AP
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A Southern heritage group that is fighting to keep the Confederate battle flag on Virginia license plates is holding its annual convention in the former capital of the Confederacy. The Sons of Confederate Veterans began its five-day convention this week in suburban Richmond. The 120th gathering is expected to attract hundreds of members, and possibly some protests. A reception is planned at the White House of the Confederacy. The SCV announced last week it would go to court to keep the confederate flag on Virginia plates. A court hearing is scheduled later this month. Gov. Terry McAuliffe moved to have the flag banished from state plates last month, following the slayings of nine African-Americans in a Charleston, South Carolina, church. McAuliffe called the flag’s image divisive.
DUBLIN, Va. (AP) _ The New River Bridge on Interstate 81 is being dedicated in memory of a Virginia State Police trooper who was killed in the line of duty. The bridge will be designated as the Trooper Andrew D. Fox Memorial Bridge. Family and friends, as well as state and local officials, are expected to attend the dedication Thursday at the New River Criminal Justice Training Academy in Dublin. The 27-year-old trooper was killed in October 2012 while working on special assignment at the State Fair of Virginia north of Richmond. A Tazewell County native, he had been assigned to Pulaski County at the time of his death. The bridge that will bear his name is located at the Montgomery-Pulaski county line.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam says he’s raised more than $341,000 since April for a potential gubernatorial bid. Northam said Wednesday that he’s also raised more than $500,000 since April for his political action committee and campaign account as part of an effort to help Democrats take control of the state Senate this November. Northam is the first major potential gubernatorial candidate in 2017 to open a campaign account dedicated to that race. A potential Democratic rival, Attorney General Mark Herring, reported raising more than $224,000 for his political action committee since April. A practicing physician in Norfolk, Northam said in a statement that he’s spent recent months helping to recruit and headline events for Democratic candidates around the state.
LEXINGTON, Va. (AP) _ Washington and Lee University has concluded a seven-year fundraising campaign, far exceeding its $500 million goal. The Lexington school says the campaign concluded Wednesday having raised more than $542 million. That’s 8 percent above the initial goal. Sixty-one percent of the money is going to Washington and Lee’s endowment. As of May, it had a market value approaching $1.5 billion. Other areas to benefit from the fundraising include scholarships and financial aid, faculty salaries and new campus buildings, among others.
WHEATON, Md. (AP) _ Prosecutors face several challenges as they attempt to prove that a man they’ve charged is responsible for the 40-year-old slaying of two sisters who were abducted from a mall. Among the obstacles: The suspect says he didn’t do it, no bodies have been found, and other physical evidence has vanished. Authorities announced on Wednesday that convicted sex offender Lloyd Lee Michael Welch Jr. has been charged in the deaths of the Lyon sisters, 12-year-old Sheila and 10-year-old Katharine. They vanished from a suburban shopping mall near their home in Wheaton, Maryland, in 1975. According to the indictments, the girls were slain in Bedford County, Virginia, about 200 miles away. Bedford County commonwealth’s attorney Randy Krantz says he and his colleagues face “a difficult burden.” Court documents show Welch told police he left the mall with the girls but denied killing them.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The Federal Aviation Administration has approved the use of a drone to deliver medical supplies to a clinic in Wise County. The approval came Tuesday, clearing the way for the unmanned, six-rotor aircraft to make a series of short sorties to the Remote Area Medical clinic on Friday. The annual clinic tends to the medical and dental needs of thousands in southwest Virginia. According to organizers, the drone will hover over a horse ring at the fairgrounds and lower medical supplies. The supplies will be released from their tether once they make contact with the ground. Some organizers are hopeful the development of a drone industry will take flight in the Coalfields region, which has been battered by layoffs amid decreased demand for coal.
SWEET BRIAR, Va. (AP) _ Sweet Briar College says nearly 300 women are scheduled to enroll in the upcoming academic year. Sweet Briar President Phillip Stone calls the commitments from returning and new students a “starting point” to get the 114-year-old women’s college back on track after a tumultuous spring and summer. The private liberal arts college was scheduled to close in late August after its former president and board said the school’s financial challenges were insurmountable. But a fierce campaign by former students ultimately led to a mediated settlement, sweeping in new leadership and millions in donated dollars. Sweet Briar’s new governing board met Tuesday by teleconference. Among its actions, it set 2015-16 tuition and fees. They will remain the same at $47,095. In the spring semester, the school’s enrollment was about 530 students.
BUENA VISTA, Va. (AP) _ Mundet-Hermetite Inc. plans to close its manufacturing plant in Buena Vista by the end of September. The company notified the plant’s 46 workers on Wednesday that the plant will be closed. The plant manufactures cigarette tipping, which is the paper that surrounds cigarette filters. Mundet-Hermetite says the plant’s operations will be consolidated to plants in Colonial Heights and Surgoinsville, Tennessee. The company says the plant’s shutdown is a step to match production capacity with market demand in the U.S. for cigarette products.
Authorities say a freight train was struck from behind by a second train traveling in the same direction in Virginia, causing one locomotive and five empty cars to derail. Some diesel fuel was spilled, but no serious injuries have been reported. Norfolk Southern spokeswoman Susan Terpay as saying that a westbound Norfolk Southern train was struck from behind by a second westbound Norfolk Southern train in Dublin on Tuesday afternoon. She said that in addition to the five empty cars, one of the two locomotives pulling the second train derailed, spilling some diesel fuel. According to Terpay, two crew members from the second train were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe has set a tentative date for a court-ordered special legislative session to redraw Virginia’s congressional boundaries. McAuliffe’s office said Tuesday the governor has informed leaders of the GOP-controlled General Assembly that he intends to call a special session on Aug. 17. A 2-1 ruling in June by a panel of judges directed the General Assembly to draw new boundaries by Sept. 1 to correct a 2012 redistricting plan the court found used race as the predominant factor in drawing boundaries. But Republican state legislative leaders asked the judges Tuesday for an extension, saying said they want to wait and see if the U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal on the case. McAuliffe said he’d reconsider the special session date if the judges granted an extension.