Monthly Archive for October, 2001

Murderous Marine Convicted

Marine Wayne Rolland has been convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the murder of 39-year-old Dollie Mae Staton. He shot her when she tried to break into her home (which he was a guest in at the time.) WINA has

Another $20M For New Arena

Three months after it was announced that an anonymous donor had given $20M towards a replacement for University Hall, UVa has gotten another $20M. This time it’s from Paul Tudor Jones II, Connecticut philanthropist and Virginia alumnus. This is the same guy that gave $10M to expand Clark Hall and, previously, endowed a research professorship. This latest gift brings UVa $40M into the needed $125M that it will take to construct the new basketball arena.

Toscano and Payne Not Running

Both David Toscano and Susan Payne have announced that they are not running for the 25th District Senate elections. In an interview with the Progress, City Councilor David Toscano said that he wants to spend time with his four-year-old child, and is concerned about the legalities of the election as regards the recent redistricting. And in a letter to George Loper today, Susan Payne said that she had not thought about running for the seat, but that she just cannot make a commitment to running.

Council Is A Mess

Today’s Progress reports on City Council, the proposed changes in the date of the election, and the fact that 3/5 of Council intends to run for Senate this fall. It turns out that, if a Council seat is vacated, Council is supposed to appoint a replacement rather than hold an election. Councilors David Toscano and Blake Caravati, who are interested in Senator Couric’s former seat, believe that the members of Council should choose a candidate from themselves informally. Councilor Meredith Richards, also interested, doesn’t favor that approach. Amidst all of this, Council members are now saying that it would just be too confusing to move the election from May to November, and that they may put off that decision this time around.

Film Fest Opens

Charlottesville’s annual Virginia Film Festival opens today, and will run through the weekend. With the usual packed schedule and the timing with leaf season (ie, tourists in town for the weekend), this is likely to be the sell-out success that it has been for the past decade. This year’s theme is Masquerades, and consequently includes films like Phantom of the Opera, Some Like it Hot, Tootsie, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

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