Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA) articles from December 2006

Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA) archives from December 2006

Emrick building in Jackson Ward is being converted to living spaces.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Carol Hazard Dec. 1--Forget hardwood floors and crown moldings. This pie-shaped building with big factory windows in Jackson Ward takes industrial chic to a new level. The old Emrick Chevrolet building at Adams and Marshall...

James River council honors green work.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Dec. 1--A design consultant, a nonprofit housing developer, the state's top housing agency and a Charlottesville architect have been recognized by the James River Green Building Council. The council, which is...

Virginia house prices stay strong.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Carol Hazard Dec. 1--Home prices in Virginia rose higher than the national average, according to figures released yesterday by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Prices rose 9.9 percent here in the third...

Two Ginter Park homes in flux.
December 1, 2006... Byline: Carol Hazard Dec. 1--The Ginter Park Residents Association is hopes to find buyers who will restore two old houses in the North Richmond neighborhood. The houses, at 4200 and 4202 Chamberlayne Ave., are owned by the Robins...

Commonwealth Biotechnologies Inc. sets major merger.
December 2, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Dec. 2--Commonwealth Biotechnologies Inc. plans to buy Mimotopes, an Australian company that provides scientific products and services to drug-development companies. To pay for it, the Chesterfield County...

Pump jumps not done.
December 2, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Dec. 2--The average pump price of regular gasoline in Virginia has increased nearly 8 cents since hitting its most recent low of $2.062 per gallon Oct. 24. The state average is now $2.14 per gallon, according to...

Ion Healthcare profiting from helping patients get a good night's sleep.
December 3, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Dec. 3--Roger Ortega's wife kept telling him he had a problem. Snoring. Thrashing around. All night. So Ortega saw his doctor, who referred him to a sleep disorder clinic in Colonial Heights. Ortega slept...

Bill aims to curb payday loans in Virginia.
December 3, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Dec. 3--A broad coalition representing the poor, elderly, children, labor, business and minorities wants to get rid of payday lending in Virginia. On Tuesday, the House of Delegates Commerce and Labor Committee...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
December 3, 2006... Byline: Bob Rayner Dec. 3--BENEFITS OF FREE TRADE MAKE US RICHER DESPITE ANY PAIN: Not so long ago, free trade was the life of the party. Both parties, in fact. For decades, Congress and the White House advanced policies that expanded...

Asian bistro is where son follows in dad's footsteps.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Dec. 5--David Du grew up in the restaurant business. His father, Dick, opened the Peking Restaurant on Grove Avenue near Libbie Avenue in 1978 and partly owns five others in the area. David got a...

Refrigeration company enjoys growth spurt.
December 5, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Dec. 5--The typical grocery shopper, hustling through the local supermarket and grabbing milk, meats and frozen foods, doesn't give much thought to what keeps those products cold and fresh. But at one...

Elliott Yamin has a Christmas song.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Melissa Ruggieri Dec. 5--Yes, Yaminions, there is a Santa Claus, and he has finally brought you a piece of recorded material from the idol you still worship. Since his October concert at the State Fair of Virginia, Richmond's...

'Collectors at heart'.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Janet Caggiano Dec. 5--Mary Brett and Steve Gould know when to say when. They just don't want to. The couple's Oregon Hill home was bursting at the door hinges a year ago with mourning artifacts, Texaco memorabilia, Day of...

A stressful problem.
December 5, 2006... Byline: John O'Connor Dec. 5--Gaston Moliva went airborne for a layup a couple of weeks before the University of Richmond opened this basketball season. Moliva felt a sharp pain on the outside of his left foot when he landed. Stress...

Doctor's soaring loyalty rewarded.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Latane Iii Dec. 5--Dr. David Nichols flew an airplane every week to practice medicine on Tangier Island until he bought a helicopter to make the commute across the Chesapeake Bay. Now, 27 years after flying into the...

EDITORIAL: Greenhouse Activism.
December 5, 2006... Dec. 5--The other day the Bush administration appeared before the Supreme Court to argue that the plain language of the Clean Air Act does not require what it clearly seems to: regulation by the EPA of "any air pollutant" (including, therefore,...

EDITORIAL: Bankrupt.
December 5, 2006... Dec. 5--In 1994 congressional Republicans rose to power claiming the mantle of fiscal responsibility. Twelve years later they had so botched their claim to conservative budgetary policies that many Democratic candidates ran as foes of a...

EDITORIAL: Do Better II.
December 5, 2006... Dec. 5--The October 18 editorial, "Do Better," asked Mayor Wilder to open the inner workings of his advisory committees to the public. These groups whisper into the mayor's ear about everything from education to housing to the city's finances....

Governor again delays Walton execution.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Frank Green Dec. 5--For the second time this year, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has delayed the execution of triple murderer Percy Levar Walton, this time for 18 months. Walton, 28, had been set to be executed by injection at 9 p.m....

Virginia home sales slide 19 percent.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Carol Hazard Dec. 5--Sales of new and previously owned homes in Virginia slid 19.2 percent in October compared with the same month a year ago, according to figures released yesterday by the Virginia Association of Realtors. ...

School Zone: Helping home-schoolers.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Holly Prestidge Dec. 5--Virginia's home-schooling community is happy with recent changes to the state's home-instruction laws that, they say, reflect what they've been doing for years. One change requires schools to notify...

Man sentenced in fatal shooting.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Kiran Krishnamurthy Dec. 5--FREDERICKSBURG -- A judge sentenced the triggerman in a New Year's Day fatal shooting outside a Fredericksburg nightclub to 18 years in prison yesterday. Ira D. Anderson, 20, was found guilty of...

Stickler for the rules.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Vic Dorr Jr. Dec. 5--BOWLING GREEN -- Few individuals are better qualified to maintain order in the court, and on the court, than Caroline County Sheriff Tony Lippa. By day, Lippa is a career law-enforcement officer, a 30-year...

Richmond Times-Dispatch John Markon column.
December 5, 2006... Byline: John Markon Dec. 5--WASHINGTON All the diagnoses are in, and the Washington Wizards are officially schizophrenic. The Wizards, the only team in the NBA still without a win away from home (0-8), apparently are capable of beating...

Richmond Times-Dispatch Ray Mcallister column.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Ray Mcallister Dec. 5--Jeff Wray stood in the middle of his yard yesterday and wondered how vandals could have gone after a Christmas display. Especially this year. "I don't know who did it. I don't know why they did it,"...

Poor health may have pushed man to murder, suicide.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Jamie C. Ruff Dec. 5--A 90-year-old man who killed his wife and daughter and then committed suicide may have been despondent about his wife's declining health, Henry County investigators said yesterday. Investigators said...

Union, MeadWestvaco talk.
December 5, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Dec. 5--Union leaders at MeadWestvaco Corp.'s Covington paper mill continued bargaining with company officials for a new contract yesterday after workers voted Sunday to authorize a strike. Of the 887 votes...

GOP pleased by primary ruling.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Tyler Whitley Dec. 5--Many Republican leaders are applauding a federal court ruling that struck down a portion of Virginia's open primary law. Some, attending the Republican Party of Virginia's annual Advance at The Homestead...

Gibbs tries to pick up pieces.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Paul Woody Dec. 5--When he came back to be the coach of the Washington Redskins in January of 2004, sorting through the rubble of a season such as 2006 is not what Joe Gibbs had in mind. He knew things could go badly, but Gibbs...

Kaine pays visit to Liberty.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Pamela Stallsmith Dec. 5--LYNCHBURG -- The Rev. Jerry Falwell knows why Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has done well. "He married a Republican governor's daughter," joked the founder and chancellor of Liberty University about...

Richmond schools' budget approved.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Kastner Dec. 5--The Richmond School Board last night approved a capital-improvement plan that includes $200 million for the mayor's City of the Future plan and some perks for certain schools. For instance, at Mary...

No shots, no school.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Olympia Meola AND Holly Prestidg Dec. 5--School zone Destiny Sheppard closed her eyes, took a deep breath and grabbed onto her aunt with all her strength. The sixth-grader at Henrico County's Brookland Middle School was at...

Sailor admits to stealing data.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Bill Geroux Dec. 5--NORFOLK -- A Navy submariner admitted to a judge yesterday that he gave a foreign nation secret U.S. military documents in 2005, including a manual for a new weapons system. Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J....

Executive went from work to war.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Dec. 5--Whether in his plain-looking office in Henrico County or the scorching sands of Iraq, a background in sales has come in handy for Skip Goodwillie. It's the same concept anywhere: Start a relationship with...

Jefferson stood for independence.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Carlos Santos Dec. 5--Everybody has heard of Thomas Jefferson. He is one of the most famous people in American history. You probably know he was the third president. He also wrote the Declaration of Independence -- a document...

Philanthropists give $5 million to Longwood University.
December 5, 2006... Byline: Jamie C. Ruff Dec. 5--Two Richmond philanthropists have committed $5 million to Longwood University for an endowment to support scholarships in its College of Arts and Sciences and for programming and operational needs. John...

Richmond, Va., to consider tighter begging ban.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Jim Nolan Dec. 6--City Council on Monday could vote on an ordinance that would severely curb panhandling in Richmond. The ordinance would prohibit panhandling within 20 feet of bank machines, banks, restaurants or businesses...

Metro briefs.
December 6, 2006... Dec. 6--WORKSHOP SLATED ON APPLYING TO COLLEGES: Prospective college students and their families can learn about choosing, applying for and paying for college at a free workshop Dec. 9. It will be from 9 a.m. to noon at Moore Street Baptist...

Police make arrest in Richmond, Va.-area burglary wave.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Mark Bowes Dec. 6--Chesterfield police charged a Richmond man with seven burglaries and cleared more than two dozen others in the county as a result of the arrest. The burglaries have plagued several Chesterfield neighborhoods...

Monarchs showing little fear.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Jeff White Dec. 6--Early in his coaching career at Old Dominion University, Blaine Taylor wasn't always sure if his players had the proper psyche when they faced teams from more prestigious conferences. Taylor has no such...

EDITORIAL: What Next?
December 6, 2006... Dec. 6--The new Congress will make history when Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female speaker of the House. Everyone will applaud, then pick up the clubs and flails to resume the fights. Iraq will provide occasion for a great deal of...

EDITORIAL: Southside's focus.
December 6, 2006... Dec. 6--No one in Danville should declare victory. Furniture giant IKEA's announcement that it will build a new factory nearby presents good news, but residents should not cease the important work being done to restructure Southside Virginia's...

EDITORIAL: The Pro-Tax Banner.
December 6, 2006... Dec. 6--Virginians elected an inflexible man when they chose Tim Kaine as governor. He wants to increase taxes for transportation, and he took another tour of Northern Virginia recently to bolster his case for increased revenues (i.e., a tax...

Vaughn continues growth on the court.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Vic Dorr Jr. Dec. 6--Krystal Vaughn's journey from deep shadows to bright spotlight consumed a year and a half and covered perhaps four feet -- four feet being the approximate distance from the end of the Virginia Commonwealth...

Virginia fire official tapped for post.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Michael Martz AND Peter Hardin Dec. 6--President Bush nominated Virginia Beach Fire Chief Gregory B. Cade yesterday to lead the U.S. Fire Administration within the national homeland security agency. It's been a happy,...

Richmond Times-Dispatch Lee Graves column.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Lee Graves Dec. 6--They'll be catching stripers -- not catfish -- but the winning margin might be just a whisker. That's the prediction of David Dudley of Lynchburg. His Team Castrol/Team Hardhead group will be one of 35 vying...

Hall class set at seven.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Jeff White Dec. 6--The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in Portsmouth will induct seven new members next year, its president, Eddie Webb, announced yesterday. The Class of 2007 consists of Gary Clark, Jim "Carroll" Colston, Gene...

Almost 5,500 ticketed in crackdown on I-81, I-95.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Rex Bowman Dec. 6--SALEM -- State police arrested or ticketed nearly 5,500 motorists last week on Interstates 81 and 95 in the fourth crackdown this year on speeders. Combined, the four operations resulted in 26,362 summonses,...

Kindness counters holiday vandalism.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Ray Mcallister Dec. 6--Listeners of a Richmond radio station played Santa Claus yesterday, donating more than $1,200 to a western Henrico County family whose Christmas display was vandalized. Part of Jeff Wray's 250-figurine,...

Falcons survive slow start to top Monarchs.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Stephen M. Lewis Dec. 6--If you missed the first half of the Meadowbrook-Huguenot contest last night, you didn't miss much. Except imaginary Rubbermaid lids on each basket. Add in Meadowbrook's Justin Harper swatting three...

$8 million scam to end in plea deal.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Tom Campbell Dec. 6--The Chesterfield County man accused of cheating more than 350 people in an $8 million investment scam will plead guilty today in U.S. District Court. James E. Brown Jr., 22, is scheduled for a plea...

Richmond Times-Dispatch Bob Lipper column.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Bob Lipper Dec. 6--Let's cease with the hysteria and blathering, OK? College football isn't broken. It doesn't need a bulldozer or renovation. It doesn't need a lobotomy. The BCS worked. Ohio State vs. Florida is the rightful grand...

Meth lab found in Henrico apartment.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Mark Bowes Dec. 6--Diane Proctor feared something terrible had happened to her 83-year-old mother when she pulled into the Hunt Club Apartments yesterday and saw police and fire crews. "I come over here everyday because my mom...

Metro briefs.
December 6, 2006... Dec. 6--RABID SKUNKS SPUR WARNING IN HANOVER: Three skunks in the Mechanicsville area were diagnosed positive for rabies in November. Hanover County Animal Control urges residents to make sure their pets are vaccinated and kept inside as much...

Students on rhythmic trip.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Juan Antonio Lizama Dec. 6--Eighth-grade student Luke Davis-Lee grabbed a shakere and shyly began tapping it with one hand to produce a rattling beat. He got into the rhythm with jazz musician Robert Jospe and percussionist...

Payday-lending repeal defeated.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Dec. 6--Carmen Candelario of Charlottesville once saw a payday loan as a blessing. But after borrowing for a year, the blessing turned to burden, she told state lawmakers yesterday. It was hard to support her...

Rape trial ends with one plea, dismissal.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Tom Campbell Dec. 6--In the wake of two rape convictions involving the assault of a University of Richmond woman, a third man pleaded guilty yesterday to lesser charges. Charges against a fourth man were dismissed. Julian...

Small change adds up to a big school effort.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Kastner Dec. 6--Students at St. Christopher's School are emptying their pockets. The school's "Change for Change" project has students collecting loose change in digital coin banks that tally their contributions as...

Class could give away $10,000.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Kiran Krishnamurthy Dec. 6--FREDERICKSBURG -- Jennifer Pierotti knew giving away some of Doris Buffett's money would be fun. The University of Mary Washington student also discovered it wasn't easy. Pierotti was among 20...

School plant sales are blooming.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Juan Antonio Lizama Dec. 6--Patrick Henry High School horticulture teacher Wayne S. Ambler and his students planted 500 2-inch-tall poinsettias in August. Those poinsettias have grown to 8 inches now, are in full bloom and...

Election year may force look at road plan.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Jeff E. Schapiro Dec. 6--Campaign jitters will force the General Assembly to try again on a transportation fix, with some lawmakers saying it should include the unthinkable in an election year: new taxes. "We have to brush...

$5 million gift to help children.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Michael Hardy AND Carlos Santos Dec. 6--Sheila C. Johnson, a philanthropist and a co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, will donate $5 million to the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, sources confirmed...

At last minute, kids vaccinated.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Holly Prestidge AND Olympia Meol Dec. 6--Julie Wyand typed away on her laptop computer yesterday as she sat in the lobby at Henrico County's eastern health clinic. She should have been in class at John Rolfe Middle School, but...

Richmond Times-Dispatch Jack Berninger column.
December 6, 2006... Byline: Jack Berninger Dec. 6--Ah, December, the holiday season . . . and a time for parties. High on my friend Corky's list was his Christmas wine and cheese party. He had been to many before, but neither the wine nor the cheese...

Business is booming, but workers are scarce.
December 6, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Dec. 6--The Richmond area is sprouting so many new stores that retailers are going to face serious problems finding employees, the president of one retail group said yesterday. The region already has more...

Andre Agassi: Life after tennis.
December 7, 2006... Byline: John Packett Dec. 7--Ah, the sunset years. When he walked off the Arthur Ashe Stadium court after losing in the third round of the U.S. Open in September, Andre Agassi started his "retirement" earlier than most people. At 36,...

Williams' trey buoys Spiders.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Vic Dorr Jr. Dec. 7--Fate gave Sarah Williams a second chance. The University of Richmond's lanky sophomore wing guard won't require a third. Williams buried a 3-pointer from deep on the right wing with 22.8 seconds left in a...

Virginia Tech whips Old Dominion.
December 7, 2006... Byline: John O'Connor Dec. 7--BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech's unattended guards dribbled out the final half-minute of a 72-55 win over Old Dominion last night. The coaches, Tech's Seth Greenberg and ODU's Blaine Taylor, met for a postgame...

Virginia Tech aims to make ACC case.
December 7, 2006... Byline: John O'Connor Dec. 7--BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech (10-2) closed its regular season with six consecutive victories. Georgia (8-4) won its last two regular-season games, at Auburn and vs. Georgia Tech, following a streak of four...

Liberty Counsel defends W&M cross.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Andrew Petkofsky Dec. 7--WILLIAMSBURG -- The fight over the College of William and Mary's removal of a cross from display in its chapel could become a federal case. The founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a legal-advocacy...

McDonnell: Loss of custody not required.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Bill McKelway Dec. 7--Virginia localities that require parents to relinquish custody for a child to receive behavioral or mental-health care may be breaking federal law. They also may be too narrowly interpreting state law, the...

Jury rules against Richmond, Va.-based drug company.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Dec. 7--Richmond-based drug company Insmed Inc. infringed on three patents licensed by its West Coast competitor, a California jury said yesterday. The unanimous verdict awarded $7.5 million to Tercica Inc. The...

Kaine embraces early-education suggestions.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Lindsay Kastner Dec. 7--A quality-rating system, a pilot program and an effort to grow a high-quality teacher corps are recommendations of a council that advises the governor on early-childhood education issues. Gov. Timothy M....

EDITORIAL: Let's make a deal.
December 7, 2006... Dec. 7--Goochland Judge Timothy Sanner is up to his ears in a dispute between the county and the owners of West Creek, who were hit with whopping increases in assessments after they divided the business park into 144 parcels. The dispute...

EDITORIAL: The ISG Report.
December 7, 2006... Dec. 7--On Tuesday, incoming Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told his Senate interlocutors not only that the U.S. was not winning the war in Iraq, but that there were "no new ideas" in the report by the Iraq Study Group (ISG) on which he had,...

EDITORIAL: Taking fish stock.
December 7, 2006... Dec. 7--A new report has concluded that, if current trends continue, a combination of overfishing, pollution, and habitat degradation will deplete the oceans and render seafood a thing of the past. Not everyone is buying it. The chief...

Navy officer sentenced in espionage.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Bill Geroux Dec. 7--NORFOLK -- A Navy petty officer was sentenced to 12 years in prison yesterday with an additional 13 years suspended for giving a foreign government a secret manual for the Tomahawk missile system. He told...

Fire hits restaurant in Williamsburg.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Andrew Petkofsky Dec. 7--WILLIAMSBURG -- Flames burst through the roof of a popular Williamsburg restaurant yesterday, drawing a crowd of tourists and quick response by firefighters. The blaze, reported at 9:50 a.m., caused...

Virginia Tech football player wraps up the Dudley Award.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Jeff White Dec. 7--Linebacker Vince Hall and tailback Ra'Shad Morgan never will meet in a college football game, but they shared the spotlight last night at the Sheraton West hotel. Hall, a junior from Virginia Tech, received...

Swindler pleads guilty to 2 counts.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Tom Campbell Dec. 7--A 22-year-old high school dropout who cheated 350 victims out of more than $8 million pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to mail fraud and money laundering. James E. Brown Jr. of Chesterfield County...

Woman gets six months in gang case.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Mark Bowes Dec. 7--A young Chesterfield County woman who burned the symbol of the Crips gang into the arm of a teenager was given a six-month jail term yesterday. With her conviction, Devonda F. Davis, 19, became the first...

Is there a limit on holiday decorations? And have you reached yours?
December 7, 2006... Byline: Meredith Bonny Dec. 7--Lisha Levin had one eye on her 9-month-old son, Ethan, and the other on a decorative snowman. "He's cute," she said while sizing up the round character with a button nose. "But my husband is going to...

Richmond Times-Dispatch Bob Lipper column.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Bob Lipper Dec. 7--From the downshift department in Daytona Beach comes word that NASCAR has decided to move its annual awards bash from the Waldorf-Astoria in New Yawk to a Waffle House on the outskirts of Spartanburg, S.C. The...

Richmond Times-Dispatch Ray Mcallister column.
December 7, 2006... Byline: Ray Mcallister Dec. 7--Stephen Adkins, chief of the Chickahominy Indian tribe, is a member of the Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission. Stephen Adkins, chief of the Chickahominy Indian tribe and a history buff, was enjoying...