Hits and misses

HIT A little change

It defined the face of the Old Dominion University men's basketball program for years, but, like all good things, Blaine Taylor's mustache has come to an end. The venerable 'stache - on Taylor's upper lip since the late 1970s - drew guffaws and accolades from all corners, including his own bench. Now, it's gone. Luckily for ODU and its fans, the facial hair is the only thing missing courtside.

MISS Tuned out

Charter Communications is set to raise its expanded basic cable rate by 9 percent next week as part of a series of increased charges for subscribers. The move comes just weeks after one of its competitors, Cox Communications, announced it was raising its basic service by 20 percent and standard service by 9 percent. With increases like those, rabbit ears and a digital converter box are sounding more appealing.

HIT Better access

Advocates of open government got a boost recently with news that an online program is in the works to make the legislative process easier to understand. A $165,000 grant to the Miller Center Foundation at the University of Virginia will fund development of a program that gives people access to the history of the state's laws, tells which legislators supported which laws, where they got campaign contributions and how statutes have been interpreted in court. The program is set for completion late next year.

HIT Safe passage

Authorities will patrol the state's waterways this weekend as part of a national crackdown on boating under the influence, an offense every bit as dangerous as driving drunk. Last year, about 10 percent of boating accidents in Virginia involved alcohol.

MISS Cold shoulder

The tornadoes that swept across Virginia this spring killed 10 people and left destruction on a level that was, by nearly every definition, a disaster. Except in the view of the federal government. The Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected the state's appeal for assistance to the counties devastated by the storms.

MISS Way off the range

It's not uncommon for advocates to go overboard. But members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League performed the equivalent of diving headlong into the sea this week, showing up at a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting bearing "Guns Save Lives" stickers. They were there to promote a new state law prohibiting localities from banning the firing of BB and pellet guns on private property.