Influential figure: While developing a play about a meeting between former president John F. Kennedy and former British prime minister Harold Macmillan, screenwriter and playwright Nick Drake came across another figure in Kennedy’s life that piqued his interest—George Thomas, who was JFK’s personal valet from his time in the Senate until his death. Drake’s research […]
By Shrey Dua In Charlottesville, one of the largest populations of apartment dwellers can be found in the roughly mile-wide radius immediately surrounding the University of Virginia: students. Every year, waves of UVA students abandon Grounds in favor of their own apartments, a process that quickly spirals into a mad dash to find the best, […]
You say sunshine, we say FOIA Reporters know one of the greatest tools for keeping the public informed is FOIA—the Freedom of Information Act. As Virginia Code notes: “The affairs of government are not intended to be conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy since at all times the public is to be the beneficiary of […]
By Rusty Gates While swilling chardonnay at a party recently, I fell into conversation with a droll gentleman who had lived in Charlottesville for many years. A friend of my sister, he knew that my girlfriend and I had moved to the area within the past two years. “Where are you living?” he asked. “In […]
By Samantha Baars and Lisa Provence As thousands are celebrating literature at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, a less-exalted missive from the nether regions of the internet, threatening ethnic cleansing at Charlottesville High, has closed all city schools for a second day Friday. Around noon Friday, Charlottesville police announced they had arrested […]
Staying on the tracks: In January, the Charlottesville-by-way-of-Florida act The Currys announced: “After years of writing, rewriting, arguing, rewriting again, arguing again, performing, recording, traveling, and recording some more…we are finally able to announce the release of our third full-length album.” The group celebrates This Side of the Glass with a performance that includes opening […]
Mighty pen: Emilio Estevez didn’t take his father’s stage surname because he wanted to honor his Spanish heritage—and make his own way in the film business. Being the son of Martin Sheen, the brother of Charlie Sheen, the husband of pop star Paula Abdul (for two years), and labeled a member of the Brat Pack […]
For more than two decades, the Voices of Adult Learners reading has brought a diverse range of writers and experiences to the book festival. “We think it’s really special, given the turmoil in Charlottesville over the last couple years,” says Carol Coffey, director of Thomas Jefferson Adult and Career Education at PVCC. “We have this […]
Crime author Don Winslow has spent nearly the past 20 of his career writing about the Mexican-American drug trade. “My number-one job and my first priority is to tell a good story, and a good crime story,” says Winslow. Winslow first became interested in the Mexican-American drug business in 1998, after hearing of a massacre […]
Where’s Red Beard—and Sunglasses? Although four people have been convicted in the August 12 assault of DeAndre Harris in the Market Street Parking Garage, video and photographs from that day show there were other attackers joining the fray who have not been arrested—or even identified. On February 14, Charlottesville police asked for the public’s help […]