‘Irreparable damage’: Charlottesville registrar resigns two days after election

The Charlottesville Electoral Board asked for and received the resignation of Charlottesville registrar Sheri Iachetta today during a two-hour closed session. Iachetta was charged with six felonies in September for approving city-funded cell phones for her husband, a former employee of the registrar’s office who left in 2009, and local attorney Stephanie Commander, a former […]

Right at home: Virginia filmmaking attracts Hollywood attention

From the moment he saw it, Virginia Film Festival director Jody Kielbasa had no qualms about opening this year’s fest with Big Stone Gap, a screen adaptation of the popular novel by Adriana Trigiani, who grew up in the movie’s Southwest Virginia town and now lives in Manhattan. “First and foremost, it’s a really good […]

Who we are: Virginia Foundation for the Humanities marks 40 years

In a 21st-century world that pushes education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, anyone studying philosophy or English has likely gotten bashed with the question, what are you going to do with that? Rob Vaughan, president of and co-founder of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, has spent a career defending and demonstrating the value […]

In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, should the city reconsider cameras on the Mall?

In 2007, Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo wanted to put 30 security cameras on the Downtown Mall, raising concerns from civil libertarians about government surveillance and from City Council about cost. Seven years later, leads in the search for missing UVA student Hannah Graham have come from private surveillance cameras, and Longo had an I-told-you-so […]

Rockn’ Lockn’: Festival’s second year smooths out kinks

Despite a crowd-clearing thunderstorm Saturday night and the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control’s threat to the Lockn’ Music Festival’s license, the local craft beers flowed, around 30,000 music lovers grooved to Tom Petty and Willie Nelson, and the mood was decidedly mellow at the September 4-7 music festival. “I had four fabulous days at Lockn’,” said […]

Sentencing delayed: Court orders sex offender evaluation for Weiner

Two dozen family members and friends sat in Albemarle Circuit Court July 22 for the sentencing of 53-year-old Mark Weiner, who was convicted of abduction with intent to defile in May 2013 and has been jailed since his arrest in December 2012. But instead of a sentence, Judge Cheryl Higgins ordered a sex offender evaluation […]

Lockn’ limbo: No news is good news for festival in ABC dispute

Headliners like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Willie Nelson, and Widespread Panic are onboard for this year’s Lockn’ Music Festival in Nelson County over Labor Day weekend. Not onboard so far: the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control, which has not issued a decision from a May 16 hearing during which the agency sought to revoke Lockn’s […]