Table of contents

COVER
Interesting times
A hunger strike ends, a nuclear plant leaks radiation, and an alleged abduction may never be solved. Plus, a victim of violence at UVA asks why everyone's blaming alcohol for George Huguely's rage, and a Nelson County man's dream of challenging Todd Palin on his home turf comes to an end. Confucius' curse has certainly come true!

NEWS
Probe protest
When hordes of women and small children marched on the capitol in Richmond in peaceful protest of state-mandated ultrasounds prior to an abortion, the police response was startling and, many would say, deeply disturbing. Machine guns and dogs? Really?

FACETIME
Kidney woe
A failing organ is bad news under the best of circumstances, but when you're an immigrant without all your home-country friends nearby, the search for a match can be all the more difficult and terrifying, as one 30-year-old Croatian refugee is learning firsthand.

ON THE BLOCK
Going down...
The City assessor's office says property values dipped just a few percentage points this year, but another local real estate source shows listings have plummeted far more than that. What gives? A few phone calls and some number crunching shows that the City cooks the numbers to avoid bad news and soak the taxpayers.

On the cover:

Russ Simpson: Photo by Hawes Spencer
North Anna nuclear generating plant: Wikipedia/Dougward
Hunger strikers: Photo by Courteney Stuart
Fuel Co.: Photo by Hawes Spencer
George W. Huguely V: Mugshot
Overlook at Blowing Rock, NC: Wikipedia/Zainubrazvi