Author: chiara-canzi

Hail to the “Red White and Brew!” It’s as patriotic as it gets. With Budweiser already lost to the Belgians, the greater Charlottesville area is poised to challenge the beer market. And the surrounding wineries.

The Devil’s Backbone Brewery, named for the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains, will join a triad of well-established names: Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton, Starr Hill Brewery in Crozet and South Street Brewery in Charlottesville. The breweries, along with tourism officials from Nelson County, are organizing the first beer trail in Virginia, aiming to compete with their beloved and successful wine-making counterparts.

Construction is almost complete on the Devil’s Backbone spot, located near the Wintergreen ski and golf resort. The Daily Progress reports that the new brewery will be the fourth of its kind in the greater Charlottesville area when it opens in November.

And the numbers don’t lie. The Virginia Tourism Corporation estimates that 1.8 percent of the visitors who visited the state in 2007 came for its winery tours and wine tastings at 134 wineries, for a grand total of $70 million in retail sales.

So, why not beer?

One selling point of the trail would be the varieties of beer available for tasting (and guzzling). According to the article, the Devil’s Backbone alone will offer four different styles of beer regularly: a German-style Helles golden lager, a Vienna amber lager, a hefeweizen and an American IPA. Also in the works are plans to offer two rotating taps of a Belgian-style beer.

The set list of breweries participating in the trail is yet to be decided, but Starr Hill, Blue Mountain and the Devil’s Backbone are sure picks for their relative vicinity to one another. Other possibilities are the South Street Brewery and several others in the Shenandoah Valley.

Help at the polls this November and get about $100. Seriously.

According to the Newsplex, the state is looking for workers to help administer the expected high voter turnout at the polls on November 4.

The city is in need of 50 people, while the county’s positions are almost entirely filled.

There are eight polling precincts in Charlottesville:

Recreation Precinct at Herman Key Recreation Center;
Clark Precinct at Clark Elementary School Gym;
Carver Precinct at Carver Recreation Center;
Walker Precinct at Walker Upper Elementary School Gym;
Tonsler Precinct at Benjamin Tonsler Recreation Center;
Jefferson Park Precinct at the Carter Family Life Center;
Venable Precinct at Venable Elementary School Gym and
Alumni Hall Precinct at Ballroom of Alumni Hall.

The state is adding 300 voting precincts for this fall’s Presidential elections due to the sharp increase in the number of registered voters and the expected high voter turnout. Richmond, Virginia Beach, Fairfax and Norfolk are also in need of workers.

You may have noticed lines of kids with their Spiderman backpacks and Hanna Montana lunch bags trotting and waiting their turn to get on the yellow bus. Yes, it’s that time again. Today marks the first day of classes for all city and county schools.

It is the first day for UVA’s business and law school students as well. But the horde of locusts to watch out for arrive this weekend, when the masses of undergrads and their parents move into their dorms. Tuesday, August 26 marks the first day of classes for the Fall semester.

Saxophonist and founding member of the Dave Matthews Band LeRoi Moore died last night in Los Angeles of complications stemming from injuries sustained in a All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) accident back in June.

Moore punctured a lung and broke several ribs. He returned to the hospital last month due to complications.
   
According to the Neighborhood Safety Network, more than 700 deaths and 135,000 injuries occur every year relating to ATV accidents. About one-third of deaths and injuries are to children under 16.

The first study of ATV-related injuries and deaths was conducted by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in 1989. That year, the CPSC reported 131 deaths out of 163 ATV-related accidents. The causes for the fatalities ranged from driving under the influence, driving on public roads and carrying one or more passengers.

In a 2006 report, the CPSC estimated that the number of ATV-related injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms rose from 53,000 in 1997 to 110,000 in 2001. Most recently, 125,000 injuries were recorded in 2003.

Between 2003 and 2005 the UVA Children’s Hospital  treated patients for 98 ATV-related accidents; three of them died. Nearly half of those severely injured were under 18.

The fall semester hasn’t even started yet, but for a dozen members of a UVA fraternity the academic year has gotten off with a bang. Members of Theta Delta Chi fraternity were arrested and released after being charged with breaking into a Union College, New York fraternity house.

The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, New York reports that the brothers were accused of breaking into a home through the second-floor window and proceeded to have a private party. Charges of third-degree trespass were dropped, but the students paid $1,950 ($150 per person) in damages to cover the cost of cleaning the house.

When questioned, the students said they had the permission of the local members of the fraternity, too bad none were present when the police crashed the festivities.
Theta Delta Chi was established at UVA in 1857 as the third fraternity founded on grounds. The Charge House is located at 1811 Lambeth Lane.