More on the current litigation regarding colonial treaty with Indians

The Daily Press has this story ("How a 1677 treaty could snag reservoir in court," 9/21/04) on the litigation with the Mattaponi Indians based in part on the terms of a treaty from 1677.

Google browser?

Slashdot has this exchange about whether Google is going to have its own web browser.

Inside baseball

Ah, stories like this one from Ann Althouse weren't funny until we went to law school.

Whoa, blogger takes on commentator in Cavalier Daily

In this amusing exchange, the head of the College Republicans is bummed, claiming that Waldo spent more time reading his piece in the Cavalier Daily than the CR man spent writing it. Ah, youth.

Somehow, this reminds me of the exchange a few years back between a reporter for the Lebanon News and the Republican chairman of Russell County. The chairman complained that the reporter had not written about all of the speeches given at the nominating convention by the Republican candidates. The reporter replied that he didn't have time and the speeches were really boring, or words to that effect.

Wiccan who won in Fourth Circuit gets harassed at home

The State from down in SC reports here on the harassment suffered by the successful litigant who won before the Fourth Circuit in Wynne v. Great Falls against a town for its use of opening prayers at town council meetings.

More on the Commonwealth's effort to oust the trial judge from the second sniper Muhammad trial

The Washington Post has this article ("Prosecutors Sharpen Call for Removal of Sniper Judge in Fairfax," 9/19/04) with the latest on the efforts of prosecutors seeking the removal of the Fairfax circuit court judge who is presiding over the second case against sniper John Muhammad.

W.D. Va. prosecution of drug cases that result in death

Related to the earlier Len Bias post, the Roanoke paper has this article ("More cases fall under drug law," 9/19/04) that says: "Prosecutors in the Western District of Virginia have been making increasing use of a federal law that says if defendants are convicted of distribution of drugs that leads to death or serious bodily injury, they face a mandatory prison sentence of 20 years to life. The law was passed in 1986, in the wake of the cocaine overdose death of University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias."

More on the demise of the Pep Band

The Charlottesville paper had this editorial on the end of the U.Va. Pep Band as a sign of progress.

I went to the Akron game on Saturday and my impression of the U.Va. Marching Band is that they were very mediocre. I would be happier if they played less like the old Pep Band and more like these Cavaliers. They need to start recruiting like the football team, and get some wailing horn players, and play "Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor" (listen here to a Florida State version) instead of "We are Family" renditions, or whatever it was they were playing on Saturday.

$8.3 million verdict against Wintergreen survives post-trial motions

The Charlottesville paper reports here ("$8.3 million verdict upheld," 9/18/04) that the verdict from a ski accident at Wintergreen has gotten past the post-trial motions addressed to the trial court judge, with some likelihood of an appeal to follow.

Two degrees of separation for Virginia Beach circuit court judges

The Norfolk paper reports here ("Ex-delegate Buster O?Brien appointed to Beach Circuit Court," 9/18/04) that Governor Warner has appointed William O'Brien to the Circuit Court for Virginia Beach.

The article notes:

"O’Brien, 58, is a well-known Beach political figure, who was elected four times and served six years in the House of Delegates. He ran unsuccessfully for state attorney general in 1985.

He also is a Virginia college football legend whose name has been mentioned on ESPN’s SportsCenter. O’Brien was a star quarterback at the University of Richmond, where he graduated in 1968. He graduated from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary in 1974.

O’Brien is the latest in a long line of Circuit Court judges who once practiced law with Richard G. Brydges. At least six current or former Circuit judges worked with Brydges at some point in their careers.

Brydges, 82, still practices law at the Beach, but has recently been sidelined with health concerns."

Richmond paper's take on the lawyers in the big DOJ v. tobacco case

The Richmond paper has this article on the legal firepower representing the litigants in the Department of Justice case against the tobacco companies.

The article begins: "The cast of key players in the trial of the government's $280 billion racketeering lawsuit against the tobacco industry will feature some of the nation's top litigators," and lists Dan Webb, Theodore V. Wells, Jr., Robert F. McDermott, Jr., David M. Eubank, and the DOJ's Sharon Y. Eubanks.

Coal country tourism

According to this article ("Preservation magazine article features West Virginia coal country tourism," 9/18/04) from the Bluefield paper, Preservation magazine is offering a somewhat mixed review of the status and prospects for tourism in coal country.

In the magazine article, the author begins: "Bluefield, W. Va., isn't exactly a tourist mecca."

The Hatfield-McCoy Trail

In this article ("Director says trail is state's 'hottest' development project," 9/18/04), the Bluefield paper updates the progress of the Hatfield-McCoy trails in Southwest West Virginia.

The Len Bias effect

The last college basketball game I saw as a college student was the last home game for Len Bias at the University of Maryland. He never played in the NBA, dying of a cocaine overdose, after he was drafted to play with the Boston Celtics.

The Roanoke paper has this article ("Attorney: Law after Bias' death caused prison swell," 9/19/04) with an explanation that federal drug law was made more severe in 1986 in response to Bias' death.

Language interpreters in Southwest Virginia courtrooms

The Roanoke Times has this article ("Open to interpretation? Courtroom jobs fill niche," 9/19/04) on language interpreters in the courtrooms of Southwest Virginia.

Soldier from Grundy an inspirational figure

The Roanoke paper has this article ("'Heath is a lot like the town of Grundy itself: We don't quit'", 9/19/04) on a soldier from Grundy who lost both legs in Iraq.

It says in part:

"Less than one year after losing both legs in Iraq at age 24, [Heath] Calhoun has not only learned to walk and drive on prosthetic legs, but he's also snowboarded, waterskied and recently cycled more than 30 miles in a single day. Calhoun's amazing recovery has inspired the other amputees with whom he volunteers. And if the size of the crowd welcoming back their native son to Grundy on Saturday is any indication, he's become a source of pride to a community that has also faced devastating floods, fires, even a triple murder, and emerged determined to rebuild."

On flooding in Appalachia

The Christian Science Monitor has this report ("Ruin and rescue in Appalachia's floods," 9/20/04) focusing on the flooding in Western Carolina from Hurricane Ivan.

What I want for Christmas

Boingboing reports here on the forthcoming complete Calvin and Hobbes.

It's a deal

I liked this Atrios post, which says, more or less, if Bush is re-elected, can we agree that everything that happens after November 3 is his fault?

Bloggers biased?

Via How Appealing, the Chicago Tribune has this article ("True or false: Blogs always tell it straight," 9/19/04) which makes me think yet again that these mainstream media people don't get blogging.