Local Eco-terrorists
Here in Charlottesville, they are clearing some land for a Target and Harris Teeter which are slated for development. On the way into work I heard about this on the radio:

Members of a radical environmental group take credit for setting construction equipment ablaze - causing thousands in damage to vehicles - at the site of an Albemarle County commercial development.

The vandalism, which occurred between Thursday and Sunday, has prompted an FBI investigation, Albemarle County spokeswoman Lee Catlin said.

The Earth Liberation Front said its members visited Hollymead Town Center - the future site of mass merchandiser Target and grocer Harris Teeter - setting a “bulldozer” on fire and causing minor damage to several other pieces of equipment, according to the group’s Web site, www.earthliberationfront.com.

Those bastards. We can bitch all we want about Wal-Mart, but pretty much everyone can agree that its nice to have a Target nearby. And Harris Teeter: who doesn't like the produce and meat selection at Harris Teeter? They are tops in my book.

It is not surprising that we have eco-terrorists in the Charlottesville/Albermarle county area. I wouldn't be surprised in some of them were in city government. The area does its best to stop any kind of development that isn't some sort of mixed-use urban planner's dream, and the only result is that real estate prices are about 25% higher than in Richmond. Which is great for us landowners, but it ends up hurting the people who they want to help.