March 31st, 2005 issue #0413
March 31st, 2005
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This mold house: Family devastated by spore war
After 12 years of renting, Larry Butler and his wife, Judit Szaloki, were finally ready to make the leap into home ownership. They found a house they liked, arranged financing, and sealed the deal, thinking their dream had come true. Their euphoria was short-lived. On a visit two days after the closing, they discovered the house was infested with mold. Two of their daughters have asthma, and one ended up in the emergency room. -
This mold house: Family devasted by spore war
Less than two blocks away from the mold-infested house owned by Larry Butler and Judit Szaloki, another pair of first-time homeowners had a similar horrific experience. On the very day in 2003 when Ken and Heidi Vanderford moved into their dream house on North Berkshire Road, a river of water rushed through the front door. Today, that address is a vacant lot.
4Better Or Worse
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The week in review
Clearest shot for David Toscano: Former vice-mayor Meredith Richards, former Albemarle County Democratic chair William Harvey, UVA clinical psych prof Peter Sheras, and ev...
Editor's Note
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Fox hunting foe hides name
Regarding last week's cover story about fox hunting ["Tally no: Matthews bans the hunt"], it turns out that the key local critic of the practice was not who she said she wa...
The Dish
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Tranquil Thai: Art spices up Rio Hill offerings
With the dizzying array of restaurant options in downtown Charlottesville– new, old, or recently updated– it's easy to lose sight of eateries in other ne...
Essays
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Bad rap: What if TV's <I>good</I> for you?
"Watching TV is a lot like smoking. People know all the crummy side-effects and continue to do it anyway," declares one typical anti-TV rant. "Most smokers are aware...
Question of the Week
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What's the moldiest place you've ever lived?
Heather Bouley: "I lived in a youth hostel for a week while I was working in Washington D.C. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't the nicest place either." Lisa Boyet...
Real Estate
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Commercial construction permits
CHARLOTTESVILLE 3/16-22 Monticello Associates LLC, add exterior wall, 921 Second Street SE, $100,000 County School Board of Albemarle, install trailer at 1200 Fore...
Real Estate - $old
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REAL ESTATE- $old
ALBEMARLE 2/23 Joseph V. and Maxene B. Arciero to Maxene B. Arciero, 7.841 acres at 1534 Briery Creek Road, Scottsville, gift. Craig Enterprises Inc. to John D. and Nancy ...
Real Estate - On the Block
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Trade offs: What's city cachet worth?
ADDRESS: 878 Locust Avenue NEIGHBORHOOD: Locust Grove ASKING: $615,000 YEAR BUILT: 1935 SIZE: 2,665 fin. sq. ft., 475 unfin. LAND: 0.25 acres CURB APPEAL: 8 out of a...
Real Estate Property auctions
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Property auctions
April 6 at 8am at the Fluvanna County Courthouse Property: 55 Fox Trot Lane, Palmyra Debtor: unknown Amount owing: unknown Bidder brings: 10 percent of the sales price Info...
DR. HooK
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Achoo, baby! Treating problem pollen
Spring is here! The daffodils, irises, hyacinths, and all their friends are finally starting to bloom. (Insert pastoral song– Bugs Bunny background music will ...
Movie Reviews
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Unstylish: Stereotypes way out of date
If there's one overriding reason we can't all just get along it's because conflict sells. Beauty Shop (B.S. for short, which is apropos) was made by people with noth...
Music Reviews
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Now I'm 64: Jam band's riffs grow on you
The Butterhouse Bandat JabberwockyFriday, March 25 I must be getting soft in my old age. There was a time when the mere suggestion that I review a band that leaned ... -
Twofer: A weekend of heady rock
Engine Down Starr Hill Music HallFriday, March 25 & The Mars Volta: Frances The Mute (Strummer Recordings) 'Twas a weekend of rock, and all was well. It began on Thu...
News
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Big house bound? Why Alston's still in town
At last year's most notorious murder trial, former UVA student Andrew Alston wound up being convicted of the much less serious crime of voluntary manslaughter in the... -
Curtain time? Carmike zooms in on Waynesboro
How important is the presence of a movie theater to a small town? Ask Waynesboro mayor Tom Reynolds. "I remember when I ran for city council the first time, back in ... -
Gas tax: Why Virginians pay less at the pump
Virginia residents don't pay as much for gasoline as their neighbors in the Mid-Atlantic, and there's a rather simple explanation. "The key reason is that Virginia's... -
Get your 'goat': Solar house needs home
Usually, a house for sale means people will be moving. But for the Solar Decathlon House, an eco-friendly structure built by a UVA team, it's the house that will soo... -
Hard choices: Local author lived the Schiavo story
The plight of Terri Schiavo has divided the nation, with various factions weighing in on her right to die– or to live. Few people, however, are as qualified to... -
No deal: Embattled Griffin stays the course
After the Charlottesville School Board convened a closed-door session on March 25 at the law offices of McGuire Woods, board members announced that the purpose of th... -
Tonsler turn-off: Neighbors want lights out
When the city erected towering lights over the Pen Park tennis courts last summer– apparently violating its own Dark Sky ordinance– some neighbors cried ... -
Trail of smears: Oily leak mars tracks
On Monday morning, March 21, a Belmont resident noticed a peculiar sight on the CSX railroad tracks running east to west through downtown Charlottesville: a black li...
The Brazen Careerist
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Things I hate: It's that time again
Here is my second annual list of things I hate. However, it seems to have morphed into a list of types of people I hate. But this seems fair; no one's animosity shou...
Sports Doctor
Strange But True
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Mama Mona: Baby loves <I>La Gioconda
DRAWING BY DEBORAH DERR McCLINTOCK Q. Which of the following paintings would a baby likely find most stimulating? a) Andy Warhol's pop art "Campbell's Soup Can," wi...
Facetime
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No snob: This criticism welcome at UVA
When you're a noted scholar whose books are helping to shape film theory, it might be easy to rest on your laurels and bask in the glow of emeritus professor-hood. B...
Hotseat
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Civil disobedient: Gaston's history lesson
Missed him at the recent Virginia Festival of the Book on the "Voices of Southern Dissent" panel? Paul Gaston is still in town. So how does a boy from Alabama grow up to le...
Letters
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Cleaning Crozet's soil
On February 10, the Hook published an article about concerns of residents of Crozet who are living with pesticide-contaminated soil in their backyards ["Orchard fall... -
Don't change Albemarle
I appreciate Rita Mae Brown's comments about people who come to Virgnia because they "like our ways and then don't want to join in." [March 24 cover story: "Tally no! Matth... -
EC should unite sides
Emergency Contraception is just that, contraception. Marnie Deaton's conflation of Emergency Contraception and abortion is cause for concern [March 17: "Panic Button: Findi... -
EC untested for safety
Several of your readers told me that a recent article in the Hook [March 17: "Panic Button: Finding the 'morning after' pill"] gave the impression that I am opposed to "any... -
Fox hunting in UK
Your article [March 24 cover story: "Tally no! Matthews bans the hunt"] says fox hunting was banned in the UK. This is a bit of an overstatement. Though a few rules have ch...
Cultural preview
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Cultural calendar, March 31-April 7, 2005
THURSDAY, March 31 FAMILY Tales for Tots: The 5 and under crowd can hear picture book favorites about sea creatures at Barnes & Noble's presc...