A Charlottesville police officer whose unmarked vehicle hit another car as he responded to a bank robbery faces a traffic charge.

Morgan Dana Harrington’s parents this week visited the Copeley Road bridge where she was last seen to leave mementos and posters at a small, makeshift memorial. “We are not building a mausoleum. This is her place of hope,“ said her mother, Gil Harrington. Morgan Harrington, 20, disappeared the night of Oct. 17 after leaving a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena. Police have said they’ve received several reports of a woman matching her description hitchhiking at about 9:30 that night on the bridge, which crosses railroad tracks.

CHARLOTTESVILLE These days, Jimmy Buffett is more a brand than a musician. The restaurants, the beer line, the newly renamed Miami Dolphins stadium after the beer line, the upcoming casino in Biloxi, Miss.—it all induces a bit of nausea. But say this for the ol’ guy, when it’s time to hit the stage, he works it. At his Charlottesville stop last night—one of the last dates of his current tour—the 62-year-old Peter Pan of the beach rolled through nearly 30 songs in 2½ hours, giving this nearly sold-out crowd of 12,000-plus exactly what they required: escapism.

As the case of missing Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington entered its second month, authorities yesterday investigated the discovery of a body in Roanoke. But authorities said they do not believe the female body discovered on Norfolk Southern railroad tracks shortly after daybreak in Roanoke is that of Harrington. Roanoke police detectives and a medical examiner were called to the scene, and authorities determined the female’s death did not appear suspicious. Police yesterday had not released a cause of death or identified the body.

The University of Virginia is likely both to raise tuition and ask alumni to dig deeper into their pockets as the university seeks to find a more sustainable funding model in an era of dwindling state support. “We are going to be able to depend on two revenue sources,“ Leonard W. Sandridge, U.Va.‘s executive vice president and chief operating officer, told the university’s board of visitors on Monday. “We have potential in the areas of tuition and private support.“

FABER Nearly a year after terrorist bullets killed her husband and daughter, Kia Scherr hopes her new Web site will help others. Scherr helped create the One Life Alliance site to promote discussion of the “sacred nature and interconnectedness” of human life in response to the Nov. 26 terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, that killed her family. She designed the site with Master Charles Cannon, founder of the Synchronicity Foundation. The group, based in Nelson County, espouses meditation and peaceful, holistic living. Scherr is a longtime foundation member, as were her family members.

The disappearance of Mechanicsville teenager Theresa Marie Meadows languished in relative obscurity from the time she vanished in September 2004—until she was located alive last week in South Carolina. On the flip side, the case of missing 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington has received intense state and national attention since she disappeared Oct. 17 after a Metallica concert in Charlottesville. A three-day search last weekend involved more than 500 volunteers.

Yesterday morning marked an annual ritual for thousands of area hunters, who hit the woods for the opening morning of deer season. It has been legal to hunt deer using muzzleloaders or bows for weeks now, but the general firearm season—the season people mean when they just say “deer season”—kicked off for all but a tiny corner of the state a half hour before sunrise yesterday.

State police announced yesterday that they believe Morgan D. Harrington was trying to hitchhike on a Copeley Road bridge the night she disappeared, which her father said isn’t something she’d normally do. “That’s certainly out of character for her and unexplained,“ said her father, Dan Harrington. The Harringtons presume their daughter was the victim of foul play, but police have yet to turn up any evidence pointing toward a crime.

Investigators believe Morgan Dana Harrington was hitchhiking before she disappeared, police said yesterday morning. Harrington, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student, has been missing since the night of Oct. 17, when she attended a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena. After talking with friends on her cell phone, authorities say Harrington walked through the parking lot of U.Va.‘s University Hall and was also seen in the Lannigan Field athlete parking lot, which is also used for RV parking. At about 9:30 p.m., she was seen walking on the Copeley Road bridge near Ivy Road, according to state police.

The 119-year-old student newspaper at the University of Virginia announced this week that it will not publish a print edition on certain days this academic year to cut costs amid the economic downturn. The Cavalier Daily said in an editorial that it was removing five newspapers from this year’s production schedule, starting with Nov. 6.

Virginia State Police say they believe a Virginia Tech student missing for nearly a month was hitchhiking after she left a Metallica concert in Charlottesville. Police said today that witnesses saw a woman fitting the description of 20-year-old Morgan Dana Harrington of Roanoke on a bridge that crosses railroad tracks trying to get a ride. Harrington became separated from her friends after she left the concert arena Oct. 17 and was denied re-entry. She told them she would find a way home. Police say they want to hear from anyone who might have loaned a cell phone to a woman fitting Harrington’s description. Police say Harrington was wearing a distinctive necklace made of large crystal chain links.

Not only did she turn out one of the pluckiest “Saturday Night Live” hosting stints in recent memory (her Shakira parody was dead-on hilarious), but Taylor Swift isn’t doing so badly in her day job, either.  Tickets to the 15 U.S. 2010 shows for the 20-year-old country-pop singer sold out within minutes last week, including her March 20 date at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville.

CHARLOTTESVILLE—A weekend search for clues in the disappearance of Morgan Harrington produced more hope than new information. More than 500 volunteers in Charlottesville combed a 3-square-mile area from Friday through yesterday, looking for some indication of what happened to the 20-year-old Virginia Tech student. Harrington was last seen Oct. 17 after she became separated from her friends at a Metallica concert.

CHARLOTTESVILLE—A Crozet man who bilked more than $5.3 million from investors in a decade-long Ponzi scheme was sentenced to 7½ years in prison yesterday in Charlottesville’s federal court. U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon sentenced John Mark Donnelly to 90 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Authorities said Donnelly will have to repay all of the stolen money.