There’s no dispute that Azlee Keller Hickman was murdered in a Carlton Avenue mobile home in March 2003. But despite witnesses testifying that they saw William Franklin “Billy” Marshall assault her the night she died, prosecutors have been unable to pin her death on anyone. Yesterday, the Commonwealth accepted a misdemeanor plea from Marshall that he was an accessory after the fact in the strangling death of the 18-year-old Hickman. He faces a maximum sentence of 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.

The decision was a hard one, says Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman.

“Pleading someone to a misdemeanor in a murder case makes me sick,” says Chapman. “It’s completely deflating and demoralizing on behalf of Miss Hickman’s family, who have endured throughout this process knowing the strength and weakness of the cases. To be unable at this juncture to have held everyone fully accountable for their behavior is an extreme disappointment to the Commonwealth.”

Though prosecutors had initially charged Marshall with second degree murder, Chapman says the evidence was scant enough that “reasonable doubt” could exist. And in fact, Marshall’s first trial, in March 2006, ended in mistrial. According to an article in today’s Daily Progress, jurors were hung with seven (more)

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Things got physical this morning at a rally for Senator George Allen when first-year UVA law student Mike Stark and Allen staffers got into an altercation in the lobby of Charlottesville’s Omni Hotel.

As Allen prepared to answer questions from the media, Stark got within inches of Allen and Senator Elizabeth Dole shouting, “Did you abuse your first wife? Did you ever spit on your first wife?”

That’s when Allen staffer Dan Allen (no relation to the senator) got between the two and began to push Stark away. When Stark resisted and continued to shout, another Allen supporter put Stark in a headlock before wrestling him to the ground. After subduing Stark, the men let him up and forced him out the front door of the Omni. The entire incident played out in front of several photographers and television cameras.

Stark tells the Hook that he plans to press charges. “There were plenty of video cameras there, and we’ll have to take the evidence from there,” he says. “The next step for me is (more)

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On October 27, Senator George Allen got the political world talking with a press release excerpting particularly graphic passages of the novels authored by his Democratic opponent Jim Webb. What effect that will have on the election remains to be seen, but eight days away from Election Day, it’s clear that Webb is not taking it lying down.

At a rally at the University of Virginia’s Newcomb Ballroom, Webb concluded his speech by saying, “These mean spirited, simple minded, power hungry character assassins need to go find a Third World dictator to work for.”

The remark came after Webb addressed the “flavorful manner” in which the Allen campaign had presented his writing by simply reading from reviews of the excerpted novels for nearly two minutes.

“I’ve led a literary career and I’m proud of it,” said Webb. “I’ve written about what I’ve seen. If you’re an honest writer, you’re going to write about the world you see in all its beauty and all its ugliness.”

Asked what exactly he meant by that last line of his speech, Webb would only say, “Use your imagination.”

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1981 UVA grad Director Tom Shadyac admitted to a Newcomb Hall audience Saturday night that he: a) didn’t choose Crozet out of love for his alma mater, b) can “almost promise” a Paramount premiere, and c) will indeed probably be director of the most expensive comedy ever made.

In an early October story, the L.A.Times reported that the film, Evan Almighty– sequel to the blockbuster Bruce Almighty– could end up costing $175 million. At Newcomb Hall, Shadyac first joked that he blames the film’s Central Virginia extras but then noted that the actual cost of the location shooting in Crozet was just $8 million.

“This movie will have the most animals shot in the history of show business,” said Shadyac, noting that animal filming and special effects work are still under way in California– and that keeping animals separate is expensive.

“The male bear will eat the raccoon, and the raccoon will eat the squirrels,” said Shadyac. “And this will eat our budget.”

The 10pm October 27 event was the world premiere of the trailer that was filmed earlier this year in locations including Crozet’s Old Trail Village development. Shadyac said Old Trail was chosen simply because it’s a controversial housing development abutting scenic parkland.

In a crowd heavily populated by the extras who participated in the Crozet shootings, Shadyac– who donated 400 bikes to his Virginia production crew– almost pulled another Oprah-style donation: “All you tonight… free bikes!”

After answering questions for about 30 minutes, Shadyac signed pieces of the giant ark that stood for several months at the foot of the Blue Ridge near Western Albemarle High School.

The picture is slated for release June 22, 2007.

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Though word seems to be spreading that there’s a stricter leash law in Charlottesville’s near future, that’s actually not the case, says Holly Hatcher, whose dog was attacked by an off-leash pit bull in February 2005. After that attack, in which Hatcher was also bitten and subsequently had to undergo a series of rabies shots, she became one of the driving forces behind the new animal ordinance city council will consider at the public hearing on Monday, November 6.

While unneutered dogs will be required to be on leash at all times except in designated dog parks, the majority of the ordinance pertains to increasing owner’s responsibility for their animals’ behavior.

In addition to requiring unneutered dogs to be on-leash, the new ordinance would include: limiting the chaining or tethering of dogs to 9 hours per day; increasing the dog license fee from $7 to $10 for unneutered animals and decreasing the fee from $5 to $4 for neutered animals; prohibiting the confinement of animals in motor vehicles under conditions that would endanger their health and safety and allowing animal control or law enforcement officers to enter the vehicle in such situations; and finally, enacting a new permit and inspection requirement for circuses as well as a ban on the use of chemical, mechanical, electrical or manual devices that would cause an animal pain during training.

While the last point was added in after the controversial Carson & Barnes circus came to town in September, Hatcher says, most of the ordinance is aimed at the owners of man’s best friend.

“If you’re going to be a dog owner,” says Hatcher, “be responsible.”

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In its exclusive interviews with Senator George Allen and his Democratic opponent Jim Webb, Style Weekly covered all the important issues: North Korea, education policy, the economy, and of course, their hypothetical survival in the Jamestown colony.

As it has been on most every issue this campaign, Allen and Webb had very different answers when posed the question: ” If you had been among the first settlers [at Jamestown] in 1607, how do you think you would have contributed to history?”

In keeping with his public persona as a rough-and-tumble guy who’s not afraid to get his hands dirty to get things done, Allen believed he would have brought quite a lot to the Jamestown table. “I would have been out hunting. Either trying to grow some crops or out hunting… maybe out on the river trying to catch some fish, as well,” he says. He also thinks he would have been among the Virginia Company’s more diplomatic settlers: “I would have wanted to have good relations with the inhabitants that were already here, the Virginia Indians, and then tried to work with them in a positive way and learn from them the best we could.”

Webb was decidedly less bullish about his prospects. In a one sentence answer, he said, “I would have died in 1609 [laughs] when the cold frost came in, when two-thirds of them died, I think.”

The revealing, sometimes unconventional, interview is available on Style Weekly’s website.

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The track list for the new two-disc Dave Matthews Band “Greatest Hits” CD, entitled The Best of What’s Around – Vol.1 is out, and fans everywhere can begin pre-ordering the CD for its November 7 release.

As the hook.net reported in August, the DMB had asked fans for input on track selections via an online poll on their website. Remarkably, the collection “compiled by fans” features two studio tracks from each album on disc one, and no live tracks recorded before 2000 on disc two.

According to Waldo Jaquith, who runs the DMB fan-favorite website, nancies.org, there have been some fan complaints about both discs.

“There’s been a run on people complaining about the studio disc,” says Jaquith, “particularly that there are simply two songs from each CD, which seems a bit of a simplistic approach.” Fans are also wondering why a DMB greatest hits CD would ignore live tracks from the first half of the band’s existence.

“There’s the crowd that says post-2000 shows are overrated,” says Jaquith, ”and the crowd that says they’re better than ever.” Then there’s the “it’s all good” crowd, says Jaquith, who points out that it’s only “volume one,” and that more good stuff will follow.

Fans are also debating whether the “greatest hits” CD amounts to a big sell-out, a debate the band itself has weighed in on.

“Clearly, the band is opposed to this release,” says Jaquith, “or at least they want fans to think that. They’ve emphasized in all public communications that they’re only doing this because their record label is making them.”

However, as Jaquith points out, when DMB re-negotiated their record contract two years ago, they were hardly begging. “They got a great contract,” he says. “They were able to get the rights for all sales outside the United States. That’s amazing. They were basically able to get anything they wanted. Who wouldn’t want them on their label?”

Jaquith suspects the “greatest hits” release was the result of a deal that allowed the band to release more live material, a deal that might have had a bit of the devil in it. Still, fans seem to be generally happy with a collection of DMB’s best on one CD, and odds are the disc will be a big seller.

Here’s the track list: (more)

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When actor and Parkinson’s disease sufferer Michael J. Fox appeared in two powerful ads for stem cell research and Democratic Senate candidates who support it, the Hook wondered whether the actor would make a similar appearance in Virginia. It now seems we will soon find out.

On November 2, five days before Election Day, Fox is slated to appear at a rally for Democrat Jim Webb at Arlington’s Clarendon Ballroom.

No word yet on whether Fox has prepared an ad similar to those for Missouri’s Claire McCaskill and Maryland’s Ben Cardin, but in a race where the latest Mason-Dixon poll shows Webb only four points behind Senator George Allen– who opposes government sponsorship of embryonic stem cell research– such an ad would undoubtedly stir some debate.

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Book of Revelations, UVA med center gets off probation, Huja: still shaping the city?

FROM THE NEWSROOM OF THE HOOK NEWSPAPER ON THE DOWNTOWN MALL IN CHARLOTTESVILLE VIRGINIA, THIS IS THE HOOKCAST FOR THE WEEK OF… Thursday, October 26, 2006.

ON THIS WEEK’S COVER:
Book of Revelations
This week’s Hook is 100 pages long– thanks to a big array of stories about the Virginia Film Festival. We interview famed actor Robert Duvall who tells the Hook about his worst cinematic experience. Plus, Jim and Tammy Fay Bakker’s heavily tattooed modern-day-preacher son talks about the new reality TV show he’ll preview here in Charlottesville. Charlottesville-bred filmmaker Derek Sieg looks for a distributor. And, Narnia teen star William Moseley looks (more)

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A putting green. A movie theater. A billiards room. Three swimming pools with babes in bikinis… It sounds like a resort, and it is– a resort for students who can afford the many upscale amenities of Woodlands, a new 300-unit paradise that makes it unnecessary ever to leave its gated grounds near Old Lynchburg Road– except for those pesky classes.

Dovetail Companies apparently has done this before in Athens and Statesboro, Georgia; College Station, Texas; and Knoxville, Tennessee; and decided Charlottesville was ripe for the most luxurious accommodations a UVA student could ever wish to throw up on.

French doors open to a balcony in every unit, perfect for undergrad hijinks. Kitchens boast granite counters just the setting for whipping up a perfect mojito. And the 7,000-sq-ft clubhouse holds the stadium-seating movie theater and state-of-the-art cardio studio, according the the Woodlands of Charlottesville website. There’s even a tanning bed. And for parental peace of mind, besides controlled access, some units have solid wood doors with insulated glass. Try kicking that in, frat boy.

So our question is: do you have to be a student to live there?

How much for all this opulence? We’re still working on getting that information at blog time. Located on Sunset Avenue near Azalea Park, Woodlands is available for summer and fall 2007.

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Could a Hollywood actor win the Virginia senate race for Jim Webb? That’s what some are wondering now that a pair of ads featuring actor and Parkinson’s disease sufferer Michael J. Fox advocating for Democratic senate candidates have made a big splash in close senate races in Missouri and Maryland.

Fox’s ad for Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill first began airing Saturday night during Game 1 of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers. In it, Fox, visibly shaking from the effects of Parkinson’s, tells viewers, “Unfortunately, Senator Jim Talent [R] opposes expanding stem cell research. Senator Talent even wanted to criminalize the science that gives us a chance for hope,” before imploring voters, “What you do in Missouri matters to millions of Americans– Americans like me.”

Of that ad, UVA professor and political pundit Larry Sabato says, “That’s a powerful ad and it’s the kind of ad that could tip the balance and win McCaskill the election.”

Now, it appears Fox’s impact may not be limited to the Show Me State. Today, Maryland congressman and Democratic candidate for senate Ben Cardin unveiled an ad of his own featuring the actor. In that ad, Fox claims “George Bush and [Republican candidate] Michael Steele would put limits on the most promising stem cell research,” before concluding, “I support Ben Cardin, and with so much at stake, I respectfully ask you to do the same.”

With Republican senator and opponent of government-sponsored embryonic stem cell research George Allen leading Webb by only four points according to the latest Mason-Dixon poll and with nationwide fight for control over the Senate as heated as it is, could it be that the Webb campaign has a Fox ad of its own up its sleeve?

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Authorities want another Shifflett, a man police believe may want to exact revenge against law enforcement officers for shooting his little brother. The City Police Chief said today that officers now seek 5′9″, 235-pound Jeffrey Wayne Shifflett, the older brother of recovering would-be girlfriend shooter Elvis Gene Shifflett.

Wanted on burglary and grand larceny charges in Madison County and suspected of the same in Charlottesville, 39-year-old Jeffrey Shifflett should be considered armed and dangerous because unspecified “intelligence” indicated a threat to “law enforcement,” according to City Police Chief Tim Longo.

The younger Shifflett was arrested following his shooting by two Charlottesville police officers Friday night, Police Chief Longo said today at a City Hall press conference. Longo declined to be more specific and refused to say whether Shifflett was shot with an M16, deferring to the Virginia State Police investigation. He also declined to name the two officers who shot Elvis Shifflett out of concerns for the officers’ safety.

The trouble began on October 13 when Elvis Shifflett allegedly intended to shoot his long-time girlfriend after she emerged from juvenile and domestic relations court in downtown Charlottesville. According to Longo, the unnamed girlfriend saved herself by getting the “webbing” of her hand between the handgun’s hammer and the firing pin (more)

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An unconfirmed report suggests that, in addition to suffering torso wounds, manhunt target Elvis Gene Shifflett received at least one wound to the face, according to an Albemarle County man who was monitoring emergency scanner conversations shortly after the Shifflett shooting.

“A man spoke of a ‘major exit wound to the face’ and used the word ‘mandible,’” says the listener, who was tuned to the scanner around 6:10pm Friday, shortly after Shifflett was shot. The scanner-monitor, well known as a reliable source to the Hook and the community, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Shifflett, 38, is accused of attempting to shoot his ex-girlfriend around Court Square on October 13. The manhunt for him included two school lockdowns: one at Albemarle’s Walton Middle School on October 18 and another at Monticello High School when police were in pursuit on October 20. Shifflett, who had been described as armed and dangerous before his arrest, was captured near Brook Hill Drive after he was shot by two City of Charlottesville police officers.

Among the details heard by the scanner-monitor was that at least one of the wounds came from an M16, a powerful military-grade semi-automatic. City spokesman Ric Barrick said he was unaware of the type of weapon, and City police chief Tim Longo plans a press conference for 3pm today.

Virginia State Police are investigating the shooting. “We’re not releasing information,” says Sgt. David Cooper when asked whether Shifflett was shot with an M16. Nor could Cooper provide details about Shifflett’s condition.

UPDATE: Shifflett is in serious condition as of today, according to UVA Medical Center spokesperson Megan Rowe. “State Police asked us to not release his condition,” she says. “Today is the first day we were allowed to release information.” Shifflett was shot Friday, October 20.

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Today, in front of the Albemarle County Office building, 80 pairs of surplus combat boots with name tags were lined up like headstones along the sidewalk. The effect was no accident. They are meant to represent the 80 Virginians killed in the war in Iraq out of over 2,500 Americans killed since the conflict began. In addition, nearly 20,000 Americans have been wounded. No one seems to know for sure how many Iraqi civilians have been killed, but a recent study by researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad estimates –now�with 95 percent certainty, they say–�that between 426,000 and 794,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. The White House�has disputed that figure, putting it at 30,000. The Iraq Body Count Database,�which has been tracking press reports of civilian deaths since the war began, puts the number between 44,274 and 49,157.�����

“I find it very moving because you think there should be people in those shoes,” said author Helena Cobban, a volunteer on hand to help the Friends Peace and Social Justice Committee organize its “Eyes Wide Open” display, an exhibit meant to honor those killed in Iraq and highlight the human cost of the war. In addition to combat boots, civilian shoes had been laid out to represent the Iraqi civilians killed.

Cobban, who lived and raised children in Lebanon during the war there, says she’s seen the effects of war on civilians.

“The war in Iraq has proved to be the same for Iraqi citizens,” she says.

“We were lied to back then, and we’ve been lied to again,” said Mark Heinicke, another volunteer, and a Vietnam veteran who originally supported the invasion. “Because I believed the lies about Weapons of Mass Destruction,” he says.

Heinicke, who says he’s no pacifist, recalls visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Wasington, D.C.�and seeing a collection of shoes from people killed in the camps. He thinks, on a smaller scale, that the Charlottesville display has the same visceral effect. “They represent the lives that have been lost,” he says.

The display moves to the First Amendment chalkboard on Saturday and to UVA’s Brown Residential College on Sunday.

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The ESPN camera zoomed in on a screaming, orange-haired gonzo UVA fan leaning on a railing, and the announcer wisecracked that the fan would probably be heading to the Itzhak Perlman concert after the football game. “You have the whole tableau of the human experience in Charlottesville tonight,” said the announcer early in the fourth quarter.

Tonight is a night for the history books. Practically every major entertainment venue is throbbing with some sort of major event.

At Scott Stadium, of course, there’s the nationally televised game that finally gave the beleaguered Cavaliers a chance to shine in what appears at this writing to be a victory against the visiting University of North Carolina team.

At the new John Paul Jones Arena, it’s a performance of perennial kids’ favorite, Disney on Ice.

And headlining a special fall gala at the Paramount Theater is Itzhak Perlman, the renowned violin virtuoso. With tickets ranging from $50 to $500, the Perlman show may be the most expensive of the three.

But the real high rollers are the risk-taking promoters of these three shows who threw caution to the wind to schedule performances despite the presence of competing– well, maybe complementary– entertainment options.

Authorities voiced traffic warnings earlier in the day, but traffic in the university area before the game did not appear significantly worse than during a typical football game.

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Captain Chip Harding started noticing something funny in the serial rapist investigation that’s gone on since the first reported rape in 1997: Several “persons of interest” in the case didn’t turn up on the state’s DNA database who should have. “I assumed it was a blip,” says Harding. “Then recently, my buddy said, look at this guy, and it happened again.” The suspect was not in the database. “I began to wonder how many we don’t have,” he says at a press conference today.
Two different data comparison of convicted felons to the DNA databank caused Harding to think that it’s possible 20 percent of the offenders who should be in there are not. And what if one of them is the serial rapist?

Virginia passed legislation in 1990 to take DNA samples from convicted violent felons and sex offenders and has since expanded the categories of those who must provide samples. The state has one of the best DNA databanks in the country, thanks to Harding’s efforts. Back in 1997, he was in Richmond and saw 150,000 unprocessed samples “of all that evil” sitting a refrigerator.” He pushed for funding from then-Governor George Allen, and worked with Paul Ferrara, director of forensics, to get the backlog processed. And the number of cold hits– DNA taken from crime scenes that matched DNA in the database– skyrocketed from maybe four hits a year to about two a day.

Harding insists he’s not pointing fingers, but in Charlottesville alone, the probation office pulled 600 cases of felons currently under supervision, and discovered that 125 of them– 21 percent– are not in the state DNA database. And he doesn’t think it’s just a Charlottesville problem.

Currently, no single person has statewide responsibility for making sure the DNA collection laws are enforced. Harding feels this is one tough-on-crime effort that can garner bipartisan support. He’s got Delegate Rob Bell poised to write legislation and he plans to lobby other elected officials, because, he says, if 20 percent of the state’s felons aren’t in the database, “That’s a whole lot of violent predators out there.”

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Bodies will be rocked, and sexy will be brought back on March 18, 2007, when one of the world’s biggest pop stars brings his disco ball-busting show to John Paul Jones Arena. That’s right, ladies, Justin Timberlake is coming to Charlottesville.

As he announced on Tuesday, the appearance will be part of his 30-plus date “FutureSex/LoveShow” North American tour with opening act Pink. The event should be a first for the new arena, and not just because no other former members of ‘N Sync have played there. It will be the first time a headliner has attempted to perform in a theater-in-the-round style at the JPJ (although mononymed singer Nitza did it as the Cirque du Soleil opener in August).

Not familiar with Timberlake? Besides his current hit, “SexyBack,” he gained renown in 2004 when he and Janet Jackson made a duet of his hit “Rock Your Body” just moments before the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl halftime show.

The upcoming Charlottesville event will reportedly include a 14-piece band and many back-up dancers. No word yet on whether their wardrobes have been tested.

The date tickets go on sale has yet to be announced, but JPJ officials say updates from the arena’s website are forthcoming.

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Sex, money and scandal in Gilded Age Albemarle, Casteen’s green, School board gets short with public, Frost poem not so uncommon?

ON THIS WEEK’S COVER:
Mad about you: Archie, Amelie and the Prince
They were the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald of the Gilded Age. She was a scandalous author from a pedigreed Albemarle family. He was a rich-as-sin Astor who escaped from a New York insane asylum. Their story is one rife with sex, money, celebrities, and insanity. And yes, there’s a dead body.

ALSO IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:

Casteen’s green: Ponying up $500,000 for employees’ children
When UVA president John Casteen donated half a million dollars to start a scholarship fund for employees children, the magnanimous gesture was seen as one that would make THE University more accessible. But who qualifies and how well has it worked elsewhere?

Minutes bored: School leaders skip the details
Recently, the Albemarle County School Board voted to shorten the minutes of its meetings. While this may be seen as a strictly parliamentary move, but one school board member calls it “a blow to the public’s right to open government.”

and

Frost find: Did PR trump scholarship?
Two weeks ago the Hook dutifully reported on the discovery of an unknown Robert Frost poem by a UVA grad student as did over 100 other media outlets around the world. But was such a finding so uncommon? Some scholars think not.

Also:
• An exclusive interview with Mark Linkous about depression and his first album in five years
* Larry Sabato mourns Mark Warner’s exit from the 2008 presidential race
* Introducing a little 21st century design into a centuries old cemetery
• Some red-face inducing art at UVA’s Off Grounds Gallery
and
* Former city councilor Rob Schilling takes to the airwaves

IT’S ALL IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION OF THE HOOK: AVAILABLE IN OUR RED NEWSPAPER BOXES THROUGHOUT CENTRAL VIRGINIA AND ONLINE AT READTHEHOOK.COM. AND DON’T FORGET TO LOG ON TO readthehook.com/blog EVERY DAY FOR BREAKING NEWS.

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Two weeks ago, the Hook dutifully reported on the discovery of an unknown Robert Frost poem by a UVA grad student (Eureka!: Grad student hits literary gold, October 5, 2006), as did over 100 newspapers and radio programs around the world in the followng days, including the Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR, and the UK’s Guardian Unlimited.

Universally, the articles lauded the discovery as something unique, and the discoverer as a “literary sleuth.” Rob Stilling, the UVA grad student who found the poem, “War Thoughts at Home,” inscribed in a copy of one of Frost’s books, even appeared on CBS News to discuss his find, and the Virginia Quarterly Review, with great fanfare, published the poem in its most recent issue.

However, a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education suggests this might have been a triumph of marketing and PR over literary scholarship. According to Frost scholars interviewed by Chronicle writer Jennifer Howard, the discovery isn’t unique.

“It was a very common thing for him to inscribe books,” says Mark Richardson, a professor of English at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, and a Frost scholar. “You’ll find— in the flyleaves of books that he made gifts of to people— letters, quips, notes to remark a particular occasion, and, on somewhat rarer occasions, poems.”

Richardson points out that the Amherst College Library has been issuing unpublished Frost writings for the past 30 years, and that a group associated with the library issued a pamphlet with two unpublished Frost poems this past spring. Like “War Thoughts at Home,” the two had been inscribed in books Frost had handed out.

“We were a bit caught off guard by the press coverage,” says UVA news editor Brendan Mathews, who says the poem was actually discovered a year ago. “Maybe we’re just better at PR than Amherst College.” Mathews admits UVA knew about the other Frost discoveries and scholarship (mention of which is nowhere to be found in UVA press releases), but he says this particular poem and the way it was found are unique.

“It was both unknown and unpublished,” says Mathews, “and its subject matter and the fact that it was found by a grad student, not a professional archivist, made it an interesting story.”

Interesting, yes. But a “staggering” literary find as VQR editor Ted Genoways characterized it in comments accompanying its publication?

“I don’t think we over-sold the poem,” says Genoways. “It is, everyone seems to agree, the first poem by Frost made available to the public since the poem I published in Meridian eight years ago. Several librarians and Frost scholars have been unhappy because they know of other unpublished poems. That’s fine, but the fact that Frost scholars know of these poems hardly makes them available to a reading public.”

Genoways also says the Amherst College Library’s issuing of the Frost poems was not a “true” publication. “There’s no ISBN, no copyright registration, and it was distributed privately to Friends of the library,” he says. “I, too, know of dozens of unpublished works by major authors, but that doesn’t mean that anyone else does.”

Post media blitz, Genoways now emphasizes the poem itself and its wide reception.

“If the poem is eliciting these kinds of discussions, then I don’t think we can overestimate its significance,” he says. “When was the last time a single poem had this kind of hold on the public imagination? It only seems good for poetry and good for the American psyche.”

Still, when the UVA press releases went out describing the “recently discovered…big literary find” it led readers to believe it was something unprecedented. It wasn’t. Good PR? Absolutely. A significant poem? Perhaps. Breaking news? Just ask John Lancaster.

“Maybe we just don’t have as good a PR operation,” the Amherst Library curator told the Chronicle, helping to affirm Mathews’ boast. Lancaster was the one who discovered Frost’s poems “The Inscription in the Desert” and “Gone Astray” earlier this year. “I thought, ‘Hey, this is neat,’” he recalled. “I wasn’t jumping out of my chair.”

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With only 21 days until Virginians go to the polls, the Washington Post says that, according to its poll data, the race between Senator George Allen (R) and his Democratic opponent, Jim Webb, is a statistical tie. Among likely voters, 49 percent support Allen and 47 percent give the nod to Webb with a 3 percent margin of error. The poll was conducted between October 10, the day after the candidates’ televised debate, and October 12. This data would appear to contradict an earlier Zogby poll showing Allen with a comfortable 11-point lead.

In that same Washington Post poll, only 53 percent (more)

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Usually October surprises are reserved for political campaigns and Major League baseball, but the Virginia Film Festival unveiled a surprise of its own this morning when it announced that Evan Almighty director and UVA alum Tom Shadyac will host a screening at Newcomb Hall of Bruce Almighty and a sneak peek at its locally shot sequel on Saturday, October 28, at 10pm.

Shadyac– whose previous credits include Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, and Liar Liar– has made waves in Hollywood recently with the news that Evan Almighty is the most expensive comedy of all time with a total budget of $175 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. Insiders report that most of the overrun was due to 11 extra days of filming in Crozet’s Old Trail Village– blamed on inclement weather that delayed the construction of a 400-foot ark– and additional difficulties coordinating animals and children’s shooting schedules.

And if that wasn’t surprise enough, Festival officials also announced a second event with legendary actor Robert Duvall. Before taking the stage at the Paramount to show his 1997 film The Apostle, Duvall will screen his Academy Award-winning performance in 1983’s Tender Mercies. That event will take place at the Regal Downtown Mall theater Saturday, October 28, at 1pm.

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The 300 million population mark is fast approaching. In fact, you can see for yourself by visiting the U.S. Census population clock. One new person every 11 seconds! That’s around 7,800 people every day. Let’s see…that means we’ll hit 300 million in about four days!

On Wednesday, October 11, UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service hosted a conference to study the meaning of the milestone, and more specifically its effect on Virginia.

For instance, did you know that folks coming from other states and countries account for 53 percent of Virginia’s population grown since 2000? Or that out-of-staters who moved here are younger, better educated, and earn more than locals? (more)

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There’s good news for 21 aggrieved local drivers who’d been overcharged by Lethal Wrecker: the checks are in the mail.

Though Lethal’s Richmond-based attorney William Tiller had hinted in court in July that his client might not have the $1,100 to pay back the plaintiffs, that didn’t end up to be the case. On Monday, October 9, Tiller delivered checks on Lethal’s behalf to the city attorney’s office, according to assistant city attorney Lisa Kelley. The checks, written on Tiller’s account, range from $5 to $170, and were mailed to plaintiffs on Tuesday, Kelley says.

Tiller did not immediately return the Hook’s call, but Kelley says the payment gets Lethal, owned by George Morris (left), out of hot water with the city, provided they comply with state law.

And complying with state law also got a bit easier on July 1, when the general assembly voted to increase towing maximum to $125 with an additional $25 night/weekend fee. Prior to July, the maximum towing fine had been $85 with an additional $10 night/weekend fee.

Lethal is still facing a $20 million civil suit filed by a man injured in an accident with a Lethal wrecker truck. That case goes to court in March.

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Following a citizen complaint, the city’s cracking down on flashing this week– flashing traffic lights, that is. This Sunday, October 15, downtown traffic signals on Market and Water streets will be fully operational after two decades of Sunday flashing.

“It’s a no-brainer,” says pedestrian activist Kevin Cox, who believes an increase in downtown traffic over the past several years has made the flashing signals impractical and even dangerous, as heavier flow of cars attempt to get through intersections with no working signals.

Cox wrote a letter to the city’s new traffic engineer, Jeanie Alexander, requesting the change in signals, but he says he didn’t expect to see quick action.

“Even when it’s really obvious there needs to be a change, they’re resistant,” says Cox of the city.

He underestimated the response.

Alexander says she and Lonnie Randall in the traffic department observed traffic patterns last Sunday and determined Cox had a point.

“I think he’s correct that things have changed, and it’s time to reexamine,” she says. Among the issues Alexander and Randall noted: pedestrians having difficulty crossing, particularly when church services were letting out mid- and late-morning.

Alexander says the city will try watch the signals this Sunday, and possibly future Sundays, before making a final determination.

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It was an assembly like no other for Burnley-Moran elementary school principal Daphne Keiser, who says receiving the $25,000 National Educator Award yesterday from the Milken Family Foundation was a “total surprise.”

The California-based nonprofit handpicks just 100 educators around the country each year to receive the award– Keiser (left, with superintendent Rosa Atkins) was one of two Virginia recipients. The other was a Chesterfield County fifth grade teacher.

As Virginia Superintendant of Public Instruction Billy Cannaday, Atkins, and the entire Burnley-Moran staff and student body looked on, Milken Family Foundation senior vice president Jane Foley announced the honor.

One Burnley-Moran second grader says that upon receiving the award, Keiser “cried for about five minutes.”

It didn’t take her much longer than that to figure out what she’d do with the money– though she’s free to spend it any way she chooses.
“I’ve always said that if I won the lottery, I’d put it back into the schools,” says 36-year-old Keiser. “I believe in helping the children reach their potential and be ready to take their place in society.”

At Burnley-Moran, Keiser says, she’d like the money– which she’ll actually receive at an April awards ceremony in Hollywood, California– to go toward a fully equipped science lab, a broadcasting studio, and expanding after-school club opportunities.

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