Henry Hager (+ Jenna)

St. Christopher's grad. Fiancee to Jenna Bush.

"We're very excited." … These are "two great kids." … Both families are "equally enthusiastic." -- Henry's dad, John Hager, former lieutenant governor and chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, on the engagement, Aug. 22, 2007.



Elliott Yamin

Local karaoke winner. "American Idol" underdog/star. Recording artist.

"Not even Nelly got this many people." — Aramark food service employee Heather Parra, at the Richmond Braves game in which Yamin signed autographs while "Idol" cameras filmed his homecoming, May 12, 2006.



H. Louis Salomonsky

Real estate magnate. Ex-con. Wilder confidante.

Jailed after attempting to bribe former City Councilwoman Gwen Hedgepeth. — Dec. 11, 2003



Chuck Richardson

Former councilman. Gifted orator. Recovering heroin addict.

"No Jesus, not the whole house." — Response to police search, April 8, 2004.



Ed Barber

Chesterfield Democrat. Schoolteacher. Sex offender.

"Some children will sit quietly for the opportunity to be a [back-]'scratcher.'" — Letter from Barber to school officials, Nov. 1, 2004.



Renny Humphrey

Chesterfield supervisor. Regional antagonist. Chased by white supremacists in Food Lion parking lot.

"My daddy raised me to think like a man." — September 2003.



Manoli Loupassi

Former City Council president. House of Delegates candidate. Wordsmith.

"Look, we are going to give you everything you want. What's the beef with that?" — Alluding to funding for Wilder's administration, June 6, 2005.



Maymont's Black Bears

Euthanized after biting the hand of a 4-year-old who stuck his hand through a chain-link fence.

"These bears are making a contribution even in their death." -— Mayor L. Douglas Wilder at the bears' memorial service, March 4, 2006.



Gov. Jim Gilmore

Former attorney general. Former governor. Former presidential candidate. Son-of-a-butcher.

"Free at last, free at last, free at long last! Democracy has finally come to the Commonwealth!" — After Republicans won control of the state Senate and House of Delegates in 2000 for the first time in a century, Nov. 3, 1999.



The Manatee

A sea cow, estimated at 10 feet, 1,000 pounds, spotted in the James River beneath the 14th Street Bridge.

"Our first thought was that it was the biggest catfish we had ever seen, and then we thought, 'Could it possibly be a sturgeon?'" — Dr. Ralph Hambrick to the Times-Dispatch, June 22, 2003.



Reva Trammell

Richmond City councilwoman. Veteran submarine race competitor.

"I'm going to be a different person." — On winning back her 8th District council seat from Jackie Jackson in 2006, Nov. 15, 2006.



Donnie "Dirtwoman" Corker

Transvestite. Ex-prostitute. Born-again Christian. Mayoral candidate. Plus-sized calendar pinup "girl."

"I'll do whatever you want me to do. If you want me to go somewhere nekkid, I will. I'll dress in a three-piece bathing suit if you want." — Pitching his perfect-for-all-occasions Dirt-Gram singing telegram service, Nov. 15, 2006.



Kathleen Willey

Author of "Target: In the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton."

"I think it's a Clinton operative. It sounds like Watergate. It's amateurish, but I know they're not amateurs." — In a story about an alleged break-in to her Powhatan County home during which she says a copy of her manuscript was stolen, Sept. 5, 2007.



Sa'ad El-Amin

Former Richmond City councilman. Ex-convict.Former yacht owner.

"I just hate being associated with this tragedy." — H. Louis Salomonsky on his co-signing of a car loan for El-Amin that came into question during the councilman's IRS investigation, March 8, 2003.



L. Shirley Harvey

Car-less city councilwoman. City-funded motorist. Former councilwoman.

"I was claiming City Hall for God." — Explaining her deity-induced seven-time trek around City Hall. "City Hall is the center of sin for the city." — Jan. 23, 1996



The Rev. Leonidas Young

Ex-mayor. Ex-convict. Ex-pastor.

"When you lie down with dogs, you come up with fleas." — Attorney Dannie R. Sutton Jr. on defending a former associate of Young's, June 23, 1999.



Joel Harris

Ex-mayoral aide. Ex-convict.

"He was getting beaten up — the federal prosecutor was leaking information through the press that he was a drug user, a homosexual, a money launderer." — Defense attorney Joe Morrissey on his trial-by-media defense of Harris on obstruction and drug charges, June 20, 2007.



Stephen Murmer

Butt painter. Former Chesterfield high-school art teacher. Suing the county.

"I am certainly proud of the ass painting. I do have a real job where I do have real clients, and I don't think they'd be too understanding if I was also the guy that painted with my ass." — On late-night show "Unscrewed With Martin Sargent," Oct. 23, 2003, three years before Chesterfield County fired him.



Joseph "Fightin' Joe" Morrissey

Former Richmond prosecutor. World traveler. Amateur boxer. State delegate?

"Thereupon Mr. Baugh begins pushing Mr. Morrissey over to the outside glass window and states I don't have to take this from a little punk faggot. Whereupon a couple of blows were passed." — Court reporter's transcript, Dec. 19, 1991.



J. Malcolm Pace III (1945-2004)

Hanover newspaper editor. Tomato lover.

Storyteller and teacher.

"There were no unimportant people and not an unimportant story. Not in his community." — John Edward, editor of Smithfield Times, April 15, 2004.

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