Charlottesville Breaking News
Republican resurrection? Fighter pilot and cop challenge Dem-controlled council
Mike Farruggio and Buddy Weber go boldly where no Republicans have gone since 2006 as candidates for City Council.photo by lisa provence
City Republicans have been "revitalized" since the Ronald Reagan dinner, says party chair/council candidate Buddy Weber.photo by lisa provence
City Councilor Dede Smith checks out the Republican uprising April 25 on the Downtown Mall.photo by lisa provenceCity Republican chair Buddy Weber has been looking for Republicans to run for City Council since at least 2006, the last year the GOP fielded a candidate in Dem-heavy Charlottesville. After a seven-year drought, Weber has not one, but two candidates– although he's one of them.
Former fighter pilot Weber, 67, and soon-to-be-former cop Mike Farruggio, 50, announced in their respective lingo that they'd be "wingman" and "backup" to each other in a GOP two-fer to take back City Council.
Master political strategist Karl Rove was in town recently for the Ronald Reagan dinner, and since then, Republicans have been "revitalized," said Weber in front of the two dozen or so supporters who gathered April 25.
Traditionally, candidates running for council announce in front of City Hall. Weber and Farruggio chose Central Place on the Downtown Mall, as if to distance themselves from what some see as the shenanigans of a Democratic-controlled City Council.
"During my time in Charlottesville, I have grown increasingly frustrated with a City Council that pontificates with faux authority on issues that do not matter, but dithers endlessly on issues that do," said Weber, a criminal defense attorney who's handled such high-profile clients as convicted wife-killer Eric Abshire and graduation rapist Jeffrey Kitze, who was charged and acquitted of stalking.
"I have found myself up close and personal with young men and women in our community in serious trou...
'Admitted' behavior: Judge denies Dumler motion
Attorney Jessica Phillips was unable to get the case to remove Dumler from the Albemarle Board of Supervisors dismissed. Protester Steve Peters positioned his sign for the TV cameras.photo by lisa provence
Lynchburg Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Doucette says in the absence of case law, he has to rely on common sense to make his case to remove Dumler.photo by lisa provence
Green-jacketed Lena Seville discusses why she was removed from the courtroom with an Albemarle sheriff's deputy.photo by lisa provenceUnlike his last appearance in court as a defendant, a freshly shaved Chris Dumler came before a judge April 29 seeking to have the petition for his removal from the Albemarle Board of Supervisors thrown out– to no avail. Judge Cheryl Higgins ruled against him in a case that has very little precedent in Virginia.
Dumler's attorney, Jessica Phillips, argued that the petition for Dumler's removal from office citing "admitted and documented questionable behavior" was too vague, and that special prosecutor Mike Doucette's bill of particulars, which specifies how Dumler's conviction of misdemeanor sexual battery had a "material adverse effect" on his ability to perform his job a...
Get Out! events, shows, things to do
The Infamous Stringdusters will perform a special benefit concert for the Music Resource Center.publicty photo“If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: The only proof he needed for the existence of God was music." ― Kurt Vonnegut
Stringdusters play for the MRC
Appropriately enough for this Hook music issue, our own Music Resource Center gets some love from the Grammy-nominated and highly eclectic bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters, as they perform a special benefit concert for the MRC at the Cider Barn at Verulam Farm on Bloomfield Road. The concert will fund scholarships for low-income students to attend the MRC and allow them to receive music and technology education for free. Of course, tickets for the event are a bit pricey, but hey, its a benefit! Plus you get food catered by The Catering Outfit, an open beer and wine bar, and the first 100 ticket buyers get a custom screen-printed concert poster. And, of course, it's tax deductible. As for the Stringdusters, well, they're known for their complex, distinctive bluegrass tunes, as the group was founded in 2007 by two Berklee College of Music students. What's more, Andy Hall (Dobro), Andy Falco (guitar), Chris Pandolfi (banjo), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle), and Travis Book (upright bass) also contribute to our local music scene by helping to produce The Festy Experience, the three-day music festival in Nelson County founded in 2010. Limited tickets...
The Other Fanning: Elle acts beyond her years
Alice Englert and Elle Fanning star as compelling teen friendsA24by Richard Roeper
Born in 1945 in the shadow of Hiroshima, Ginger and Rosa grow up in a London of weary shortages of food, living space and cheer. Who could have guessed Swinging London and the Beatles were on the way? The girls become fast friends: Ginger, whose father Roland was a conscientious objector during World War II, and Rosa, whose father isn't in the picture.
Seen in intimate hand-held intimacy in Ginger & Rosa, they smoke their first cigarettes, lighting two on a match, ironing their hair flat, soaking in a tub together to shrink their jeans. (Remember that probably apocryphal story about the hippie chick who fell asleep doing that during an LSD trip and woke up paralyzed?)
They're part of an informal left-wing community group also including Ginger's mother, Anoushka (Christina Hendricks); May Bella (Annette Bening), a sparky leftist, and an avuncular gay couple both named Mark (Timothy...
Parade
A perfect day for a parade, cool temperatures, California quality light.
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Commentator Bill Emory puts up a new photo nearly every day at billemory.com/blog.
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