by Laurence Hammack | Jul 26, 2009 | Race relations
At a time when the power of the Internet was untested, one of the first people to see its dark potential was an 18-year-old college student named William A. White. In 1996, when White was a sophomore at the University of Maryland, he became convinced, based on hearsay...
by Laurence Hammack | May 11, 2009 | Environment
Storm clouds gathered over Bald Knob, snuffing out a full moon and cloaking the national forest in darkness. John Price, a law enforcement officer for the U.S. Forest Service, parked his SUV on a secluded dirt road. A cold April rain began to fall as he settled in for...
by Laurence Hammack | Feb 22, 2009 | Politics/government
One year after Councilman Alfred Dowe resigned amid controversy over his spending for meals and travel, the rest of the council members have cut back on their own spending. Here are the numbers, not counting Dowe’s $15,000-plus expense account: In 2007, the...
by Laurence Hammack | Nov 7, 2008 | Politics/government
On a day when Democrats had every reason to be energized, and in a county where they rarely lose an election, voters stayed away from the polls by the thousands. In Buchanan County, turnout was just 53 percent Tuesday — the lowest of any city or county in the...
by Laurence Hammack | Sep 14, 2008 | Investigative reporting
It is 9:30 a.m. on July 24, another Carilion day in small claims court. A computer printout tacked to a bulletin board outside Roanoke General District Court lists 123 cases in which Carilion Clinic is suing its former patients for unpaid medical bills. The docket...