Karen Ryan fills Ayers' slot at UVA
Now that Ed Ayers has begun his new job as president of the University of Richmond, UVA president John Casteen has announced that Slavic languages specialist Karen Ryan– the associate dean for the arts, humanities, and social sciences– has been named interim dean of the College, the post formerly held by Ayers. (0)

Farm horror: family dies in Rockingham
NBC29 is reporting this morning that four members of a Rockingham farming family, including two girls, ages 9 and 11, have died after they and and an employee were fatally overcome by methane gas in a manure pit on the farm. (0)

Unsolved mystery: how Wal-Mart helps biz
The Daily Progress offered a puzzling ending to this morning’s story about the growing local presence of Wal-Mart: a Darden’s prof’s statement that the Arkansas empire might actually help local businesses. Unfortunately, the Progress reporter and editors, apparently so tickled by the provocative quotation, immediately terminated the story without explaining how Wal-Mart helps nearby businesses. (1)

Dave boggled
What does Dave Matthews think of his band’s success? Remember, the DMB is second only to the Stones in ticket sales. “It boggles my mind,” says Matthews in a Billboard/Reuters story published in the Sunday Washington Post, which waxes nostalgic about the band’s beginings in Carter Beauford’s mother’s basement. In the end, though, Dave appears to be an old fashioned family man. “Just come to work as often as there’s work and then go home and try to raise my kids right,” the singer says about his job. (1)

$ crisis pushes WVPT to ax shows
Harrisonburg-based public TV station WVPT, which fights a never-ending battle with WCHV for Charlottesville’s hearts and minds (and money), announced yesterday that it was dropping several long-time shows, including “Pop Quiz,” to remedy a fiscal crisis. This was first reported by The New Dominion; later by the Daily Progress. (Monticello High won this year’s “Pop Quiz” championship.) (1)