In the mood for some classical? The Staunton Music Festival, where musicians from around the world descend on the town for a week long “rethink” of classical music, is back for the middle of August. WMRA’s Jessie Knadler spoke to its founders about why this festival in little ol’ Staunton has become a can’t-miss event for music lovers from all over.

On Monday (Aug. 7) at James Madison University, several hundred people attended the first of five public hearings across the state to be held by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, about the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Dominion Energy says the pipeline, set to cross Virginia, will create lots of jobs, provide much-needed domestic and “clean burning” natural gas, and more.

Charlottesville City Council denies a white nationalist group’s request to rally later this month at Emancipation Park downtown, moving it to another park farther away… protesters, and supporters, show up at a public hearing for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Harrisonburg… and, we’ve got a look at the history of the Staunton Music Festival….

The NRA endorses Republican Ed Gillespie for governor… Senator Mark Warner co-sponsors legislation to send some relief to food deserts in America… and, a little-known Virginia law allows private collection agencies to slap huge fees on college debt, and one lawmaker proposes a fix…

Harrisonburg’s state senator Mark Obenshain requests a review of the state’s elections agency, but the report isn’t due until after next year’s mid-term elections… Planned Parenthood in Virginia throws its support behind Democrat Ralph Northam for governor… and, we take a look at a big new report to the F-D-A on opioids, chaired by a U-V-A professor.

In July, a committee of scientists and legal experts chaired by UVa law professor Richard Bonnie, made several recommendations to address the opioid problem. WMRA’s Marguerite Gallorini talked to him and some Charlottesville-area health care professionals about the report, and about possible solutions.

Charlottesville says it spent more than $30,000 on its police response to the Ku Klux Klan rally last month, as another far-right rally to support the Lee statue and counter-protest is planned for this month… Dominion Energy repays money it overcharged thousands of commercial customers… and, in today’s feature, the next installment of our “Women of Interest” series… we’ll profile Harrisonburg mayor Deena Reed.

Deanna Reed’s four-year term on Harrisonburg's City Council began this year. She says she never planned to run for office -- but now she's the mayor. In the second installment of WMRA's Women of Interest series, Christopher Clymer Kurtz reports.

Virginia is aging, but unevenly. Where will the older people congregate, and what places will be getting younger in the next 20 years? We’ll take a look at that, and at an exhibit of photographs of refugees in the Valley, that exhibit opens this weekend.

Waynesboro gets a big settlement to make up for years of mercury pollution of the South River by the DuPont plant… political activist Dr. Cornel West is coming to Charlottesville to join faith leaders in opposition to a white nationalist rally on August 12 th … and what would happen in Virginia if Trump carries out his threat to cut off health care subsidies under ObamaCare?