There comes the rub. Dr. Alibek is a very busy man and is in constant demand by the U.S Congress and the intelligence community for his insights into anthrax, smallpox and other bioweapons. Current events have made his schedule book impossible. Several interviews were set, then postponed. Undaunted, Paula plugged on. Finally, it all came together. Paula managed a talk with Dr. Alibek who gave her a tour of his lab. Photographer Mark Rhodes, who has shot for Virginia Business for years, was on hand for the cover photo. A seasoned pro, Paula put it all together into a nice and tight, yet comprehensive, package. We felt the story was compelling enough to substitute for our Minding Your Business feature as well as serve as this quarter’s "Click!" section which explores technology in Virginia. We also needed the extra space because we had to expand our annual Legal Elite" feature because of its popularity.

Minding Your Business will return as usual in the next issue. As the "Germ Threat" cover and the Legal Elite show, good stories usually get the space they deserve. We want Virginia Business to be analytical, timely and, of course, dead on the news. Doing so isn’t always easy because we are a monthly. But with editors such as Paula, chances are that we’ll manage just fine.