Jason O. Watson Photography

Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and running mate Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) held a campaign rally in Fairfax, Virginia on September 10, 2008.

Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden appeared at a rally in the Newcomb Hall Plaza on the Grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA on September 17, 2008 to drum up support for their husband's Senator Barrack Obama (D-IL) and Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) and to raise awareness of women's issues.

Democrat Tom Perriello, challenging incumbent Virgil Goode (R-VA) for the 5th Congressional District of Virginia voted at the Ivy Polling Station at the Meriwether Lewis Elementary School in Ivy, VA on November 4, 2008.

Democratic Presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) was a guest of Larry Sabato's Introduction to American Politics class at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA on February 11, 2008 -- the day before Virginia votes in it's Presidental Primaries.

Tiki Barber returned to his alma mater, the University of Virginia, to promote his new book "Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond" at the UVA Bookstore in Charlottesville, VA on October 26, 2007.

Associate Justice to the United States Supreme Court Samuel Alito came to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA on February 7, 2007 to talk to Larry Sabato's politics class.

Lightning from a late-spring thunderstorm struck a house in the Redfields subdivision of Albemarle County (near Charlottesville), Virginia on the evening of June 19, 2007.

There was a boiler room / steam explosion in Maupin Dorm at the University of Virginia on October 13, 2007, about an hour after the end of the UVA v UCONN football game. UVA police and Charlottesville Fire personnel responded to the incident.

Community members from Charlottesville and the University of Virginia came together for a "Glocal" thanksgiving dinner at St. Paul's Memorial Church in Charlottesville, VA on November 16, 2007. Dishes consisted entirely of ingredients produced within a 100 mile radius.

UVA students camped out at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, VA on November 23, 2007 -- the night before the Virginia vs. Virginia Tech football game -- to get front row seats in the stadium.

A tractor trailer was struck and split in half by an oncoming train at South Battlefield Ave. in Kings Mountain, NC on March 14, 2008.

Randy Pausch gave a lecture on Time Management at the University of Virginia's Cabell Hall on November 27, 2007. The lecture, hosted by the School of Engineering, was part of Randy's "Last Lecture" series.