AP
Gov. Terry McAuliffe
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Of all the governors in states voting on Super Tuesday, none is more personally invested in the outcome than Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. A longtime fundraiser and confidante of Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, McAuliffe is hoping for a decisive Clinton victory on the March 1 primary. Pundits expect Clinton to do well in Virginia, a moderate swing-state with a diverse Democratic electorate, against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Key to a Clinton victory is a strong showing among African-American voters, and her campaign has worked to court black voters and lined up the support of most black state lawmakers.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) _ Roanoke police are investigating a homicide, the city’s first of the year. Police say officers found a man dead inside a house on Tuesday afternoon after someone called 911. The cause of death is under investigation but police are calling it a homicide. No arrests have been made. Roanoke has averaged about nine slayings a year since 2011. Tuesday’s homicide occurred in the same neighborhood as last year’s first two slayings.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Lawyers for the Democratic Party of Virginia are headed to federal court to argue that the state’s voter ID law is unconstitutional. The trial is scheduled to begin Monday morning. It’s expected to last at least a week. Democrats filed the lawsuit last year challenging the 2013 law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. They claim the law illegally depresses minority voting. Republicans who championed the law say it’s a common-sense protection against election fraud. More than 30 states have some form of voter ID requirement, and lawsuits are pending in several states. A six-day trial on North Carolina’s law wrapped up Feb. 1, and the judge is expected to rule in a few weeks.
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) _ Republican presidential candidate John Kasich is planning a swing through Virginia ahead of the state’s March 1 primary. Kasich will hold a town hall at George Mason University in Fairfax at 10 a.m. Monday. The Ohio governor will then head to Charlottesville, where he’ll host a 2 p.m. event at the Miller Center. Kasich will end the day in Richmond with a town hall at 6:30 p.m. at Virginia Commonwealth University. Kasich told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that his goal is to collect delegates in such Republican contests as Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia, Mississippi, Michigan and Illinois.
Nicole Lovell
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) _ Search warrants in the death of a 13-year-old girl who police say was slain by a Virginia Tech student have been sealed by a judge as the investigation continues. The Roanoke Times reports documents that may contain key details of the prosecution’s evidence against the two individuals charged in Nicole Lovell’s death were sealed Feb. 1. Eighteen-year-old David Eisenhauer is charged with abduction and first-degree murder in the death of Lovell, who vanished Jan. 27. Another Virginia Tech student, 19-year-old Natalie Keepers, is charged with accessory before and after the fact and with illegally dumping Nicole’s body just across the state line in North Carolina. Authorities say Nicole was stabbed. Montgomery County prosecutor Mary Pettitt says she will continue to consider whether evidence could warrant a capital murder charge.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia lawmakers are considering whether to keep the names of police officers secret from the news media and public. The bill moving forward in Virginia is drawing sharp criticism from open records advocates who say the names are an important tool in watching whether police departments are hiring problem officers with taxpayer money. Supporters say handing over the lists of police officers and sheriff’s deputies would put them in danger during what they describe as growing contempt toward law enforcement. While officers have been threatened, particularly in high-profile cases, opponents called the bill an extreme reaction to an unlikely scenario. The bill would exempt the names and training records of law enforcement officials from Freedom of Information Act requests.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia taxpayers are having to pick up a $2,435 food and drink tab for a luxury box at last month’s Washington Redskins playoff game, despite a majority of the suite’s unidentified guests attending with no official public purpose. Citing an invoice that divided the tab between the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the office of Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice A. Jones, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that just four of the 15 attendees in the box for the Jan. 10 game represented businesses considering expansion in Virginia. The bill for food, beer and other drinks totaled $162.35 per person. Brian Coy, a spokesman for Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday that the food and drinks were pre-ordered by officials who were expecting a larger crowd of business prospects.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The Supreme Court of Virginia is considering the arguments of a group of southwest landowners in the path of a natural gas pipeline. Justices heard an appeal Tuesday in Richmond involving the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Its route covers 300 miles in West Virginia and Virginia. The landowners from Giles County objected to surveyors coming on their land to plot a path for the pipeline. A Circuit Court judge rejected the case, but Appalachian Mountain Advocates took the appeal to the Supreme Court. They are questioning a state law that allows pipeline surveyors on their land under Virginia’s eminent domain law.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ Canadian Pacific’s CEO hopes asking for preliminary approval of the structure of his proposed takeover of Norfolk Southern railroad will remove a stumbling block for the deal. CP CEO Hunter Harrison spoke at an investor conference Wednesday _ one day after his railroad said it would seek preliminary approval for the voting trust it has proposed. Harrison says he appealing to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board will persuade Norfolk Southern to negotiate. So far Norfolk Southern has rejected all of Canadian Pacific’s offers as “grossly inadequate.” Harrison says he thinks there would be compelling benefits to merging the railroads because the combined operation could haul more freight more efficiently.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The Virginia Senate has approved legislation that would recognize and regulate short-term rental websites like Airbnb. The measure allows Virginia homeowners to rent out all or part of their homes and establish procedures for the rental websites to pay local taxes. Supporters of the measure, including Airbnb, said short-term rentals were already operating in the Virginia and the legislation would help boost tax revenue. Opponents of the measure said it would improperly usurp power from local governments to regulate short-term rental companies, while also hurting the state’s hospitality industry. A similar measure has already passed the House.