Charlottesville Breaking News
Valedictator: Lawn to get a dose of Colbert
Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert speaks at UVA's May 18 valediction.publicity photoGet ready, Nation. Funny-man Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, is coming to Mr. Jefferson's University to deliver the 2013 valediction keynote speech on May 18. But which Colbert will show up? The "well-intentioned, poorly informed high-status idiot" he plays on the show or the guy who, along with his UVA alum wife, Evelyn McGee Colbert, funded a new Arts Scholars program in the UVA College of Arts & Sciences? Maybe both.
Certainly, the former Daily Show correspondent, and Hampden-Sydney College alum (which he attended before transferring to Northwestern University) is unpredictable, having famously lambasted President George W. Bush at a 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, run for president in 2008, and appeared before Congress in 2010 to testify, in character, about immigration reform.
As far as Colbert's UVA connections go, we have his wife to thank. She graduated in 1985, with a double-major in drama and English and performed at the Heritage Repertory Theatre. Outside of that, Colbert's other nod to Jefferson came in 2004, when the Daily Show team published America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, which had an introduction said to be written by Thomas Jefferson.
"I'm thrilled that Colbert is our speaker," says Priya Vithani, graduation committee chair for the class of 2013. "This has been a long anticipated event, and our class...
Dignity and justice, City Market
In last week's story, "May Day rally: Housing authority hides from protesters," the Rally for Dignity and Justice in Public Housing was misidentified.
Last week's story "Vendor bender: Will the City Market stay or go?" contained several errors. While entries in a 2007 design competition included plans for an improved City Market location, the focus was on conceptualizing what a full scale development along Water Street might look like. It is market manager Stephanie Malloy, not City Economic Director Chris Engel, who fields requests from vendors for a spot at the market, and while there is a waiting list, there are fewer than 40 inquiries per week. Finally, the lot the market uses is assessed at $2.3 million.
The week in review
Closest tie to Boston Marathon bomber: The body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev was refused burial space all over the northeast. He's quietly buried in a Doswell cemetery in in Caroline County, and outrage ensues.
Most outrageous call for grave desecration by an elected official in response to the burial: “Did Virginia just open a new rest stop?," Fluvanna Board of Supervisors Chair Shaun Kenney posts on a friend's Facebook page. "Somehow I get the sense that I will feel..um..relieved after visiting that grave." The Fluvanna Review has the story.
Most egregious acts of government, part 1: The IRS targets tea party groups for closer scrutiny in 2012 and asks for lists of donors– in violation of its own policies. The Shenandoah Valley Tea Party in Staunton was one of those targeted, according to WINA. Then Acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller appears before Congress and neglects to mention this breach.
Most egregious acts of government, part 2: The Justice Department secretly obtains two months of Associated Press phone records, the ...
GOP convention: 'Laborious process' to nominate AG, LG
Delegate Rob Bell and state Senator Mark Obenshain will know after the first ballot Saturday whether they're the GOP candidate for attorney general.PUBLICITY PHOTOSYou've got to be pretty serious about your political party if you're willing to spend an entire Saturday in Richmond nominating candidates for attorney general and lieutenant governor.
Yes, lieutenant governor. Seven people want this mostly ceremonial job that used to be a stepping stone to governor, before attorneys general like Bob McDonnell started using that office to launch a gubernatorial run.
Moments in the spotlight for the lieutenant governor occur now when there's a tied vote in the evenly split state Senate. Or when they denounce the whole convention process, threaten to run for governor as an independent, bow out of the race, and say they're not coming to the convention because it's too exclusive, too strident, and disenfranchises the mainstream voter, as current Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling has done.
About 300 delegates from Charlottesville and Albemarle are slated to go to Richmond May 18, and with Ken Cuccinelli already the presumed Republican nominee for governor, the major race will be between local Delegate Rob Bell and state Senator Mark Obenshain over the hill in Harrisonburg for attorney general.
"From Albemarle, I'd assume Rob Bell has the lion's share of the delegates," says Cindi Burket, chair of the county GOP.
Bell, 45, announced he was seeking the AG job almost as soon as Cuccinelli elbowed LG Bill Bolling aside and said he was running for governor more than a year ago. The six-term delegate for the 58th Dis...
Get Out! events, shows, things to do
Hometown girl Mariana Bell returns to play at The Southern on May 23.Kelly Elaine Photography
Bateville Store Facebook page"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." – Robert Frost
Bell returns to her roots
After playing in Europe this spring, Charlottesville native Mariana Bell returns home for a show at The Southern on May 23. Bell will be showcasing her latest release, The Carolina EP, a five-song acoustic meditation on a fictional character's life from various angles, with a duet featuring Ari Hest on the title track of the "story." Bell will perform this album as well as several full-band songs from her CD Push.
"I love the idea of coming home to play," says Bell, "but honestly, I worry if anyone remembers me."
Bell says another hometown musician first inspired her to play.
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