The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg and Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg have approved rare midyear tuition increases to help offset drastic state funding cuts. The William and Mary Board of Visitors voted Friday to increase spring tuition by $300 and eliminate 18 positions, including 12 layoffs, to absorb cuts in state funding.

Editor's note: This story was originally published in The Virginian-Pilot in 2002 ROBERTA T. VOWELL THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT The Burgermeister has left the Festhaus.

WILLIAMSBURG Robert Bauman, Busch Gardens' original burgermeister, has died.

According to Amory Funeral Home in Grafton, Bauman died Saturday in Williamsburg at the age of 95.

WILLIAMSBURG One lane of Interstate 64 east will be closed today from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and again after 7 p.m. so that the Virginia Department of Transportation can replace about 500 feet of guardrail damaged by a crash on Thursday. The work will continue Friday night until it is completed, a VDOT spokeswoman said.

Colonial Williamsburg is going back on QVC. On Thursday at 9 a.m., items from The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s home brand will be featured during a live broadcast from Kimball Theatre in Merchants Square, according to a news release.

The Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk has been open for free since Sept. 2, and that's largely due to the passionate dedication of the museum's director, William J. Hennessey.

WILLIAMSBURG

The Virginia State Police issued an alert for a missing 81-year-old man who has short-term memory loss and a heart condition.

Charles Irving Seymour was last seen Thursday morning at his Williamsburg residence on Shady Bluff Point, according to the State Police alert. He may be driving to Florida.

WILLIAMSBURG Students at the College of William and Mary have elected a transgender homecoming queen.

Jessee Vasold took the field Saturday at halftime of the Williamsburg school's football game against James Madison. The junior and other members of the homecoming court were introduced to the crowd and posed for pictures.

The College of William and Mary is unusual if not unique among Virginia state universities in its policy of hiring legal advisers who don't answer to the state attorney general. // The latest such adviser at William and Mary is state Sen. Tommy Norment, R-James City County, who since July 2008 has had a $160,000-a-year job there as a legal counselor and part-time instructor.

A Williamsburg woman was killed and another person injured in a crash Tuesday night on the Peninsula, Virginia State Police said.

The crash happened at 9:23 p.m. on Penniman Road at Colonial Parkway, near the line between James City County and York County, State Police Sgt. Michelle Cotten said.