AP
BRISTOL, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s first casino has opened for business in a temporary space inside a former Bristol shopping mall.
The Bristol Casino will be open 24/7, offering 870 slots, 21 tables and a sportsbook. A line of customers wrapped around the building as they waited for Friday’s grand opening, WDBJ reported.
“We had to come and save my sister from spending all her money,” Christiansburg resident Cheryl Hubbard told the station. “And spend all of his,” she joked, pointing to her husband.
In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly approved legislation to allow developers to build large casino resorts in five cities — Norfolk, Bristol, Portsmouth, Danville and Richmond — in what supporters billed as a way to boost struggling economies.
Potential operators had to first clear a voter referendum. That happened in every city but Richmond, which rejected the initiative last year. But city officials have mounted an effort to bring the issue back a second time.
Bristol voters overwhelmingly approved their referendum, and the project got its license earlier this year.
Developers eventually plan to open a $400 million resort and Hard Rock casino, with a hotel, restaurants, bars and lounges, and a concert venue. The full-scale project is expected to open in 2024 and employ 1,200 people.
The initial location has 600 employees, local news outlets reported.
State Sen. Louise Lucas, a Portsmouth Democrat who had long pushed to change Virginia law to allow for casinos, was on hand to celebrate, according to the Bristol Herald Courier.
“It’s like I’m having my own personal party because it’s taken so long,” she said. “I’m so excited for Bristol and I’m going to be ready for the party in Portsmouth in February.”
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A tipster who warned police in Richmond, Virginia, about a potential mass shooting on July 4 told police the man who was planning the attack has connections to a drug gang that operates in Mexico and the U.S., according to a search warrant affidavit.
The tipster, who is described as a “concerned citizen” in the affidavit, identified the man planning the shooting as Rolman “Chapin” Balcarcel Ac, 38, one of two men arrested by Richmond police in connection with the alleged plot.
The tipster told police Balcarcel Ac has connections to the Los Zetas criminal syndicate. Detective Michael Kiniry wrote in the affidavit that “Zetas” is a reference to a gang affiliate with operations in Mexico and the U.S.
The tipster also told police that Balcarcel Ac showed him three guns on June 21.
The affidavit was used to obtain a warrant to search a home in Richmond where Balcarcel Ac lived with a second man who was also arrested in connection with the alleged plot, Julio Alvarado-Dubon, 52. It contains no details of the alleged plot, except to say that the tipster told police a mass shooting was planned in Richmond on July 4.
Authorities have said both men are from Guatemala and are in the U.S. illegally. The only charge against them is possession of a firearm by a non-U.S.-citizen, although Richmond police have said they could face additional charges.
During a news conference Wednesday, Richmond police Chief Gerald Smith said the tipster said the attack was planned for the Dogwood Dell Amphitheater, where an annual fireworks show is held. The search warrant application filed Thursday does not mention any specific location for the alleged planned attack.
The announcement from Richmond police that they had thwarted an attack came on July 6, two days after a gunman opened fire from a rooftop during a Fourth of July parade in the affluent Chicago suburb of Highland Park, killing seven people and injuring more than three dozen.
Richmond police have released few details about the alleged plot or said how formulated the plan was when they arrested Alvarado-Dubon on July 1. Balcarcel Ac was not arrested until July 5. They have not identified any motive for the alleged plot.
“It was a very serious threat. Any threat against life and certainly that of a mass shooting is gravely serious. No further information is being provided about this beyond what’s been provided at this stage,” police spokesperson Tracy Walker said in an email Friday.
“The suspect clearly announced a plan to carry this out and clearly had the means to do so based on the weapons and several hundred rounds of ammunition that was seized,” Walker said.
Both men are being held in local jails, Balcarcel Ac in Charlottesville and Alvarado-Dubon in Richmond.
Immigration officials told news outlets that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged immigration detainers on both men. Detainers are notices that the Department of Homeland Security issues to law enforcement agencies to inform them that ICE plans to take custody of someone who is currently in their custody.
Court documents filed in General District Court in Richmond say Alvarado-Dubon has lived in Richmond for three years and works in the construction industry. The documents say his visa expired four years ago.
The search warrant affidavit says that after police received the tip about a planned mass shooting, they contacted Homeland Security, then went to a home in Richmond, where Alvarado-Dubon answered the door and allowed them to come inside.
Kiniri wrote that police saw two Glock magazines and a rifle round in plain view in the living room. The affidavit said a second man appeared and provided a Colorado identification with the name “Rolman A. Balcarcel AC.” The affidavit said the man had two Colorado driver’s licenses, a Guatemala ID and a Mexico ID. An agent from Homeland Security Investigations determined that both men are in the U.S. illegally and that Balcarcel Ac has had two previous deportations, the affidavit states.
Alvarado-Dubon’s attorney, Jose Aponte, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday. No attorney is listed on court documents for Balcarcel Ac.
Police said Wednesday that officers seized two assault rifles, a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from the home.
ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP) — Sapporo U.S.A. has reached an agreement to acquire popular Southern California-based craft brewer Stone Brewing, the companies announced Friday.
Stone will continue to brew its beers and retain its branding, management and workforce while Sapporo produces Sapporo-branded beers for U.S. distribution at Stone’s breweries in Escondido, California and Richmond, Virginia, a press release said.
Sapporo intends to brew 360,000 barrels in the U.S. by the end of 2024, essentially doubling Stone Brewing’s current production.
The companies said the transaction is expected to close in August. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Stone Brewing was founded by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner in 1996 in San Marcos, California. Koch announced Friday in his blog that he will soon leave the company.
Under the deal, Stone Brewing will continue to operate its seven Tap Rooms and World Bistro & Gardens destinations.
Stone Brewing’s distribution business, Stone Distributing Co., is not part of the sale. It will become an independent company and continue current operations.
Operations of San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Co., acquired by Sapporo U.S.A. in 2017, will remain unchanged.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has denied a request from a company building a natural gas pipeline in Virginia and West Virginia to have a new panel of judges reconsider permits that have been struck down repeatedly .
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the motion from Mountain Valley Pipeline in a one-sentence order filed late Wednesday, The Roanoke Times reported.
Last month, the company filed a motion asking for a new panel to be assigned at random.
The 303-mile (487-kilometer) pipeline, which is mostly finished, would transport natural gas drilled from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations through West Virginia and Virginia. Legal battles have delayed completion by nearly four years and doubled the pipeline’s cost, now estimated at $6.6 billion.
Three-member panels are randomly assigned for incoming cases, but rules allow for the same judges to remain with a case sometimes when it comes up again. However, the company asserted that the Fourth Circuit didn’t follow its internal operating procedures.
The company also argued that the court’s continued rejection of government approvals, often by the same three judges, threatens public confidence in the court. But those who support keeping the same judges on similar cases argue that it’s more efficient as the judges can be more familiar with the history of cases and complex issues.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Seven members and associates of the MS-13 street gang have been convicted of sex trafficking in federal court after taking in a 13-year-old runaway and coercing her into commercial sex acts in Maryland and Virginia.
The seven defendants all face a mandatory minimum prison term of 15 years when they are sentenced in November.
The U.S. Attorney’s Officer for the Eastern District of Virginia, which prosecuted the case, announced the jury verdict Friday,
According to an FBI affidavit, the girl ran away from a youth home in Fairfax in 2018. She was sex trafficked for nearly two months in that year before she was recovered by the bureau’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking task force. The trafficking occurred in Woodridge, Virginia, and Mount Rainier, Maryland.
She was also beaten on two separate occasions 26 times on her backside with a baseball bat — once when she was initiated into the gang and once when she was accused of stealing from another gang member.
The seven defendants — six men and a woman — lived in suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia and ranged in age from 22 to 50.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed budget amendments met a mixed fate Friday, some clearing the General Assembly and others, including his push for a gas-tax holiday, voted down on a bipartisan basis. Legislators sent the Republican governor a compromise spending plan on June 1, and he returned it earlier this week requesting several dozen amendments. They spent Friday churning through them and also elected two Supreme Court justices.
The governor did not seek changes to many budget provisions that would offer tax relief to families and working people, including one-time rebates. But he did push anew for a three-month suspension of the gas tax, which Democrats and one Republican senator have consistently opposed. “Democrats failed to put politics aside for the good of Virginians — for a third time,” Youngkin tweeted after the amendment failed.
Youngkin’s other amendments involved an array of spending and policy areas, including abortion and criminal law. House Democrats repeatedly accused him of overreaching. Stop trying to legislate failed policy in the budget,” House Minority Leader Don Scott said.
On one amendment, even Republicans who control the House bucked the governor. A Republican made the motion to shelve a proposal to create a new felony penalty for certain actions during demonstrations aimed at judges or other officers of a court. Youngkin advanced the proposal after recent protests outside the northern Virginia homes of some U.S. Supreme Court justices.
The chamber also shelved a companion amendment for funding to the Department of Corrections for a potential increase in prison bed space associated with creating a new felony.
House Speaker Todd Gilbert said his caucus voted against the protest amendment because “it was a unique procedural move that we thought required additional vetting.”
The House agreed to the governor’s other proposals, which then crossed over to face more opposition in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
On a party-line vote, the Senate defeated an amendment to further limit when public funds can be used for abortion services. Currently, Virginia denies state funding to women who are eligible for Medicaid and seek abortions, except when the mother’s life is at risk and in cases of rape, incest or severe fetal diagnoses. The amendment would have eliminated the exception for incapacitating fetal diagnoses.
Senate Democrats also blocked an amendment to provide the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University $1.6 million to research ways “to increase opportunities for K-12 students.” The former governor, a Democrat, has backed Youngkin’s education initiatives.
Also, Senate Democrats voted down an amendment from Youngkin that would have allocated $229,570 in each year to add two support positions to the office of Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who presides over the chamber. Republicans defended the spending.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Tanner Tredaway hit two solo home runs and two doubles, Cade Horton pitched six strong innings and Oklahoma rolled to an 11-2 victory over No. 4 overall seed Virginia Tech on Sunday to win the Blacksburg Super Regional and advance to the College World Series.
Peyton Graham homered with one out in the top of the first and Tredaway cleared the fence with two outs to give the Sooners a 2-0 lead. Virginia Tech freshman Carson DeMartini hit a two-run shot to knot the score at 2-2 in the third.
Tredaway hit a go-ahead homer leading off against Hokies starter Jordan Geber (1-2) in a three-run fourth, Brett Squires had a RBI single and Kendall Pettis drove in the final run with a sacrifice fly for a 5-2 lead.
The Sooners tacked on two more in the fifth. John Spikerman singled and scored on a double by Blake Robertson. Tredaway doubled in Robertson. Pettis’ solo shot in the sixth made it 8-2.
Jimmy Crooks singled in a run in the seventh and Jackson Nicklaus had a solo homer in the eighth. The final run came on a ground out in the ninth by Wallace Clark as the Sooners scored at least one run in six straight innings.
Horton (4-2) pitched six inning, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out eight.
Oklahoma (41-22) will open against No. 5 overall seed Texas A&M in the double-elimination portion of the CWS. The Sooners will be making their 11th appearance, winning the event in 1951 and 1994.
Virginia Tech was aiming for its first trip to the CWS. The Hokies, who start five sophomores and a freshman, were hosts of a super regional for the first time after winning their first regional.
DANVILLE, Va. (AP) – Authorities say an 11-year-old boy who was pulled from the Dan River in Virginia by rescue personnel has died. The Danville Register & Bee reports the Danville Fire Department responded to a call behind a car dealership shortly before 4 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. Battalion Chief Bill Smotherman says two children were playing behind the car dealership when one child turned around and saw that the other was gone. Smotherman says the boy was pulled from the river by fire department members and brought to the shore. Rescue personnel performed CPR on the boy. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) – A Washington Commanders assistant coach referring to the Jan. 6 insurrection as a “dust-up at the Capitol” is just the latest off-field controversy for NFL franchise. Jack Del Rio apologized for the language he used when comparing the riot at the U.S. Capitol to protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. Multiple Virginia lawmakers cited Del Rio’s comments and other issues with the team as reasons to push off voting on a stadium bill for at least the rest of the year. A Congressional investigation into sexual harassment is ongoing. Owner Dan Synder and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell have been invited to appear before a House committee later this month.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – An author who’s written extensively about Virginia politics has filed a new lawsuit seeking to force all 100 members of the state’s Republican-controlled House of Delegates to face an unscheduled election this year. The lawsuit brought by Jeff Thomas was filed two days after the dismissal of a similar lawsuit filed by Democratic Party activist Paul Goldman. The 2021 elections were supposed to be the first held under constitutionally required redistricting based on the 2020 census. But because census results were delayed, the state held elections under old legislative boundaries. Thomas argues that voters in his Richmond-area district have had their voting strength and political representation “unconstitutionally diluted or weakened.”