Virginia Public Radio

When critics question how effectively the Virginia Tobacco Commission is using hundreds of millions of dollars the state received from the National Tobacco Settlement there’s one project that always seems to come up.

It started five years ago as a $25-million grant to establish a medical school in Bristol. Since then the only two things that have been consistent about the plan are the absence of any apparent progress and the Tobacco Commission’s continuing support.  Fred Echols reports.

Credit: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

This week, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts  will paint the town red, opening a massive new show from China.  Sandy Hausman reports on The Forbidden City – a look inside the palace that two dozen Chinese emperors called home.

While Charlottesville Police have received thousands of leads in the case of a missing student, they now have a new responsibility: running the search for the young woman.  Hawes Spencer has this update.

Virginia Household Water Quality Program

There’s no argument about the fact that any amount of lead in drinking water is unsafe. No matter how much, it’s too much, of this potent neurotoxin. But lead has been showing up in well water tests around Virginia. About a fifth of the state’s residents get their water from wells. As Robbie Harris reports, the findings are new evidence of a problem many thought had been solved.

Virginia’s new voter I-D law has Virginia Democrats worried after the state board of elections found nearly two hundred thousand registered voters don’t have a driver’s license. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story on how Republicans say Democrats are overreacting.

Photo: http://www.voicenewspaper.com

Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine is urging the Bureau of Indian Affairs to loosen requirements for federal recognition because six Virginia tribes remain locked out. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story.

The parents of missing UVA student Hannah Graham, John and Sue Graham, released a heartrending video over the weekend pleading for information to the whereabouts of their daughter.

More than 100 law enforcement officers from across central Virginia joined trained search and rescue teams to search  rural areas of western and eastern Albemarle County Sunday. Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo says, “Every square inch of Albemarle County is being searched this weekend and we’re going to find Hannah Graham.”

It’s billed as a party where science is the guest of honor… this Saturday, the Virginia Science Festival kicks off its week-long celebration of science, technology, engineering, math – and everything in between. Hundreds of events and demonstrations are scheduled in locations all over the commonwealth – from a “brain scavenger hunt” in Alexandria to “rat basketball” in Richmond. Kelsea Pieters and Robbie Harris have more.

Many Virginians at or below the poverty level are struggling with utility bills and looking for any possible way to cut costs.

As Virginia Public Radio’s Tommie McNeil report, one way to save could be the free Weatherization Assistance Program administered by the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

In recent years, as the National Park Service has faced deep funding cuts and a stagnant number of visitors, the country’s demographic changes have made its problems more pronounced. Most visitors to National Parks are white, and increasingly they’re also older. For instance, Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park is one of the nation’s most visited and accessible parks, yet recent research indicates that 92% of visitors in 2011 were white.In hopes of shifting the numbers, the Park Service is now supporting new programs and grassroots groups working to attract underrepresented categories of visitors: young people, African-Americans and Latinos. Jonna McKone has the story of the group “Girl Trek” working to get African American women healthier — using National Parks to inspire long-term health.

Virginia Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly says the resignation of Julia Pierson as director of the Secret Service was “inevitable” after she failed to tell lawmakers about a man with a gun riding an elevator with the president. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story…

While cat- and dog-lovers sometimes have contentious debates over which beloved animal is smarter, more adoring, and the overall better pet, a much more serious debate is taking place in Richmond about the two.  And that is—when it comes to feral and stray cats, why aren’t they afforded the same rights as dogs? 

Northern Virginia Democrat Gerry Connolly accuses the Secret Service of failing its duties long before an intruder was able to enter the White House. Capitol Hill reporter Matt Laslo has the story on how Connolly says a previous incident should have barred the intruder from ever getting that close…

Lawmakers on the Virginia Crime Commission have been working to fine-tune the state’s child pornography statutes.  The members began combing through the law after a judge and two prosecutors were drafting model jury instructions and noticed some ambiguities. The commission’s goal is to help ensure that innocent people are not inadvertently entrapped—and that guilty perpetrators don’t escape conviction.

Matthew’s Booking Photo

State police say the arrest of Jesse “LJ” Matthew has provided a forensic link to the case of Morgan Harrington, the 20-year-old Virginia Tech student who disappeared from the University of Virginia during a concert there in 2009.  Sandy Hausman talked with experts on science and the law to find out what that might mean for Matthew, who’s now accused of kidnapping Hannah Graham.

While state and economic development officials often focus on attracting new companies to create jobs and spur the economy, some business experts say another novel approach may be even more effective in achieving those goals.  The Small Business Commission composed of lawmakers and business leaders learned the details about “Economic Gardening” during its Richmond meeting on Monday. And as Anne Marie Morgan reports, the entrepreneurial strategy targets small businesses that are on the verge of becoming high-growth companies.

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.