Emotions were running high at Tuesday night’s Purcellville Town Council meeting, where residents packed the council chamber to speak out against the council’s decision not to act on hiring interim Purcellville Police Chief Sara Lombraña as the town’s permanent chief. After previous council meeting on Oct. 14, the process of hiring the town’s next chief remained at a standstill. There was a heated debate at the last meeting after the council rejected two motions to enter closed session or consent to appointing Lombraña, despite a report from the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, which recommended hiring her out of 27 candidates for the job. The council’s 4-3 decision was explained in part during a rare speech by Vice Mayor Carl “Ben” Nett on Tuesday night, who has typically been quiet during the meetings. While Nett was speaking, residents yelled and jeered to prevent him from being heard, saying “we don’t want you as chief.”

Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Techonology (ARGS) students continue to work on a special history project. “It is an ambitious project to preserve history that connects both the local community and the wider world,” said James Stoneking, Social Science Department chair and Historical Depths project manager. “Our students are proving that history is not only worth saving — it’s worth sharing.”

A former commonwealth’s attorney for Shenandoah County is facing two felony counts related to misuse of funds. On Oct. 16, a Shenandoah County grand jury indicted Wiseley on two felony counts of making a false statement of a tax return and misuse of public assets. The charges relate to her time in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office, according to the news release.