FACES OF 2008: News

Contributors: Staff writers Joe Macenka, Melodie N. Martin, Zachary Reid, David Ress and Reed Williams contributed to this report.

DAVIS BEATTY
Fifth-grader at Richmond's John B. Cary Elementary School

WHY YOU KNOW HIM: The 13-year-old, who uses a wheelchair, is the student behind a long-running court case in which the city's School Board agreed to make all of its buildings handicap-accessible.

WHAT'S NEW: Unfortunately for Davis, nothing is new. January marks the third anniversary of the School Board agreeing to a five-year plan to bring all city school buildings into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, but not a single substantive project has been completed.

Among the bigger plans scheduled for the first year of the settlement was an elevator at what should be Davis' home school, William Fox Elementary. Davis was shifted to Cary because Fox couldn't accommodate a student in a wheelchair. Three years into the settlement, Fox still can't. Work was supposed to begin this fall to design an elevator, but that project was halted when problems were discovered in the way the school system solicited the work and awarded a contract for it.

Davis, meanwhile, is wrapping up his elementary school tenure at Cary while his brother, 10-year-old Patrick, is finishing fifth grade at Fox. Next year, the two will go to school together for the first time, at Albert Hill Middle.

"I'm not really that naive. I knew Davis would never set foot in Fox," said Davis' mother, Vicki Beatty. "But I did think this work would have happened faster."

On a positive note, Beatty said her sons have managed to get through the turmoil relatively unscathed.

"[Davis] is aloof to all this, and Patrick is excited about [next year]," she said.

And her? She's not certain she would have taken on the lawsuit if she had known how long it would take, but she's glad she did.

"It's about right and wrong," she said.

TAHLIEK TALIAFERRO
Powhatan County homicide victim
WHY YOU KNOW HIM: Taliaferro, 18, a popular student and football player at Powhatan High School, was shot to death June 24 with an assault rifle after a confrontation at a local hangout. The homicide was the first in six years in Powhatan County, which for many years enjoyed a reputation as a peaceful community.
WHAT'S NEW: Joseph "Joey" Parrish, 17; his cousin Ethan Parrish, 24; and Stephanie Reynolds, 19, have been charged with first-degree murder in Taliaferro's slaying. Five others are charged with aiding the three as they attempted to avoid arrest. Powhatan, meanwhile, has had three more homicides in 2008.

SHEILA HILL-CHRISTIAN
Longtime senior executive in state government and Richmond City Hall, including service as chief operating officer of GRTC and director of the Virginia Lottery.
WHY YOU KNOW HER: Mayor L. Douglas Wilder named her Richmond's chief administrative officer in October 2007, but she abruptly resigned in July. She sent a cryptic e-mail in which she complained that her ability to do her job had been compromised.

She has not elaborated on what she meant. At the time, Wilder and the City Council were trying to resolve differences over the city budget.

Hill-Christian was the city's senior bureaucrat and had an annual salary of $170,000.

WHAT'S NEW: Richmond Mayor-elect Dwight Clinton Jones has enlisted Hill-Christian as co-director of his transition team, along with William Leighty, former chief of staff to Govs. Timothy M. Kaine and Mark R. Warner.

She said she would not seek to become chief administrative officer once Jones assumes office.

CHRIS COLESON
The New Kent County man who earned the nickname "McFit"
WHY YOU KNOW HIM: This businessman made headlines this year for his unique weight-loss strategy: eating almost every meal at McDonald's. He lost about 80 pounds in 200 days eating largely salads, wraps and apples from McDonald's. He weighed 199 as of June 10.

Coleson received international media attention after a June 11 story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about his diet. He appeared on national TV shows including "Fox & Friends," "Good Morning America" and "Today." He said he also was featured in newspapers all over Europe, Asia, South America and in Russia and Canada.

Coleson weighed 278 pounds when he started his diet on Dec. 3, 2007. He had made a bold prediction to his wife: Not only could he lose weight, but he could do it by eating McDonald's food.

WHAT'S NEW: Coleson doesn't eat at McDonald's anymore. He's had his fill.

The last time he got on a scale, a week after Thanksgiving, he weighed 215 pounds, 16 pounds more than he weighed the day before the June 11 story in The Times-Dispatch.

Coleson says he has been watching what he eats and eating lots of fiber, salads and not much meat. He also has become a fan of sushi and has started eating more organic foods and locally grown vegetables.

As for now, he has decided to delight in the holiday parties, the cookies and all of the good food he missed out on when he was on the diet.

But come Jan. 1, he says, he's committed to working it all off.

HENRICO, VA
The region's newest mailing address
WHY YOU KNOW IT: Henrico County residents voted for change in 2008 -- a change in mailing address, that is.

In a survey conducted by the U.S. Postal Service in April and May, the majority of respondents in 11 county ZIP codes with "Richmond, VA" mailing addresses voted yes to switching to "Henrico, VA."

It is not mandatory to use the new Henrico mailing address, but county officials estimate doing so could help recover an estimated $5 million in annual business-tax revenue that they say mistakenly goes to the city of Richmond.

Glen Allen and Sandston addresses in the county are not affected.

WHAT'S NEW: Henrico is asking the General Assembly to establish a joint study committee to examine the state's processes for identifying, collecting and remitting money to localities.

DEBORAH JEWELL-SHERMAN
Co-director of the Urban Superintendents Program,
Harvard Graduate School of Education
WHY YOU KNOW HER: She was Richmond's superintendent for six years, ending July 31. During her tenure, the school system showed dramatic academic gains. Her initial contract gained national attention for its student-achievement dictates, but she often was mired in backroom scandals, from scathing audits of financial dealings to a relationship with the mayor that turned sour: He tried to evict the school system from City Hall.

WHAT'S NEW: Since August, Jewell-Sherman has been at Harvard as co-director of a program from which she graduated in 1995.

She left with a smile on her face and the word "Harvard" on her lips. She made no attempt to hide her glee with the appointment and spent her last months in Richmond finding ways to include mention of her new job in nearly every public conversation.

In an e-mail interview this month, she offered congratulations to several departing School Board members but didn't say anything about her own departure.

"I appreciate George's [Braxton] and Lisa's [Dawson] leadership, and Joan's [Mimms] keeping us focused on students' needs. And I thank all of the departing board members for their service. I think the record of accomplishments and challenges speak for themselves."

CAROL A.O. WOLF
Member of the Richmond School Board, until Jan. 5
WHY YOU KNOW HER: During six years on the board, she became one of the area's most outspoken politicians. She constantly pushed her pet issues -- handicap accessibility in schools and student discipline, chief among them -- but she was willing to become the advocate for any number of other people and causes, whether they had a connection to her 3rd District or not.

WHAT'S NEW: Come Jan. 5, the 3rd District will have a new representative on the School Board. After filing her re-election paperwork moments before the June deadline, Wolf watched as the city registrar determined that her petitions did not contain enough qualified signatures.

Wolf considered running a write-in campaign but decided against it, allowing challenger Norma Murdoch-Kitt to run unopposed.

With districtwide compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act still years away, despite a court-supervised lawsuit settlement, don't count on Wolf to fade into the background. She promises she's not going away, quietly or otherwise.

"I'll still be there fighting," she said. "I'll just be on the other side of the railing. Maybe that'll give me more time for my family."