After about 90 minutes of deliberation Wednesday evening, an Albemarle County jury found Oscar Robert Lemen guilty of both forcible sodomy and object penetration.
The jury suggested the Madison man spend 35 years in prison — 15 on the sodomy count and 20 on the penetration charge. Lemen was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs after his bond was revoked.

We’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again:
Sen. John Warner is, as Chuck Robb described him, a “true Virginia gentleman.”
We reject the pessimistic idea that his is a disappearing breed, but truth be told there are few leaders left of his stature and strength.
And few, too, with his longevity.

The Business article of April 17, “Quarterly results upbeat; stocks surge higher,” is a perfect example of “pumping.”
Nearly every finance company, JP Morgan-Chase included, is reporting terrible quarterly results, yet a vice president of a trading company is cited calling them “strong earnings” and recommending buying.

At a recent Albemarle County School Board meeting, plans for artificial plastic turf continued.
The April 20 Washington Post story “U.S. Investigates Artificial Turf’s Lead Levels” stated that the federal government is investigating whether turf contains lead that rubs off and poses health hazards.

The executive committee of UVa’s Board of Visitors on Wednesday set undergraduate tuition rates for the 2008-09 academic year.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a suspicious person on the premises, school officials said.

The executive committee of UVa’s Board of Visitors is meeting today to set undergraduate tuition rates for the 2008-09 academic year.

Former university president arrested again for DUI

Blessings counted after the winds die down

If it’s Wednesday morning, it’s a rush.

A public presentation of the “This is My Story” student project will be held at 6 tonight at the Martin Luther King Performing Arts Center.

A stuffed bunny in a black jacket and pink tutu. An iPod. A worn copy of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged.” A Madonna CD. A Winnie the Pooh figurine. And a package of birth control pills. These were a few of the objects that University of Virginia students, professors and community members brought to a massive session of “show and tell” on Tuesday in front of the UVa Art Museum.

Heavy rain from the past few days has forced the closure of Route 651 in Louisa County because of high water, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

A former Madison County school bus mechanic and fill-in bus driver started his third trial Tuesday on sex-related charges involving a then-13-year-old friend of his daughter.

ZION CROSSROADS — Lachelle Johnson scrapped plans to throw a going-away party for her brother — a soldier being deployed to Iraq — after receiving a letter Friday notifying her that she and her mother were being evicted from her mobile home.

It was sad to lose a pre-Revolutionary War home in Schuyler to a fire recently.
But it was appalling to learn that a pre-Revolutionary War building in Zion Crossroads had been given up for destruction.
Enter rescuers Diane and Paul Manning.
Historic Hall’s Tavern dates to the 1750s; it was a stop for travelers between Richmond and Charlottesville.

Authorities announced this evening that they have found 12-year-old Lorena Sanchez-Toledo, who went missing from her Charlottesville home April 15 after returning home from school.

“All that’s left is a concrete slab,“ Keith Godwin said.

States short of farm workers, arranging to bring in immigrant labor

Storms smash southeastern Virginia

Tuesday rush in the rain and the clouds

For two years, Miruna Dumitria, a junior at Albemarle High School, has volunteered at the Sexual Assault Resource Agency. She is part of a group that goes to high schools performing a play about healthy and unhealthy teenage relationships.

Albemarle, Charlottesville, Monticello and Western Albemarle high schools have begun campaigns to raise money to purchase synthetic turf athletics fields.

The Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority will pay a consulting firm up to $12,000 to answer questions from residents and come up with a presentation for the City Council on May 6.

A longtime University of Virginia English professor has been named director of the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies at UVa.

Two months after a drug bust on Peyton Drive nabbed several suspects, a federal grand jury has handed down indictments charging three Charlottesville men in connection with a cocaine operation.

In the spirit of earth week, I have a suggestion.

The U.S. military said the soldiers were killed in eastern Baghdad by indirect fire, a reference to mortars or rockets. The statement did not give an exact location for the attack, but the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City has been the scene of intense fighting recently with Shiite militiamen.

“I served six years in the military,“ Barack Obama’s longtime pastor said. “Does that make me patriotic? How many years did (Vice President Dick) Cheney serve?“

A high-speed passenger train jumped its tracks and slammed into another train in eastern China on Monday, killing at least 70 people and injuring more than 400 in China’s worst train accident in a decade.