albemarle County Courthouse Property: 1640 Redwing Lane, Hollymead Debtor: O. Diane and J. Frank Sargeant III Originally owing: $60,000 Bi...

Sold!

ALBEMARLE 1/15 Redfields Development Corp. to Wendell W. Gibson Inc., lot in Redfields, $59,500. Patricia B. Graham to Joseph N. Hartley and Maurice A. Levin, 3210 ...

Let it B: Will B-3 zoning spell its doom?

ASKING: $225,000 SQUARE FEET: 1798 fin./674 unfin. YEAR BUILT: 1920 ADDRESS: 226 Douglas Avenue NEIGHBORHOOD: Belmont CURB APPEAL: 8 out of a possible 10 LISTED BY: Jan-Bas...

Dig it! Cradle 2 Grave rocks

Biker Boyz was expected to be the black version of The Fast and the Furious, but it turned out to be a dud. Now here's the multiracial Cradle 2 the Grave, which is nonstop,...

Cheaper than Nikes: APC docks with Shipp

The collaboration of Anti-Pop Consortium and Matthew Shipp has easily twin-peaked their respective careers. Hip-hop, modern classical, free jazz, and glitch (music centered...
Otherworldly: Holst's Planets soothe souls

Charlottesville and University Symphony Orchestraat Cabell HallSunday, February 23 I made it two minutes too late. By the time I reached Old Cabell, panting from my parki...

Dangerous? Local officials stress nightclub safety

In the wake of two fatal club incidents– including the February 20 fire and panic that claimed 97 lives near Providence, Rhode Island– Charlottesville fire offi...
Heavy lifting: The case of the purloined Sheraton

When Dot Daniels sold the cottage on East Rio Road she'd lived in for 53 years and needed to downsize, she asked Emily Rhinelander to help her with an estate sale. Rhinelan...
Opening arguments: Spicer still facing "perversion" charge

A high-profile murder case with local ties finally made its way to London's Downing Street on Monday, February 24. Behind the tall metal gates protecting Prime Minister Ton...
Snow daze: Who let the kids out?

"Our staffs really pulled through," says Tom Smith, superintendent of Fluvanna County Schools. Maintenance and bus crews made a "tremendous effort" to get schools open afte...
Trash or treasure? Scottsville car dealer outraged

Emery Skeen has a beef with the town of Scottsville. The used car dealer says Scottsvillein his words, "trying too hard to become little Williamsburg"– has led City C...
Unenforced: Sidewalk scofflaws slip by ordinance... again

What city ordinance can be most easily flouted without any repercussions? Charlottesville pedestrians would probably pick the law that requires shoveling of sidewalks withi...

Zoo bullies: Throwing their weight around

Q. What four-legged zoo favorite outsizes an 800-pound gorilla by plenty, has a reputation for squashing humans, and sports built-in jogging shoes? R. O'Donnell A...

WTC visionary: Architect Morrish thinks with Think

Towers of red folders containing the hopes of would-be architecture students occupy every horizontal surface in William Morrish's office. But on the wall beside his desk ha...

Lindsay Dorrier: the Tom Sawyer from Scottsville

In Lindsay Dorrier's family, it's a tradition to serve on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. His great-grandfather served in the early 1900s. His maternal grandfath...

Can the cant

Excellent article on the "soccer mom" in trouble [Cover story, "Eight years for a 'minor' offense?" February 20] (http://readthehook.com/93079/cover-story-eight-years-m...
Eight years is an insult

Eight years for a son's 16th birthday party where beer was served is way too severe a sentence. [February 20 cover story: "Eight years: for a 'minor' offense?"] (http://www...

Fat Saturday: Mardi Gras on the slopes

Booze, beads, boobs, bawdy behavior-– what would Mardi Gras be without these indulgent ingredients? Is it possible to celebrate this most decadent of holidays in a health...
Living the legend: Mandan life on display

Pint-sized adventurers who wander down the hall to the Back Gallery at the Virginia Discovery Museum often find themselves in another world. Until May 4, these explorers ca...
Local debut: Heavy stuff for teens' souls

It’s been a long time since I was a teenager, plowing through three or four 130-page books a week, eagerly exercising a reader’s young appetite.I read books called The ...
Short ones: Barhoppers back at the rail

Barhoppers 2003 continues Offstage Theater's winter tradition of transforming some Charlottesville watering holes into theatrical venues. It's an evening of eight short pla...
Still "king": Earnhart & friends take the Prism

The upcoming week is packed with great shows: Scene Creamers on Friday at Tokyo Rose (the new band of Ian Svenonius and Michelle Mae, formerly of D.C.-based The Make-Up); a...
Zoo story? Animals up close and personal

For his exhibit at the Second Street Gallery, National Geographic photographer Michael Nichols has gone enlargement crazy. He’s blown up his photos from 35 millimeter pri...