While UVA leadership has continued to stress its willingness to engage with students over the ongoing conflict in Gaza, one such conversation did not proceed as planned on Thursday, May 9, when members of Apartheid Divest—a coalition of 43 student groups—walked out on a pre-scheduled meeting with UVA President Jim Ryan. More than 30 students stood in silence outside the meeting room, with their hands raised and painted red, as remarks and demands were read aloud to the UVA president.
Ryan listened to the statement in silence, leaving after the group started to chant, “35,000 dead and you arrested kids instead” and “Jim Ryan you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.”
In a statement to the Daily Progress about the decision to not move forward with the meeting as planned, Apartheid Divest member Josh Rosenberg said, “President Ryan’s actions were so inexcusable that there was no way we could have a good faith conversation with him after he refused to engage in good faith with students protesting peacefully for Palestine.”
Further division over how to best address UVA’s decision to call in police to break up the encampment arose on Friday, May 10, at a faculty senate meeting. Upper leadership, including Ryan, Longo, and Vice President and Provost Ian Baucom, attended the first portion of the gathering, and were grilled by several members and a small contingent of supporters among the faculty.
At the height of the conversation, multiple professors expressed their frustration with administration not dismissing the no trespass orders issued to protesters on the scene, especially those issued to faculty members and current students.
After leadership left, the senate passed an amended resolution calling for an external review of the events of Saturday, May 4, but declined to pass a resolution of solidarity.
Moving up
Supplied photo.
On May 13, Jamie Gellner started as the new Director of Transportation for Albemarle County Schools.
Prior to her current role, Gellner served as the Director of Special Projects, Program Evaluation, and Department Improvement for ACPS. She also has a background in transportation management, with experience in both Charlottesville and Fairfax.
“Our students deserve safe, reliable transportation services that support their education,” said Gellner in a release from ACPS. “I am eager to collaborate with students, families, and, of course, the dedicated staff of the Department of Transportation to implement innovative solutions and ensure every student arrives at school safely, on time and ready to learn.”
Gellner’s appointment comes at the tail end of a bumpy school year for bussing in the county, which experienced a driver shortage at the start of the 2023-24 school year. After three months, ACPS was able to expand bus services to all students requesting transportation outside of the walk zone.
Over the summer, Gellner will be working to minimize potential driver shortages that may pop back up this fall.
Cause for celebration
It’s graduation season in Charlottesville! Celebrations kick off at the University of Virginia on Friday, May 17, with events including valedictory exercises, the Donning of the Kente ceremony, and the Fourth Year Class Party. The main ceremonies will be held on Saturday, May 18, and Sunday, May 19, at 9am, with respective commencement speakers Daniel Willingham and Risa Goluboff. Expect traffic delays at the Corner, Downtown Mall, and just generally all of Main Street over the weekend.
Phoning in
The Charlottesville Police Department will resume responses for some non-emergency calls on June 1. Responses were temporarily paused in 2021 due to staffing shortages. Significant improvements to staffing will allow officers to respond to credit card fraud, false pretense, impersonation, larceny, vandalism, and lost property calls in person.
Compromise concessions
Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a compromise budget passed by the Democratically controlled state legislature on Monday, May 13. While the new version includes funding for schools and pay increases for teachers and other state employees, other key Democratic priorities were scrapped on the bargaining table. Notable changes include the exclusion of language requiring reentry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the removal of any tax increases or decreases.
Whether you know him as Schroeder’s idol in the “Peanuts” strips, a time-traveling buddy of Bill and Ted’s, or as a lovable St. Bernard causing canine chaos, you’ve probably heard of Beethoven by now. And with good reason; his arrangements are ubiquitous. This week, The Oratorio Society of Virginia presents a concert celebrating the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. You’ve heard selections from this symphony across pop culture, from A Clockwork Orange to Die Hard to Sister Act 2. Now, hear soaring soloists, along with an incredible chorus and accomplished orchestra, perform this classic live and in concert.
Friday 5/10 and Sunday 5/12. $10–40, 7:30pm Friday. Grisham Hall at St. Anne’s-Belfield, 2132 Ivy Rd. $10–40, 3:30pm Sunday. Old Cabell Hall, UVA Grounds. oratoriosociety.org
A heavy police presence was deployed to break up the demonstration at the University of Virginia on Saturday. Photo by Eze Amos.
Tensions between organizers and university leadership reached a boiling point underneath the gray skies on Saturday, May 4, when police forcefully broke up a pro-Palestine encampment at the University of Virginia.
By all accounts, the UVA Encampment for Gaza organized peacefully on Grounds, with demonstrators intermittently chanting, decorating signs, and working on their finals throughout the week. But by noon on Saturday, UVA officials were instructing students to avoid the area around the University Chapel and Rotunda due to “police activity.” The gathering, which quickly garnered attention and attracted hundreds more to the scene, was declared an unlawful assembly. Streets were blocked off and traffic lights switched to flashing yellow as Virginia State Police officers in full riot gear surrounded the encampment.
For the organizers on the scene, it was clear that they were about to be forcefully dispersed.
Footage and images from bystanders and protesters at the conflict’s inflection point depict heavily armed officers breaking up the encampment with the use of chemical irritants and riot shields. Videos posted to the @uvaencampmentforgaza Instagram page show police encircling a line of protesters linking arms and holding umbrellas before forcefully separating them using shields and tear gas. As of press time, 25 people have been arrested and released on bail in connection with the encampment according to UVA.
Tim Longo, University Police Chief, addresses the use of megaphones at the on-Grounds encampment on Wednesday. Photo by Eze Amos.
Rising action
The escalation at the UVA encampment comes on the heels of weeks of unrest at college campuses across the country. Students and community members in Charlottesville in particular have been organizing peacefully for months, with events like teach-ins, poetry readings, and demonstrations held by various groups concerned about the Israeli offensive and conditions in Gaza.
Pro-Palestine protesters have broadly condemned the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 people according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Israel’s offensive was prompted by the October 7 attacks of Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas, which killed roughly 1,200 people and saw hundreds taken hostage.
Organizers at UVA first started congregating near UVA Chapel in the evening of Tuesday, April 30, setting up an encampment and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, Palestinian liberation, and action from the University of Virginia. According to a statement from University Communications, organizers were told they could not set up tents due to school policy at this time, and protestors complied with the policy.
The next day, UVA Dissenters and the UVA Apartheid Divest Coalition held a demonstration on the Lawn from 11am to 5pm. At the end of the event, the group quickly picked up and left the Lawn, with some gathering at the encampment in the green space nearby.
Numbers at the protest ebbed and flowed throughout Wednesday, but by early evening roughly 100 protesters remained, spread out on blankets and towels, crowding under trees to escape the intense heat.
Meanwhile, other students continued their day-to-day activities—taking graduation photos by the Rotunda, setting up slack lines near the Homer statue, and lounging in the grass.
A small counter-protest group gathered nearby for a short period but dispersed quickly.
Protesters declined to speak with the media at the encampment but led chants condemning Israel and UVA: “One, two, three, four, occupation no more. Five, six, seven, eight, UVA, you can’t wait” and “Israel, you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide.”
During a dialogue between concerned faculty members, University Police Chief Tim Longo, and other UVA officials overheard on Wednesday, all expressed a desire to keep the situation from escalating. University police started to remove one organizer for using a megaphone without a permit, but the situation quickly resolved.
“[The attendees are] committed to a kind of constantly mobilized, constantly negotiated, incredibly beautiful and peaceful protest,” one faculty member told C-VILLE. “They’ve been gentle, they’ve been open, they’ve come from every community in the U.S. to actually argue for something and speak and stand for something, which is to stop genocide.”
Students displayed signs with anti-war sentiments throughout the protests. Photo by Eze Amos.
Call and response
Throughout the week, the encampment gradually shrank in size. Organizers posted their demands both on Instagram and on the Homer statue on Thursday: continuously disclose investments made by the UVA Investment Management Company, divest from “institutions materially supporting or profiting from Israel’s genocide, apartheid, and occupation of Palestine,” permanently cut ties with Israeli academic institutions, and allow faculty and students to support Palestine without risk of disciplinary action.
UVA responded to the demands the next day, outlining the processes for UVIMCO decisions and emphasizing its support for free speech on Grounds, while indicating it would not cut ties with Israeli academic institutions.
“Your request for permanent withdrawal from academic relations with Israeli institutions is not one we can support,” wrote Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer Kenyon Bonner and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Brie Gertler in a letter released Friday, May 3. “To terminate study abroad programs, fellowships, research collaborations, and other collaborations with Israeli academic institutions would compromise our commitment to academic freedom and our obligation to enabling the free exchange of ideas on our Grounds, both of which are bedrock values of the University.
“We recognize that this is an incredibly difficult moment for our world. We are seeing disturbing images of arrests and bitter division on campuses across the country. The staggering loss of innocent lives as a result of the conflict in the Middle East is heartbreaking,” reads the final paragraph of the university’s response. “Throughout these times, members of our community have shown a willingness to engage, to debate, and to respect and care for one another and the University we call home, and we hope that you will be willing to participate in further discussion on the issues you’ve highlighted so that we can better understand one another.”
Those at the encampment dissented, posting images of the letter with the words “BULLSHIT” and “FREE PALESTINE” written in marker over the response. Attendees started setting up tents later Friday evening.
Friday night, UPD officers arrived at the encampment in response to megaphone usage and tents before leaving. “Given continued peaceful behavior and the presence of young children at the demonstration site, and due to heavy rain Friday night, officials allowed the tents to remain overnight,” said UVA in an official statement on Saturday, May 4.
Recreational camping tents were exempt from university tent regulations according to a UVA website which was changed the morning of May 4, shortly before VSP raided the protest.
Accounts of the escalation vary significantly.
“We hoped and tried to handle this locally. But when UPD’s attempts to resolve the situation were met with physical confrontation and attempted assault, it became necessary to rely on assistance from the Virginia State Police,” said UVA President Jim Ryan in the May 4 statement. “I recognize and respect that some will disagree with our decisions. This entire episode was upsetting, frightening, and sad.”
Protesters used water to aid those hit with chemical irritants employed by police dispersing the encampment. Photo by Eze Amos.
A statement from the University Communications elaborated on this claim by Ryan, reporting that “around 11:45 a.m. [on Saturday], the University Police Department announced again that the group was in violation of University policies and gave them 10 minutes to vacate the premises. Authorities were again met with agitation, chanting and violent gestures such as swinging of objects.”
Allegations of violence by protesters have been refuted by the encampment. “Welcome to the University of Virginia, where we encourage free speech unless you’re protesting genocide,” posted @uvaencampmentforgaza on Instagram on Monday, May 6. “Where we brutalize our students and mace our community members, where we will arrest your friends and call in militarized troopers when anyone threatens our profit.”
Not over yet
The forced removal of the encampment and arrest of protesters has rallied support among the university and broader Charlottesville community. Hundreds gathered on the Lawn on Sunday, May 5, with several student groups issuing open letters of support for organizers and condemning UVA’s deployment of law enforcement.
“We categorically REJECT President Jim Ryan’s comments and subsequent explanations regarding the events of May 4th,” shared Muslims United, the Black Student Alliance, Pakistani Students’ Association, Afghan Student Association, Black Muslims at UVA, the Environmental Justice Collective, the Asian Student Union, the Bengali Student Organization, and the Sikh Students Association in a joint statement on Instagram. “His portrayal was based on misrepresentations and biased views. Those who were present at the encampment have attested to its peaceful nature.”
Several other student groups and professors at UVA have since spoken out against the university’s handling of the encampment and students’ arrests.
Sunday evening, approximately 100 organizers went directly to Ryan’s residence at Carr’s Hill, chanting for the president to “drop the charges” against arrested demonstrators. Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom were notably absent during the VSP raid, only issuing statements hours after the scene was declared stable by UVA Emergency Management.
As of press time, UVA has not issued any additional public statements regarding the encampment or police action on Grounds.
For years, Crozet celebrated July 4 with fireworks at Claudius Crozet Park, but new homes built in the debris field means a new location is necessary. Photo by Jim Duncan.
Unlike Scottsville, Crozet is not a town, and decisions about land use are up to the six-member Board of Supervisors. The unincorporated community is in Albemarle’s White Hall District, and last year, incumbent Supervisor Ann Mallek narrowly defeated challenger Brad Rykal.
Rykal’s campaign argued Albemarle has focused too much development into Crozet without providing the necessary infrastructure. Even after losing by just 500 votes, Rykal and his campaign formed the group Crozet United and have continued to oppose new homes, such as the 122-unit Montclair development on Route 240.
This week, the Crozet Community Advisory Committee will take up a special use permit that is only indirectly related to residential growth. King Family Vineyards wants permission to hold the annual Independence Day celebration this year and into the future.
“The fireworks celebration has previously been held at Claudius Crozet Park,” reads the application for the permit. “However, after recent housing development encroaching on the park, fireworks can no longer be launched without endangering inhabited dwellings nearby.”
The 22.81 acre Claudius Crozet Park is privately owned by a nonprofit organization right in the middle of one of Albemarle’s designated growth areas. However, Albemarle’s fire marshal will no longer permit displays of fireworks due to the presence of new homes.
As of April 1, Albemarle’s Community Development Department lists 1,482 approved residential units in Crozet that have not yet been built, though that figure largely refers to 1,078 units still allowed at Old Trail Village, which is some distance away from the park.
The U.S. Census Bureau designates Crozet as a place, and lists the population as having grown from 5,565 in 2010 to 9,224 in 2020. The application for the special use permit suggests that a permanent home for Crozet’s Independence Day celebration will help create the future.
“It is a wonderful event that brings people together, both young and old alike,” reads the narrative. “It is an opportunity for people that have lived in Crozet for their entire lives and those who may have just moved to the area to share a common space and make memories together.”
The Crozet Community Advisory Committee meets at 7pm Wednesday in the Crozet Library.
Jim Duncan is a member of the CAC and realtor who has written about Crozet issues for years. He said that while he is glad King Family Vineyards wants to be the new venue for Independence Day celebrations, he laments the change of venue from Claudius Crozet Park.
“That was such an important part of life in Crozet for decades,” Duncan said. “So many were able to walk to the fireworks and see them from their homes and be part of the community in that way.”
Officials with Crozet United declined to provide comment for this story.
In honor of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the third annual VeryAsian VA Celebration returns to Charlottesville this May to shine a spotlight on Asian American culture, community, and creativity. As part of the festivities, C’ville supergroup Afro Asia performs Thai tunes blended with funk, jazz, and blues for Fridays After Five. Born out of a recording project that transitioned into a live band, the group’s sound centers around Jay Pun’s picking on the phin (pronounced “pin”), a traditional instrument from northeast Thailand. These high-energy jams with southeast Asian influences will inspire you to move, as old friends come together to create incredible new music.
Friday 5/10. Free, 5:30pm. Ting Pavilion, 700 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. tingpavilion.com
The Quirk Hotel, soon to be renamed and rebranded, conveniently stands on West Main Street. Supplied photo.
Four years after opening its doors, the Quirk Hotel in Charlottesville was sold for $24 million to Blue Suede Hospitality Group on Monday, April 29. The hotel will undergo a complete rebrand—including a renaming—later this fall.
Originally opened in March 2020, the Charlottesville Quirk Hotel is the sister location of the popular Richmond-based Quirk Hotel. The Ukrop family—best known for its Richmond-area grocery store chain and baked goods—purchased the Charlottesville site for $3.75 million in 2017.
Both Quirk Hotels were operated by Retro Hospitality and owned by the Ukrops family prior to the sale. The Ukrops also sold a minority share of ownership in the original Quirk in January 2024.
Since its launch in New York two years ago, new owner Blue Suede Hospitality Group has acquired four boutique apartment hotels, with locations in Miami, Memphis, Tennessee, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. The acquisition of the 80-room Quirk in Charlottesville marks the group’s first Virginia location and is of a similar size to its Miami holdings.
“We are very excited to continue the great legacy of this remarkable hotel, and further enhance its connection to downtown Charlottesville,” said Blue Suede CEO Kenny Lipschutz in a comment via email. “We look forward to doing our small part to contribute to the dynamic and growing momentum downtown, and are inspired by the opportunity to further support the unique and vibrant Charlottesville community.”
Retro Hospitality will hand over management of the property at the end of June, but BSHG says it will honor the hotel’s existing reservations and events. Since its opening in 2020, the Quirk has become a popular venue choice for couples planning weddings, with a large rooftop bar, changeable indoor and outdoor spaces, and customizable menu options from its full-service restaurant.
The biggest changes will come this fall, when the hospitality group anticipates rebranding the Quirk and announcing a new food and beverage partner.
Despite the rebrand, the Quirk Art Gallery will remain the same, according to Ted Ukrop.
“Katie and I want to thank our guests, artists, and investors for supporting Quirk Charlottesville over the past four years,” said Ukrop in a press release issued by real estate group CBRE, who brokered the deal.“Not all ventures or pursuits go as planned and opening two weeks before Covid certainly presented many challenges. Katie does plan to keep Quirk Gallery open in its current hotel location.”
Quirk Gallery is a major draw for both the Richmond and Charlottesville locations, which prompted the launch of the original hotel. The Ukrops opened the Richmond gallery in 2005 before opening the flagship hotel in 2015. Currently, the Charlottesville Quirk is highlighting artist Kiki Slaughter’s exhibit “Twenty Years,” a retrospective of her two decades as a painter, which will run until June 2.
The sale of the Quirk is the latest shake-up in Charlottesville’s hotel scene, which has seen marked changes over the last several years with the renovation of the Omni Hotel, completed in late 2023, and the opening of the University of Virginia’s Forum Hotel in April of this year.
Another hotel is also currently being discussed by the Board of Architectural review following a proposal from Heirloom Development. The group, which counts luxury apartment building Six Hundred West Main among its local projects, previously obtained approval for a special use permit to build an apartment building at 218 W. Market St., but now hopes to pivot the space to hospitality.
Hailing from D.C. with trip-hop and acid jazz roots, producer-duo Thievery Corporation (Rob Garza and Eric Hilton) have increasingly incorporated pan-global sounds into their electronic-based sets over the past 25 years. With live instrumentation and vocals, their stage performances have garnered massive praise for shows imbued with eccentric yet complementary stylings. Whether a particular song is saturated with bossa nova, reggae, hip-hop, or Afrobeat influences, the vibes are always soulful—and made for the people of Earth en masse. With themes of politics and protest woven throughout their oeuvre, Thievery Corporation have amassed an enormous following, and this second show added by popular demand proves it.
Tuesday 5/14. $40–65, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com
Dirty Honey gained attention in 2019 as an unsigned band for the chart-topper “When I’m Gone,” followed by a nomination for Best New Rock/Alternative Artist at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in 2020.
Supplied photo.
By Thomas Crone
Dirty Honey doesn’t rehash tired old rock.
Rather, live shows and last year’s second album, Can’t Find The Breaks, finds the Southern California rock ‘n’ roll band injecting propulsion, youthful energy, and a new spin on sound that is rooted in the ’60s.
“To have people say that they feel like what we’re doing is fresh, I think that’s a high honor, to be fresh in a world where we’ve already had psychedelic blues,” says guitarist John Notto. “We’ve had ’70s commercial rock. We had ’80s glam metal. We’ve had ’90s stoner rock. We’ve had rap rock in the late ’90s. We’ve had basically commercialized rock since 2000. It’s almost like what else is there? What has freed us up is we feel like we can be sort of the melting pot of all our influences. And that’s kind of our thing.”
Dirty Honey started its thing in 2017. That’s when Notta, who grew up in Maine, moved to Los Angeles. There he met Marc LaBelle and joined the singer’s band Ground Zero. Adding a couple of new members, the band changed its name to Dirty Honey and largely dropped the covers from their set.
The determinedly independent quartet broke through nationally in 2019, when, with its debut single “When I’m Gone,” it became the first unsigned band to top Billboard magazine’s Mainstream Rock Songs in the four decades of the chart’s existence.
That song, and the group’s 2021 self-titled debut album, propelled Dirty Honey into co-headlining clubs with Mammoth WVH, touring Europe, and opening for The Who, Guns N’ Roses, Kiss, and Rival Sons, as the band brought its Aerosmith-meets-AC/DC classic rock assault and high energy stage show to multi-generational audiences.
That wide appeal comes in part from the band’s knowledge and absorption of rock history. Notto credits his mother’s record collection and the discoveries he made at 8 or 9 years old, long before he picked up a guitar.
“There were all the Jimi Hendrix originals and only one Led Zeppelin record,” says Notto. “It was Led Zeppelin II, an amazing record to stumble upon. Those guys, the Jimmies were massive. The Allman Brothers were there. But the biggest of the big three is probably Jimmy Page. … I really am a melting pot of influences. I have so much information because, you know, of the generation I’m part of.
“I love everyone,” says Notto. “Jimmy Page. Jimi Hendrix, Van Halen, Slash. Brian May, and the oddball is Trey Anastasio from Phish.” These influences come up in the riffs that drive Dirty Honey’s songs, a process that Notto calls tricky. “It’s sort of like trying to catch a bird, I think. You do it once. You do it twice. You think you know how to do it and as soon as you get cocky, you miss it.
“You get part of it showing up, putting the work in, and part of it is for me, trying out fresh approaches,” Notto says. “I think variety is the spice of life for me, and maybe it’s the ADHD, I don’t know.”
Getting those fresh approaches was a process for Lotto.
“Five years ago, I was really analytical about what makes a riff great, what makes a riff engaging, from a musical standpoint,” he says. “I really dissected it down to every beat.
“Then after a while, you know, the technical approach got stale, and so then ‘Won’t Take Me Alive’ came out,” he says. “It was ‘What if I really just want to go into the studio and make music that makes me happy tonight?”
“Won’t Take Me Alive” climbed to No. 7 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart when it was released last fall, and its follow-up single, “Can’t Find The Breaks,” helped to cement Dirty Honey‘s broad audience. Outside of some festival dates, the band is headlining in clubs and theaters rather than taking on opening slots.
“I like playing packed headlining shows,” Notto says. “We can play music longer and we play for fans who came for us. We’re sort of accepted as soon as we get up there. The result is I feel a little freer and put on a great show. … I mean, we can already hear them screaming for us before we get on stage and it is spilling over,” he says. “You can’t beat that.”
The Charlottesville Department of Parks and Recreation will begin remedial efforts at Oakwood Cemetery on May 13 following the conclusion of a forensic investigation and information sessions.
The investigation into conditions at the historic, 14-acre cemetery started in December 2023 when the city hired Line and Grade Civil Engineering to conduct a “comprehensive forensic investigation” into sinking, wet ground in a section of the site near Elliott Avenue and South First Street. Both hydrologic and hydraulic factors have contributed to the area’s dampness.
Affected areas of Oakwood Cemetery closely align with sections historically designated for the graves of non-white people, according to the city. “If left unmitigated, the land will swallow these gravesites, further obscuring the legacy of those who have been laid to rest,” shared the Department of Parks and Rec in an April 11 press release.
Further findings from the investigation indicate that the water-logged portion of the cemetery likely includes undocumented burial sites as well.
Prior to starting work in Oakwood Cemetery, the city held two information sessions aimed at sharing plans with residents and hearing feedback from those with loved ones buried at the site.
Mailing it in
While statewide mail issues have recently been in the spotlight, mail delivery in Charlottesville is operating as normal according to the United States Postal Service.
“All Charlottesville customers should be receiving normal mail delivery. Customers with delivery questions should contact their local Post Office,” said USPS media contact Philip Bogenberger in a comment via email. “In recent years, the Postal Service has made significant investments in our network, brought new products to market and continues to streamline operations with the goal of enhancing service to our customers.”
Despite assurances from USPS, Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have both spoken about persistent mail issues in Richmond and previous problems in Charlottesville.
According to Bogenberger, USPS is continuing its local hiring efforts, following previous problems with staffing in the Charlottesville area. The Postal Service is hosting weekly hiring fairs this May for full- and part-time positions at Virginia Career Works, with the next event set for Thursday, May 9 from 2-4pm.
Deadly crash
A privately owned twin-engine plane crashed in a wooded area near Miles Jackson Road the morning of Sunday, May 5, killing both pilot and passenger. The Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia Conservation Police, and Virginia State Police initially responded to a 911 call from Miles Jackson residents who claimed they heard an airplane overhead followed by the sound of an explosion. The remains of 63-year-old pilot John W. Latham of Haymarket and 73-year-old passenger Niiben C.A. Ayivorh of Burke were recovered from the wreckage and transported to Richmond for medical examination.
Playhouse raffle
Volunteers are on site at Piedmont CASA—Court Appointed Special Advocates—to build a playhouse which will be raffled off as a fundraiser for the organization. The raffle for last year’s playhouse, designed by Bushman Dreyfus Architects and constructed by Peter Johnson Builders, brought in more than $30,000 for the nonprofit, which works with local foster children. This year’s volunteer team from Robertson Renovations is working on a design by Hinge, with color to be added by Sun Painting. Raffle ticket sales close May 17, with the winner announced May 18. Visit pcasa.org/playhouse24 for more information.
Brush with fire
On May 2, Albemarle County Fire Rescue found between 25 and 30 individual brush fires covering miles of the county’s planned Biscuit Run Park. ACFR extinguished the fires in about three hours. The first phase of construction on the park began in March, which includes the installation of a parking lot and restrooms, and so the site is closed to the public. The Fire Marshal encourages anyone with information on the incident to contact the office at 296-5833.
Promoting her new album Polaroid Lovers, four-time Grammy Award-winner Sarah Jarosz performs an evening of new music tied to old memories. Simultaneously nostalgic and current, Jarosz ruminates on the mundane yet magical moments that shape a life. Her contemporary Americana stylings are injected with infectious pop-rock motifs and Southern inflections. Following the lineage of artists like Sheryl Crow and Jewel, Jarosz’s earnest delivery and relatable lyrics prompt a trip down memory lane, with all the twists and turns of growing up creating the view along the way.
Monday 5/6. $25–75, 7:30pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com
