The People v. Rick Krial: Staunton obscenity case has national attention

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] The subject isn’t evolution, and the barristers aren’t William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. But the upcoming trial of a Staunton adult-video store owner on obscenity charges has some of that Scopes Monkey Trial flavor to it. Doesn’t it? I mean, on the one side, you have the fundamentalists who…

Robertson taking no prisoners in obscenity prosecution

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] “Inga.” It was the big to-do back in 1968 when it was released in America. “Filmed entirely in Sweden,” a snapshot on movietime.com relates, “‘Inga’ brims with a European sensuality and eroticism that shocked American audiences upon its release in 1968.” That about sums it up right there, doesn’t it?…

Obscenity v. The First Amendment: Why the prosecution of X-rated films affects books

Chris Graham

Story by Matthew Warner What’s so horrible about porn other than the poor quality of most of it? And why should you care? ‘LITERARY OBSCENITY’ Watch out, you writers and purveyors of erotic horror and explicit romance. The folks here in my Bible Belt city of Staunton, Virginia, care quite a bit. Last summer, when…

Big fish in a small media-market pond: These broadcast mainstays in Valley, Charlottesville aren’t going anywhere anytime soon

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] When you’re a TV weatherman, a trip to the local burger place can be a challenge not unlike the 10K races that Eric Pritchett runs when he’s not standing in front of a television screen telling us what Mother Nature has in store for us tomorrow. “What’s it going to…

Downtown vs. The West End: Is economic development a zero-sum game?

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] It wasn’t that there was much left downtown, but Phil Lemons knew that whatever traffic there had been before the West End took off with the opening of Wal-Mart in Waynesboro in 2003 was pretty much going, going, gone. “Having experienced it in other towns, whenever a shopping center comes…

Winners and Losers – 2007 Year in Review

Chris Graham

Winners and Losers column by Chris Graham [email protected] WINNER: Virginia Tech sports The men’s basketball team qualifies for the NCAA Tournament. Men’s soccer goes to the Final Four. The football team ends the part of the season that matters ranked #3 in the BCS. The first two are probably the most important. Tech is not…

Bond foes in Waynesboro pledge to affirm will of voters on disputed referendum

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Waynesboro taxpayers won’t have to foot the bill for a lawsuit or a second referendum to resolve a legal snafu involving a recent popular vote affirming three capital-improvements projects. “I really think we’re making a mistake, but I always thought if I ever got in this dilemma, I would go…

Lucente ‘leaning’ in direction of voting to approve bond issues

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] A series of legal snafus that arose during the process of confirmation following the bond referenda in Waynesboro that were on the Nov. 6 ballot could soon be resolved without a new election or a court order. “I think the people made an error in putting in the fire station,…

Baker, Jalloh take advantage of second chances to make first impressions

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] It’s the hardest thing a young athlete can do. “It sounds like a good idea – I’ll go, I’ll redshirt, OK. Until you’re used to playing games every year of your life, and that’s taken away. And so you wander around – you wonder why you’re practicing, because you’re not…

Almost Famous

Chris Graham

Stop the Presses column by Chris Graham [email protected] Last week it was Sports Illustrated linking to a story that we did on Venus Williams visiting Staunton. This week it’s The Washington Post linking on a blog to a column that I wrote on the local elections. Almost Famous, indeed. “But you didn’t actually make it…