At college football stadiums all around the country tomorrow, seniors will be recognized before their final home games, usually with their parents at their side.

They’d like nothing more than to be out there together, bookends at outside linebacker on the University of Virginia football team. But for now, Denzel Burrell plays, and Aaron Clark watches and cheers and exhorts his close friend. And suffers.

Jacory Harris threw a tying touchdown pass in the final minute and another one in overtime to give Miami a 24-17 win over Virginia today that gave the Hurricanes a tie for the lead in the ACC’s Coastal Division.

RICHMOND — The Virginia NAACP sued Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Monday, arguing that the state failed to prepare for an unprecedented turnout of voters in next week’s presidential election.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a meeting in Lynchburg on Wednesday to receive public comments about whether it should start telling people more about events that are now kept secure and secret at plants that produce nuclear fuel and electric power.
Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, security matters at NRC-licensed plants have been kept under a blanket. The only security issues discussed publicly by the NRC have been incidents that were divulged unofficially — such as guards sleeping on duty inside a plant, or someone taking a gun through a gate.

RICHMOND — Was former Democratic chairman Terry McAuliffe dropping a hint about a possible 2009 run for governor of Virginia or just tweaking reporters at the party’s national convention Wednesday?
When reporters at the convention in Denver asked McAuliffe about whispers that he might run for the office, he didn’t rule it out.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine went on the offensive Wednesday on behalf of Barack Obama, using words including “slimy” and “bogus” to describe TV ads that have aired in Virginia linking Obama to William Ayers, who has been associated with bombings in the U.S. in the 1970s.

U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, R-5th, isn’t laughing at a cable comedy show that poked fun at the Rocky Mount Republican.

Last year, the sports staff at the News & Advance dabbled a bit in the blog, using a wonderful template provided by the fine people at Wordpress. That was before the redesign of our Web site. With the site overhauled, we were able to move the blog to the N&A site, so you can read entries as you surf through the stories on our site. Seems much more user friendly, no?

American National Bank & Trust Company has announced the promotion of three executives to newly created operating positions.

Virginia is becoming a more popular stop for wine lovers, with wineries playing an increasingly important role in the Commonwealth’s tourism industry.
Frank Britt is trying to make sure that trend continues.
The Lynchburg man teamed up with a graphic design firm in Virginia Beach to launch a lifestyle magazine that promotes wine made in Virginia.

Paychecks from the state are like American Express cards — most lawmakers won’t go home without them. All but three members of the General Assembly who left Richmond with a failed transportation session in the rearview mirror have a check in the mail.
The grand total for lawmakers’ daily pay and mileage reimbursements for the six-day special session comes to $116,977.01.

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Mary Patricia McFadyen, a native of Scotland, stepped up to the microphone just moments after being sworn in as an American citizen and thanked her friends and neighbors. But another powerful influence in her decision, she said, was President Bush.
“Mr. President, I’d like to thank you for inspiring me to complete this process,” she said. “Without you, this day may have never come.”

The invitation was there and President Bush took them up on it. Bush will be the featured speaker at Monticello’s annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony at the historic home of Thomas Jefferson. He replaces documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, who agreed to defer to the president.

MONTEBELLO — They spent about $5,000 and countless hours trying to find out what was wrong at the state’s Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, but Lee and Paulette Albright never stepped foot into the courtroom to hear what happened next.