Birds do it.  Bees do it.  No…we’re not talking about ‘falling in love,’ we’re talking about sex.  Biologists have long known it plays a vital role in passing new gene combinations on to the next generation, but what’s been less clear, is exactly how that works.   Now, a Virginia Tech Biologist has a new theory that challenges long held notions about natural selection and survival of the fittest.  Robbie Harris has more.

Red bricks covered with ivy have long been seen as a part of Virginia’s charm, but scientists in Richmond warn the vines are taking over – posing a threat to other plants in the state, and they want citizens to do their part in getting ivy under control. Sandy Hausman reports.

Feast in the Ober/Alexander Reading Room

Digitally restored daguerreotype of Emily Dickinson, 1847
Image: Wikimedia Commons

This week, we celebrate Emily Dickinson’s 183rd birthday.  What better way to celebrate the poet than by baking her famous Black Cake?   A group of Charlottesville poets-turned-bakers let us join them for their “Fourth Annual Emily Dickinson Birthday Party.”

Lilia Fuquen takes us to the party.

Image: womensmonumentcom.virginia.gov/

After scouring four centuries of Virginia history—a dozen women have been selected to be memorialized with a bronze monument on Richmond’s Capitol Square. Connie Stevens has the list in this report on the Women of Virginia Commemorative Commission.

Both state lawmakers and Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe say ethics reform will be a priority in January when McAuliffe takes office and the General Assembly convenes. But as Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports, at least one lawmaker is warning that his colleagues should tread lightly and put a great deal of thought into their proposals … because the issue is more of a minefield than people realize.

Timothy Sands

After a unanimous vote, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors has named the university’s next president.   55-year-old Timothy Sands, the provost of Purdue University will be the 16th president of Virginia Tech.

Sands holds an endowed chair in engineering at Purdue—and specializes in the growing field of nanotechnology, with applications for many high-tech uses.  He’s published more than 250 refereed papers, and has been granted 16 patents in electronic materials. Last year he  served as Purdue’s acting president.

Sands begins work on June 1st, when President Charles Steger steps down.  Steger announced his retirement last spring—he’s been president of Virginia Tech since 2000.

Some 238 candidates were considered in the 6-month search to head the one-point-two billion dollar academic enterprise.  Virginia Tech now offers 215 degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $450 million.

Virginia Organizing is out with its annual Job Gap report.  The report compares the number of job seekers to the number of jobs that pay a living wage.  Beverly Amsler has the details.

Virginia needs 30 new judges to keep up with the current caseload.  Beverly Amsler reports on a new study, ordered by the General Assembly.

Alan Wang, Pamplin College of Business

These days, there’s no shortage of information available on the Internet. Everybody and anybody can offer an opinion. But how do you determine what’s valuable and what isn’t?  Robbie Harris tells us about a research team at Virginia Tech, that’s come up with a way to cut through the clutter out there.

Stock Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images via NPR

Some members of the State Board of Elections have again raised the issue of potential vote-counting irregularities in Fairfax County, but this time a major focus was on which provisional ballots should have been counted.  While the entire Fairfax Electoral Board was unable to attend today’s state meeting to explain, one member traveled to Richmond to begin a discussion about what happened.  And as Virginia Public Radio’s Anne Marie Morgan reports, their differences could all boil down to how the state law is interpreted.

Proponents of coal are warning the shifting energy economy in the southwestern part of Virginia could ripple across the rest of the commonwealth. Matt Laslo reports opponents say they’re ringing false alarm bells.

The Supreme Court is now weighing a case that could put an end to limits on individual campaign contributions.  Backers of the idea argue that as long as the donation is disclosed, the risk of corruption is minimal, but another view has emerged from the University of Virginia Law School, as Sandy Hausman reports. 

A debut novel by a Virginia Tech alum is getting praise for its take on the complexities of love and change in the wake of war.  “The Fallen Snow” is an early 20^th century story set –both in a close knit, Appalachian Town– and war time France.  Robbie Harris spoke with John Kelly, who lives in Washington D.C.  He says he first  began thinking about the idea for the book when he was in college  thirty years ago.

Photo: Washington & Lee University
Executive Chef J. Young prepares a historically accurate Thanksgiving meal.

As you plan this year’s Thanksgiving dinner, you might want to consider what the Pilgrims really ate.  Sandy Hausman went to Washington & Lee University for a taste of the original feast and found eel and beer were likely part of the meal, but turkey – maybe not.

Photo: Virginia Tech
University Honors students, from left, Kwamina Orleans-Pobee, Nicholas Montgomery, and Wes Williams want to make their tool, AboliShop, available for public use for Black Friday shoppers.

It’s estimated some thirty million people around the world are forced into slave labor. And while there’s been an international outcry, it was hard to know what labor conditions are behind the products you buy. Now a team of students at Virginia Tech has come up with an easy way for online shoppers to see how their purchases stack up on the human rights scale, before they buy.   Robbie Harris reports.

What does global warming have to do with coffee?  One Virginia business owner says “a lot.” So much that your morning cup of “joe” is going to get costlier. And he’s not alone. As Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports, dozens of the Commonwealth’s businesses are pressuring the General Assembly and Congress to seriously confront the challenge of climate change before there is an economic crisis.

A community mental health organization is in the spotlight, after this week’s attack on State Senator Creigh Deeds and the apparent suicide of his son.  The Richmond Times-Dispatch said Gus Deeds had undergone a psychiatric evaluation Monday, but he was not admitted for in-patient care, because no hospitals in the area had psychiatric beds available.  Now, Sandy Hausman reports that several facilities in the region could have admitted Gus Deeds.

Some experts in the mental health field say it is not uncommon for a person suffering from mental illness to be turned away from treatment.  Tommie McNeil has that story, along with more on the Inspector General’s report on access to care.

State Senator Creigh Deeds is recovering after being stabbed at his Bath County home yesterday, evidently by his 24-year-old son.  The attack and subsequent apparent suicide by Gus Deeds have raised new concerns about whether Virginia provides adequate mental health services.  Sandy Hausman has  more on what experts hope will happen next.

State Senator Creigh Deeds is now listed in fair condition at UVA Medical Center after being stabbed multiple times in the head and torso  at his Bath County home this morning.

Police were called to the home just before 7:30.  The Senator’s 24-year-old son, Gus, is dead of a gunshot wound.

Authorities say at this stage in the investigation, they’re looking at the altercation as an attempted murder and suicide.

Deeds, who is 55, has served the 25th district since 2001.

You can hear the complete 3:30 p.m. State Police briefing in Charlottesville.

Hospitals here in Virginia are sounding the alarm – warning state lawmakers that they’ll be in big financial trouble if the legislature does not expand Medicaid. Sandy Hausman tells why that’s such an important issue for medical centers statewide.

Some Democrats are now asking the White House to delay the signup period on Healthcare dot Gov for uninsured individuals. Matt Laslo reports Virginia Democrats disagree…even as the website continues to suffer major glitches.

File Photo

While Democrats trimmed the Republican majority by at least one seat in the elections, the GOP still retains a solid majority in the House of Delegates.House Speaker William Howell says the Republican party hopes it can find common ground with Governor-Elect Terry McAuliffe.

The Senate is split with 20 Republicans and 20 Democrats.But the Lieutenant Governor’s tie-breaking authority may not help in forming a Democratic majority in the Senate–depending on which party wins Northam’s Senate seat, which he will resign as the Lieutenant-Governor elect.  If the Republicans win, they will hold an outright 21-19 majority.  If Democrats win, Northam would help form a majority.  But that is not final either, because the Senator who wins the Attorney General’s election–which is currently too close to call–will have to resign his Senate seat.  Mark Obenshain’s district is considered reliably Republican, while Mark Herring’s district is thought to be more of a toss-up.

Xavier Medina Vidal, Virginia Tech

Campaign communication about immigration reform has an effect on voters from a variety of backgrounds.  That’s part of the analysis of an exit poll conducted statewide after this week’s vote in Virginia. Robbie Harris has more.

John Flood, assistant director of the University of Virginia’s Office of Emergency Preparedness. Photo: Dan Addison

Tom Hanks’ latest film, Captain Phillips, opened last month – taking in $26 million in its first weekend at the box office.  Here in Virginia, some people take a special interest in the tale of a U.S. cargo ship from Norfolk captured by pirates off the Somali Coast in 2009 – its captain held hostage.  Sandy Hausman reports that negotiations were led by a Virginia man with advice from UVA.