The search continues today for missing UVA student Hannah Graham, and the man accused of kidnapping her could return to Virginia in police custody today. Charlottesville’s police chief took questions from reporters Thursday, and they had plenty as Sandy Hausman reports.

Jesse Matthew Junior appeared in a Texas courtroom today and agreed to return to Virginia without a fight. The sheriff of Galveston County announced plans to search Matthew’s car, and Virginia police are preparing to bring him back. Meanwhile, Charlottesville’s Chief of Police agreed – for the first time in 48 hours – to answer questions about the case. Sandy Hausman reports on what he had to say.

There’s been an arrest in the case of that missing UVA student.  Police would provide no details, but WVTF’s Sandy Hausman talked with T.J. Aulds —  a reporter for the Galveston County Daily News.

Many teachers, parents, and policymakers have agreed that the state’s Standards of Learning have forced classroom instruction to be geared toward test-taking, rather than developing more comprehensive learning skills. But as Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports, as the SOLs are being revised, some are concerned that Social Studies—and ultimately the lessons that teach children civic engagement—are being minimized too much.

Matthew’s Booking Photo

With the arrest of Jesse Mathew, friends are coming to his defense. People who went to school with him for years cannot believe he’s guilty of abduction with intent to defile. More likely, they say, he left town because he was terrified. Sandy Hausman has more on that story.

Today (Wednesday) Vice President Joe Biden is speaking in Norfolk, Virginia to highlight federal transportation spending. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the details.

Richmond, VA

Charlottesville police may be frustrated this hour. Their only person of interest in the Hannah Graham case remains at large, and Sandy Hausman reports they’re still waiting for results from evidence sent to the state’s crime lab on Saturday.

Hawes Spencer

Jesse Matthew, who’s wanted for questioning in connection with the disappearance of UVA student Hannah Graham, is still missing, and he’s become the subject of considerable talk in the town where he grew up. Police say he has no record of violent crime, but reporter Hawes Spencer has been asking around and has come up with some intriguing information. We talked with Spencer about one particular incident. 

One of eight babies in this country is born prematurely. Some will be under intensive care for months, while worried parents wait and wonder how their newborn is doing. At the University of Virginia’s Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit, nurses are trying something new to ease the anxiety of families and build trust with the medical team. Sandy Hausman has that story.

Before going to work as a nursing assistant at the University of Virginia Medical Center, Jesse “LJ” Matthew drove a taxi in Charlottesville for many years. He’s shown here with his Yellow Cab in 2007.

When Charlottesville police announced they had found the man seen with Hannah Graham on downtown mall security tapes, they refused to identify him.  This weekend a British newspaper named him and told his side of the story. Sandy Hausman reports.

While state lawmakers were preparing this week to tackle the budget and Medicaid expansion, they also had an audience of two people who are trying to prevent tragedies like what happened to their daughter and other women in Virginia. And as Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports, while Gil and Dan Harrington say they are hopeful that now-missing Hannah Graham is found alive and well, this is eerily similar to other cases of missing or abducted women who vanished.

Photo: Charlottesville Newsplex

As the search continues for missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, authorities spent Friday afternoon searching an apartment unit at the Hessian Hill Apartment complex, off of Barracks Road.

Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo says the search was prompted by one of the most productive leads so far in the search for the 18-year-old, last seen nearly 7 days ago.

Also, university police say they have just learned about two possible rapes that may have occurred in the days following Graham’s disappearance.The first incident involved a female U.Va. student who reported being sexually assaulted near Wertland Street in the early morning hours of Sept. 14.

The second incident is believed to have occurred in the 200 block of 15th Street NW during the early morning hours of Sept. 15, where police discovered an unconscious female who is a local resident. The circumstances regarding her injuries are unclear and are being investigated as a possible sexual assault.”

Longo was asked why the public had not been informed of those attacks. He noted that one victim was hospitalized and said he planned to offer more information on those incidents in an upcoming news conference.  Beverly Amsler interviews Charlottesville journalist Hawes Spencer:

Photo: L.Daniels
“Help Find Hannah Graham” Facebook Page

Thousands of people gathered at the University of Virginia last night for a candlelight vigil in support of Hannah Graham, a student who disappeared nearly a week ago.  Meanwhile, police are asking for more help from the public, and a search is planned for Saturday.  Sandy Hausman has details on all three developments.

A research team at the University of Virginia reports possible progress in fighting ovarian, breast, uterine, renal, head and neck and pancreatic cancers, and if you’re a taxpayer in Virginia, you’re an investor.  Sandy Hausman has details.

The search continues today for Hannah Graham, an 18-year-old University of Virginia student who had recently moved to Charlottesville from Fairfax County where she was an honors student and athlete.  Hannah Graham was last heard from early Saturday morning, when she texted a friend that she was heading for a party.

The news sparked worry on campus and brought a new round of grief for a Roanoke couple whose daughter disappeared five years ago.  

Anyone with information about Graham is asked to call Charlottesville Police Department at 434-970-3280 or CrimeStoppers at 434-977-4000.

Students Hannah Erhmann and Martin Wong retrieving a trawl net from the waters of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Photo by Jenny Dreyer.

Next week the U.N. will bring experts from around the world for a climate change summit in New York. On the Chesapeake Bay scientists are looking at what a warmer bay might mean for species like the blue crab and striped bass. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

The world is already grappling with war, plague and climate change. Now comes word of another threat – space weather. Scientists have issued a strong Geomagnetic Storm Watch for Saturday. Sandy Hausman explains what that is, and why we should care.

Virginia lawmakers are coming around President Obama’s plan to combat the Islamic State, even as they say they want to have a say in what could become an extended war. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story.

President Obama’s announcement he’s going to bomb the Islamic State is giving him some new Republican partners from Virginia on Capitol Hill, while also causing headaches for many in his own party. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story.

Ahead of President Obama’s national address tonight, Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine is urging the White House to come to Congress before extending its bombing campaign against the Islamic State. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story.

Watchdog groups say Virginia lawmakers are blurring the line between their campaigns and official duties as representatives. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story on how lawmakers use taxpayer funds to communicate with voters.

State officials met with Tidewater communities this week who are trying to learn as much as they can about potential fracking on 84,000 leased acres close to the Chesapeake Bay. Some of the sites are at the doorsteps of  George Washington and Robert E. Lee’s birthplaces. The region may have the most stringent regulatory protections and the commitment of two state officials to protect the area’s heritage, but that may not last. Pamela D’Angelo reports.

Plenty of people toy with the idea of writing a book, but few will actually get published, and by the time we reach our mid-60’s, those dreams have faded.  Not so for Martha Woodroof, a WMRA public radio personality who has published her first novel at the age of 67.  It’s called Small Blessings, and it’s getting rave reviews as Sandy Hausman reports.

Organizers of the Lockn’ Music Festival are gearing up for this year’s event, despite complaints from ABC agents who videotaped illegal drug buys and one young woman sunbathing topless. The four-day fest, September 4- 7,  will feature some big names, including Willie Nelson playing – for the first time – in Nelson County. 

Natural Bridge, the geologic wonder that captivated early America, is heading toward a revival as a Virginia state park.  That will likely bring more hiking and biking to the famous 215-foot tall formation. But as Hawes Spencer reports, some of the more unique sideshows, like the wax museum, are being pushed aside. 

After exhaustive search efforts, the body of the pilot of the F-15 that crashed in Augusta County Wednesday has been located.

Officials at the Barnes Air National Guard Base have released his identify and the following information:

Lt. Col. Morris “Moose”  Fontenot Jr. served with the 104th Fighter Wing as the full-time Wing Inspector General, responsible for the implementation of the Air Force Inspection System and as an F-15 instructor pilot with more than 2,300 flight hours. A 1996 Air Force Academy Graduate, Lt. Col. Fontenot was additionally a Weapons School Graduate with more than 17 years of F-15 flying experience. He served as a squadron commander at multiple locations.

Following Active Duty assignments in Washington D.C., Japan, Idaho, Florida, Alaska and numerous deployments to the Middle East, Lt. Col. Fontenot joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard in February 2014. He was a decorated combat veteran, earning the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, and Combat Readiness Medal among others.

Kelsea Pieters reports.

Garrett Beck, from Deerfield Va. This photo was taken at Marble Valley Farms.

The search continues for this missing pilot, whose F-15-C Eagle crashed in the Washington National Forest near Deerfield Valley, in Augusta County, yesterday morning.

More than 100 Military, federal, local and state personnel are active in the search and rescue operation.

Their efforts are concentrated around the southeast side of Mount Crawford, Virginia…there are nine aircraft involved in the search and ten search-and-rescue teams are on the ground canvassing logging roads, fire trails and forest roads.

The National Marriage Project is out with new and surprising findings.  In a study of more than 400 couples, UVA social scientists concluded the size of your wedding matters.    Sandy Hausman has that story.

This fall, plenty of professors will be sending their students to the library, but one faculty member plans to send his kids into the cemeteries of Richmond to learn more about the city’s past.   He’s sharing the information with the public through a website and podcasts.  Sandy Hausman has that story.

Rudy Wendelin, “Why?”
1990.
Image courtesy of the National Agricultural Library, U.S.

The Virginia Department of Forestry celebrates its 100^th anniversary this year, and fans of the forests will mark the 70^th birthday of the best known fire fighter – Smokey Bear.  Sandy Hausman reports on a special art show organized to honor both.

Thursday was Virginia Republican Eric Cantor’s last day as Majority Leader, and his legacy is already being debated. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the details.

Getty Images, NPR

Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner helped introduce a bill today  to combat the high rates of sexual assaults on college campuses. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story.

Virginia and three other states may soon be allowing gay marriage after a federal appeals court ruling in Richmond, but supporters of a ban are expected to ask for a Supreme Court hearing.  Sandy Hausman has that story.

The U.S. House is preparing for a big debate this week over whether President Obama overstepped his power by delaying the health care mandate for businesses. Virginia lawmakers have much to say about the challenge.

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner and Republican challenger Ed Gillespie traveled to The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, over the weekend to participate in a debate hosted by the Virginia Bar Association. The event produced one tidbit of news, as Tim Thornton reports.

One man seeking Mark Warner’s U.S. Senate seat was missing from the debate over the weekend, hosted by the Virginia Bar Association: Robert Sarvis, the Libertarian Party’s candidate.

The political pundits will be keeping a watchful eye over this weekend’s events at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, where Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Warner and his GOP rival, Ed Gillespie, square off in a Virginia Bar Association-sponsored debate. But also watching from the outside is their Libertarian opponent, Robert Sarvis, who once again, was not invited to the dance. Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil examines the question asked by many: Why?

Steven Helber/AP Photo via NPR

The federal corruption trial of former Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, begins on Monday. Federal prosecutors allege the former first couple performed official acts to promote Star Scientific’s products in exchange for roughly $165,000 in gifts and loans from its ex-CEO, Jonnie Williams—then failed to disclose most of those gifts. McDonnell says he never made such an agreement–and the company received NO quid pro quo. Virginia Public Radio’s Anne Marie Morgan takes a closer look.

npr.org

Lawmakers in the region are divided over how to deal with the president’s request for emergency money to deal with the flood of unaccompanied minors. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story.

Photo Credit: Hawes Spencer

Police in Albemarle County are waiting for results from the state’s crime lab – hoping to learn whether remains found over the weekend are those of missing UVA student Hannah Graham. Sandy Hausman reports on the discovery and what it may mean for the only suspect in the case – Jesse Matthew, Jr.

House Republicans are trying to slash the size of the EPA while also limiting its ability to regulate, which they argue will help the economy in places like Virginia. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story.

The Virginia Education Association got its starts in the middle of the Civil War.  The story of the VEA’s last 150 years is told in a book set for release next month. Joe Staniunas reports.  

Most Virginia Democrats are pushing legislation to overturn last week’s Supreme Court decision allowing some companies to deny contraception to employees. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story.

Now that immigration reform has essentially been pulled from the docket during this legislative session Virginia lawmakers are bracing for the impact on the state’s economy – as some lawmakers brace for what executive actions President Obama prepares to take. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the details.

A small, colonial-era town in Appalachia may not seem the most likely venue to watch cutting-edge contemporary theater. But every summer, since 1991, Shepherdstown, West Virginia has been a hot-bed of new American plays.  Rebecca Sheir checked in on rehearsals for the Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherd University, which opens July 11th.

Some laws are now in effect that impact Virginia motorists—and they’re not necessarily punitive. In fact, some were passed because drivers asked for them. In Part 4 of our series on new state laws, we have more from Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil.

The message from Virginia lawmakers to “patent trolls” is:  If they plan to make a claim of patent infringement, they had better be able to prove it—and answer to the Attorney General’s office if their claim is bogus. It’s one of the new state laws that Governor McAuliffe ceremonially signed.  And as Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil reports, the Governor believes such laws will inspire MORE innovation—and not suppress it.

National business correspondent Roben Farzad has launched a new radio podcast recorded in Richmond. The program is called Full Disclosure, and in the months ahead you’ll hear some content from the program, as we share his weekly effort to translate the language of finance and investing. The theme of this week’s program?  Bending, Not Breaking.

Farzad talks with Richmond entrepreneur Matt Paxton.  He’s best known for his business Clutter Cleaner, featured on the reality TV show Hoarders.  But it was a long climb to success for Paxton.  While working at the Federal Reserve after college, he fell into gambling.  In 1999 he was $40,000 dollars in debt to a bookie.  He was beaten up, and left in the ditch outside a casino.  He headed home to Virginia.

Paxton also cleaned out crime scenes and foreclosed homes for a decade to pay off maxed-out credit cards at a 22-percent interest rate… he considers it a form of indentured servitude.  But it all led to a successful national business and television show.

You can hear the full story of Paxton’s failure and redemption, on Roben Farzad’s Full Disclosure.

In just over a year, North America has seen a dozen serious accidents involving trains that derailed while carrying flammable crude oil.  One of those accidents, in Lynchburg, caused a massive fire and oil spill.  In most cases, fire departments didn’t know what they were dealing with, since railroads have kept that information secret, but the federal government is now requiring them to inform states when trains of 35 cars or more, carrying  oil from North Dakota or Montana, are coming through.  The public, however, is not entitled to know, and fire departments say they’re still in the dark, as Sandy Hausman reports.

Photo: City of Lynchburg

Within hours of a rail crash in Lynchburg on April 30, inspectors for the state and federal governments and CSX were on the scene – trying to figure out why 17 cars derailed and one ruptured – producing flames, smoke and a significant oil spill. Getting official answers could take 18 months, but there are clues that suggest a cause for the accident and a future course of action to improve rail safety. Sandy Hausman has that story.