Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA) articles from May 2007, page 7

Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA) archives from May 2007

Has Mayor lost his mandate?
May 15, 2007... Byline: Michael Martz and Will Jones May 15--L. Douglas Wilder became Richmond's first popularly elected mayor in almost a half-century on an electoral tidal wave. But after more than two years of intense, high-profile political...

Media General appoints chief of Interactive Media.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley May 15--Media General Inc. named a new president to its Interactive Media Division yesterday. C. Kirk Read will start as the division's president and a Media General vice president on June 1, the day current...

Earnhardt all the buzz.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Jill Erwin May 15--Jeff Burton walked into the media center at Darlington Raceway and sat down, waiting for his press conference to begin. Fewer than 24 hours earlier, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had announced his intention to leave...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Ray McAllister column.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Ray McAllister May 15--Virginia, this week, is for Gun Lovers. Or is it Gun Nuts? The whole country -- the whole world, it seems -- knows about the Virginia Citizens Defense League's "Bloomberg Gun Giveaway" on Thursday...

Repaired river walkway could reopen this week.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Rex Springston May 15--A popular walkway over the James River from Brown's Island, closed more than a month ago because of safety concerns, should reopen this week. Workers began replacing the walkway's weathered decking...

Echo Harbour condominium project gets revised.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Will Jones May 15--A proposal to build high-rise riverfront condominiums east of downtown Richmond has been revised over concerns that the buildings would block views of the James River. The changes to the Echo Harbour...

New monument for Capitol.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Michael Hardy May 15--A civil-rights monument on Capitol Square will break the race barrier among the many sculptures honoring Virginia leaders on the grounds of the state Capitol. Additionally, the large sculpture,...

Take that, Pilgrims!
May 15, 2007... Byline: Bill Mckelway May 15--It's about tricorn hats and muskets and souvenir fifes. It might be about three ships, Lord Cornwallis, John Smith, tobacco, the Powhatan Indians and slavery versus tea, Paul Revere, John Adams and two...

Underage drinking arrests grow.
May 15, 2007... Byline: Bill Mckelway May 15--The number of arrests for underage possession of alcohol continued to climb in Henrico County during the weekend with the arrests of 16 people at two parties. "This is just confirming that the problem is...

Mendez powers R-Braves.
May 14, 2007... May 14--DURHAM, N.C. -- Carlos Mendez hit two home runs and e pitcher Mark Redman tossed 52/3 scoreless innings in leading the R-Braves to their third straight win, 8-1, over the Durham Bulls last night before 5,931. Mendez hit a two-out...

Cemetery for freed blacks rededicated.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Tammie Smith May 14--ALEXANDRIA -- Dana Gadeken, 17, hand-decorated about 20 of the more than 1,000 luminarias that were lined up in neat rows on the vacant lot at the corner of South Washington and Church streets. The...

Godwin tennis set for tourney.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Arthur Utley May 14--The Mills Godwin boys tennis team juggernaut is back in action after a 10-day layoff. The Eagles, champions of the Colonial District, play host to Dominion District runner-up Midlothian today in the...

Frustrated by a fender.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Jill Erwin May 14--DARLINGTON, S.C. -- All Denny Hamlin wanted was one more caution. Hamlin celebrated in his car, seeing what he termed as an "entire fender and underbody" on the backstretch at Darlington Raceway. The...

VSU commencement features several firsts.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Julian Walker May 14--Virginia State University marked several firsts during its graduation ceremony yesterday at the Richmond Coliseum. According to Virginia State President Eddie N. Moore Jr.: --The four doctorates...

Hens stomp stunned Virginia.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Jeff White May 14--CHARLOTTESVILLE -- A spectator who walked into Klockner Stadium with 2 minutes left in the game last night would have been convinced the scoreboard was malfunctioning. It showed Delaware with twice as many...

Henrico fire displaces family of six.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Juan Antonio Lizama May 14--Frederick Spivey stood on the side of the street behind firetrucks with two of his children and wife looking at the charred house where they had lived. The family could not believe that just two...

Among 162 graduates are six affected by Massive Resistance.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Jamie C. Ruff May 14--LAWRENCEVILLE -- A former U.S. surgeon general, Dr. David Satcher, told graduates of Saint Paul's College yesterday that the lives they lead will be decided by the bridges they cross. Satcher told the...

Associate justice cites document's universal truths about mankind.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Daniel Neman May 14--FARMVILLE -- The basic features of the U.S. Constitution can teach us lessons about how to lead our daily lives, Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court said yesterday. Addressing...

Company finds money to be made in going green.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Greg Edwards and Alexa Welch Edl May 14--A business in King George County does in one day what it takes Mother Nature thousands of years to do -- make solid rock. Eight miles east of Fredericksburg, Universal Aggregates LLC...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Gregory J. Gilligan column.(Column)
May 14, 2007... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan May 14--Chris Zender kept emphasizing the assortment. "We have a huge selection . . . and we have depth of selection," Zender said in a telephone interview about the K&G Fashion Superstore that opened in The...

Life's work to recover fort.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Lawrence Latane Iii May 14--JAMESTOWN -- William Kelso had to stop. He'd been talking about the years spent digging on Historic Jamestowne Island and found himself too choked up to continue. The concept of recovering the...

Veterans honored with degrees.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Julian Walker May 14--They didn't finish their work at the University of Richmond, but they had an excuse. America came calling. Nine men who were called away from college to serve in the United States Armed Forces during the...

Opportunity lost at Jamestown.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Katherine Calos May 14--JAMESTOWN -- From the perspective of a black man, America had the chance to get it right at Jamestown. "Between 1607 and the 1660s, there was a moment of opportunity," said Jerome Bridges, a volunteer...

Ending with a flourish.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Bill Geroux May 14--JAMESTOWN -- President Bush marked the final day of the 400th-anniversary Jamestown festival yesterday with a speech linking the colonists' legacy of democracy to America's ongoing struggles in Afghanistan and...

Norway's Pettersen wins first LPGA crown.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Vic Dorr Jr. May 14--WILLIAMSBURG -- Suzann Pettersen toiled for 21 holes and nearly six hours before finally achieving a bit of leeway -- or to be precise, a bit of Lee-way -- at the Michelob Ultra Open. Pettersen, a...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Michael Paul Williams column.(Column)
May 14, 2007... Byline: Michael Paul Williams May 14--The criminal-justice system has failed a Petersburg couple, grievously and irrevocably, not once but twice. The first injury occurred last summer when a Petersburg police officer speeding to a...

Sister, sister? It's no act.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Lisa Crutchfield May 14--Art doesn't imitate life. Or does it? If Mary Jane Board or Charlotte McCutcheon should offer you a nice glass of elderberry wine, you might want to think twice. The real-life sisters are...

New life for old plan on schools.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Michael Martz and Lindsay Kastne May 14--The City of the Future will be using a plan from the past for building and renovating schools in Richmond. The Richmond City Council is poised to reject Mayor L. Douglas Wilder's...

Behind MVP Tincher, Hokies finally win title.
May 14, 2007... May 14--TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- It took 12 seasons and six tries in a title game, but the Virginia Tech softball team captured its first conference title yesterday with a 2-0 victory over 17th-ranked Georgia Tech, to take home the ACC title and...

12-year-old hurt in Richmond stabbing.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Julian Walker May 14--Two East End 12-year-olds who had been arguing for a week got into a fight yesterday, and one stabbed the other, Richmond police said. After undergoing successful surgery yesterday afternoon at VCU...

W.Va. students see a bigger world.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Bill Mckelway May 14--JAMESTOWN -- The bus trip from deep in West Virginia took seven hours. Most of the kids had never seen the ocean. A few had never left Nicholas County, a coal-mining region wracked by unemployment and...

Immigrants place hope in taxes.
May 14, 2007... Byline: Juan Antonio Lizama May 14--More undocumented immigrants, motivated in part by proposed legislation that would allow them to earn legalized status, reported their income this year to the IRS, some tax preparers say. "There...

EDITORIAL: A Choice.(Editorial)
May 14, 2007... May 14--Rudolph Giuliani says that although he personally opposes abortion he does not support forbidding the option. While his position may seem more commonly associated with Democratic candidates than with Republican, he likely speaks for...

EDITORIAL: School computers.(Editorial)
May 14, 2007... May 14--During the past several years Henrico has endured controversy and embarrassment regarding computers. The iBook auction resulted in a fiasco. Computer porn damaged the reputation of the School Board's Jim Fiorelli. School-issued...

EDITORIAL: Half Full.(Editorial)
May 14, 2007... May 14--As the year approaches its middle months, events suggest optimists and pessimists alike accurately have predicted 2007. According to polls of attitudes heading into the new year, many expected good things to happen, such as a cure for...

Tyler student named to elite academic team.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Gary Robertson May 11--Megan Edwards of Richmond is accustomed to crowds. She is from a family of 20, and is one of 18 brothers and sisters. But at John Tyler Community College, the 21-year-old has risen far above the...

Asian Pacific American heritage festival.
May 11, 2007... May 11--Asian Pacific American heritage festival Fort Lee will hold a free Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival tomorrow from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Mifflin Hall, Building 5000, in Lewi Auditorium on the base. Mifflin Hall is at 20th...

Davis to return to coaching, at MWGS.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Arthur Utley May 11--The passion for coaching basketball still burns within Guy Davis. It must, considering Davis is 65 years old and retiring from an athletic director's post for the second time. Davis is stepping down...

Ballet's taking new spin on dance.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Cynthia McMullen May 11--In addition to its three-part Studio Series, annual holiday offering of "The Nutcracker" and an encore of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Richmond Ballet is trying something new. It's a New Works...

Blankenship puts Trojans in 1st place.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Paul Woody May 11--The first run in the first inning took some of the pressure off Brittany Blankenship and her Midlothian teammates. The next two, also in the first inning, made them feel a bit better. "But I didn't think it...

Generals claim district crown.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Arthur Utley May 11--Raise your hand if you thought the Dinwiddie baseball team would be the team to beat in the Central District. No hands, right? The Generals lost six starters and head coach J.P. Culbreath from last...

Gem made out of Glass.
May 11, 2007... Byline: John Packett May 11--Virginia Commonwealth coach Paul Keyes remembers watching Jared Bolden when he was a 10th grader at E.C. Glass High in Lynchburg. "He was skinny, but he stuck in my mind, just the way he moved," Keyes...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Lipper column.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Bob Lipper May 11--Harry Frazee. Stu Inman. Teresa Earnhardt. The category is worst personnel decisions in sports history. Any short list of perps includes all of the above. Harry Frazee is the Red Sox owner...

Hornsby amasses range of styles.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Katherine Calos May 11--Bruce Hornsby gets the credit for that eclectic mix of music on stage at tomorrow's big Jamestown concert. The Williamsburg native and three-time Grammy winner was a natural choice to be musical...

Targeted cancer treatment is goal.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Tammie Smith May 11--Imagine this: Doctors insert a device slightly larger than a grain of rice into a tumor and use it to more precisely target higher doses of cancer-killing radiation. The device tracks minuscule movements...

Clearing a county's cemeteries.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Julian Walker May 11--Chesterfield County Sheriff Pocahontas State Park has trails for hikers, horse riders and bicyclists. The park's waterways serve swimmers, anglers and floaters. The 7,700-plus-acre park in Chesterfield...

Participants in project tackle key Richmond-area issues.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Melodie N. Martin May 11--Ten white vans carrying about 100 strangers set out yesterday to tackle five regional issues in two days. Although it has the makings of a mathematics word problem, the solutions were limitless for...

5 things to know about a Christian music star.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Melissa Ruggieri May 11--Though he's been around more than 15 years, Fernando Ortega isn't exactly a household name. Unless, of course, you're an aficionado of contemporary Christian music. Then you know that his sound...

Tincher breaks record in victory.
May 11, 2007... May 11--TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Just hours after second-seeded N.C. State was shocked by seventh-seeded Boston College, it appeared the feat was going to be topped as the eighth-seeded Virginia Cavaliers had the top-seeded Virginia Tech softball...

Council sues over employees.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Michael Martz May 11--It's now up to a judge to decide who has the power to hire and fire more than 50 employees of Richmond City Council and the city assessor's office. Council filed a lawsuit against Mayor L. Douglas Wilder...

Six arrested in 2003 Petersburg death.
May 11, 2007... Byline: David Ress May 11--PETERSBURG -- Two pairs of fresh eyes have made a breakthrough in one of Petersburg's coldest cases, leading to the arrest of six men in the death of an 81-year-old woman in 2003. Rachel Johnson, 81, was...

56th District: Democrats to name two.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Tyler Whitley May 11--Democrats will nominate candidates for a House of Delegates seat and a Board of Supervisors seat at a caucus in Henrico County tomorrow. Jane Mitchell of Henrico and Will Shaw of Louisa County are...

Lee fashions tasty round to take lead.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Vic Dorr Jr. May 11--WILLIAMSBURG -- A player with an appropriately savory name -- Sarah Lee -- served up one of the most delectable rounds of golf in Michelob Ultra Open history. Lee, a cosmopolitan 28-year-old who was born...

California fife and drum corps has Virginia roots.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Katherine Calos May 11--Moving to California takes you a long way from the fifes and drums of Colonial Williamsburg. Unless you take the music with you. That's what Kevin Garland did. Tomorrow, he'll bring the sound...

9 Henrico students face charges in school fights.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Olympia Meola May 11--Nine Highland Springs High School students are facing criminal charges and school disciplinary action after fights broke out at the Henrico County school yesterday morning. No one was injured, but three...

Kaine defends gun-rights law.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Tyler Whitley May 11--Gov. Timothy M. Kaine yesterday defended a new Virginia gun-rights law, saying it is designed to keep "rogue folks" from making "freelance gun purchases." Attorney General Bob McDonnell wrote a letter to...

68th District: Loupassi-Shewmake race spirited.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Julian Walker May 11--After tomorrow, the critical words, mailings and phone calls issued by the campaigns of G. Manoli Loupassi and William H. Shewmake should stop. Voters who live in the 68th District will determine who...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., John Markon column.(Column)
May 11, 2007... Byline: John Markon May 11--WILLIAMSBURG -- Laura Davies once stood as proof that the term "playboy" shouldn't be reserved exclusively for boys. When Davies had her time at the top of women's golf in the 1990s, her appetites for good...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Lee Graves column.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Lee Graves May 11--Last fall, game officials were holding their breath to see whether a hike in license fees would be a tough pill for hunters to swallow. A dip of 2 to 4 percent in sales would have surprised no one in the...

Officer cleared of manslaughter in wreck.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Mark Bowes May 11--PETERSBURG -- Moments after crashing into a Petersburg couple's car last summer, city police officer David M. Christian walked in circles in a daze outside his wrecked cruiser. Nearby, the small blue pickup...

Metro briefs.
May 11, 2007... May 11--POLICE WILL HONOR THOSE LOST IN THE LINE OF DUTY: National Police Week is May 13-19, and Chesterfield County law-enforcement agencies will commemorate Virginia officers who have died in the line of duty. Chesterfield events...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Michael Paul Williams column.(Column)
May 11, 2007... Byline: Michael Paul Williams May 11--Few people would confuse Barack Obama with John Ashcroft. Obama, an Illinois senator running for president, oozes charisma and seems aptly cast as The Hip Hope for a New America. Ashcroft, as...

Still throwing at 63.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Fred Jeter May 11--If Sonny Tate's pitches were vehicles on I-95, they wouldn't have to worry about getting pulled over for speeding. The southpaw doesn't throw hard, but he's awful hard to hit. To qualify for the...

OxyContin's makers to pay $600 million.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Rex Bowman May 11--ROANOKE -- Ending a federal criminal investigation that began in Southwest Virginia, the maker of OxyContin agreed yesterday to pay $600 million for hiding the highly addictive nature of its prescription...

Audiences will pay for Spidey success.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Daniel Neman May 11--The good news is "Spider-Man 3" took in $151 million at the box office in its first weekend. The bad news is "Spider-Man 3" took in $151 million at the box office in its first weekend. The...

Sturgeon at Jamestown was plentiful.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Rex Springston May 11--Some call the Atlantic sturgeon the fish that saved Jamestown. Now, modern Americans want to return the favor. Scientists in Virginia are mounting a major effort to restore to abundance the...

First a trial, then a fire.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Kiran Krishnamurthy May 11--WILDERNESS -- On Wednesday, Wendy Dauberman was convicted on charges that she embezzled nearly $367,000 in federal benefits distributed in the name of her missing husband. Yesterday morning, her...

Officers acquitted in trial on Taser use.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Tom Campbell May 11--The police chief of Colonial Beach and one of his sergeants may soon be back on duty after being acquitted last night on all charges in a federal civil-rights criminal case. Moments after the verdict was...

Sean Steinour, Reichert top seeds for city tennis.
May 11, 2007... Byline: John Packett May 11--Sean Steinour is back, and that spells big trouble for the rest of the men's field in the Davenport City Tennis Championships. Steinour, who missed last year's tournament at Byrd Park to attend a family...

Tech to celebrate -- and reflect.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Jim Nolan May 11--Hundreds of colleges across the nation will hold commencement exercises this weekend. One will be different from the rest. At Virginia Tech, where 35,000 people are expected to arrive for ceremonies...

Learning from tragedy.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Michael Hardy May 11--The panel investigating the mass murder at Virginia Tech should focus on the gunman's motivations, the timeline of events and the response of authorities, the governor said yesterday. "We owe it to the...

Movie Review: 'The Ex'.(Movie review)
May 11, 2007... Byline: Daniel Neman May 11--Comedy depends on surprise. Jokes aren't funny the second time, or if the listener can guess the punch line before it is revealed. Which brings us to "The Ex," a comedy made up almost entirely of jokes...

See how two large pets, plantings co-exist during Ginter Park Garden Tour.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Janet Caggiano May 11--Colleen Renaye envisioned a spectacular garden behind her Ginter Park home. Her two Saint Bernard mixes had other ideas. "They were doing so much destruction back there," she said. "I got on the...

Petersburg policeman cleared on key counts.
May 11, 2007... Byline: Mark Bowes May 11--PETERSBURG -- Moments after crashing into a Petersburg couple's car last summer, city police officer David M. Christian walked in circles in a daze outside his wrecked cruiser. Nearby, the small blue pickup...

Affidavit: Man hinted he might kill Dix.
May 10, 2007... Byline: David Ress May 10--DINWIDDIE-- The last person known to have seen Leigha Dix had suggested a few days earlier that he might kill her, according to court records. Dequency A. Batts, 21, of Dewitt was arrested this week on...

Knights take out R-Braves.
May 10, 2007... May 10--FORT HILL, S.C. -- The Charlotte Knights came from behind last night to hand the R-Braves a 9-5 defeat at Knights Stadium. Wiki Gonzalez belted a three-run homerun in the sixth inning to erase a 5-3 Richmond lead. Ernie Young and...

Laboratory mice a major tool of biomedical research in Va.
May 10, 2007... Byline: A.J. Hostetler May 10--The face of modern biomedical research features whiskers and a twitchy nose, says a Virginia Commonwealth University science historian. Karen Rader says the ubiquitous lab mouse reflects society's...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Lipper column.(Column)
May 10, 2007... Byline: Bob Lipper May 10--Whatever Michael Vick was up to over the past few days, it seems fair to assume he didn't fill out an application for next year's Westminster dog show or compose an indignant letter to his congressman to vent...

Capital One to cut 280 Va. jobs.
May 10, 2007... Byline: Carol Hazard May 10--Capital One Financial Corp., one of the largest employers in the Richmond area, is cutting 280 jobs, including 260 here. The remaining 20 jobs are in McLean. Employees were give 90 days' notice yesterday,...

U.Va. students charged in Tech prank.
May 10, 2007... Byline: Rex Bowman May 10--BLACKSBURG -- Nine University of Virginia students could face prison time for a March prank aimed at rival Virginia Tech. The students have been charged with destruction of property valued at more than...

Sports Focus: NCAA Women's Tennis.
May 10, 2007... Byline: John Packett May 10--Her final semester at the University of Richmond was an unusual one for Beatrice Grasu. The bio-chemistry major needed only two courses to finish her degree. "I was so bored," said the No. 3 singles...

Kingsmill aces.
May 10, 2007... Byline: Vic Dorr Jr. May 10--WILLIAMSBURG -- Familiarity could breed something other than contempt at this weekend's $2.2 million Michelob Ultra Open. It could breed a champion. Three golfers -- Lorena Ochoa, Cristie Kerr and Mi Hyun...

Graffiti damage in downtown Richmond.
May 10, 2007... Byline: Joe Macenka And Olympia Meola May 10--Sound of Music Recording Studio is still months away from reopening as it recovers from damage caused by a three-alarm fire that hit downtown Richmond on March 11. It turns out that the...

New rules on gun-sale checks.
May 10, 2007... Byline: Bill Mckelway And Rex Bowman May 10--New state documents made public yesterday, 23 days after the Virginia Tech shootings, specifically require court officials to notify state police of mental-illness findings for firearms...