AP
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A new report shows that Virginia state spending on K-12 public education dropped 7 percent since 2005. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission issued the report Monday. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Secretary of Education Anne Holton expressed concern following the report’s release that the drop in state funding, along with an increase in the number of students with extra needs, could hurt the state’s education system. The report notes that the number of students living in poverty increased 45 percent in the last 10 years. The number of students not proficient in English went up by 69 percent.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Gov. Terry McAuliffe says tourism revenues increased more than 4 percent from 2013 to $22.4 billion last year. The governor said Monday that the tourism industry supported nearly 217,000 jobs and pumped more than $1.5 billion into the state and local economies in 2014. State and local revenues were up 5.6 percent from 2013. Officials say the travel industry was the fifth largest private employer in the state last year and made up 7 percent of Virginia’s total private employment. Domestic travelers spent $61 million a day in the state.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A nonprofit group says several of Virginia’s state House and Senate districts were unfairly gerrymandered for political reasons and should be redrawn. The group, OneVirginia2021, backed a lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of several Virginians in Richmond Circuit Court asking that 11 House and Senate districts be redrawn because they are not compact, which state law requires. The districts are currently held by both Republicans and Democrats. The lawsuit is separate from two federal lawsuits filed by Democrats that allege the General Assembly illegally packed black voters into a congressional district and 12 state House districts when it redrew boundaries in 2011. State Republicans have defended the current boundaries as legal and appropriate.
WASHINGTON (AP) _ AAA says the summer driving season has ended with the lowest national average gas prices for the Labor Day holiday in more than a decade. The auto club says the national average gas price was $2.34 per gallon for unleaded on Sunday. The statewide Virgina average price was just under $2.08 a gallon, and the Roanoke-Lynchburg region’s average was $2.01. Gas prices have been lower throughout the summer season compared with last year. AAA says motorists are now paying more than $1 less per gallon for gas compared to the same time last year. Drivers are saving about 6 cents per gallon compared to one week ago and 28 cents compared to a month ago.
(WDBJ7 photo)
MONETA, Va. (AP) _ Police say two people were taken to hospitals after a single-engine Cessna crashed and caught fire in Moneta. State Police Sgt. Richard C. Garletts says the plane crashed Sunday afternoon about a quarter-mile from the Smith Mountain Lake Airport. Two people were airlifted to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. One of them was later flown to Wake Forest for burn treatment. Their names were not immediately released. The pilot sheared the tops off a few trees but was able to avoid power lines and structures in a lakeside subdivision. Airport manager Mike Matt said the pilot was trying to land when the crash occurred. The Federal Aviation Administration was notified.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Two Republican lawmakers say they will hold a hearing in the near future on why the public can’t see a report by the Virginia State Police into the bloody arrest of a University of Virginia student by state Alcoholic Beverage Control agents. Sen. Frank Watkins and Del. Todd Gilbert announced Wednesday their plans for a joint hearing. Gov. Terry McAuliffe ordered the review after Alcoholic Beverage Control agents arrested Martese Johnson outside a Charlottesville pub in March. Photos and video of the bloodied 20-year-old were circulated widely on social media. McAuliffe’s administration said personnel rules prohibit the disclosure of the report. A prosecutor said a separate criminal investigation found no evidence of malice by the officers, who weren’t charged. Charges against Johnson were dismissed.
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WASHINGTON (AP) _ The father of Virginia shooting victim Alison Parker is urging lawmakers to defy the powerful gun lobby and pass legislation to strengthen background checks for gun purchasers. Andy Parker told a Capitol Hill rally that “we can, we must, and we will” prevail over opponents of new background check legislation, such as the National Rifle Association. Parker’s daughter and WDBJ-TV cameraman Adam Ward were ambushed and fatally shot during a live television interview last month at a community outside Roanoke. Parker was joined at the rally by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and the state’s two senators. They urged Congress to revisit a failed 2013 vote on legislation requiring background checks for online gun sales and purchases at gun shows.
Justin St. Clair
SALEM, Va. (AP) _ A Fincastle man has been sentenced to one year and two months in prison for leading police on a chase in which he was shot by a state trooper on Interstate 81. 26-year-old Justin Howard St. Clair of Fincastle pleaded guilty Thursday in Botetourt County Circuit Court to eluding police, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license. Prosecutors say a state trooper attempted to stop St. Clair for speeding on Memorial Day in Botetourt County. Police gave chase into Roanoke County, where the suspect crashed. St. Clair got out of the car with a firearm and was shot when he refused a trooper’s order to drop the weapon. St. Clair faces other charges in Roanoke County.
Bob and Maureen McDonnell
(AP photo)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Federal prosecutors say former Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell was a full participant in a bribery scheme and her corruption convictions should not be overturned. Prosecutors filed a brief Wednesday with the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that McDonnell received a fair trial and the appeals court should reject her appeal just like it did for her husband. A jury found a year ago that former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife were guilty of doing favors for a nutritional supplements executive in exchange for more than $165,000 in gifts and loans. Both have been sentenced to prison but have remained free on appeal. The 4th Circuit rejected Bob McDonnell’s appeal earlier this year. The former governor has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider his case.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia has shipped out 1,600 Sons of Confederate Veterans license plates, minus an image of a Confederate flag that Gov. Terry McAuliffe deemed divisive. A spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles said Wednesday the freshly minted plates are similar to the old ones. They still feature three Confederate military leaders astride horses above the name of the Southern heritage group. McAuliffe set the change in motion in June after a young white man was accused of killing nine African-Americans in a Charleston, South Carolina, church. Later, images appeared of the man posing with the Confederate flag. DMV spokeswoman Brandy Brubaker said the new Sons of Confederate Veterans plates should be in place by Oct. 3. The next day, the old plates are no longer valid.