Jorge "Lee" Cuestas Jr.
Holder of a high school diploma

Then: In June, Cuestas graduated from the school at HopeTree Family Services, the Baptist residential care facility in Salem, where he lived for 18 months. It was a hard-won conclusion to the up-and-down childhood that landed him there.

Now: Cuestas, 18, left HopeTree at the end of August with a to-do list: Move to Maryland near his girlfriend, attend Montgomery College, produce rap music. "All is going well with that," he wrote in December. He planned to release three albums in 2009 and felt the satisfaction of having a plan and his independence. "I'm livin' it up, bro."

--Pete Dybdahl

A school mascot
What Roanoke College needs

Then: They had been called the Roanoke College Maroons for a century, but it was a name without a mascot. So the Salem school announced in April they were in search of one and would start taking submissions.

Now: More than 300 mascot ideas came in, including Raisins, Ridgebacks and Red Pandas. Picking the winner will fall to the college president, Michael Maxey. The school said it would likely announce its pick this spring, with a mascot (in costume) making a debut in the fall.

-- Pete Dybdahl

Metro, The Coffee Pot
Restaurants that have banned smoking at certain times and in specific areas in the past year

Then: At least two Roanoke Valley eateries made changes to smoking rules in April. The dining room at the Coffee Pot in Roanoke, where bands often perform, is nonsmoking. In downtown Roanoke, Metro is smoke-free until 10 p.m., when smoking is allowed in the main bar and lounge.

Now: The policies have remained, and both restaurants report that patrons are adjusting to the changes. Restaurant owners said they are not planning additional changes to the smoking rules.

-- Jenny Kincaid Boone

Craig County movie
Mom tries to sell VW bus to help fund son's directorial debut, "The Trailer Park."

Then: Former Roanoke County resident Vincent Sweeney wrote and directed "The Trailer Park," which he filmed in October in Craig County and Roanoke. The movie, which starred Sweeney's brother Eric in the lead role of an eccentric dude who lives in -- you guessed it -- a trailer park, wrapped up on time and on budget. Trouble was, Sweeney had no money left for editing. That's when Sweeney's mother, Denise, offered to put her beloved 1971 Volkswagen camper bus up for sale to help raise money and finish the flick.

Now: Denise Sweeney sold the bus for $3,900 in early December to a grandmother who bought it for her 21-year-old grandson.

"He has all kinds of plans for it," Sweeney wrote in an e-mail. "Grinning from ear to ear. Made it a little easier as he pulled it out of the parking lot! Still had to wipe away a tear ... or two."

As for the film, Sweeney, who owns the 1960s-themed shop A Little Bit Hippie at Towers Shopping Center, said her son has completed a "big chunk" of the editing, with about 90 percent finished. The last big task is to add music to scenes. That alone could cost a couple of thousand dollars, which Vincent Sweeney is still trying to raise.

-- Ralph Berrier Jr.

Sam Rasoul
Democratic challenger for U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte's seat in the 6th Congressional District

Then: Rasoul became the youngest congressional candidate in the 2008 race when he began campaigning shortly after the 2006 election, promising to change how things are done on Capitol Hill. Despite a passionate base of supporters, Rasoul fell short, drawing only 37 percent of the vote.

Now: Since his Election Day loss, Rasoul has sent a series of four e-mails to his campaign mailing list, outlining policy proposals for health care, terrorism and the economy.

"Election Day comes and goes but the issues are still there, and big things have been happening, especially in the economy," Rasoul said. "I felt it necessary to keep some basic communication with my constituents, with my supporters, letting them know that we're still thinking about them and paying attention to the issues we fought for so hard for two years."

He declined to say whether he will run again in 2009 or in 2010.

-- Mason Adams

Melanie Blanding
A young Roanoke photographer

Then: Her portrait series on Congolese women traumatized by violence was displayed in March at the O. Winston Link Museum.

Now: Blanding is working on her master's degree in visual anthropology at the University of Manchester in England, but a framed set of her work tours galleries around the country. "Women in War Zones: Sexual Violence in the Congo," a documentary co-produced by her brother, Scott Blanding, is scheduled to be shown at the Taubman Museum of Art in late March. The film is being used to help raise donations for The Wamu Fund, which is named after one of the women featured in the film.

"Through donations over the past two years, that fund has provided 16 medical textbooks for the doctors at Panzi Hospital, where we lived with women who suffered and where the photos and film are based," Melanie Blanding wrote in an e-mail. "This is the start of a library that we hope to see grow."

-- Neil Harvey

Heather Pence
Heather Pence of Christiansburg was trying to adopt a little girl from an orphanage in Vietnam.

Then: Pence, who is married and a mother of three, was waiting in May for the adoption to proceed for Maya, now 17 months old. However, Maya's province would not release her paperwork.

Now: On July 28, the family was informed that the Vietnamese government had refused Maya's adoption, along with some others. No reason was given. Still, the family's desire to adopt a child has not diminished.

"I have hope because I know it's something that God has called us to do," Pence said.

-- Sharla Bardin

Smith Mountain Lake navigational markers
The Tri-County Lake Administrative Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard have played tug of war over whose responsibility it is to replace the more than 300 navigational markers on Smith Mountain Lake.

Then: The federal agency issued a letter in July ordering the commission to complete the $150,000 overhaul, and there is a provision for civil penalties -- fines of as much as $100 per marker per day. The waters became ever more muddied when Appalachian Power Co., in its federal relicensing application, proposed to assume responsibility over the markers.

Now: The commission responded to the Coast Guard's July letter, requesting to delay the application process until ownership and maintenance of the lake markers are sorted out. U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Brian Dunn said he planned to issue a written response to the commission by the end of the year. Because current ownership is not in question, Dunn said the commission needs to provide additional detailed information about the existing markers, such as whether they are lighted, what is being marked and if the marker is fixed or floating.

-- Courtney Cutright

A skate park in Bedford County
An anonymous donor contributed $100,000 and Bedford County set aside land in Falling Creek Park for an in-ground concrete skate park.

Then: The board of supervisors voted in March to amend the county's procurement ordinance to allow the selection of a firm to design and build the skate park. Construction will be funded completely by private donations; the county's role will be maintenance and upkeep of the site.

Now: The deadline for requests for qualifications was Dec. 19, said Michael Stokes, the county's director of parks and recreation. A committee will narrow the pool of applicants to a minimum of two candidates, who then each will submit three design options based on input from the community and other criteria.

"We hope by sometime in mid- to late January to select a design-build contractor to start working on the plan," Stokes said.

-- Courtney Cutright

Lottery misprint
Roanoker Aubrey Roberts purchased one of 609 misprinted winning Virginia Lottery tickets on the computer game Fast Play Super 7's in October.

Then: According to Roberts' ticket, it appeared he had won $7,777. But when a convenience store clerk scanned the ticket's bar code to verify the winnings, the computer reported the ticket was worth only $2. The flawed game was suspended by 9 a.m. the day it was released, but 2,336 tickets already had been sold. After consulting the state attorney general's office, lottery officials offered a settlement of about $2,000 for the apparent top-prize winning tickets.

Now: Applications were due Nov. 21 to be eligible for the settlement, and Roberts said he submitted his on time. He had not received a response as of Dec. 18. "We received 272 applications and that's for 430 tickets," said John Hagerty, a lottery spokesman. That means 179 misprinted winning tickets were either unclaimed or the tickets were paid for the amount verified by the computer, which in most cases was $2. "As far as tickets still out there, we don't know [exactly what happened] and really don't have any way of knowing," Hagerty said.

-- Courtney Cutright

Stephanie Ross Clark
Mayor of Covington, the first woman and the first black to hold the office

Then: On July 1, Clark made history when her fellow city council members chose her to be the new mayor. The 41-year-old had never intended to pursue a career in politics, but her record of volunteerism in the school system and activism in the community brought her to council's attention when they needed to appoint a new member in 2003. She has since been unopposed for office. She said being the city's first black and first female mayor was "a lot on my shoulders, but I think I can handle it." Fellow politicians in Covington praised both her personality and her singing voice.

Now: Clark says it's not uncommon for residents to stop her to talk about city concerns when she goes out to eat or shopping at Wal-Mart. As a result, she has to time her outings carefully, though she's more than happy to talk. The council has had to deal with some tough issues this year, including the effects of the slowing economy and the potential consolidation of schools. To prevent communication problems, Clark tries to provide an answer to every question she's asked, she says.

She regrets that her duties as mayor keep her from spending as much time volunteering for a children's outreach program as she once did, but because of her history-making appointment, she's received letters from as far away as California and Alaska. And somewhat to her surprise, she's being asked to sing in recitals, which she had not done before.

-- Mike Allen

Vinton skatepark
Then: The vandalism-plagued skate park in Vinton was closed in September despite the protests of some skaters, and a citizens committee was formed to try to raise interest in creating a new park.

Now: The committee has created a Web site -- vintoncommunitypark.org -- to enlist community support for a new park that would include skateboarding facilities. Vinton town staff examined two potential sites, but council has postponed further action until the citizens group demonstrates that it can raise money and other support.

-- Cody Lowe

Lespia King and George McMillan
Former Roanoke sheriff's deputy and ex-sheriff

Then: In January, former Deputy Lespia King won a federal civil lawsuit against ex-Sheriff George McMillan and the city sheriff's office, saying the sheriff made sexually suggestive comments and touched her in inappropriate ways.

Now: King, who took a deputy job in Roanoke County in 2004, is working court security and has not collected any of her $150,000 award. The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to decide soon if it will review the case. Whatever happens, she wrote in a recent e-mail, nothing can take from her the moment the jury decided in her favor. McMillan, who lost the sheriff's election in 2005 and later worked for Roanoke Airport Transportation, said he is enjoying retirement and spending time with church and family activities and, when the weather permits, playing golf.

-- Mike Gangloff