Remember the good ol’ days of drive-in movies—basking in the warm summer air, holding your portable radio close, munching on hot buttered popcorn and Raisinets? The Ix Flix summer film series captures that old-time feeling. This week’s sunset screening is Everything Everywhere All at Once, so pack your chairs, blankets,
and pillows, grab a bite from a local food truck, crack open a cold one, and enjoy the show.
Friday 6/30. Free, sunset. Ix Art Park, 522 Second St. SE. ixartpark.org
June 30 | A crawfish boil, wine, craft beer, live music by Southwater Trio. Fireworks at 9pm. Mount Ida Tasting Room & Taphouse, 5931 Blenheim Rd., Charlottesville. mountidareserve.com
June 30-July 3 | Drive-in movies, live music, swimming, and BBQ picnics. Fireworks on July 2 at dusk. Boar’s Head Resort, 200 Ednam Dr., Charlottesville. boarsheadresort.com
July 1 | Hot dogs, BBQ, funnel cake, and snow cones, plus vegetarian choices. Fireworks on July 1 at 9pm. Claudius Crozet Park, 1075 Park Rd., Crozet. crozetcommunity.org
July 4 | A parade and live music by Southern Sky and Mark Wills. Fireworks at 9:45pm. Morris Field, 13510 Spotswood Trl., Ruckersville. rwbng.org
July 4 | Parade, car show, and live music with Eli Cook Band and Jacob Paul Allen. Fireworks over the James River at dusk. Town of Scottsville. facebook.com/events/town-of-scottsville-va
July 1 & 2 | Axe throwing, craft showcase, chairlift rides, live music, children’s block party. Fireworks at 9:30pm on July 2. Wintergreen Resort, 39 Mountain Inn Loop, Nellysford. wintergreenresort.com
July 4 | Picnic offerings plus fried Oreos, funnel cakes, and ice cream. Live music from South Canal Street. Fireworks at 9pm. Graves’ Mountain Lodge, 205 Graves Mountain Ln., Old Blue Ridge Turnpike, Syria. gravesmountain.com
Let freedom ring and help celebrate new American citizens as they take the oath of citizenship on July Fourth at Monticello. UVA President Jim Ryan will speak to the new citizens, with music by the Charlottesville Band, the Charlottesville Opera, the Old Line Fife and Drum Corps, and The Oratorio Society of Virginia. The ceremony will also feature a presentation of the colors from the Boy Scouts of America Troop 75, followed by root beer floats and children’s activities on the West Lawn.
Tuesday 7/4. Free (registration required), 9am. Monticello, 1050 Monticello Loop. monticello.org
After 28 years of leading the team, University of Virginia women’s lacrosse Head Coach Julie Myers is retiring.
Boasting a 349-181 all-time record, Myers led the Cavaliers to the post-season every year except for 2020, when the NCAA canceled playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before becoming head coach, Myers was a player on the UVA women’s lacrosse team. During her time as a player, Virginia won the national title in 1991, with Myers as the team’s starting center. Myers came back as an assistant coach after finishing out her eligibility, and rose to the position of head coach in 1995.
In 2004, Myers became the first person in NCAA history to win the national championship as both a player and head coach. The team also won the tournament during her time as an assistant coach in 1993.
Beyond team successes, individual players flourished under Myers’ direction. Eight Cavaliers were honored as national players of the year, three more as national rookies of the year, and 13 team members went on to play for U.S. National Lacrosse squads.
Now that she is stepping down, Myers is looking forward to pursuing other opportunities and being a spectator at her children’s collegiate lacrosse games.
“Thank you to all of my players, their families, my staff, all of my co-workers, and the athletic department and other supporters who have all been integral to the success of this women’s lacrosse program, to my career, and to me personally,” Myers said. “Especially to my players. It has been an honor and a privilege to coach each of you. While I am incredibly proud of the many accomplishments we have enjoyed through the years, I will treasure most the memories and the relationships this profession of coaching has provided for me.”
The funeral of Wintergreen police officer Mark “Chris” Wagner II was held at the Augusta Expo Center on Monday, June 26. Wagner was killed while responding to a reported assault on the night of June 19.
The midday service began with opening remarks and a personal reflection from Wintergreen Police Chief Dennis Russell, before proceeding to speeches from the victim’s father—Mark C. Wagner—and Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Youngkin was one of several Virginia officials at the memorial service, with Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, Deputy Attorney General Chuck Slemp, and Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Terry Cole joining the governor on stage.
Ahead of the service, Youngkin ordered all flags in the state to be lowered to half-mast in honor of the fallen officer.
Following the memorial and visitation, Wagner was laid to rest at Augusta Memorial Park.
A bit of Good
Rep. Bob Good’s Self-Insurance Protection Act has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives as part of H.R. 3799. The bill was approved 220-209 along party lines, with two Republicans abstaining from the vote. Good’s portion of the legislation focused on lowering the cost of health care by increasing access to stop-loss insurance and reducing current health insurance regulations. Despite passing the House, the bill is unlikely to have success in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Big bucks for broadband
Sen. Mark Warner announced that Virginia will receive nearly $1.5 billion in federal funding for improving access to broadband and high-speed internet across the state. The funding comes from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, an initiative created by the bi-partisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. “I’m thrilled that Virginia is receiving the investment we need to deploy broadband all across the commonwealth,” said Warner. “This funding is in no small part thanks to the Virginians that took time out of their day to report their connectivity status. Because of these efforts, we were able to accurately report our coverage and access every cent to which Virginia was entitled.”
Celebrating Pride
While June is coming to a close, Pride celebrations in Charlottesville will stretch into late summer this year. Charlottesville Pride Network will host its annual pride event at Ix Art Park on Sunday, September 17, 2023, with a street festival and funday featuring performances, vendors, and food and drinks.
Results of the June 2023 primary elections have been finalized. And while the winners are preparing for the November 7 general election, the defeated candidates are thinking about next steps.
The most competitive primary race was between state Sen. Creigh Deeds and House of Delegates Rep. Sally Hudson for the newly redrawn Senate District 11. Hudson, who lost by only 519 votes to the longtime incumbent, says she remains optimistic about Virginia’s future.
“Though we came up short in our election, I’m thrilled by the results statewide,” Hudson says. “The first fair maps in Virginia history made competitive elections possible across the commonwealth, and a new wave of Virginia leaders is now headed to the Senate. We’ll all be better served by the diverse range of perspectives they’re bringing to Richmond.”
Hudson will leave office at the end of her current term, but she’s not bowing out of Charlottesville politics. “I’m looking forward to finishing out my term as delegate and then finding my next call to service,” she says. “There’s no shortage of good work to be done, and our community is blessed with energetic leaders digging in on every front.”
In the House of Delegates District 54 race, newcomer Katrina Callsen came out ahead of former Charlottesville mayor Dave Norris and former Police Civilian Oversight Board chair Bellamy Brown.
While he believes there is still work to be done, Norris is returning to retirement following his defeat in the primary. “I came out of political retirement to run for office in large part because my family, and countless other families both locally and statewide, have been devastated by the abject failures of Virginia’s mental health system, and I wanted to be part of fixing that,” he says. “I am happily now re-retired from politics but hopefully my candidacy helped to shed at least a little light on the need for a dramatic overhaul of that seriously broken system.”
Unlike Norris, Brown is not leaving Charlottesville politics following the June 20 election. On top of campaigning in other key Virginia races this November, he’s already looking toward the 2025 primary elections, when he plans to run again.
“I think the Black community is still not fully represented, so I want to continue to amplify that work,” he says. “I’m gonna do that work, even if I’m not in the General Assembly at this point, and that’s to continue to emphasize public safety and mitigating against gun violence, to do the best that we can to find areas to work on advancing women’s reproductive rights, and championing school funding and supporting our teachers.”
In District 55, residents of Albemarle, Louisa, and Fluvanna elected Amy Laufer over Kellen Squire. After a contentious campaign, Squire does not plan to make another run.
“My plan was only to run, at max, until the next redistricting cycle, and then get out of the way for the next generation,” says Squire. “I gave it a shot—the most individual donations in primary history, never lied, never went negative—and thanks to the folks who stood with us we did better in the face of weaponized disinformation than anyone could’ve expected.”
Squire also experienced some personal hardships during the campaign, including a cancer diagnosis. “I spent a good chunk of time [in] April discussing with both the local party and state party in Richmond that I might have to bow out and endorse my opponent after my cancer diagnosis because of the very real risk I might need to get lymph nodes taken out and start on chemotherapy,” he says.
Now that the election is over, Squire is celebrating both his campaign and being cancer free. “I have no regrets and no heartburn at all,” he says. “I appreciate everyone’s support, particularly the elected officials and activists who reached out after the election. I think the future belongs to folks like Natalie Oschrin, Mike Pruitt, Jerrod Smith, and other up-and-comers like them.”
In the city, incumbents Michael Payne and Mayor Lloyd Snook retained their seats on council. Competition for the third City Council seat was fierce, with Orschrin beating Dashad Cooper and Bob Fenwick. Neither Cooper nor Fenwick responded to a request for comment by press time.
STATE SENATE DISTRICT 11
Creigh Deeds 50.97 percent
Sally Hudson 49.03 percent
HOUSE OF DELEGATES DISTRICT 54
Katrina Callsen 46.92 percent
Dave Norris 33.90 percent
Bellamy Brown 19.18 percent
HOUSE OF DELEGATES DISTRICT 55
Amy Laufer 69.70 percent
Kellen Squire 30.30 percent
CHARLOTTESVILLE CITY COUNCIL
Natalie Oschrin 26.42 percent
Michael Payne 25.29 percent
Lloyd Snook 23.16 percent
Dashad Cooper 15.35 percent
Bob Fenwick 9.78 percent
The climate crisis is on our doorstep, but it’s not all doom and gloom. Area environmental leaders are optimistic about our community’s ability to tackle the problems of today, and hopeful that the next generation will take up the cause as well. For this year’s Power Issue, we spoke with nine people across industries, from organizations big and small, to learn what they’re doing to make Charlottesville a model for cities around the world.
Susan Kruse
Executive Director | Community Climate Collaborative
Charlottesville is on the clock: The city’s Climate Action Plan hinges on a mandate to slice our greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by 2030, and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. It seems daunting, but Susan Kruse, executive director of the Community Climate Collaborative, thinks that a united Charlottesville can achieve that goal—and create a better city in the process.
“Climate is connected to everything,” says Kruse, who has been working to protect the environment and fight for climate justice for nearly 30 years. Equity and the environment are entangled, she explains. Without affordable housing, for instance, “we create systems that create car dependencies and push people away from cities.”
“That’s a justice issue,” says Kruse. “That’s a climate issue.”
But the executive director of C3 is optimistic that Charlottesville can not only achieve its own climate goals, but serve as a model for other cities in Virginia, where most residents live in urban and suburban communities. And she’s willing to unite with unlikely partners, like local petroleum supplier Tiger Fuel, to realize that common goal.
“A lot of environmental groups would not work with a fuel company,” says Kruse. “If we’re looking at climate as math, they have to cut their emissions in half just like I do. So, if they’re willing to do that work, then let’s step forward.”
As C3 looks to expand its work into Richmond, Kruse recognizes that many of the climate justice challenges Charlottesville faces are shared by the capital of the commonwealth. But she trusts that broad support for change is there.
“People really want to do the right thing across the board, but most people don’t know where to start, and that is where we come in,” says Kruse. “That is where we can be helpful.”
Sarah Sweet
Founder | The Scrappy Elephant
Nothing goes to waste at The Scrappy Elephant. Sarah Sweet’s creative reuse center collects used arts and crafts supplies to keep them out of landfills, and sells them to the community at as low a cost as possible to ensure more people can afford to make art.
“I’m a former art teacher and an artist myself,” says Sweet, “so I know how healing art is for the soul. And we’re all very stressed right now.”
In May, Sweet’s shop took in more than 5,000 pounds of items. The Scrappy Elephant has accepted all sorts of supplies, including some bulkier machinery like sewing machines and a printing press, giving them a chance at a new life on the sales floor or in the shop’s rentable studio space.
“I’ve always been very conscientious about the environment,” says Sweet, who credits the birth of her daughter as a point of inspiration. “Having her kind of turned that whole climate change thing into, ‘This is scary, and I’m bringing a human into this, and what kind of future is she going to have?’”
But it was a trip to Nashville that sparked the idea for a store. There, she read an article about a creative reuse center—the first time she’d heard the term—and became “obsessed” with the idea. She drove to every creative reuse center she could find, even calling ones that were out of the way, to learn how to make one of her own. And with the Community Investment Collaborative, a 16-week program on how to start a small business, she was able to learn how to make her idea a reality. She first tested a pop-up location in the summer of 2020, which turned out to be the perfect timing.
“Honestly, during COVID, a lot of people took up crafting because they were stuck at home,” she says. “And then a lot of people were purging their home to make space for home offices, so it kind of aligned.”
What’s next? Sweet hopes to eventually create a space where artists can sell their artwork.
Gabriela Romo
Founder | Refemme
When Gabriela Romo won the $10,000 top prize at the Piedmont Pitch Night this spring, capping off a 10-week program with more than 70 entrepreneurs, she knew it was just the beginning of a long journey.
“Now I feel like the real work is coming,” she says.
Romo won with her idea for Refemme, what she calls a “circular business” that combats the world’s fast fashion predicament by trying to “change the linear model of take, make, and waste, to take, make, reuse, repair, repurpose.” At Refemme, anyone can get their clothing mended—or even learn how to do the job themselves through mending workshops. With so much textile waste, Romo hopes that her business will encourage people to extend the life of their clothes and keep repairable items and reusable garments out of the trash bin.
Romo was inspired by her time spent working in a thrift store when she first arrived in Charlottesville. There, she noticed how many almost-new items of clothing were being donated, or just clothing missing a single button. And not everything donated even made it to the sales floor. “I just realized that people did not know how to take care of those small flaws,” she says.
With the influx of cash she won this year, Romo decided that building a storefront isn’t “the smart thing to do” for her business right now. Instead, she’s developed an idea for a mending drop-off system: a parcel box to drop off clothes to be mended, where customers can pick them up one week later. She plans to launch that initiative in the fall, in partnership with Darling x Dashing, The Scrappy Elephant, and Bluebird & Co.
“I have reworked close to 300 garments at this point, that have saved almost 100,000 liters of water,” she says, adding that a 10-minute stitch makes a huge difference, and makes her feel helpful. “I’m just providing a solution for a community that really craves it.”
Kathy Nepote
Project Committee Chair | Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards
Kathy Nepote is a veterinarian who grew up on a farm. She knows crops, she knows animals—but when she moved to Charlottesville in 2016, she “knew squat about trees.”
So she took a course with the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards and fell in love with the community. Now, she’s the project committee chair for CATS, where she helps to identify which sites the organization will work at and what work it’ll do. Recommendations for projects can come from the city, the county, or even from an individual CATS member, and can range from tree planting to invasive plant control.
Most recently, CATS planted 26 trees at Chris Greene Lake. And Nepote herself still gets out there to play her part.
“You get outside, you’re with your friends, you talk, and you do something that makes an impact,” she says.
Nepote says she does the work for a simple reason: She loves it, and it’s fun. But she knows that just planting trees isn’t enough. “Even more important is maintaining the tree canopy that we do have,” she says, as housing projects threaten to clear out large swaths of foliage. To that end, CATS is also an advocacy and awareness group that has written letters to halt disruptive construction projects.
But CATS relies on public and community partnerships to get the approval and assistance it needs to improve the city’s natural environment. From the City of Charlottesville, to the Tree Commission and the County of Albemarle, none of what CATS does would be possible without their help, says Nepote.
“We’re very fortunate to have very dedicated people. There’s people in Charlottesville who really do care about the environment,” she says. “So you have a great pool of people to pull from to get stuff done.”
Nate Benforado
Senior Attorney | Southern Environmental Law Center
Environmental work is in Nate Benforado’s blood. His father worked at the EPA for more than 30 years, and growing up his family took regular camping trips to Shenandoah. So, when Benforado, an attorney and UVA alum, moved back to Charlottesville after spending years in private practice, he was driven to make a difference. Now, as a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, he feels like he’s using his power for good.
“I had a light-bulb moment,” he says. “I could take the career skills I have—going to court, persuading people you’re right—and actually use them for something I care about.”
Benforado considers the Charlottesville-based SELC to be a “powerhouse” in the Southeast, with more than 100 attorneys across six states and hundreds of staff members. As senior attorney, Benforado has personally led the SELC’s work on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a market-based mechanism that requires pollution producers to “buy” emissions allowances. Virginia was the first Southern state to join RGGI, thanks in no small part to Benforado’s years of work in the General Assembly trying to get it passed.
“We are a law firm, first and foremost,” says Benforado. “But we have so many tools to use. The lawsuit is always there, but we can be more creative with how we achieve progress.”
Recent efforts by state Republicans and Gov. Glenn Youngkin to withdraw from RGGI have pushed Benforado to jump back into the fight. But that doesn’t mean that he sees opposing forces as adversarial.
“We never sacrifice our mission, but we are very pragmatic in making progress,” he says. “So we are gonna work with anybody who we think can help us, and we will always try to find some common ground.”
Richard Morris
Co-executive Director | Cultivate Charlottesville
“We believe that food is a human right,” says Richard Morris, co-executive director of Cultivate Charlottesville. That is the organization’s guiding philosophy, which Morris hopes the community will embrace. But he also wants to shore up support for the people who grow and harvest food in the community, as well as the idea that everyone deserves good food.
“[Charlottesville] is known as a foodie town,” he says. “But there’s also a lot of hunger here in Charlottesville. It’s not for lack of resources; Charlottesville has the resources to be a foodie town for all people.”
Morris’ mother was an “Alabama farm girl,” he says. Growing up in a Black working-class neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona, they always had a garden in the backyard. So, if someone ran short of food, his family’s home garden was ripe for the picking. “In that sense,” he says, “our garden was a community garden.”
Morris has worked as a graphic and software designer and developer across many different industries, from health care to aerospace, and through it all he’s always kept a garden of some sort. Working with Cultivate the last five years has felt like “coming full circle,” he says.
Though Morris is bidding farewell to the organization to pursue personal goals, studio art, and his own garden, he remains inspired by the next generation. Cultivate’s work with youth, through opportunities like an intern program where kids get to work in the gardens, and develop their leadership skills and cooperative skills, has allowed Morris to see how much energy and passion is waiting in the wings in Charlottesville.
“You plant a tree, and maybe you won’t be able to sit in the shade of that tree, but the next generation will,” he says. “And so that’s my goal.”
Emily Irvine
Climate Protection Program Manager | City of Charlottesville
When it comes to achieving the city’s climate goals, Emily Irvine sees a future of grand possibility on the horizon. And as Charlottesville’s climate protection program manager, she’s devoted to getting all of us pointed in the same direction, envisioning the same picture of what a climate-ready city looks like.
The path forward for every person, organization, or business might be a little different, but part of Irvine’s job is to build relationships in the community and help everyone figure out how to journey down their individual path toward that big bright future.
“I like to say climate change is a collective action problem,” says Irvine. “So, it will take all of us. I really feel like there is transformative change potential in this work, and that is something that also makes it feel exciting and dynamic, and also hard.”
Irvine’s path to her current role was shaped, in part, by a different global crisis: the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed her to leave her job of nearly 15 years to care for her two school-aged children.
“Many women left their jobs at that time and I was among them,” she says. “Having that career break really gave me the opportunity to think critically about what I really wanted to be doing, and it gave me the opportunity to go back to school.”
Returning to school for a master’s in natural resources, with a focus on leadership for sustainability, put her on her own path toward tackling climate change full-time. Now, with the Climate Action Plan approved in January and so much federal investment in climate action, Irvine believes there’s never been a more exciting time to be involved.
“I get to get up every morning and do what I’m pretty obsessed with doing,” she says with a laugh. “Which is pretty wonderful.”
Andrea Trimble
Sustainability Director | UVA’s Office for Sustainability
Andrea Trimble is the director of the Office for Sustainability at the University of Virginia, where she oversees various programs and initiatives that push the university toward its 2030 sustainability goals. That means she works in a wide variety of areas—from energy and waste to water—and with a broad range of people—students, staff, faculty, alumni, and more—to craft strategic plans and spur individual action.
It’s a far cry from when she started working in sustainability in higher education 17 years ago at Harvard. “Back in 2006,” says Trimble, “the idea of a ‘sustainable campus’ was very new.” But because she was once part of a team that had to advocate for aspects of campus sustainability that are common today, she learned a lot about managing change across a large organization, and creating a blueprint for other schools to follow. The incredible progress that has been made in the sustainability space since, and the support of UVA and Charlottesville, gives her hope for the future.
For Trimble, her work has always been driven by an appreciation for a community’s relationship with the natural world. Watching her hometown expand, seeing the loss of trees and a reliance on cars as new neighborhoods were developed, drove her to pursue an undergraduate degree in architecture and historic preservation.
But sustainability has also influenced her artistic work. Trimble’s place-based ink line drawings with watercolor examine how local communities are affected by the impacts of climate change—such as wildfires, sea level rise, and extreme heat.
“Drawing is so much about a way of seeing,” she says, “pausing to closely and quietly observe the details in the world around us, but also making connections to larger concepts. A lot of sustainability work is about paying attention to what is happening around us, understanding context and connections, and taking action—often creatively.”
Mark Goodwin
President/CEO | Apex Clean Energy
Mark Goodwin, president and CEO of Apex Clean Energy, believes in a holistic approach to sustainability and renewable energy. At Apex, employees are encouraged to shift to clean energy in their own lives through financial incentive programs for those who purchase electric vehicles, install solar panels at home, or avoid driving to work. Apex’s “mass-timber” headquarters is, naturally, made from green building materials and powered by solar energy.
Goodwin wants Apex to lead with their wind, solar, and storage facilities, energy resources, and green fuel tech—but he also wants Apex to lead by example.
“To make meaningful change, our entire community—from municipal governments to private citizens and organizations—must act on sustainability,” says Goodwin, who notes that Apex is a founding member of the Green Business Alliance, a coalition of Virginia companies that have collectively pledged to reduce their emissions by 45 percent by 2025.
But Goodwin also realizes that the fight against climate change is a multi-generational endeavor, and that preparing today’s youth to take up that responsibility should also be part of Apex’s mission. To that end, the company has developed an internship program open to applicants from across the country, offered tours of their headquarters, and designed an “experiential workshop” that introduces high schoolers to renewable energy. Apex has also launched new opportunities for HBCU students, such as a free, online course that highlights employment opportunities in the clean energy space, as well as the Ron Brown Scholar Program and the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund.
“We’re focused on passing the baton to today’s youth—an inspired and engaged group that’s already proving stereotypes wrong,” says Goodwin. “Apex believes one of our roles in the energy transition is to inspire and equip this future workforce.”
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, access to abortion has changed dramatically across the United States. And while access to reproductive health care is still protected in Virginia, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision has impacted Charlottesville abortion providers.
As the last state in the South without a pending post-Roe restriction on abortion access, Virginia has quickly become a safe haven for those living in surrounding states. At Whole Woman’s Health of Charlottesville, this has led to a spike in out-of-state patients.
“Virginia has really played a role in the post-Roe America, where we are seeing people coming from states where abortion is banned,” says WWH founder and CEO Amy Hagstrom Miller. “Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia are all our borderland states where abortion has been banned this year, and those folks are coming into Virginia for care, and they should have access to mifepristone if that’s what they choose.” Hagstrom Miller, an advocate for reproductive rights across the country for many years, has continued her work vigorously since the Dobbs decision.
While anti-abortion groups celebrated the overturn of Roe, they continue to push for further limitations on reproductive rights. At the center of these efforts has been mifepristone, the drug most commonly used for medication abortion in the U.S.
Earlier this year, the legality of mifepristone was challenged by a Texas ruling—Alliance Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA—which sought to overturn the FDA’s decades-old approval of the drug. Although the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the mifepristone ban, the case has been sent back to the notoriously conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Speaking about the challenge to mifepristone, Hagstrom Miller says, “It’s just nonsense, it’s just crazy. They’re not following medical science and it’s really unprecedented for somebody to try to call into question a drug that’s been approved by the FDA for 23 years.” She continued, “What we’re dealing with here is politics, it’s nothing about science or medicine, and I think it was chosen on purpose to be in that district court in Texas because they were hand-picking Judge Kaczmarek, who is a Trump-appointed judge who’s very publicly and well known to be anti-abortion.”
Mifepristone is a vital part of how WWH provides care to its patients, and Hagstrom Miller says the Charlottesville clinic will continue providing medication abortion as long as possible. “Medication abortion is far and away the most common method that most people choose when they face the decision to terminate a pregnancy,” says Hagstrom Miller. “If for some reason mifepristone is limited, we will continue to offer abortions with medication.”
In order to protect access to mifepristone, Hagstrom Miller and WWH have launched their own suit suing the FDA. At press time, the suit is still ongoing.
For now, Hagstrom Miller is continuing to fight for reproductive rights by recruiting additional providers to the Charlottesville clinic and stressing the importance of Virginia’s upcoming legislative elections. Given Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s support of abortion restrictions, Hagstrom Miller says, “We need to be sure that we don’t lose the Democratic majority in the Senate so that we can stop the kind of extremism that he’s been talking about.”
Both Albemarle and Charlottesville have pledged to be fossil fuel free by 2050. But how will the county balance a need to allow for more electricity through solar fields with a long tradition of preserving rural land?
“A good rule of thumb is … generally seven to 10 acres per megawatt, in terms of a site development standard,” says Michael Zehner of the Berkley Group, a firm hired by Albemarle County to develop standards to regulate future solar projects.
In April, county supervisors approved the 138-megawatt Woodridge Solar project in southern Albemarle, which came with buffers and other conditions to limit the impact on the land. The panels will be installed on about 650 acres.
The prospect of new applications for utility-scale solar fields prompted supervisors to want more precise rules in place. Legislation that passed the Virginia General Assembly in 2020 mandates that Dominion Energy and American Electric Power produce all of their power from renewable sources by the middle of the century. Zehner says that will require 16,100 megawatts to come from either solar or off-shore wind.
“National interests and state policies manifest themselves locally,” he says.
Zehner says solar sites don’t compete with residential development, but they do come with the intense impacts of an industrial use. They can reduce the ability for wildlife to move around, can change the topography, affect soil conditions, and remove forests.
Solar projects also have a finite lifespan, and “there is the presence of toxic materials in panels,” Zehner says. “We do suggest that there be management of damaged panels and the end of life of materials, and that there be practices for storage of damaged panels and removal of damaged panels.”
Localities typically receive higher real property taxes on land under solar panels, and there is also the option of revenue-sharing through something called a “siting agreement.” Zehner says some localities are also setting maximum total coverage for their entire geographic jurisdiction.
“Ultimately, it is really the energy that’s coming off of these that matters, and we need to sort of focus on what we’re trying to get,” says Albemarle Supervisor Jim Andrews.
Supervisor Donna Price says she needs to better know where existing high-power transmission lines are in the county to understand where siting of utility-scale solar projects might work best. Price says she supported the Woodridge Solar project for a few reasons: the buffers involved, the preservation of undeveloped land, and because it would generate enough electricity to power half of the county’s homes. She added that she would support at least one more site as large as Woodridge Solar, but not many more.
“I’m much more interested in putting solar on tops of buildings and things like that to avoid the deterioration of our rural area,” Price says.
Nancy Koenig of Scottsville has recently learned of a commercial solar project that may soon be built on 500 acres next to her sheep farm. “These 500 acres are currently under agricultural use for rye and corn,” she says. “Solar farming is an inefficient use of prime farmland. We don’t want to degrade [the production of] our own food in our own country.”
If you haven’t been to a Bebe Gunn drag show, what are you waiting for? The queen regularly rocks stages all across Charlottesville, and wows audiences with her dazzling dance moves and impressive routines. Catch her performing brunch shows at Common House on June 24 and South and Central on June 25, and don’t miss her Drag Bonanza Birthday Bash at The Southern on July 1. @bebe_gunnn
Name: Bebe Gunn.
Age: 27.
Pronouns: She/her in drag.
Hometown: Richmond.
Where are you right now: My couch in my apartment.
Jobs: Drag/AT&T.
Favorite restaurant: Anywhere with sushi.
Where do you start and end a night out: Hmmm, I usually like to hit the clubs in Richmond.
Who do you call for a good time: My best gal Cherry Possums.
Who is your hero: RuPaul, that woman is an icon.
Best advice you ever got: Don’t be hung up on what other people think of you. They are not living your life for you.
Proudest accomplishment: Bringing drag back to the Charlottesville area post-COVID.
Describe a perfect day: Video games, wine, hanging with friends, and cuddling my cats.
What’s something about yourself that people would be surprised to learn: I’m a writer.
If you could be reincarnated as a person or thing what would you be: I’d be a house cat ‘cause I wouldn’t have to pay taxes.
If you had three wishes what would you wish for: An endless supply of money to help the world, the best dance skills ever, a nice house for my cats.
Do you have any pets: Yes, I have two cats.
Most embarrassing moment: Losing a wig.
Go-to karaoke song: “My Heart Will Go On.”
Favorite movie and show: Brooklyn for movie, “Yellowjackets” for show.
Favorite book: Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King.
Favorite thing about performing: The happiness I can bring an audience, and challenging myself to do better.
Most memorable performance: Did a performance with blood, and it was iconic.
Do you have any pre-show rituals: Get a bite to eat and breathe.
Favorite song to perform to: “Free Yourself” by Jessie Ware.
How much does your heaviest wig weigh: I wanna say maybe five pounds.
How fast can you do your makeup routine: Forty minutes.
Who is your favorite drag queen performer: Sasha Velour, Cherry Possums, Lavender Menace.
Who’d play you in a movie: Honestly, I’d love Lindsay Lohan.
Celebrity crush: Manu Rios.
Most used app on your phone: Twitter.
Last text you sent: hey girl hey.
Most used emoji: The kissy emoji.
Subject that causes you to rant: The state of the world, climate change, and politics.
Best journey you ever went on: New York City, it was such an adventure.
Next journey: Honestly, overseas, maybe tropical or Europe.
Favorite curse word: I love the F-bomb.
Hottest take: Pineapple does belong on pizza.
What have you forgotten today: Nothing today, but I’m super forgetful.
Charlottesville Opera kicks off its summer season with four performances of Frank Loesser’s classic Broadway hit Guys and Dolls. The Tony Award-winning musical follows a pair of New York City gamblers, a missionary, and a showgirl on a high-stakes game of love. Keith Phares, Elise Quagliata, Chauncey Packer, and Cree Carrico perform beloved songs like “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” accompanied by a live orchestra.
Friday 6/23–Sunday 6/25. $20–75, times vary. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. charlottesvilleopera.org