By Ken Wilson – Some go for the rising stars, highly anticipated new releases, and Academy Award contenders. Others relish the classics on the big screen, the probing documentaries, the 72-hour “highly-caffeinated” filmmaking competition, and the foreign films curated by the eagle-eyed team of Festival Director Jody Kielbasa and Programmer Wesley Harris. Digital or celluloid, […]
By Marilyn Pribus – One of the most appealing quality-of-life aspects of Central Virginia is its vibrant art scene. Artisans of all sorts populate studios in Charlottesville and there are numerous galleries and studios nestled away in other towns in our scenic Blue Ridge countryside. A wonderful way to explore this art trove is the […]
Increasingly, jails have become asylums. City and county officials are hoping to change that with a new court docket aimed at diverting people with mental illness from jail by the end of the year. The therapeutic docket follows 18 months of data gathering by the local Evidence-Based Decision-Making Policy Team, which found that 23.1 percent […]
By Mary Jane Gore Of all of the invasive plant species in Virginia, a new one has risen to No. 1, according to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation in Richmond. Wavyleaf grass was introduced in Virginia only in the past 15 years, with its earliest spotting in Shenandoah National Park, says Kevin Heffernan, […]
Big John’s run Fewer than two weeks before the November 7 election, veterans advocate John Miska launched a write-in campaign for Albemarle supervisor in the Rio District, where Dem Ned Gallaway is uncontested. Miska says he’s running as a conservative because he hates to see just one person on the ballot. “Call me Don Quixote. […]
By Natalie Jacobsen This year’s Halloween was supposed to mark the fourth, and predictably largest, Harry Potter festival Scottsville had ever hosted. But the magic was quelled with a phone call from Warner Bros. Entertainment citing trademark infringement. The town’s spellbinding transformation, including businesses and their owners, has transfixed children, students and adults alike. “Halloween […]
In the never-ending string of court cases stemming from this year’s run-ins with white supremacists and neo-Nazis, 15 people went before a judge October 30 for charges brought against them during the July 8 Ku Klux Klan rally in Justice Park. Approximately 50 members of the Loyal White Knights of the KKK, a North Carolina-based […]
The owner of a group home on Park Street is requesting a special-use permit to double the house’s occupancy from eight to 16 girls, but some neighbors, citing the 51 times police have already been called to the house this year, don’t think it’s a good idea. “Putting 16 troubled girls into one house is […]
By Celeste M. Smucker– There’s a reason why Charlottesville is prominent on so many “Best Of” lists like 50 Best College Towns, Top 50 Best Cities for Entrepreneurs, Top 100 Best Places to Live and many more. Those of us who live here know it’s an all-round great place to call home. So what to […]
By Celeste M. Smucker– Want to attend events in Charlottesville but still see the stars at night? Maybe you love both privacy and a laid-back country lifestyle but fear you’d have to go too far off the beaten path to find them. The good news is, when you move to Fluvanna, you can have all […]