Federal and local law enforcement authorities sometimes don’t get along. They have different missions, wear different uniforms. Sometimes they work well together and sometimes there is massive distrust between, say, a local police department and the FBI or ATF.

That’s why the fine folks at Northern Virginia Magazine have performed an invaluable public service by publishing a superb roundup of the best breweries, bars and retail shops for top quality beer in our area. “Virginia is a hotbed of craft beer,” restaurateur Greg Engert of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group tells the magazine, and as far as I can recall, he is very right.

Local politics gets unmasked during budget hearings, and that was certainly true this week in Alexandria as City Council members wrestled with their priorities in preparation for their coming vote Monday.

 Mayor Harry “Hal” Parrish II (R ) ran unopposed in an election that saw 13 percent of registered voters come to the polls – more than the last two election cycles in 2010 and 2008.