Because of this weekend's rain and higher temperatures, which caused last week's accumulation of snow and ice to melt, minor flooding has been reported across the region and continues to be expected for the beginning of the week.
Albemarle County police arrested three suspects late Friday night and early Saturday morning accused of murdering their neighbor and setting fire to her Cling Lane home in Crozet Wednesday, killing a 3-year-old boy believed to be her son. Staunton police arrested one other suspect, according to count Police Chief John Miller. The suspects, two men and two juveniles, were charged with several felonies resulting from the fire. Police charged William Rockland Fugett Jr., 19, Robert Paul Davis, 18, a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy with two counts of first degree murder, two counts of attempted first degree murder, arson, robbery and breaking and entering, according to police officials. The two victims have not yet been identified, although police suspect the victims are Nola Annette Charles, 41, and her 3-year-old son. Both Fugett and Davis, along with one of the juveniles, lived on Cling Lane.
Undeterred by freezing rain and cold temperatures Saturday afternoon, local residents gathered to express their frustration over what they claim is an unfair Albemarle County bureaucracy. Sponsored by the Charlottesville-based Jefferson Area Libertarians, "Rally 'Round the Flag" was held in support of businessman Tom Slonaker, who has been engaged in a zoning dispute with county administrators since August. Slonaker, owner of the Arby's restaurant in Forest Lakes, was issued citations for flying an Arby's flag on a flagpole outside his store, posting store advertisements in windows and parking an Arby's van in view of Rt.
Student Council presidential candidate Daisy Lundy will bring two appeals before the Rules and Ethics Board at 9 a.m.
Officials at Hampton University, in Hampton, Va., expelled two students this month who were charged with the murder of a former student, according to Hampton Spokesperson Sarita L.
A Friday night blaze at Kent Terrace apartments along Jefferson Park Avenue left four apartments uninhabitable and one tenant homeless.
Five young women emerged as leaders from the Inter-Sorority Council elections Friday to take the helm of the 2003-2004 ISC executive board. A single vote from each of the ISC's 16 sororities and a single vote from the 2002-2003 ISC executive board determined each of the winners. Voters elected Phi Mu member and third-year College student Cahill Zoeller president. Zoeller is the former ISC spokesperson.
If students thought they had seen the last of spray painted snow and campaign fliers, they were wrong.
The theme for the 2003 Virginia Film Festival, which will take place from Oct. 23 to Oct. 26, is "$," Festival Director Richard Herskowitz announced this week. "I talk with a lot of people who are board members as well as faculty advisors and we discuss possible themes" before we make a final decision, Herskowitz said. This year's theme follows in the trend of last year's -- "Wet" -- because it addresses a contemporary problem.
Future students may enjoy more reading days during finals due to students' positive response to the reading days referendum put forth by Student Council President Micah Schwartz. The first question asked, "Would you like more study days interspersed during the fall and spring final exam periods?" In response, 67 percent of students said they would. The second question, however, was not as well received.
Engineers celebrate E-Week In celebration of National Engineers' Week, the Engineering Student Council has sponsored E-week events for all engineering students. This year's theme for E-week is "Gateway to Paradise." Events for E-week include floppy tower, a duct tape competition, a Lego building contest and life-size Monopoly. E-week is designed to celebrate the profession of engineering by recognizing the work of engineers with free breakfast, activities, relays, charity events, dinner and games. After being postponed Monday because of snow, E-week kicked off Tuesday with a modified schedule.
After a week that began with intense chalking around Grounds and ended with candidates spraying their initials in the snow, University students elected next year's Honor and Judiciary Committee representatives last night. The newly elected Honor Committee representatives from the College are Carey Mignerey, Okem Nwogu and Sean Kevin Driscoll, emerging from a nine-person pool of candidates. "I'm just excited right now," Nwogu said. Mignerey led the race with 1,171 votes.
Tim Koogle, the former president and CEO of Yahoo! Inc. and 1973 University graduate, inaugurated the Batten Institute Speakers Series on Business Innovation at the Darden School auditorium Wednesday night. The annual series focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship.
A new program unveiled Tuesday by the state's largest health insurance group will encourage state hospitals to improve patient care.
The Living Wage Campaign may add Student Council to its list of supporters, pending a resolution vote next week. In the fall, a Council committee began investigating the issue of living wage at the University following a petition signed by 2000 concerned students.
After 10 inches of snow blanketed the University over the weekend, students and faculty returning to class this week were forced to dodge snow and ice faliing from the top of buildings around Grounds.
To commemorate the anniversary of the publication of W.E.B. Dubois's "The Souls of Black Folk," members of the University community participated in a panel discussion last night honoring the author.
The possibility of a University-wide shift from paper to online course evaluations because of budget concerns has sparked debate in the University community on the advantages and drawbacks of an online system.
City Council adopted an ordinance yesterday to be voted on at its March 3 meeting which would significantly lower water rates citywide. The ordinance follows a similar reduction of wholesale water prices by the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority last month. Emergency water rate surcharges and increased municipal water usage since last year's drought left city water and sewer operations with a $500,000 surplus as of Dec.
University administrators and Gov. Mark R. Warner announced yesterday their concern over a proposed in-state tuition cap, which could jeopardize already emaciated revenue for higher education. The House of Delegate's tuition proposal would cap in-state undergraduate tuition increases at 9 percent, while the Senate is proposing a cap of 5 percent or $800, whichever is less. "I think with the Senate's cap it would be pretty tough to meet all of our expenses," said Colette Sheehy, University vice president for management and budget.
