Have a happy Hanukkah and enjoy a cupcake while you remember Pearl Harbor.

I usually save the fun stuff for last, but since the big stories today are death (Pearl Harbor anniversary) and taxes (you won’t be paying more), I thought I’d front load the fun today. Forgive me if you’ve seen this before, but I kind of love it, and today is the seventh day of Hanukkah:

I’ll skip the taxes story and just let you Fox News watchers congratulate yourselves today, and you MSNBC News watchers grind your teeth in frustration. The Pearl Harbor story does have a local angle, however.

Portsmouth man recalls near miss at Pearl Harbor

Kate Wiltrout tells the story of Lewis Thomas, a Portsmouth native and a sailor on a ship that missed being caught in the slaughter of Pearl Harbor by just a few hours, arriving at the scene in time to help with the rescue operation. It’s a gripping anecdote, and a reminder that the last members of the generation that fought in that war won’t be with us much longer.

Beach business opens electric vehicle charging station

Richard Good, president of Solar Services Inc in Virginia Beach, has installed two “ChargePoint” stations in front of his business. Electric car drivers can charge up their vehicles there, spending 2 hours and about $4.50. Obviously, this is more of a publicity stunt than a public service at this point, given that the cars that can use them won’t arrive until next year. But it appears to have worked. Ricard’s smiling face is on the front of the Hampton Roads section.

I’m happy that electric cars will soon be replacing some of the gas-powered ones, but I have to agree with thinker and activist David Suzuki, who believes that electric cars won’t be enough to save us.

“We aren’t likely to do away with private cars in the near future, especially in rural areas with low population density. But we can at least start to think differently about our “need” for them. That means improvements to public transit, urban design that is less car-centric, and other innovative ideas to reduce our reliance. Walking and cycling when possible is also great, and it improves health.”

Source: Straight.com.

As Suzuki points out, we haven’t been a car-culture for that long–far less than one hundred years–but already people have come to think of them as inevitable and indispensable. That perception is going to shift back toward a wider variety of transportation options in the next decade or so.

Transit and walkability will soon be a part of our lives because, believe it or not, Thelma Drake says so. That’s right, the same woman I frowned at when she represented the Beach in Congress is now the head of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. I’m amazed to say that she seems to be taking the position seriously. At a presentation of the Hampton Roads Transportation Vision Plan last week, Drake and her staff presented an ambitious plan for laying down light rail and other transit options that will connect our area and make it possible to leave the cars behind. Drake stood in front of the room and said things that would make an ordinary car-loving conservative turn purple with rage, and it sent a thrilling tingle down my spine. Maybe she’s the Arnold Schwarzenegger of Virginia, the conservative who’s capable of thinking outside of the narrow definition of that ideology. If so, she can be even more powerful in her position than a granola-crunching liberal would be, since she comes with a background of conservative credibility. Either way, she’s my new favorite person in Virginia government.

Cupcakes and concert tickets

Best story of the day: the NorVa and a cupcake business called Twisted Sisters, which sells cupcakes out of a pink van, have joined forces. Soon you’ll be able to buy tickets for the Twisted Sister show (assuming they come to the NorVa) from the Twisted Sisters. But wait, it gets better. According to the story, “Twisted Sisters will make special cupcakes to promote different shows.” For the the Fighting Jamesons show on January 1, the cupcake ladies are whipping up a chocolate treat frosted with a frosting infused with Jameson whiskey. Clever girls…

Hamela

Also on the subject of food, Sunday’s paper featured an excellent long-form essay by food writer Loraine Eaton on the subject of making her own Virginia ham. It was, honestly, worthy of the New Yorker and you should read it, both to learn about how traditional ham is made, and for the sheer enjoyment of it. It’s wonderful when a great writer is given space to stretch out and compose a piece that’s a real joy to read.