Sadness

Unspeakable tragedy has struck again in Blacksburg. Two students, a young couple in their prime, have been brutally murdered at a campground tucked away in the beautiful hills of the Jefferson National Forest 15 miles from Virginia Tech. Though I have never met these kids I am struck deeply by these murders. I will never understand our inhumanity towards other people. One word rolls in my head day and night: Why?

more here and here



Police work the scene of a double murder at Caldwell Fields in the Jefferson National Forest in Montgomery County where Virginia Tech sophomores David Metzler, 19, and Heidi Childs, 18, were shot to death.

Glass from the drivers' side window litters the grass at Caldwell Fields in the Jefferson National Forest where Virginia Tech sophomores David Metzler and Heidi Childs were shot to death.

Recruits from the New River Criminal Justice Training Academy search for more clues at Caldwell Fields in the Jefferson National Forest where Virginia Tech sophomores David Metzler and Heidi Childs were shot to death.

Investigators search for more clues near flowers placed as a memorial at Caldwell Fields in the Jefferson National Forest where Virginia Tech sophomores David Metzler and Heidi Childs were shot to death.

Car Crash

Shot this video... great subject...good times but I wished the mic worked better!

NEW DIGS

Launched a new website at the old address :)

Skid

BLACKSBURG, VA - Hayden Mashburn, 9, (left CQ) relaxes in the shade of the elevator of a plane that crashed at Virginia Tech's Airport. His grandmother, Lynn, (RIGHT) was piloting the plane and claimed that a malfunction with the front wheel made her lose control just as she was taking off. "These things happen, and any time you walk away, it's a good landing," she said. JUSTIN COOK / THE ROANOKE TIMES

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This assignment could have been horrific but instead it turned out to be lighthearted. The Virginia State Troopers are always a hoot to work with given their sense of humor and the family was quite nice. Hayden seemed like he wasn't fazed at all by the ordeal. It was a pleasure meeting them of the circumstance.

Teach

Finished this slideshow about a teacher in Narrows that has been teaching in Giles County for almost 50 years.

Shards

These stories always break my heart and they happen so often. Life is so short and uncertain. Makes me re-evaluate how i spend time with and love the the people i care about most. You have no idea if they will be around tomorrow!

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Chrissy Stump, 17, is reflected in the mirror in her room in Newport. Behind her is a banner made by classmates at Giles County High School after her best friend Brianna Colle was killed in a car crash March 31, and Stump was severely injured.


A Giles County High School student hands out buttons with Brianna and Chrissy's photo. Brianna Colle died March 31 in a car crash and was not wearing her seatbelt. Chrissy Stump, her passenger and best friend survived the crash. The buttons are part of a campaign to encourage students to buckle their seat bealts. Prom is tomorrow and many high school students will be driving the mountain roads at night.


Emily Ellis, a Giles County High junior, pins a button on 8th grader Garrett Lee, 13.


Brianna Colle wrote this poem about her friend Chrissy Stump before Colle was killed in a car crash in March comparing her to a "crazy hyena."

Townhall

Students at Radford University are upset about majors such as Anthropology and Appalachian Studies being cut from the curriculum and miscommunication about budget issues. They feel that the university's liberal arts focus is being threatened. Radford held two forums in five days to address the issues independently first with a budget meeting and later with one about program reviews. Articles can be found here and here.

Thursday March 26, 2009:

Radford University student Matt Prater of Students Advocating Liberal Arts (SALA) listens on during an open budget forum at Bondurant Auditorium in Preston Hall Radford University in Radford, Va. SALA members say they oppose university's curriculum cuts and perceived shift away from a liberal arts focus.

Dr. Stephen Lerch holds up a stack of audience questions during an open budget forum at Bondurant Auditorium in Preston Hall Radford University in Radford, Va. Many students walked out when they realized they were not allowed to speak freely from the floor.


left to right: Rick Slavings screens audience questions as Executive Assistant to the Provost Vickie Taylor hands him a stack of new ones and Stephen Lerch (right) prepares to read one to the audience during open budget forum at Bondurant Auditorium in Preston Hall Radford University in Radford, Va. Students were upset and walked out because the university screened questions and they were not allowed to speak from the floor.

Radford University President Penelope Kyle waits to answer a question during an open budget forum at Bondurant Auditorium in Preston Hall Radford University in Radford, Va.

Tuesday March 31, 2009

Radford University junior Brandi Gross (CQ) waits to ask a question during a second open forum about cuts in the curriculum at the Bondurant Auditorium in Preston hall in Radford, Va. She was allowed to ask her question and it was answer moments later.


Radford University President Penelope Kyle issued an apology for any miscommunication about the relationship between the university budget and cuts in the curriculum at last Thursday's forum during another open forum at the Bondurant Auditorium in Preston hall in Radford, Va. Tuesday. She remained seated in the audience after her apology.
Radford University senior and treasurer of the Students Advocating the Liberal Arts Cynthia Coughlin (right) is frustrated during an open forum about cuts in the curriculum at the Bondurant Auditorium in Preston hall in Radford, Va. Coughlin was once an Anthropology major before it was proposed that the program should be cut. Senior Stephen Schmidt co-founder of the group listens on as questions are answered at left.

Radford Falls to UNC

Radford lost to UNC in this blowout