AP
HILLSVILLE, Va. (AP) _ Virginia State Police say two people suffered minor injuries when a small plane made a crash landing at Twin County Airport. State police say the 1979 Piper Cherokee Warrior crash landed about 200 to 300 feet short of the Hillsville airport’s runway while trying to land shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday. The pilot and a passenger were taken to Galax Hospital. State police identified the pilot as 70-year-old Roger L. Kempfer of Riner. The adult male passenger wasn’t identified. The cause of the crash is being investigated.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) _ The U.S. Justice Department says in a court filing that transgender students must be allowed to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity. The department says in a statement of interest filed Monday that failure to do so amounts to sex discrimination under Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972. The document is in response to a federal lawsuit filed against the Gloucester County School Board by a 16-year-old transgender student who wants to be allowed to use the boys’ restroom. The lawsuit says Gavin Grimm used the communal restrooms without incident until the board adopted a policy in December requiring transgender students to use a private facility. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an order allowing Grimm to use the boys’ restrooms
HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) _ A Jamaican citizen living in Virginia has been sentenced for his role in an international lottery scam. Federal authorities say 32-year-old Carlos O’Brien Rickets was sentenced Wednesday to 10 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski also ordered Ricketts to pay $74,450 restitution to his victims. A federal grand jury in Harrisonburg indicted Ricketts last November, and he pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. Ricketts participated in a lottery scheme based in Jamaica that induced elderly victims to send thousands of dollars to cover fees for sweepstakes prizes that the victims really had not won.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) _ A jury has awarded $700,000 to a Roanoke woman who sued a Salem clinic over her treatment. The Roanoke Circuit Court jury found that Virginia Orthopaedic PC was negligent in its treatment of Rhonda Bailey Palmer. Palmer’s lawsuit says she was treated at the clinic after she fractured her left humerus in July 2012. The lawsuit alleges that the bone was refractured during a follow-up procedure. Palmer’s attorney, Les Bowers, tells The Roanoke Times (http://bit.ly/1GNMN01 ) that the secondary injury delayed Palmer’s physical therapy. She suffered permanent damage as a result. The jury issued its verdict last week.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia took in more than 5 million tons of castoffs from other states in 2014. The state Department of Environmental Quality has issued its annual solid waste report, and it found that the amount of municipal waste, construction debris and other types of waste it accepted last year remained about the same. Virginia is one of the top states in the nation in terms of accepting out-of-state waste. As for waste generated within the state, that totaled about 15 million tons. The total amount of waste received at Virginia facilities in 2014 decreased by about 15,000 tons. Much of the solid waste sent to Virginia from elsewhere came from Maryland, New York, the District of Columbia, North Carolina and New Jersey.
DANVILLE, Va. (AP) _ The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors is ending its four-year battle to keep its tradition of opening its meetings with a prayer. A federal judge ruled the supervisor-led prayer was unconstitutional, and the board has decided to leave it at that. The Register and Bee (http://bit.ly/1BV0T2M ) reports that state Sen. Bill Stanley announced the decision Tuesday. He’s been representing the board. A county resident, Barbara Hudson, filed a lawsuit against the board over its practice in September 2011. She said the Christian invocations violate the Constitution’s prohibition against government establishment of a religion. During the legal back-and-forth, the board has had residents lead prayers during the board’s meetings.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The attorney for a man charged with defacing a Confederate monument in Richmond says his client regrets the action. Attorney Daniel Watkins says Joseph Weindl will reimburse the city for restoration costs. Police say the 39-year-old Richmond man spray-painted an “L” on the granite base of a monument honoring Confederate President Jefferson Davis on June 28. Weindl is charged with intentionally defacing a public monument. Watkins said Monday in a statement that Weindl told police the “L” stood for loser. Confederate symbols have been the focus of debate since the June 17 massacre at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina. The accused gunman had posed in a photograph with the Confederate battle flag. Watkins says Weindl wants to find legal and positive ways to foster dialogue on the issue.
SWEET BRIAR, Va. (AP) _ The nonprofit group that led the drive to save Sweet Briar College says it has delivered $5 million to the women’s school. Saving Sweet Briar Inc. says it delivered the first installment Tuesday under a mediated rescue plan to keep the school open during the upcoming academic year. The $5 million is twice what was required under the settlement and was delivered two days early. The group of determined former students began to act after Sweet Briar leaders announced in May they would be closing the small liberal arts school because of what they called insurmountable financial challenges. Saving Sweet Briar says the payment clears the way for new leadership at the school. That is scheduled to occur Thursday with a new board appointing Phillip Stone as president.
SALEM, Va. (AP) _ Virginia State Police say two Clifton Forge men have died in a two-car collision in Botetourt County. Senior Trooper C.C. McGlothlin said a Ford Mustang was traveling north on Route 220 Tuesday afternoon when it crossed the center line and struck a southbound Mazda. The occupants of the Mazda, 26-year-old driver Justin Travis Brandt and 21-year-old passenger Ronald Dennis Puller III, died at the scene. The driver of the Mustang, 27-year-old Kelly Ann Peters of Millboro, was flown to Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Police said the crash remains under investigation.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) _ A former contract worker at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant has pleaded guilty to charges he sexually assaulted three fellow workers. The government says Joshua Linkous of Dublin, Virginia, entered his pleas Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke. Under a plea agreement, the 39-year-old defendant will be sentenced to between 10 and 15 years in federal prison and at least 15 years of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a lifetime sex offender. Linkous pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual abuse by force and two counts of abusive sexual contact. Acting U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Giorno described Linkous’ actions as “deplorable.” He said Linkous used his position and power to submit his victims to unwanted sexual contact.