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When it comes to birthing presidents, Virginia is still the queen mother, with eight. Yeah, we’re in a bit of a dry spell – our last was number 28, Woodrow Wilson – but still. Ohio is still one behind at seven.

But we’re spoiled that way. Giving a president to the union is still a rare privilege – so rare that more than half of the states in our union have yet to achieve it.

We added a new one to the list just yesterday, and it was the relatively new kid on the block: Hawaii. Barack Obama might hail from the Land of Lincoln (who, by the way, was born in Kentucky, not Illinois) but he was born in the 50^th state.

I wonder if that gives folks in states who haven’t made the list yet – Wisconsin, Wyoming, Oregon, Mississippi, Louisiana, the Dakotas, Alabama, and 21 more – any feeling of inferiority.

No offense to Hawaii, but it’s the territorial equivalent of an expansion team.

I mean, what if you’re from Rhode Island? You’re one of the thirteen original colonies, right next door to Massachusetts, birthplace of four presidents, and one of the cradles of our great nation, and Hawaii makes the list before you.

It must be a bit like being a Cubs fan and seeing the expansion Florida Marlins collect a World Series title after a couple of years in the league.

But don’t lose heart, Rhode Island, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii, Florida, and others.

You get another at bat every four years.

Here's the tally:

The Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Board's annual report came out recently, and the latest data on the top selling liquors was featured in The Roanoke Times today in a story by your favorite data delivery editor.

Bubble graph of Virginia's top selling liquors

And, like last year, I've offered the data as interactive graphics in the DataSphere.

Here's the top of the story:

Thirsty, Virginia?

Apparently so. Virginia ABC stores sold about 9.2 million gallons of liquor in fiscal year 2008.

That's more than a gallon and a half for every person of legal drinking age in the state. That's 795,412,236 shots. That's enough to fill 14 Olympic-size swimming pools and still have enough left over to keep a football team schnockered for a good chunk of the off-season.

Statewide, vodka is the big seller, with 28 percent of all liquor sales by volume. But around the southwestern part of the state, it's dark spirits, not clear ones, that rule.

"You're going to skew a lot more brown goods than in an urban area," said John Knutson, director of marketing for Jim Beam bourbon maker Beam Global Spirits & Wine.

Liquor sales representative Michelle Brooks sells Jack Daniel's whiskey products to every one of 130 clients she has in the Roanoke region. Her colleagues elsewhere in the state say "it's like water in these parts. Everybody's got it." (more)

Hey gang, it's been a while, but I finally updated our Roanoke real estate sales search. It now has sales through mid-December for all 45,000 or so parcels in the city of Roanoke. This is the same data that's behind Roanoke's GIS, just re-tooled for a simpler search so you can find sales history on a particular home or parcel, or on a street or in a certain neighborhood.

Search by buyer, seller, address, neighborhood, a date range or a price range.

And your results are matched. Happy searching.