Thanks for donating your dollahs. You guys are a-ma-zing

Nestled in a quaint shopping center in the heart of Ghent lies a hidden oasis of homemade, authentic, Italian cuisine with the most impressive vegan menu in Hampton Roads.

And more in Addy Smith’s informative and fun If You Read the Paper for Monday, September 26, 2011.

Information from PETA and The Humane Society on how to keep your pets safe if there’s a storm.

And more in today’s If You Read the Paper, by John McManus.

Transportation, In God We Trust, congestion pricing, oregano, and John’s favorite video music video.

It’s my birthday and I’m doing If You Read the Paper like this and nobody can stop me.

Tonya delivered them to my office in festive packaging, and my heart melted even more than the icing.

After three-and-a-half years in Norfolk, Christine is moving with PETA to L.A. Here’s her Hampton Roads bucket list, along with her favorite (and not quite so favorite) moments in town.

“Who says a park has to be green?” Grant Cothran proposes that his current favorite “dog park,” Scope Plaza, ought to be downtown’s official dog park.

If you’re looking to make going vegetarian or vegan your resolution for the year, here are the three big steps that I think will make your transition easy.

Soaking wet kitties and puppies are cute; the realities of animals in storms is anything but.

While every parent wants their child to be happy, they also kinda want them to be happy close to home, with a sensible job, a dignified spouse, and plenty of money. Well…sorry mom and dad, I kind of missed all that and just went straight for the happy part.

For all of you starry-eyed, veggie-loving romantics out there, I’d like to provide you with a few resources you can thank me later for.

Maybe if I looked like her, it would be easier…

My desire to explore the exotic world of vegan bliss (and a good buddy from Brooklyn) lured me to the Big Apple for my first real New York experience. And I must say… I was not disappointed.

Just maybe if PETA could have found the compassion to forgive Michael Vick, it could have laid a blueprint for America for how to find new compassion for the animals.

Our resident veg Christine Dore tells you where to find the best of the Orient right here in Seven Cities.

Farm wife and food writer Kathleen Fogarty reviews FOOD, INC., which debuted at The Naro with a panel of local farmers and foodies, including her husband, Farmer John Wilson.

Michael Vick and Pastor Montgomery might have eroded some of our faith with their crimes, but there’s a way to get it back.

PETA’s Christine Doré embarks on a bi-weekly column exploring the local vegetarian scene. This week, she poses and answers the question: “I’m hungry, I’m veg, and I’m fabulous. Where am I supposed to eat?!”

It’s no shocker that animals have to die for the sake of big, juicy fast food sandwiches. But what if the chickens that made up that patty were scalded alive in boiling water or had their throats slit while still conscious. Still hungry?