This is it.  The Holy Grail of music.  Arguably the pre-eminent, most important collection in pop-music history.  Maybe that sounds hyperbolic, but for fans of The Beatles, the rerelease of the band’s original catalog is a reaffirmation of what it means to love music, to want to crawl inside the songs and examine their pieces, trying to figure out how four young men and a brilliant producer cobbled words and sounds and instruments to create greatness.

Shipp & Wilson Landscaping and Richmond Professional Grounds Management Society
Colesville Nursery
Ukrop’s
Watkins Nurseries
Yard Works/Grind-All
Richmond Council of Garden Clubs and Canterbury Garden Club
Southern States Cooperative
Richard Harris Photography
Tractor Supply Company
Westel Inc.
A Thyme to Plant at Lavender Fields Herb Farm

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced yesterday plans to correct “major financial management failures” in the city’s Department of Social Services after the discovery of an estimated $3.8 million overbilling to the state. “We have no evidence that any of this is based in fraud or corruption, but rather poor management and record keeping which indicates a need to make significant procedural changes and improve the department’s operations,“ Chief Administrative Officer Byron C. Marshall said in a statement.

A report released yesterday by Richmond’s auditor shows that Richmond Public Schools’ grants administration department suffered from no comprehensive monitoring, weak payment controls, poor record keeping and a lack of aggression in pursuing funding. In a 32-page report that covers a yearlong period through June 30, 2007, Richmond auditor Umesh Dalal identified a theft of nearly $15,000, misappropriation of an additional $10,000, a $32,000 overpayment and nearly $500,000 worth of contracts that weren’t properly bid.

She’s out resting in the shade of your shrubs and vines, waiting for you to walk by before she attacks. In the blink of an eye, the wispy creature takes a nip out of you, leaving behind the most common summertime tattoo. Why does a mosquito bite? It’s all about sex. “Her sole purpose is to reproduce,“ said Lane Carr, senior environmental inspector for Henrico County. “The only reason she looks for blood is to help her lay fertile eggs.“

Boy, things really are changing quickly in the newspaper business. A year ago, I was minding my own business, writing features for the Flair section and, when I could swing it, going out on the road for stories with photographer Bob Brown. A few months later, my friend Jann Malone retired, and I volunteered to try to fill her oven mitts as the food writer. Can’t say I fully achieved that, but I didn’t burn my fingers and, as best I can tell, I didn’t sicken any readers with misguided cooking advice—although there was an unfortunate incident involving a spoonbread recipe and a little too much baking powder.

It all started with a glowing amber bar. And a gregarious bartender. And an intriguing martini. And a well-trained duo of hostesses.  And . . .  OK, OK. You get it. It started with a lot.  Wild Ginger has been open only two months, but it already runs like a well-oiled machine, an upscale restaurant worth its weight in service, ambience and Pan-Asian cuisine.

Vegetarians didn’t have it all that easy in years past if they wanted to enjoy a meal away from home. “Twenty years ago, the only foods you could get that were vegetarian were salads or pizza,“ said Tony Sappal. “People would look at you weird. ‘Vegetarian? How do you survive?‘“ Sappal knows this because he was a vegetarian back then, and, after a period of eating meat, is back in the vegetarian fold.

Recipe: Chana Masala

Federal regulators are cracking down on a cigarette substitute that uses technology similar to devices that Philip Morris USA researchers have focused on in recent years. Meanwhile, Virginia Commonwealth University is studying how much nicotine—the addictive compound in tobacco—the “electronic cigarettes” deliver, under a grant from the National Cancer Institute to look at nicotine products.

Sharing with the community was the idea behind God’s Garden on Porter Street, just not so soon. Instead of waiting for a share of the harvest, someone dug up and removed 25 tomato plants near Central United Methodist Church on Mother’s Day evening.

John and Maria Shugars have proved that you can teach an old house new tricks. Their 1923 row house at 3113 Floyd Ave. was indistinguishable from its neighbors when they bought it in 2001. The exterior was red brick with white trim and a full front porch.

The economy is so rough that even the river otters at Maymont are getting hit with furloughs. The popular Richmond park has closed its Nature Center on Mondays to reduce expenses in the face of sagging donations and budget cuts. “It’s indefinite at this point,“ said Norman Burns, executive director of the nonprofit Maymont Foundation, which manages the 100-acre property for the city.

Looking to beautify your garden and bolster your culinary prowess? Pick up a variety of rich green, aromatic potted herbs. They’re easy to grow, add variety to your landscape and provide fresh flavor to anything you cook. A good place to start is at Herbs Galore & More, which celebrates its 25th anniversary at Maymont tomorrow. The area’s first big plant sale of the season drew almost 5,000 people last year, according to Cathie Rosenberg, Maymont’s director of marketing.

With tear-filled expressions of loss and pleas for judicial compassion, the survivors of a night of mayhem last year tried to explain in court yesterday that Leon Lightfoot didn’t know what he was doing. A sister, Barkita Lightfoot, who is the mother of the 19-year-old National Guardsman who Leon Lightfoot shot dead that night, and the victim’s aunt said that they forgive Lightfoot for what he did.