Snap o' the Day

Stuart, center, gets introduced to the masses via the 10pm Newsplex broadcast by Tara Wheeler with radio deejay P.J. Styles.

Jennifer Stuart: She's the Paramount Idol winner

On the same night that semi-shaven fellow with similar first and last names won the eleventh season of American Idol, a Central Virginian was named the winner of the Paramount Idol, a spiffy little Charlottesville contest. She is Jennifer Stuart, and she sings in a Nellysfo

The trailers where high school students have been studying while their earthquake-damaged school is getting studied are behind the stage.

Over Alan Jackson

This is how the free Sunday evening concert that country music superstar Alan Jackson gave the people of Louisa County looked. The May 20 event was limited to a crowd of 6,000– 3,000 residents who got the free tickets and another 3,000 whose tickets will benefit the L

Most people will look up to see these photos, but the Hook office affords an aerial view.

When trees sprout photographs...

...That means Look3, Charlottesville's photography fest, is just around the corner. The underwater photos of National Geographic's David Doubilet started going up at 7am Friday, May 18. Doubilet will be at the Paramount June 6, and the trees on the Downtown Mall will sport

Shadwell surprise-- for some, anyway

Beginning May 1, drivers on the east side of town have been dealing with an interruption as the Virginia Department of Transportation rebuilds the 73-year-old bridge carrying U.S. 250 across the CSX/Buckingham Branch railroad. Through-traffic has been diverted onto Intersta

Those Darlins at the Haven

Those Darlins helped open the big final weekend of the Tom Tom Founders Festival by performing May 11 at the Haven, the downtown church turned day shelter for down-on-their-luck folks.

Photo taken May 9 around 11:30am. More than two hours later, Burgos was still there.

Keeping our fountains flowing

Twobears Burgos is the fountain expert with Charlottesville Parks & Rec, and he's performing maintenance on the Central Place fountain on the Downtown Mall to keep it from getting clogged up. Turns out there's a hidden room below the Mall with the equipment to keep thin

Fourth Street is closed for fire vehicles.

Where's the fire?

A stove fire at the Nook around 1:30pm May 9 brings at least four Charlottesville firetrucks to the Downtown Mall and evacuates the restaurant. Damage is minimal, according to a firefighter on the scene.

Charlie Pastorfield, Corky Schoonover (in background on drums), and the ever-prancing Bo Randall salute keyboardist-vocalist extraordinaire Danny Beirne.

They boogied... before midnight

Skip Castro entertained a massive crowd at Fridays After Five on May 4, and the crowd seemed to know the words to the songs to which they were dancing. The band, which got its start in Charlottesville during the era portrayed in a 2006 rockumentary, retains a strong followi

Fleurie is the only restaurant on this side street.

Deck the Mall: Fancy Fleurie adds space for 22

Fleurie, the compact and upscale restaurant on the Downtown Mall's Third Street NE, will finally get its own café, as these images from May 3 indicate. The restaurant, owned by chef Brian Helleberg, won permission last December Related story Kitchen confidential: Brian H

All fresco: Taking farm-to-table literally

"Our carbon footprint," says our waiter at a recent dinner at Zinc, "is pretty low from there to there." Related story Heavy metal: Zinc patio gets zincier