C-VILLE Weekly | February 22 - 28, 2023

In a heart-wrenching memoir, former death row chaplain...

...Russ Ford reflects on years sharing men's final moments

Several pet owners claim a dangerous dog-sitter is on the loose PAGE 10

Poet and essayist reflects on influence of Black poetry in new book PAGE 28

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THIS WEEK

Hello, Charlottesville! Thank you for reading C-VILLE Weekly. It’s extraordinary that Virginia abolished the death penalty two years ago—the first Southern state and the 23rd in the nation to do so. Today, six states still have capital punishment on the books. In this week’s feature story, our news reporter Brielle Entzminger speaks with a man who shared the final hours of dozens of men when he was a death row chaplain in the commonwealth (p. 22).

2.22.23

Russ Ford authored the new memoir Crossing the River Styx, which he wrote with Charles and Todd C. Peppers, for University of Virginia Press. The book is a detailed account of Ford’s years ministering to men facing down their deaths—men who had committed heinous crimes and were now looking for some kind of spiritual relief for their guilt. The reverend’s job was incredibly difficult, as he walked men to the chair where they would be electrocuted or administered a lethal injection. Witnessing so many deaths hardened his opposition to the death penalty, but it also served to alienate him from friends and family. Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore, and he left death row behind. or some, it may be easy to dismiss the kind of men Ford spoke with as they came to terms with the ultimate punishment—especially when you read of their crimes. But Ford crucially saw their humanity, their difficult lives, and their capacity for change. No matter where you stand on Richard

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— Democratic state Sen. Creigh Deeds on the Republican-led House of Delegates killing his gun control bill, which would have prohibited firearms at state-owned colleges and permitted law enforcement to obtain a search warrant when they believe firearms are possessed illegally in university buildings

NEWS IN BRIEF

Shots fired

On February 15, the Albemarle County Police Department responded to a shots fired report at around 11:30am in the 200 block of Wahoo Way at the Cavalier Crossing apartment complex. Officers discovered a juvenile who had been injured during the incident, which involved a drug deal. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Garrett Moore at 296-5807. On February 18, Charlottesville and University of Virginia police responded to a shooting at around 8:49pm in the 400 block of 10th Street. A man who had been shot in the hand could not describe the suspect, but said the person drove a cream-colored car, reports The Daily Progress. Anyone with information can contact the CPD at 970-3280.

BOS bids

After four terms on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, Democrat Ann Mallek is vying for the White Hall District seat for the final time. Mallek is currently running unopposed. Democrat Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, who represents the Rivanna District, has also launched her re-election campaign, and is running against independent David Rhodes. Democrat Mike Pruitt has made a bid for the Scottsville seat.

Corner Canes

A second Raising Cane’s is (finally) coming to Charlottesville. Signs advertising the popular chicken spot recently appeared in the windows of the former Sheetz on the UVA Corner, according to a photo posted on Reddit. The “coming soon” sign says the new location is now hiring, but it remains unclear when it will open—or if it will do anything to shorten the eatery’s infamous Route 29 drive-thru line.

UVA professor honored for artificial pancreas invention

UVA School of Medicine professor

Marc Breton has been awarded the university’s 2022 Edlich-Henderson Innovator of the Year for his role in developing an artificial pancreas, which now helps thousands of people around the world who have Type 1 diabetes.

After receiving a Ph.D. in systems engineering from UVA in 2004, Breton, a native of France, helped create the first simulation environment accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a replacement for animal studies in preclinical assessment of insulin treatment. This paved the way for him and his UVA Center for Diabetes Technology colleagues to develop an artificial pancreas

system, which consists of a continuous glucose sensor on the skin and an insulin pump. The system is programmed with an algorithm that monitors and automatically regulates patients’ glucose levels.

“Our little algorithm is now probably in 400,000 devices around the world, controlling the insulin of 400,000 people from the age of 2 to 98 years old,” Breton said in a press release. “That’s incredibly special, because I had the opportunity to meet many of these people and hear how this work has impacted their lives. That has been an incredible high.”

An associate professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences and associate research director for the Center for Dia-

Unite the Right participant dies in apparent suicide

More than five years after participating in the deadly Unite the Right rally, white supremacist Teddy Joseph Von Nukem is dead.

On January 30, 35-year-old Von Nukem—who faced federal drug trafficking charges—died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a hay shed at his Missouri home, the same day he failed to show up for a court hearing, local journalist Molly Conger reported. In 2021, the white supremacist, who was photographed wielding a tiki torch at the infamous August 11 rally, was arrested when he tried to enter Arizona from Mexico, and Customs and Border Protection officers found 33 pounds of fentanyl pills hidden in his car. Von Nukem, a member of the neo-Nazi

betes Technology, Breton has also helped develop an algorithm for the precise estimation of hemoglobin A1C, a key indicator of long-term glucose control. The algorithm was implemented into the first commercial blood glucose monitoring device, MyStar Extra.

In 2016, Breton cofounded TypeZero Technologies, which offers personalized diabetes management solutions. DexCom Inc., a leader in continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes, purchased the TypeZero for $11.3 million in 2018.

Since 2007, Breton has submitted 55 invention disclosures to the UVA Licensing & Ventures Group. He is currently a named inventor on 27 issued U.S. patents.

Traditionalist Worker Party, claimed he was paid 4,000 Mexican pesos (around $215) to smuggle the drugs, but did not know they were fentanyl, per court records.

Piecing together videos and photos from the August 12 rally, Conger identified Von Nukem as one of the white supremacists who brutally assaulted DeAndre Harris, a Black man, inside the Market Street parking garage. In text messages sent to white supremacist Christopher Cantwell, Von Nukem bragged about beating a Black person with a baton in a garage. (Von Nukem was never charged in relation to the incident.)

Von Nukem is survived by his wife and five children, according to his obituary.

“I wasn’t shocked at the outcome—I was more so shocked that they didn’t give the courtesy of listening to it.”

UVA School of Medicine professor Marc Breton has been awarded the university’s Innovator of the Year for his role in developing an artificial pancreas.

AMANDA MAGLIONE

Teddy Joseph Von Nukem

FILE PHOTO

Lost dogs

Pet sitter facing legal woes after multiple dogs disappear, die

By Courteney Stuart

Last spring, Michael Juers and his wife Pamela dropped their two Chihuahuas off at the home of Adrienne Skaggs, a Ruckersville resident who’d listed her Sweet Dogs Grooming dog-sitting service on Rover.com. The Juers were traveling from the Charlottesville area to Florida ahead of a permanent move there, and hoped the dogs would have their own minivacation while the couple house-hunted

The day after leaving 2-year-old Rosie and 12-year-old Chico in Skaggs’ care, the Juers’ long-anticipated trip turned into a nightmare that began with a text from Skaggs.

“She said, ‘Rosie got away, but she’s okay,’” says Michael Juers. “It was very vague.”

Ten months later, despite ongoing searches, there is still no sign of Rosie. When the Juers picked up Chico, he required veterinary care for a serious puncture wound. The Juers have since learned they’re not the only dog owners to suffer such anguish after leaving their pets in Skaggs’ care.

Ben Combs and Laura Brown also discovered Skaggs’ ad for dog-sitting on Rover. com and had used her once before without incident. They left their 11-year-old Chihuahua, Olive, at Skaggs’ Fray’s Mill Road home again in January when they traveled to Mexico. This time, they had to cut their trip short by a day when Skaggs texted to let them know that Olive had disappeared.

“It just really took us by surprise because she doesn’t run away or escape if we’re walking somewhere in the woods with her,” says Combs.

While Combs and Brown tried to change their flight and get home, family members in the Charlottesville area immediately mounted a massive search effort for Olive. Still in Mexico, Combs says he started calling businesses near Skaggs’ home and got some disturbing information.

“One of them was a farm and a woman picked up,” Combs says. “I told her what was going on and she was like, ‘I’m really sorry to say this, but this is the third call I’ve gotten about this from that facility.’”

Indeed, Skaggs is known to Albemarle County Animal Control. According to online court records, in January she was found guilty of inadequate animal care and allowing a dog to run at large, both misdemeanors that carry $250 fines. The Juers have sued her over the loss of Rosie, and that case is still pending.

Albemarle County Police Public Information Officer Bridgette Butynski declined to comment on an active case.

After Googling Skaggs’ name and posting about Olive on the NextDoor app, Combs and Brown discovered the Juers and at least four others who were still searching for—or mourning the death of—dogs they’d left with Skaggs.

Combs and Brown consider themselves lucky. Olive was found after being hit by a car, but she survived. Karen Calvino’s 13-year-old Yorkshire terrier, Toby, was reportedly hit and killed by a car after he disappeared from Skaggs’ property the day before Thanksgiving.

Calvino and her husband had flown into Charlottesville from Florida to visit her daughter and grandchildren. Hoping to cut down on the holiday chaos, Calvino decided to board Toby with Skaggs for the three-day visit. Skaggs met Calvino at the airport and picked Toby up with his bed, food, and medicine. A few hours later, Calvino looked at her phone and saw a text from Skaggs.

“Toby got away,” it read.

Calvino says Skaggs assured her she was out looking for him. Calvino’s kids posted about Toby on social media. The next morning, Calvino went to Skaggs’ house to make sure Toby wasn’t hiding behind furniture. She says Skaggs initially resisted letting her come in, and when she relented, Calvino was confronted with what she describes as a “horrific” scene: The room was filthy and dark, there was one couch with no cushions, and she counted an estimated 15 large barking dogs in stacked cages.

“My heart sunk,” says Calvino, who began shouting Toby’s name, to no avail.

“When I left, I almost started crying,” Calvino says. “I’m like, ‘How could I ever have done this to Toby?’”

Calvino says she printed fliers and posted online. After 12 days, Calvino says a man admitted to hitting and killing Toby with his car around 5pm on the day Skaggs picked him up. Calvino says the man claimed he threw Toby’s body into the trash but kept his harness.

Skaggs did not return online messages sent through Facebook and Bark.com, where her services are still listed. A woman who answered a phone number listed for her on-

line claimed it was a wrong number and hung up after this reporter identified herself. Both Rover.com and Wags.com have removed Skaggs from their platforms and cite a requirement for criminal background checks as one of their safety features, in addition to featuring previous client reviews.

“Prior to booking a service, we highly encourage pet parents to meet with multiple sitters in-person to discuss their specific care instructions, ask any questions they may have, and evaluate the sitter’s home environment to ensure it meets their expectations,” reads a statement from Rover in response to a C-VILLE query.

The Juers, Combs, and Brown admit that while they found Skaggs through Rover, she offered them a lower rate to pay her directly, and they both agreed to do so. They also say subsequent examination of the rural property revealed alarming details including an electrified fence with gaps large enough for a small dog to slip through.

The Juers, Combs, Brown, and Calvino say they want their heartbreak to end Skaggs’ ability to take in animals. They also want to serve as a warning to others to scrutinize the credentials of the people who care for their pets.

“Our number one goal is really just to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” says Combs. “I think if we are successful in that, then we’ll feel vindicated.”

Courteney Stuart is the host of “Charlottesville Right Now” on WINA. You can hear an interview with Michael Juers at wina.com.

“When I left, I almost started crying. I’m like, ‘How could I ever have done this to Toby?’” KAREN CALVINO

Michael and Pamela Juers say Rosie (left) disappeared from dog-sitter Adrienne Skaggs’ home last April. Chico (right), the couple’s other Chihuahua, was also left in Skaggs’ care, and required veterinary treatment for a serious puncture wound.

SUPPLIED PHOTOS

(Don’t) go with the flow

City councilors, residents concerned about Rivanna housing project

By Eshaan Sarup

Rebecca Reilly was one of five Charlottesville residents to sign a petition urging FEMA to reconsider regulatory changes made to allow real estate development on the floodplain of the Rivanna River.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t aware of the change in the map within 90 days,” said Reilly. “So FEMA’s response was we didn’t respond quickly enough.”

The piano teacher remains determined to stop this development. She is the president of Circus Grounds Preservation Corporation, a new nonprofit that describes itself as a “group of neighbors” raising funds for the city to buy the land and preserve it for recreational use.

Reilly worries that the construction of a 19-foot wall on the floodplains could permanently disrupt the natural environment.

“But our top concerns right now have to do with the actual safety of the people that currently live there,” Reilly told C-VILLE.

Kirk Bowers, a licensed professional civil engineer and environmental activist, called the land “the worst place around here” to build housing, citing flooding concerns and traffic congestion.

“That whole intersection will need to be rebuilt in order to accommodate vehicular movements,” he said.

Reilly also noted that the developers, local real estate firm Seven Development LLC and Shimp Engineering, declined a request by the Office of Community Solu tions to allot 10 percent of the units as affordable housing.

“One- and two-bedroom luxury units that have been clearly stated to not be affordable housing are not going to solve the problem that our city is facing right now,” she said.

In a press release sent to local media on February 16, the group claimed that Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook “has been made aware” of the new nonprofit. Reilly said she had not spoken to the mayor directly, but the group’s pro bono lawyer had “a few conversations with [Snook] … and some email exchanges as well.”

When C-VILLE first contacted Snook for an interview, he curtly replied “I don’t know anything about [Circus Grounds Preservation Corporation].” When the group’s objective was explained to him, however, he was receptive.

“We’re talking about trying to build in a floodplain, which as a general proposition, we don’t want to encourage. It may be a particularly appropriate time and situation for [the city to buy the property].” Snook noted that funding could be a limiting factor.

“If a private entity, nonprofit of some sort, is saying we’re gonna raise the money to help make this a park then that makes it a whole lot easier. I would be very interested in a proposal like that,” he said.

City Councilor Michael Payne argued that the development conflicts with longterm plans made by the city.

“Under our Future Land Use Map, the density in this area is substantially lower than what the developer is currently proposing,” he said. “In addition, they’re currently avoiding our inclusionary zoning requirements, which would require affordable housing at 60 percent AMI [area median income] or below to be included in the development.”

Payne noted that the Urban Rivanna River Corridor Plan calls for the city to “carefully guide development to ensure that no damage is done to the Rivanna River watershed, and that the area is preserved as a public space.”

“Ultimately,” he said, “the question in my mind is: Do we envision any areas in the city we want to protect as public parks and accessible natural areas? Do we want to create any public areas where the community can come together without needing to pay money? Or do we want to privatize our entire city?”

Rebecca Reilly is the president of the newly formed nonprofit Circus Grounds Preservation Corporation, which is raising funds for the city to buy the land around the Rivanna River floodplain. Developers are eyeing that spot for apartment units, but petitioners say building there would cause a host of problems.

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11

Sold!

A glimpse at what’s on the market (so far) in 2023

By Sean Tubbs

Alook through real estate sales in Charlottesville for the first month of the year shows a market with signs of a cooler 2023, while also revealing hints that there is money to be made in the future. Sales volumes are down from January 2022, while inventories are beginning to increase.

“January saw fewer transactions than we are accustomed to, and likely represents the start of a trend that we’ve seen where people are choosing to not sell because they either have no compelling reason to sell, or they have interest rates below 4 percent,” said local realtor Jim Duncan. “Current market rates are well above that.”

But one month of data is not enough to predict a trend, and there is still a long way to go in 2023 to see if this year will follow the past two years, which have seen doubledigit assessment increases in both Albemarle and Charlottesville. Plus, any analysis of the market must also factor in changing rules that will give property owners significantly more development rights in the near future.

In many cases, properties sold just below the 2023 assessments, including a house on Minor Road in the Lewis Mountain neighborhood: Its sales price of $534,600 was 4.63 percent under the assessor’s value. A house at 907 Nassau St. sold for $485,000, just under the 2023 assessment of $503,800.

Anyone buying property in Charlottesville now has a clearer picture of what the future zoning code will allow. Three empty lots sold in January in the new Residential A district, which will allow for three housing units on each property.

A single-family home on Fontaine Avenue went for $355,000, right between the 2022 and 2023 assessments. The purchaser may not realize that the property will jump from R-2 to the new Commercial Mixed Use 5, which, under the draft zoning code, allows

up to five-story buildings before any bonus height is given for providing below-market residences.

House flips to watch include a two-bedroom house at 1213 Little High St. that was purchased for $208,000, more than half under the 2023 value of $448,800. The buyer is Quick Fix Real Estate LLC. Another, a property at 1205 King St. in Fifeville, sold for $175,000 to Cardinal Ventures. A house on 12th Street in the Venable neighborhood was bought by a Puerto Rico-based nonprofit that paid about $50,000 under the 2023 assessment.

Other existing homes continued to sell well above assessment, including a twobedroom house on Sheridan Avenue in the Locust Grove neighborhood that was bought for $375,000, or 17.8 percent over the 2023 assessment. A three-bedroom house at 815 Elliott Ave. went for $565,000, or 35.07 percent over the assessment. That property includes a separate apartment.

A house at 1505 Cherry Ave. was purchased for $425,000, or 43.1 percent above the 2023 assessment. That property is within the new Residential B zoning, which could allow up to six units by-right and 12 if all of the units will be subsidized.

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville sold two new homes in the Jefferson Park Avenue neighborhood to two qualified homebuyers. They went for $281,900 and $284,900, and the deeds include restrictions that allow Habitat to have the right to buy them first if the owners decide to sell. Both are single-family detached units that are also located in the new CX-5 district.

“Families only pay what they can afford, which is always less than that and generally about half of that,” said Dan Rosensweig, Habitat’s CEO. “In addition, we provide a zero interest mortgage to them, which saves them generally tens of thousands of dollars in interest expense.”

and restrictions. High speed internet is available now. One owner is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Va. Located one mile off 29 North off of Frays Mill Rd. Less than 10 minutes for all conveniences. $1,500,000

“January saw fewer transactions than we are accustomed to, and likely represents the start of a trend.” JIM DUNCAN, LOCAL REALTOR

A two-bedroom house at 1213 Little High St. was recently purchased for $208,000, much less than its assessed value, by Quick Fix Real Estate LLC.

Impeccable country property with an attractive, well designed and self-sustaining 5,525 fin. sf residence on 38± acres with 3-car garage, barn and Blue Ridge Mountain views. A peaceful oasis easily accessible to Charlottesville and Washington DC. MLS#634846

$1,550,000 Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250

BLOOMFIELD ROAD

Exceptionally rare offering in Western Albemarle! Surrounded by large farms and estates, this beautifully constructed 4-5-BR, 4.5-BA custom home is nestled on just under 9 park-like acres with mountain views and wonderful privacy yet is only minutes from Birdwood Golf Course, Boar’s Head Resort & Sport’s Club, UVA and Downtown. The home boasts a fantastic floor plan with rooms of generous proportion ideal for easy living and entertaining. Superb craftsmanship, quality materials, gorgeous setting and great location! MLS#638437 $2,885,000 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

ASHCROFT

3-4 bedroom, 3,490 sf home on 1.6 private, wooded acres features LR, DR, cook’s kitchen with breakfast room, spacious main floor master suite. 2 additional BR and 1 BA upstairs. Large FR and BA downstairs with access to 2-car garage. $695,000 Tim Michel, 434.960.1124

HATTON RIDGE FARM

A most tranquil and private 278+ acre grazing and hay farm with two-thirds mile of James River frontage. The centerpiece of Hatton Ridge Farm is an impressive 4-5 bedroom, brick Georgian home, built circa 2000. MLS#634311 $3,675,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.007

317 acre estate that has it all: location, views, water, spectacular 5-BR residence, event center and more! 15+ acre lake is centered among lush rolling fields of rich grass and unparalleled views. Additional acreage available. 25 minutes west of Charlottesville. MLS#631962 $8,875,000 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

A spacious and meticulously maintained 4-6-bedroom, 5.5 bath Manor home on 57 acres of tranquility.

Panoramic views of the Southwest Mountains and winter views of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. Located 6 miles from Charlottesville. MLS#638292

$2,575,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

Situated near the Blue Ridge Mtns. in Madison County on 333 acres. Currently runs as a grazing farm for beef cattle. There are 2 homes on the property and a complement of necessary farm buildings. NOT IN CONSERVATION EASEMENT! MLS#630435

$3,200,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

BLUE SPRINGS FARM

Impeccably designed and custom-built Ivy residence situated on over 11 parklike acres, surrounded by mountain and pastoral views, only 7 miles west of the University of Virginia. This magnificent home is in immaculate condition and has been extensively remodeled and expanded upon by the current owner. It boasts a wonderful floor plan with ample space in every room. The formal gardens are truly a work of art and an impressive compliment to the rolling and fenced open acreage. $1,975,000 MLS#638445 Will Faulconer, 434.987.9455

Embodying the essence of country life! 214+/- acre farm with spacious main residence, 3-car garage with apartment, dependencies & farm buildings. Many agricultural & recreational uses. Easily accessible to Charlottesville, Orange, I-95 & DC region. MLS#636896

$1,975,000 Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250

BELMONT LOFTS

This 3-bedroom, 3.5 bath condo features extra high ceilings, a modern and open floor plan with huge windows and doors, and a large rooftop terrace with views of the Downtown Mall all the way around to Monticello. MLS#634149 $1,890,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

PEA RIDGE FARM

WOLFCREEK FARM

K’DEE FARM

STONY POINTE

BLACKBERRY HILL FARM

Two wonderful estate parcels comprised of 185.01± acres in coveted Ragged Mountain Farm. Excellent elevated building site, complete privacy, and beautiful views. Murray/Henley/Western school district. MLS#621083 $1,895,000 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

THE WILLIS FARM

59 acres pastures and mountain woodland, magnificent views from c. 1920 farmhouse, large barn with stalls situated in quiet rural area of Nelson County. Vineyard nearby, 7 miles to shopping. Great grazing farm, possible to grow grapes. MLS#638289 $595,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

Ivy area! A 249 + acre hidden, private Arcadia controlling its own little valley up to the mountain ridge top building sites. Multiple parcels and subdivision rights make it a conservation easement candidate. MLS#634183 $3,250,000 Tim Michel, 434.960.1124 or Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

CROZET AREA

Beautiful building lot -3.3 acres, fronting on a quiet paved county road. Land is mostly in pasture, some woods, creek and elevated homesite with panoramic views of mountains, pond, and surrounding pastoral area. Less than a mile to Harris Teeter at Crozet.

MLS#636349 $450,000 Jim Faulconer, 434.981.0076

820 CONDO

Well-designed corner condo consisting of an exceptionally bright great room with high ceilings, ample space for both relaxed living and dining, 1- bedroom, 1-bath, and inviting private balcony. Views of the Downtown skyline and mountains.

MLS#634496 $285,000 C. Dammann, 434.981.1250

MISSION HOME ROAD

146.88 ac. in Albemarle & Greene County. Privacy & protection adjacent to the Shenandoah National Park! Full division rights & multiple home sites. Extraordinary timberland. Views of the mountains, along with easy access to trails & Skyline Drive. MLS#620276 $1,100,000 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

SOUTHWIND ESTATES

3 separate parcels with commanding Blue Ridge Mtn. views, level building sites 15 minutes from Charlottesville. Sites have been perked, have wells, and ready for your dream home. MLS#632482 $375,000 (7.8 acres), MLS#632490 $275,000 (2.4 acres), MLS#632487 $175,000 (2.0 acres), Court Nexsen, 646.660.0700

EDNAM FOREST

Wonderfully large 1.5+ acre building lot in Ednam Forest. Build your dream home on this elevated, wooded lot located in a single family community, minutes from UVA and within walking distance to Boar’s Head Resort. MLS#598537 $289,500 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

SIMMONS GAP ROAD

5-acre lot with mature hardwoods. Great opportunity to build with no HOA. Private building site amongst beautiful woods. Located between Free Union and Earlysville but so convenient to Charlottesville & UVA. MLS#621177 $140,000 Charlotte Dammann, 434.981.1250

GREENTREES

94+ acres 20 minutes from Charlottesville. Originally part of a 188-acre tract, two parcels may be purchased separately or together, with 2 developmental rights each. Mostly maturing pine and very long public road frontage.

MLS#635861 $700,000 Tim Michel, 434.960.1124

436+ acre parcel of land in Southern Albemarle! 4 division rights; complete privacy; lush, gently rolling terrain; long road frontage; stream; 3-acre lake; 125135 acres of open land; mature hardwood forests. Under conservation easement. Owner/agent. MLS#634139

$2,985,000 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

11.73-acre, buildable lot in Western Albemarle! One of a kind location and a rare opportunity to purchase a large lot in an estate neighborhood 10 minutes to town. 2 division rights and is gently rolling with a small stream bisecting the property. MLS#628219

$795,000 Steve McLean, 434.981.1863

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MILL CREEK VILLAGE HOMES

Nearly two years ago, Virginia became the first

Before then, the commonwealth had executed

s the head chaplain on Virginia’s death row, Reverend Russ Ford ministered to men sentenced to capital punishment throughout the 1980s and ’90s, and walked 28 of them to the death chamber. In his new book, Crossing the River Styx: The Memoir of a Death Row Chaplain, Ford recounts the strong relationships he built with more than a dozen condemned men, and the drastic spiritual transformations many experienced before they were put to death. With co-authors Todd and Charles Peppers, Ford details the men’s horrific crimes and their numerous victims, but also exposes injustices within the prison system, making a strong case against capital punishment throughout the book, published by University of Virginia Press.

“We did everything we could to bring to the reader the worst that these men did,” says Ford, “[but] also showed the human sides of these men.”

Ford immediately pulls readers into the 240-page memoir with a horrifying memory—almost becoming the 245th person killed by Virginia’s electric chair. When Ricky Boggs’ execution was delayed, Ford, after receiving permission from a prison official, went to comfort Boggs while he sat in the electric chair, putting his hand on the condemned man’s hand. A prison official, his back turned to Ford, soon pulled the chair’s activation switch. If someone had not shouted Ford’s name, causing him to lift his hand in the nick of time, he could have been electrocuted along with Boggs on July 19, 1990. Nightmares haunted Ford for weeks after the execution, something that would become a normal occurrence throughout the 13 years he served as a death row chaplain at Virginia State Penitentiary and Greensville Correctional Center.

Born in Richmond in 1951, Ford grew up in poverty in Chesterfield County, where his parents instilled a strong Christian faith in him. At 18, a powerful spiritual experience at a youth camp inspired Ford to become a

By Brielle Entzminger reporter@c-ville.com

minister. While attending Southeastern Seminary, he interned as a chaplain at Hanover Learning Center, a now-shuttered juvenile detention center. “It was tough … [but] I enjoyed it a lot and was successful with it,” and it led to prison ministry, Ford says.

After he graduated with a master of divinity in 1977, Chaplain Service, a nonprofit ministry that served Virginia’s prisons, appointed Ford and senior chaplain Marge Bailey to replace the VSP’s former head chaplain. Ford worked at VSP—where riots, assaults, beatings, fires, murders, and other horrors

were rampant—for a year, before accepting a residency at the Medical College of Virginia and serving as a part-time chaplain at HLC. Ford was working at Southampton Correctional Center when Bailey was diagnosed with cancer in 1984. He returned to VSP, where he served as a spiritual advisor for every man on death row.

In addition to leading worship services, Ford visited men in their cells, and built a rapport with them, aiming to understand their crimes and help them reform themselves. Many were neglected, abused, and impoverished as children, and had mental, intellectual, and cognitive disabilities.

“There was a lot of need and suffering. … I listened with compassion,” says Ford.

The other side of the story

Reverend Russ Ford shares his experiences ministering to men on death row in his new memoir.

COURTESY OF SUBJECT

Southern state to abolish the death penalty. over 1,300 people— more than any other state.

Though he was not able to help every man change, “I got along with a large group of the men, and had success in relating to them.”

During the final days and hours of their lives, Ford stood death watch with more than two dozen men, praying with them and administering last rites. He hoped to help them achieve “a certain calmness and sense of wellbeing” before they were executed, he explains.

“We had men who … while they were getting ready to be executed, they treasured where they were,” says Ford. “In death, they were fully alive for the first time.”

Crossing the River Styx was decades in the making. In 1994, Ford began doing research in partnership with another writer, and completed a 180-page manuscript, but later paused working on the book. In 2001, he suffered a traumatic brain injury, and spent the next four years in rehab. Then, in 2015, Todd Peppers, a law professor and former lawyer, reached out to Ford while working on his book about death penalty activist Marie Deans, who Ford worked closely with for years. Ford did multiple interviews with Peppers, and shared portions of his unfinished manuscript. After Peppers and co-author Margaret Anderson published

A Courageous Fool: Marie Deans and Her Struggle against the Death Penalty in 2017, Peppers, moved by Ford’s story, offered to help the chaplain finish his book, and recruited his child Charles, then a high school senior, to assist with research and editing.

Each chapter shares Ford’s experiences with a specific man, or, in a few chapters, several men with similar traits or cases, including exact dialogue from the chaplain’s conversations with them. Ford “took a lot of notes” during and after these meetings, and referenced his stacks of notebooks throughout the writing process. The chapters also shed light on the men’s crimes and their victims, including accounts from family members who wanted their loved ones’ murderer to be executed—and those who did not.

Throughout the book, Ford vividly describes the horrors of capital punishment. He argues there is no such thing as a “humane” execution, and that capital punishment fuels a continuous cycle of violence.

“Really no one needs to be killing other people like that. That’s just wrong,” says Ford. “There were people there [in the prison] doing these things to the men who were professed Christians, and I have a hard time seeing Jesus pulling a switch and sending 2,000 volts of electricity through someone’s body, or sticking a needle in someone’s arm and shooting them up with poison.”

In addition to denouncing the terrible conditions, inadequate medical care, and poor management he witnessed, Ford criticizes the death penalty system’s failures. Without help from death penalty activists like Deans, three men he worked with would have been executed for crimes they did not commit.

It remains difficult for Ford to read his chapter about Morris Mason, the first person he saw executed. Morris—who raped and murdered 88-year-old Ursula Stevenson and 76-year-old Margaret Keen Hand, as well as raped a 12-year-old girl and shot her 13-year-old sister in 1978—“suffered from paranoid schizophrenia [and] had the mental capacity of an eight-year-old,” writes Ford. The chaplain claims Morris did not understand death or execution.

Ford, along with fellow chaplains and Mason’s attorney (now Charlottesville mayor) Lloyd Snook, petitioned then-governor Chuck Robb to lessen Mason’s sentence to life in prison due to his disabilities. Still, Mason was executed on June 25, 1985.

“[Mason] had the biggest impact on my psyche seeing him executed like that,” says Ford. “The blistering of his face, the smell— he was being cooked inside out.”

Albert Jay Clozza also had a significant impact on Ford. Though he initially did not want to work with Clozza—who raped and killed 13-year-old Patricia Beth Bolton in 1980—due to his heinous crime, Ford later forged a strong relationship with the man.

“[Clozza] had such difficulty. At first he numbed himself [with] the drugs they gave him in prison. … Then all at once, he cleaned himself up and started working on himself,” says Ford. “He died happy.”

Death row took an immense toll on Ford. Dealing with post-traumatic stress, he found himself withdrawing from friends and family because he “could not relate.” The executions stayed with him “like a shadow,” he says.

Coleman Wayne Grey, who died by lethal injection in 1997, was the last man Ford walked to the death chamber. “I got to where I couldn’t handle it anymore. I could not go back,” he says.

Ford hopes readers will come away from the book staunchly opposed to the death penalty, and urges those already against capital punishment to remain vigilant.

“I would like for people to know the other side of the story,” he says. “Even those who may support [the death penalty] may learn something and may even be changed.”

Crossing the River Styx: The Memoir of a Death Row Chaplain will be published March 1.

“REALLY NO ONE NEEDS TO BE KILLING OTHER PEOPLE LIKE THAT.”

REVEREND RUSS FORD, FORMER DEATH ROW CHAPLAIN

RUN FOR HOME

SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 2023

The race starts and finishes on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall, winding through historic and scenic downtown neighborhoods.

Head to thehaven.org for more information and registration link.

Co-sponsored by

BY

Ali Smith and Atman Smith

Ali Smith

Atman Smith

Dr. Paul Harris, educator and founder of Integrity Matters, LLC

MODERATED

Dickinson Fine and Performing Arts Center Main Stage Theater at Piedmont Virginia Community College

UVA MUSIC EVENTS

Date/Time/Place Event

Thursday 2/23, 5pm Clarke Hall, rm 101

Friday 2/24, 8pm Old Cabell Hall

Sunday 2/26, 3:30pm Old Cabell Hall

Popebama Colloquium * On Performing and Composing

Popebama * New works by music grad students

Nathaniel Lee, Trombone Part of the UVA Chamber Music Series

Tuesday 3/14, 8pm Old Cabell Hall Kaleidoscopia Trio * Violin, Viola, Cello

Friday 3/17, 1pm Music Library

Friday 3/17, 3:30pm 107 Old Cabell Hall

Saturday 3/18, 3:30pm Old Cabell Hall

Saturday 3/18, 8pm Old Cabell Hall

Making Noise in the Library * Afternoon with Carlehr Swanson

Colloquium: Nicole Mitchell Gant * A Showcase

Eugene Choo, Violin * Distinguished Major Recital

Charlottesville Symphony New World Symphony

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CULTURE

THURSDAY 2/23 & FRIDAY 2/24

SONIC FRONTIERS

A cacophony of innovative sounds define the New York-based experimental music duo Popebama. Composer-performers Erin Rogers and Dennis Sullivan use text, custom electronics, multiple instruments, and intricate set-ups to create heavenly, high-energy listening experiences. On their debut album, Nation Building, Rogers and Sullivan cover new ground in sound and performance. “Gamma Chamber” is a 20-minute journey through “a dark cavern of metallic resonance, with thousands of small sounds bursting to be heard.” The pair hosts a colloquium on performing and composing on Thursday, followed by a performance of works by UVA graduate student composers on Friday. Free, 8pm. Various locations on UVA Grounds. music.virginia.

FRIDAY 2/24

COUNTRY COUTURE

Country music queen Carrie Underwood’s career is soaring to new heights—literally. The Grammy-winning artist kicked off The Denim & Rhinestones Tour with multiple midair performances that incorporate big top-style fun—from sky-high flames to a floraladorned swing. Decked out in a wardrobe of bejeweled outfits, and singing into a denim microphone, Underwood performs her chart-topping hits, including “She Don’t Know” and “Crazy Angels,” as well as a few fan-favorite covers. Underwood is joined by special guest Jimmie Allen. $39 and up, 7:30pm. John Paul Jones Arena, 295 Massie Rd. johnpauljonesarena.com

66 REASONS TO STEP OUT THIS WEEK

THROUGH 3/5

SONG CYCLE

Charlottesville Players Guild continues its presentation of August Wilson’s Century Cycle with Seven Guitars, a heart-rending and humorous blues opera. In 1948, a group of friends gather in the backyard of a Pittsburgh rooming house to mourn the death of Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton, a young guitarist who had big dreams. With touching elegy, musical lyricism, and emotional grit, director Chris D. Evans and an ensemble cast explore what it’s like to chase your dreams in a world that threatens your life. $20, times vary. Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. jeffschoolheritagecenter.org

CULTURE PAGES

‘Words to subvert fear’

Remica Bingham-Risher explores influences of Black poetry in new memoir

By Sarah Lawson arts@c-ville.com

In Soul Culture: Black Poets, Books, and Questions that Grew Me Up by Remica Bingham-Risher, the poet and essayist, reflects on her life and the influences of the Black poetry community, as framed by interviews with 10 influential mentors. An Affrilachian Poet, Cave Canem fellow, and winner of the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award as well as the Diode Editions Book Award, Bingham-Risher writes that “‘Soul culture’ is a phrase meant to evoke the nuanced living of Black American poets and, particularly, contemporary Black American poets. It is Black devotion; Black reclamation and reframing of the past; Black joy, liberation, and a radical love ethic despite Black trauma, fear, and rootlessness. … This project was meant to be part oral history, part coming-of-age on the shoulders of giants.”

On all counts she succeeds, and Soul Culture, her first book of prose, is a reckoning of self, craft, and culture. Tracing a childhood split between Arizona and Georgia, a move back east to Norfolk, her time at Bennington College, and beyond, Bingham-Risher skillfully weaves personal experiences with mentor interviews. Throughout the book she highlights wide-ranging themes, from faith and family to trauma and the art of revision—in writing and in life. “I know the power that other Black poets have given me: Enlightenment. Scrutiny. Camaraderie. Words to subvert fear,” she writes.

The highlighted mentors range from Lucille Clifton, Sonia Sanchez, and E. Ethelbert Miller to Tim Seibles, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, and others, all esteemed writers, beloved by many, who shared wisdom, warmth, and support with Bingham-Risher. “The 10 poets I included are poets that I have long admired and, honestly, Black poets are so giving that each poet that I asked said ‘yes’ to an extensive interview about their life‘s work,” she says. “When the time came for me to compile the book, I made sure every single one of them was there.”

Bingham-Risher’s deep love for these writers’ work shines. “Clifton turned me topsy-turvy,” she writes. This project and her work as a writer seeks to overcome what Ethelbert Miller referred to as “awe syndrome,” the paralysis that results from adoration so intense that it scares a writer off from sharing, or even creating, their own work.

“Doing the interviews taught me that these poets were living, breathing, tired, worrisome, exhausted, loving, busy human beings, just like I was, and that they made time for their work on a consistent basis,” says Bingham-Risher. “These poets were living their lives in the world of literature because they made time for the poems. So I learned very quickly that they weren’t miraculous so much as persistent, and I made my way toward that as well.”

Never heavy-handed, the thematic connections highlighted in each chapter are imbued with grace and gratitude as the author reflects on lessons learned, bringing her whole, authentic self to the effort—as a Black poet, a mother, an educator and mentor, a daughter, and a wife.

Remica Bingham-Risher will read from Soul Culture at a free, public event on Saturday, February 25, at New Dominion Bookshop.

Attention to the craft of writing is also a recurring theme in Soul Culture, as Bingham-Risher shares wisdom from her mentors alongside her own, learned from years of writing and teaching. Selections of her poetry are featured throughout the book. Comparing her poetry- and prose-writing processes, she says, “Writing prose is very different from writing poems for me. When I write poems the initial idea comes like a lightning strike. It’s fast and furious. When I’m writing prose I know I’m entering into an idea that is expansive in a way that has to have a much larger receptacle than a poem. Because of that, it usually takes me much longer to wade into it.”

The deeply personal book is also an unflinching look at contemporary American culture, devoting attention to mass shootings and police killings of Bingham-Risher’s close friend, Rumain Brisbon, as well as Trayvon Martin and others. Further, this contemplation orients the author’s work within the history of influential Black writers and community organizing that she traces—from the early days of the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s to contemporary convening work done by Cave Canem and others— including those writers who, “speaking in the voices of those in their communities … validated those silenced for centuries.” Going forward, she ponders: “What is revolutionary work in the age of a somewhat freer Blackness?”

“Attentiveness, deep consideration, thoughtfulness: Each a different kind of love,” writes Bingham-Risher. Written as its own expression of love, her memoir offers each of these, as she invites the reader to join her in “navigating the strange space that is often our living … in the context of an ever-changing, ever-strange, and difficult world.” It offers a roadmap for younger Black poets, an informed and enthusiastic guide for curious readers, and a resounding call to creative self-reflection and the work of building community. And for readers eager for more of Bingham-Risher’s poetry, her next book, Room Swept Home, will be a return to the form and should be on shelves in Spring 2024.

Wednesday 2/22 music

Beleza Duo. Funkalicious samba soul. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thebebedero.com

Billy Strings. Two nights of Billy Strings at John Paul Jones Arena. $35 and up, 8pm. John Paul Jones Arena, 295 Massie Rd. john pauljonesarena.com

Breabach. This contemporary folk act unites deep roots in Highland and island tradition with the innovative musical ferment of its Glasgow base. $20-25, 7:30pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com

Jim Waive. Classic country tunes from the man with a velvet voice and impressive beard. Free, 7pm. Blue Moon Diner, 606 W. Main St. bluemoondiner.net

Karaoke. Jen DeVille hosts this weekly song party. Free, 9pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapturerestaurant.com etc.

Bingo. Four games that increase in difficulty with prizes to match. Free, 6pm. Firefly, 1304 E. Market St. fireflycville.com

Block Night. An informal session for those interested in the art and craft of book and printmaking. Free, 5:30pm. Virginia Center for the Book, Jefferson School City Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. vabookcenter.org

Lady Sings the Blues Diana Ross’ Oscar-nominated portrayal of jazz legend Billie Holiday. $10, 7:30pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

Trivia. Show off your trivia knowledge and win prizes, including gift cards, merch, and free drinks. Free, 7pm. Dairy Market, 946 Grady Ave. dairymarketcville.com

UVA vs. Boston College Men’s Basketball Game. Cheer on the Hoos on the big screen. Free, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

Thursday 2/23 music

Berto & Vincent. Wild gypsy rumba. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thebebedero.com

Thirsty Thursdays. Live music from Travis Elliott and Friends, and cider specials. Free, 1pm. Castle Hill Cider, 6065 Turkey Sag Rd., Keswick. castlehillcider.com

stage

August Wilson’s Seven Guitars Chris D. Evans directs the Charlottesville Players Guild in this heartrending blues opera. $20, 7:30pm. The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. jeffschoolheritagecenter.org

words

Contemporary Artist Talk: Tokie Rome-Taylor. The Atlanta-based photographer discusses ethnography, identity, and representation. Free, 5:30pm. The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA, 155 Rugby Rd. uvafralinartmuseum. virginia.edu

classes

Paint & Sip: Love in the Air. Paint, sip, repeat. $40, 6pm. Pro Re Nata, 6135 Rockfish Gap Tpke., Crozet. catelynkelseydesigns.com etc.

Trivia & Thai. Preorder dinner from Chimm and put your thinking caps on. Free, 6:15pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com

“These poets were living their lives in the world of literature because they made time for the poems.” REMICA BINGHAM-RISHER

Friday 2/24

music

Carrie Underwood. With special guest Jimmie Allen. $39 and up, 7:30pm. John Paul Jones Arena, 295 Massie Rd. johnpaul jonesarena.com

Disco Risqué. With Chestnut Grove. $12-40, 8:30pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesoutherncville.com

Jorma Kaukonen. American roots music, blues, and rock. $43-48, 7:30pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com

Popebama. The New York-based experimental duo perform unconventional works. Free, 8pm. Old Cabell Hall, UVA Grounds. music. virginia.edu

Scuffletown. Enjoy music and wine with friends. Free, 6pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glass housewinery.com

Tara Mills Band. Original folk tunes. Free, 5:30pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com

stage

August Wilson’s Seven Guitars See listing for Thursday, February 23. $20, 7:30pm. The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. jeffschool heritagecenter.org

words

Denver Butson and Jordan Perry. An evening of poetry and live music. Free, 7pm. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. ndbookshop.com

outside

Playdates at the Playscape. BYO snacks and buddies and enjoy outdoor play. $20, 9:30am. Wildrock, 6600 Blackwells Hollow Rd., Crozet. wildrock.org

etc.

Charlottesville/Albemarle Active Mobility

Summit. Collaborate with passionate individuals who share a mission to promote walking, biking, running, and everyday access to nature. Free, 9am. CitySpace, 100 Fifth St. NE. pecva.org

Final Friday: Vinyl Night & Artmaking. Music and vinyl record crafting. Free, 5pm. The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA, 155 Rugby Rd. uvafralinartmuseum.virginia.edu

The Big Lebowski Arrive early for a costume contest, followed by a screening of the quirky comedy-thriller. $8, 8:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

Saturday 2/25

music

Berto’s Latin Guitar Brunch. Enjoy the sounds of Brazil, Spain, and Latin America with Berto Sales. Free, 11am. Tavern & Grocery, 333 W. Main St. tavernandgrocery.com

Blake Hunter & The Gatherers. Come hungry, thirsty, and ready for a good time. $10, 7pm. The Batesville Market, 6624 Plank Rd., Batesville. batesvillemarket.com

Crozet Jam Band. Grab a glass and enjoy live music. Free, 2:30pm. Albemarle CiderWorks, 2545 Rural Ridge Ln., North Garden. albemarleciderworks.com

John Shanesy & Ramona and the Holy Smokes. A honkey-tonk doubleheader. Free, 5:30pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com

Sam Burchfield & The Scoundrels. With Virginia Man. $12-15, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 S. First St. thesouthern cville.com

CULTURE THE WORKS

Existential embrace

Sarah Lawson observes crises through collage at New City Arts

By Sarah Sargent arts@c-ville.com

Though Sarah Lawson lives far from the coast in Nelson County, they have been keeping tabs on the climate crisis for some time now, following it internationally in the news, and even mapping the movement of a particular iceberg in Antarctica. At home, Lawson (a contributor to C-VILLE) has been monitoring the changes occurring in the creek that runs through their property. The land belonged to Lawson’s grandparents, so they’ve known this stream all their life and remember how it was and how it’s changed.

Lawson’s show at New City Arts, “Salience, the sea,” addresses two different themes associated with the climate crisis. Mortality salience, meaning the knowledge that we’re all going to die, and also, the sea, or oceans and bodies of water generally—the flashpoints where the effects of the climate crisis are most apparent.

Lawson acknowledges the intrinsic sadness of the subject matter. “There’s a lot of unprocessed death and grieving I think we’re feeling as a society in response to COVID,” Lawson says. “I’m currently studying social work at VCU. A lot of studies about mortality salience talk about how, ‘Yes, it’s horrible, we’re all going to die. How could there possibly be a silver lining?’ The silver lining, from a clinical standpoint, is that if you acknowledge this existential fact and embrace it, you can use that to really make the most of the time you have.”

The larger works in the show are intended as a devotional on grieving, for what has been lost and what is to come. The smaller works started as part of a daily collage practice Lawson undertook when they turned 38 last February as a way of confronting their own mortality and staying in the moment. They titled this body of work using a numerical system: The first number is the chronological order in which the piece was done, followed by days in the year, followed by Lawson’s age. Lawson typically did these at the end of the day, while processing what news they’d read, the work they’d done and other quotidian occurrences. Gathering together the accordion files where they kept clippings, sorted by color, pattern, and texture, they went through them to see what jumped out. Beginning with “a very loose gaze,” Lawson would sort through, creating a smaller stack of things they wanted to incorporate. “I allow my subconscious to move things around in a certain way, trying to be as light-handed as possible in determining what’s going to come,” Lawson says.

Collage appeals to Lawson because it’s finding meaning in something discarded. It’s also open access—anyone can collage. “Something as simple as scissors and a glue stick

can really affect someone’s day, or how they view the world. I just love that. It’s a really simple, easy to access form of self-expression.”

In some works, Lawson highlights the imagery represented in various scraps of paper, with others they subvert what’s being depicted, pairing it with pieces of colored paper to produce more abstract studies (“23/365/38,” “20/365/38,” “108/365/38” (a self-portrait), “70/365/38”). With both approaches, the inspired arrangements are striking.

Lawson will often use the same picture twice to create a mirror image. Sometimes, this is exact, as in “6/365/38,” where the heads of two fantastical beasts form a portal from which a hand extends. In other works, like “29/365/38” and “54/365/38,” they alter them slightly, retaining the original shapes and outline.

When they incorporate the human form, Lawson does so with a big helping of witty surrealism. In “22/365/38,” a colossal Audubon-like bird is picking up, or dropping, cartoon figures from or into an Italian town. In “123/365/38,” a woman’s head and hand emerge from a fat tubular offshoot of a heart, framed by a spray of mushrooms. “59/365/38” presents two fastidiously turned-out 18th-century soldiers sitting primly astride a large airborne fish.

The two disembodied eyes in “31/365/38” grab the viewer’s attention, as they seem adrift on a sea of matter that could be cellular, geologic, or elemental.

It’s hard to pick a favorite from Lawson’s visual bounty, but there’s something so captivating about “89/365/38”—the modern building placed in the midst of a woodland setting. Lawson cut out a circle in the center, creating a void in the midst of the sleek corporate exterior. It also has the effect of a giant mirrored disc reflecting the surrounding landscape, and creates the impression of space vacillating from foreground to background.

Considering one’s own death and the collapse of the natural world is pretty bleak stuff. But the richness of Lawson’s work, which does just that, suggests it doesn’t have to be. If we can be clear-eyed about the realities of our future, we can thrive even if that future is grim. “The overall macro level problems that we’re facing from an ecosystem standpoint are horrific, but if we ignore them it just makes it worse,” says Lawson. “Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of darkness, but I try to practice being more comfortable within that and using it as an impetus to imagine alternatives.”

“123/365/38” is part of Sarah Lawson’s “Salience, the sea,” on view at New City Arts gallery through February 24.

CULTURE THIS WEEK

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

Saturday 2/25

dance

Ballroom Dance. Learn American waltz and stay for the dance. $5-10, 7pm. The Center at Belvedere, 540 Belvedere Blvd. usadancecville.org

Salsa Fest. Enjoy lessons from professional instructors in cha-cha, bachata, salsa, and more. $10-55, all day. Student Activities Building, UVA Grounds. eventbrite.com

Silent Disco. Grab some headphones and find your song on three music channels. $10, 9pm. Firefly, 1304 E. Market St. fireflycville.com

stage

August Wilson’s Seven Guitars See listing for Thursday, February 23. $20, 7:30pm. The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. jeffschoolheritagecenter.org

words

Lesley Wheeler and Remica Bingham-Risher Reading. The authors read from their new memoirs. Free, 7pm. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. ndbookshop.com

Storytime. Readings of recent favorites and classics. Free, 11am. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. ndbookshop.com

classes

A Year in the Garden. Learn the ins and outs of what to do in your garden this year.

$25, 2pm. Fifth Season Gardening Co., 900 Preston Ave. fifthseasongardening.com

Make Your Own Fairy Garden. Attendees, young and old, will build their own fairy garden using found materials. $35, 11am. Fifth Season Gardening Co., 900 Preston Ave. fifthseasongardening.com

Mushroom Cultivation Workshop. Inoculate sustainably harvested hardwood logs with Shiitake mushroom spawn at UVA’s largest student farm. Free, 10am. Morven Kitchen Garden, 600 Morven Dr. morven.virginia.edu

outside

Changing Landscape Hike. Tom Wild leads this walk that explores the effects of farming and time on the current landscape. Free, 1pm. Ivy Creek Natural Area, 1780 Earlysville Rd. ivycreekfoundation.org

Geology Hike. Learn about the geological make-up of the Ivy Creek Natural area on a two-hour hike. Free, noon. Ivy Creek Natural Area, 1780 Earlysville Rd. ivycreek foundation.org

Playdates at the Playscape. See listing for Friday, February 24. $20, 9:30am. Wildrock, 6600 Blackwells Hollow Rd., Crozet. wildrock.org

Sugar Hollow Bridges Run. Featuring a 5K and 10K course. $40, 8am. Sugar Hollow Bridges Run, 5275 Sugar Hollow Rd., White Hall. whrc.avenue.org

etc.

The Princess Bride A grandfather sits down with his grandson and reads him a bedtime story, and as he reads, the action comes alive. $6-8, 2pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

UVA vs. UNC Men’s Basketball

Game. Watch the game live on the big screen. Free, 6pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

Sunday 2/26

music

Big Thief. With Buck Meek. $35-40, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. jeffersontheater.com

& The Scoundrels

Saturday 2/25 | The Southern Café & Music Hall

Sam Burchfield

BRIMS Irish Dance & Social. Dance along to reels, jigs, and polkas. $5-10 suggested donation, 3pm. Potter’s Craft Cider, 1350 Arrowhead Valley Rd. potterscraftcider.com

Calie Garrett and Gary Green. Soulful piano and lively harmonica. Free, 2pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com

Jonathan Schakel. Organ music on the mechanical-action organ by Taylor & Boody Organbuilders. Free, 4pm. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 400 Rugby Rd. westminsterorgan concertseries.org

Los Lobos. Music that embodies the idea of America as a cultural melting pot. $39-69, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

UVA Chamber Music Series. Featuring Nathaniel Lee on trombone. Free-$15, 3:30pm. Old Cabell Hall, UVA Grounds. music.virginia.edu

stage

August Wilson’s Seven Guitars See listing for Thursday, February 23. $20, 2pm. The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. jeffschoolheritage center.org

etc.

Reds Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, and Jack Nicholson in an Oscar-winning epic. $10, 1pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

Spring Pop-Up Shop for Kids. Shop for vintage kids decor, gifts, books, and toys, and enjoy storytime and coloring crafts. Free, 9am. Mudhouse Crozet, 5793 The Square, Crozet. onceuponafindcrozet@gmail.com

Monday 2/27

music

Berto and Vincent. From the flying fingers of Berto Sales to Vincent Zorn’s percussive rhythm, these seasoned musicians are making a mark with their uplifting performances. Free, 7pm. South and Central Latin Grill, Dairy Market. southandcentralgrill.com

Gin & Jazz. The Brian Caputo Trio performs in the Château Lobby Bar. Free, 5:30pm. Oakhurst Inn, 100 Oakhurst Cir. oakhurstinn.com

words

María Arquero de Alarcón. A lecture from the associate professor of architecture and urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan Taubman College. Free, 5pm. Campbell Hall 153, UVA Grounds. arch.virginia.edu

Tuesday 2/28

music

Josh Mayo & House Sauce Tunesday Tuesday. A jam session with local acts. Free, 9pm. Rapture, 303 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. rapturerestaurant.com

Vincent Zorn. Olé. Free, 7pm. The Bebedero, 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall. thebebedero.com

Vinyl Night. BYO record to play and get $1 off pints. Free, 4pm. Starr Hill Brewery, Dairy Market, 946 Grady Ave. dairymarketcville.com

outside

Playdates at the Playscape. See listing for Friday, February 24. $20, 9:30am. Wildrock, 6600 Blackwells Hollow Rd., Crozet. wildrock.org etc.

Family Game Night. Games for all ages, including corn hole, Jenga, and board games. Free, 5pm. Dairy Market, 946 Grady Ave. dairymarketcville.com

Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night. Teams of two to six people play for prizes and bragging rights. Free, 8pm. Firefly, 1304 E. Market St. fireflycville.com

Failure to follow

Infinity Pool is a repulsive, dreary movie

By Justin Humphreys arts@c-ville.com

Infinity Pool is the third feature by writer and director Brandon Cronenberg, and comparisons to his extraordinary father, Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg, are inevitable. With Infinity Pool, Brandon explores dark, grotesque territory similar to what his dad’s work has charted, but only superficially. The younger Cronenberg has a long way to go as a director if this ugly, tedious film is any indication of his capabilities.

In the fictional country of La Tolqa, failed novelist James Foster (Alexander Skarsgård) vacations with his wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman) in a heavily guarded seaside resort. There they meet fellow guests Gaby (Mia Goth) and her husband, Alban (Jalil Lespert), and join them for a clandestine picnic in the dangerous countryside outside the resort’s gates. While driving home, Foster has a hit-and-run collision with a local farmer, and the next day finds himself facing the death penalty for it. But the corrupt officials offer an escape clause: For a sizable fee, a wealthy tourist like Foster can be cloned and an exact double will suffer his punishment. Foster agrees and witnesses his doppel-

gänger’s execution. He then discovers that Gaby, Alban, and others have not only been through the same process, but regularly commit heinous crimes knowing they can buy their way out. Instead of leaving the countryside, Foster stays and wallows in depravity with them.

The film’s first act sets the plot up intriguingly, but doesn’t deliver a genuinely imaginative storyline by exploring the concept of doubling the way a film like Invasion of the Body Snatchers does. A dark satire of a plutocracy where despicable Jeffrey Epstein-like degenerates indulge in vile decadence with impunity is barely fleshed-out, and Infinity Pool fails as both science fiction and horror. Instead, it’s predicated on the dullest kinds of shock value.

Repulsive subject matter and amoral characters can work, but it takes a gifted artist with rarified sensibilities such as Cronenberg’s father, or novelist J. G. Ballard, one of the elder Cronenberg’s favorite writers. Infinity Pool plays like a trashy retread of Ballard’s brilliant novels like High-Rise and Super-Cannes. Handling distasteful situations like this with wit and panache is hard to pull off, and the younger Cronenberg isn’t up to it. He has created a deadening, soulless film.

The cinematography in Infinity Pool has a few striking moments, but it’s mostly headache-inducing motion or downright pretentious with an overreliance on extreme closeups. There are hallucinatory sequences that are as hokey as the LSD freakouts in ’60s drug movies like The Trip and Psych-Out, only much less entertaining. It all plays like empty, flashy posturing by a film student.

Infinity Pool

R, 117 minutes

Amazon Prime

The film’s cast is generally decent, but is saddled with an unengaging, unappealing script. Goth unfortunately gets plenty of screen time—a little of her vacant stare and shrill voice go a long way. The production design is inventive, especially in the eerily inhuman resort, and its wholly invented police state, and the dissonant soundtrack by Tim Hecker is also better than this movie deserves.

But there is nothing in Infinity Pool that hasn’t been done better—and less sickeningly— elsewhere. It isn’t even fun trash—it’s just overpoweringly, witlessly mean-spirited. The film delivers nihilism of the worst and most pretentious kind. This particular pool isn’t just stagnant—it’s shallow, to boot.

The film’s first act sets the plot up intriguingly, but doesn’t deliver a genuinely imaginative storyline by exploring the concept of doubling the way a film like Invasion of the Body Snatchers does.

Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgård star in Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool.

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Janasha

Joan M Carlson

BY DAVID LEVINSON WILK

ACROSS

1. Latch (onto)

5. 1997 movie with the tagline “He Sits. He Stays. He Shoots. He Scores”

11. Roadie’s vanload

15. Desierto’s lack

16. Sleazeball

17. Uncommon

18. 1974 kidnap victim

20. “East of Eden” twin

21. Have it your way

22. Rapper Kool Moe ____

23. Seafood staple of New England

24. Michael of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”

26. Minor shoplifting crime, say

28. One who’s blessed

30. Rascal

31. Just hanging around

32. Most import ant

35. G.I.’s field ration, for short

36. Airport code for Australia’s largest city

37. Pulsating sound, informally

39. Down Under critter

42. “____ voyage!”

43. Clothing line?

44. Took oneís turn 45. Sent with a click 49. It can spice things up

One using crude language 54. Wear away

55. Like some online purchases

56. Opposite of SSW

57. “Let me see ...”

58. Delevingne of “Carnival Row”

59. Tools for filling in holes in the wall

63. “The Kite Runner” protagonist

64. Rubbernecker

65. Maintained

66. What might collect a lot of checks

67. Fictional writer of “The World According to Bensenhaver”

68. Jacob’s twin, in the Bible

DOWN

1. Thing to mind between the train and platform

2. JFK alternative

3. Where most hits wind up

4. Something never seen at night

5. Yearn (for)

6. Red state?

7. Aptly named novelist Charles

8. Floppy top

9. Some March Madness madness

10. Period

11. Athena turned her into a spider

12. Scratched, say

13. Checks for mistakes

14. Phrase on a mailing label

19. Sant a ____ Valley (winegrowing region)

23. “Don’t ____ with me!”

24. Forensic analysts, briefly

25. Name on Woody’s shoe in “Toy Story”

26. Nit wit, to a Brit

27. Kind of joke

29. “The ____ Show” (best-selling album of 2002)

33. Part of FWIW

34. The Planetary Society CEO Bill

37. Sea anemone, e.g

38. Hiking route

39. Settles conclusively

40. Bygone way to store data

41. Member of the Siouan family

42. Cameo role

44. Bellicose

45. Like DeMille films

46. Friendly French term of address

47. Classic consoles

48. Hole foods?

50. “How’ve you ____?”

52. Remove one’s name from, as on Facebook

53. Four: Prefix

57. 1970s-’80s sitcom station

59. West Coast winter hrs.

60. “Quit ____ bellyachin’!”

61. Clean Water Act org.

62. Disco ____ (“The Simpsons” character)

Complete the grid so that every row, column, and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.

By Rob Brezsny

Aries

(March 21-April 19): Philosopher John O’Donohue wrote a prayer not so much to God as to life. It’s perfect for your needs right now. He said, “May my mind come alive today to the invisible geography that invites me to new frontiers, to break the dead shell of yesterdays, to risk being disturbed and changed.” I think you will generate an interesting onrush of healing, Aries, if you break the dead shell of yesterdays and risk being disturbed and changed. The new frontier is calling to you. To respond with alacrity, you must shed some baggage.

Taurus

(April 20-May 20): Rightwing religious influencers are rambling amuck in the United States. In recent months, their repressive pressures have forced over 1,600 books to be banned in 138 school districts in 38 states. The forbidden books include some about heroes Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez, and Rosa Parks. With this appalling trend as a motivational force, I encourage you Tauruses to take inventory of any tendencies you might have to censor the information you expose yourself to. According to my reading of the astrological omens, now is an excellent time to pry open your mind to consider ideas and facts you have shut out. Be eager to get educated and inspired by stimuli outside your usual scope.

Gemini

(May 21-June 20): I think we can all agree that it’s really fun to fall in love. Those times when we feel a thrilling infatuation welling up within us are among the most pleasurable of all human experiences. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do it over and over again as the years go by? Just keep getting bowled over by fresh immersions in swooning adoration? Maybe we could drum up two or three bouts of mad love explosions every year. But alas, giving in to such a temptation might make it hard to build intimacy and trust with a committed, long-term partner. Here’s a possible alternative: Instead of getting smitten with an endless series of new paramours, we could get swept away by novel teachings, revelatory meditations, lovable animals, sublime art or music, amazing landscapes or sanctuaries, and exhilarating adventures. I hope you will be doing that in the coming weeks, Gemini.

Pisces

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

(Feb. 19-March 20): “What is originality?” asked philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Here’s how he answered: “To see something that has no name as yet, and hence cannot be mentioned though it stares us all in the face.” Got that, Pisces? I hope so, because your fun assignments in the coming days include the following:

1. To make a shimmering dream coalesce into a concrete reality; 2. To cause a figment of the imagination to materialize into a useful accessory; 3. To coax an unborn truth to sprout into a galvanizing insight.

Cancer

(June 21-July 22): The scientific method is an excellent approach for understanding reality. It’s not the only one, and should not be used to the exclusion of other ways of knowing. But even if you’re allergic to physics or never step into a chemistry lab, you are wise to use the scientific method in your daily life. The coming weeks will be an especially good time to enjoy its benefits. What would that mean, practically speaking? Set aside your subjective opinions and habitual responses. Instead, simply gather evidence. Treasure actual facts. Try to be as objective as you can in evaluating everything that happens. Be highly attuned to your feelings, but also be aware that they may not provide all facets of the truth.

Leo

(July 23-Aug. 22): Is there anything in your psychological makeup that would help you do some detective work? How are your skills as a researcher? Are you willing to be cagey and strategic as you investigate what’s going on behind the scenes? If so, I invite you to carry out any or all of these four tasks in the coming weeks:

1. Try to become aware of shrouded half-truths. 2. Be alert for shadowy stuff lurking in bright, shiny environments.

3. Uncover secret agendas and unacknowledged evidence. 4. Explore stories and situations that no one else seems curious about.

Virgo

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The country of Nepal, which has strong Virgo qualities, is divided into seven provinces. One is simply called “Province No.1,” while the others are Sudurpashchim, Karnali, Gandaki, Lumbini, Bagmati, and Janakpur. I advise Nepal to give Province No. 1 a decent name very soon. I also recommend that you Virgos extend a similar outreach to some of the unnamed

beauty in your sphere. Have fun with it. Give names to your phone, your computer, your bed, your hairdryer, and your lamps, as well as your favorite trees, houseplants, and clouds. You may find that the gift of naming helps make the world a more welcoming place with which you have a more intimate relationship. And that would be an artful response to current cosmic rhythms.

Libra

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Are you aimless, impassive, and stuck, floundering as you try to preserve and maintain? Or are you fiercely and joyfully in quest of vigorous and dynamic success? What you do in the coming weeks will determine which of these two forks in your destiny will be your path for the rest of 2023. I’ll be rooting for the second option. Here is a tip to help you be strong and bold. Learn the distinctions between your own soulful definition of success and the superficial, irrelevant, meaningless definitions of success that our culture celebrates. Then swear an oath to love, honor, and serve your soulful definition.

Scorpio

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The next four weeks will be a time of germination, metaphorically analogous to the beginning of a pregnancy. The attitudes and feelings that predominate during this time will put a strong imprint on the seeds that will mature into full ripeness by late 2023. What do you want to give birth to in 40 weeks or so, Scorpio? Choose wisely! And make sure that in this early, impressionable part of the process, you provide your growing creations with positive, nurturing influences.

Sagittarius

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I recommend you set up Designated Arguing Summits. These will be short periods when you and your allies get disputes out in the open. Disagreements

must be confined to these intervals. You are not allowed to squabble at any other time. Why do I make this recommendation? I believe that many positive accomplishments are possible for you in the coming weeks, and it would be counterproductive to expend more than the minimal necessary amount on sparring. Your glorious assignment: Be emotionally available and eager to embrace the budding opportunities.

Capricorn

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Actor Judi Dench won an Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth in the film Shakespeare in Love—even though she was onscreen for just eight minutes. Beatrice Straight got an Oscar for her role in the movie Network, though she appeared for less than six minutes. I expect a similar phenomenon in your world, Capricorn. A seemingly small pivot will lead to a vivid turning point. A modest seed will sprout into a prismatic bloom. A cameo performance will generate long-term ripples. Be alert for the signs.

Aquarius

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Most of us are constantly skirmishing with time, doing our best to coax it or compel it to give us more slack. But lately, you Aquarians have slipped into a more intense conflict. And from what I’ve been able to determine, time is kicking your ass. What can you do to relieve the pressure? Maybe you could edit your priority list—eliminate two mildly interesting pursuits to make more room for a fascinating one. You might also consider reading a book to help you with time management and organizational strategies, like these:

1. Getting Things Done by David Allen. 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. 3. 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse.

Expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text message horoscopes: RealAstrology.com, (877) 873-4888

COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE

Complainant, Case No. CL22000389-00

v.

JACOB L. SAMPSON, deceased

ROSA PETERSON, believed deceased

CHARLIE SAMPSON, believed deceased

ROBERT SAMPSON, believed deceased

CORNELIA DREDDEN, believed deceased

DAISY SAMPSON SMITH, believed deceased

LENA WOOD, believed deceased

SELTON SAMPSON, believed deceased

HELEN S. SMITH, believed deceased

IRENE CHILDRESS, believed deceased

MARIAN BLAND, believed deceased

JACOB L. SAMPSON, believed deceased

WARREN SMITH, believed deceased

EDWARD SMITH, believed deceased

JOSEPH SMITH, believed deceased

THOMAS SMITH, believed deceased

BERNARD SMITH, believed deceased

JAMES SMITH, believed deceased

HAMPTON SMITH, believed deceased

HELEN WESLEY, believed deceased and the heirs, devisees, personal representatives, successors, or assigns, if any, of Jacob L. Sampson, including any heirs, devisees, personal representatives, successors, or assigns, of any deceased heirs of Jacob L. Sampson, as they may appear, proceeded against herein as PARTIES UNKNOWN,

Respondents.

The object of this suit is to effect a judicial sale of certain real property, containing 5.45 acres, more or less, and designated as Tax Map Parcel No. 09200-00-00-02000 (“92-20”) and which is being assessed on the tax records of the County of Albemarle, Virginia in the name of the Estate of Jacob L. Sampson, in order to subject such property to the lien thereon for delinquent real estate taxes.

It appearing from the Complaint and by the Affidavit filed according to law that the Complainant has used due diligence to ascertain all of the owners of the subject property but has been unable to do so and that there are persons unknown who claim or may claim an interest in the property, namely the heirs, devisees, personal representatives, successors, or assignors in and to the title and interest of Jacob L. Sampson.

It is therefore ORDERED that the heirs, devisees, personal representatives, successors, or assigns, if any, of Jacob L. Sampson, as they may appear, proceeded against herein as “Parties Unknown,” appear on or before March 13, 2023 at 9:00 am, and take such action as they deem appropriate to protect any interests they may have in the abovedescribed property.

It is further ORDERED that the foregoing portion of this Order be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in the C-Ville Weekly, that a copy hereof be posted on the door of the Courthouse and that a copy be mailed to the last known address, if any, of the Respondents.

The Clerk is hereby directed to send this Order to the C-Ville Weekly and to make the aforementioned posting and mailings.

Endorsement of parties and counsel of record is dispensed with for good cause shown including the nature of these proceedings, the relief granted, and the time and expense associated with acquiring said endorsement.

And this cause is continued.

I ASK FOR THIS:

JONATHAN T. WREN, VSB #40304

MARTINWREN, P.C.

400 Locust Avenue, Suite 1

Charlottesville, Virginia 22902

(434) 817-3100 (phone)

(434) 817-3110 (fax)

wren@martinwrenlaw.com (email) Counsel for the County of Albemarle

ENTER: Cheryl V. Higgins

DATE: 2/10/23

Attention: Community Service Providers

The Virginia Department of Veterans Services (DVS) is seeking applications to establish grant awards to agencies providing comprehensive suicide prevention and opioid addiction programs for Military Service Members, Veterans, and their families throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

To learn more about this grant program, scan the QR code below or go to bit.ly/dvssosrfa2 to access the Request for Application (RFA).

Don't delay. Applications for grants are due February 28, 2023.

Questions? Contact Vivian.Doobay@dvs.virginia.gov or 804.482.8505

... that students at Burnley-Moran Elementary School made a pawsitively pawsome donation to help their feline friends. The school’s PTA organized a penny war fundraiser, and students raised $700. At the end of the war, Ms. Johnston’s (left back) third- and fourth-grade students voted to donate the money to the Cat Action Team, a local nonprofit that works to improve the quality of life for cats in Charlottesville and 12 counties in central Virginia. CAT President Betsy Ballenger (right) visited the school to accept the donation, and brought light-up cat ears to say thanks! CAT plans to use the students’ donation to provide food and veterinary care for community cats and kittens, and to support the TNVR (trapneuter-vax-return) program. Learn more at