[caption id="attachment_48130" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Robert Rood is survived by his wife, two daughters and four siblings.
State Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotslvania, conceded defeat yesterday in the race against Republican Bryce Reeves for the 17th district in the state Senate, according to numerous reports. Reeves declared victory early Wednesday night by a margin of 86 votes out of about 45,000 cast, entitling Houck to a recount.
The Board of Visitors discussed further plans for the ongoing renovation of the Rotunda yesterday. It also approved the concept, site and design guidelines for the proposed indoor practice facility near University Hall and the proposed expansion of the North Grounds Recreation Center. Chief Facilities Officer Don Sundgren said the University has not yet finished going through the work plan for the Rotunda and will not know the extent of repairs needed until it completes the plan in February. The repairs are estimated to take between 12 and 14 months and could potentially extend through the graduations of both the classes of 2012 and 2013. "We'd like to compress [the work schedule] significantly," Sundgren said, though he added that "unforeseeable conditions" may become apparent when the renovation begins if the building is more damaged than expected. Currently, the planned repairs include tenting the building as the roof is removed, replacing acoustic panels with acoustic plaster and temporarily closing the Dome Room.
University President Teresa A. Sullivan spoke at yesterday's Board of Visitors meeting about Pennsylvania State University President Graham Spanier's termination, stressing the need for "good people, good processes, and good systems" in the University's operations to prevent a similar situation here. The Penn State Board of Trustees fired Spanier and football coach Joe Paterno late Wednesday night as details surfaced about their role in responding to a report of child molestation.
[caption id="attachment_48064" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, is optimistic that the recount will lead to his re-election, despite his narrow loss Tuesday.
Republicans increased their majority in the Virginia House of Delegates in Tuesday's election to 66 out of 100 seats, claiming the largest majority in the House's history.
Although fewer voters went to the polls in Tuesday's local Albemarle County elections than in last year's midterm elections, the voter turnout was slightly higher than the previous two state legislature elections held in 2007 and 2003. Voter turnout in Albemarle County was nearly 41 percent, and 26 percent in the City of Charlottesville. This year's voter turnout is 2 percent higher than the 2007 local election and 9 percent higher than the 2003 election, said Jake Washburne, general registrar of Albemarle County. Despite the increase, Washburne said the turnout was still "disappointingly low." He added that the turnout was typical for a local election. The results are currently unofficial because the process of canvassing to finalize results began yesterday. Slightly more than 38 percent of total district voters turned out for the contested election between Sen.
[caption id="attachment_48060" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The University maintained a steady return on its endowment during the past five years.
[caption id="attachment_47979" align="alignleft" width="288" caption="Despite Sen. Creigh Deeds' victory in the 25th district last night, Republicans appear to be close to a majority in the state Senate.
Charlottesville City voters elected two new members to City Council last night, giving seats to Kathleen Galvin and Dede Smith, both Democrats.
A representative of the Jefferson Area Tea Party expressed concerns about Occupy Charlottesville at Charlottesville City Council's meeting Monday, saying Council should not allow members of the group to break curfew by staying overnight in Lee Park. Council members, however, believe the Occupiers are entitled to stay in the park because of their constitutional right to free speech. "Our issue is with City Council," said Carole Thorpe, chairwoman for the Jefferson Area Tea Party.
[caption id="attachment_47975" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Engineering School has the highest percentage of international graduate student enrollment.
[caption id="attachment_47973" align="alignleft" width="297" caption="University cadets from each service of the ROTC took hour-long shifts marching in front of the Rotunda.
Charlottesville City Council unanimously passed a resolution last night to apologize for the destruction of the primarily black Vinegar Hill neighborhood in the name of urban renewal in the 1960s. Vinegar Hill was the center of the black community in Charlottesville before a City-led urban renewal project destroyed the neighborhood. The proposal was first introduced at an Oct.
Charlottesville City Council voted 4-1 last night to defer the decision to grant a special permit allowing an expansion of the Theta Chi fraternity house at 600 Preston Place. If approved, the expansion would allow the fraternity to add a five-bedroom section to the house.
[caption id="attachment_47930" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="George Huguely's defense attorneys submitted printouts of 744 print and visual stories from local and regional media into evidence yesterday.
The Virginia Supreme Court delivered an opinion Friday which presents an additional hurdle to The Cavalier Daily and Virginia Tech's Collegiate Times in their legal battle to gain the right to publish advertisements which reference alcohol. The court ruled that, even if the majority of the newspaper's readership is 21 or older, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board's regulations can still include college newspapers if the intention of the newspaper is to distribute to people under 21, said Rebecca Glenberg, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, who represents the newspapers. At issue is the definition of a "college newspaper," which the board defines as "any college or university publication that is prepared, edited or published primarily by students at such institution ... and which is distributed or intended to be distributed primarily to persons under 21 years of age." The board's current regulations do not allow college newspapers to print advertisements that refer to beer, wine and mixed drinks. The ACLU filed a lawsuit in 2006 on behalf of The Cavalier Daily and The Collegiate Times challenging these regulations, arguing that the student publications do not fall under the jurisdiction of the board's regulations because more than half of the publications' readers are 21 or older. Neither The Cavalier Daily nor The Collegiate Times are collegiate publications and therefore cannot be regulated by the board, Glenberg said, though she acknowledged that it is ultimately a matter for a judge to decide.
Voter turnout is expected to be low for today's Virginia state Senate elections, despite the fact that the vote is particularly key to both sides of the political spectrum. Republicans need to gain only three more seats in the Senate in addition to their current 18 seats to relinquish majority control from Democrats, who currently hold 22 seats. "There are 7 or 8 strongly competitive Senate races around the state," Larry Sabato, director of the University's Center for Politics, said in an email.
[caption id="attachment_47861" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The University Democrats held a rally Friday to support State Sen.
The Honor Committee voted last night to table its discussion of a proposed alternative penalty to the single sanction until later in the term.
