AP
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia’s game and fish department is participating in a national initiative to discourage drunken boating. Operation Dry Water is set for Friday through Sunday. In addition to heightened enforcement, the program aims to raise awareness about the dangers of boating under the influence and to reduce the number of accidents related to excessive drinking on waterways. In Virginia, boaters whose blood alcohol level exceeds the state limit of .08 can be arrested for boating under the influence. The offense is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
RICHMOND VA (AP) — Virginia’s governor is moving to have the Confederate flag banished from state license plates. Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced the decision Tuesday, citing the killings at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said states can restrict license plate designs. Virginia vanity plates include one that pays homage to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. McAuliffe said he’s asked Attorney General Mark Herring to take steps to reverse a 2002 federal court decision that said Virginia could not block the Confederate Veterans from displaying its logo – which includes the Confederate flag – on state license plates. At the same time, McAuliffe has asked his secretary of transportation to replace the plates depicting the flag. McAuliffe called the Confederate flag “hurtful” to too many people.
(Continue reading for the governor’s full statement)
The Virginia Lottery says Tom Cook purchased his Mega Millions winning ticket at a Kroger in Salem. Cook returned to the store Monday to pick up his check. The store also received $10,000 from the lottery for selling the winning ticket. Lottery spokesman John Hagerty says after taxes, Cook’s award is about $710,000. On prizes more than $5,000, the Lottery withholds 25 percent for federal taxes and 4 percent for state taxes. Cook told Virginia Lottery that he doesn’t have any immediate plans for his winnings. Cook is the fourth person in Virginia to win at least $1 million in Mega Millions within the past two months.
BEDFORD, Va. (AP) _ A judge has approved a mediated plan to keep Sweet Briar College afloat. Michael Kelly, a spokesman for Attorney General Mark Herring, says Bedford County Circuit Judge James Updike signed the papers Monday morning. Herring announced the agreement to keep the 114-year-old women’s college open late Saturday. The agreement calls for an infusion of donated money raised by determined alumnae, a change of leadership and the use of endowed funds to launch the 2015-16 academic year. School leaders announced in May that the college would be shuttered in late August amid insurmountable financial challenges. The announcement was met with skepticism by alumnae, who launched an aggressive campaign to keep Sweet Briar open. Herring credited all parties involved in the mediation and reserved special praise for passionate alumnae.
SWEET BRIAR, Va. (AP) _ Virginia’s attorney general has announced a mediated settlement to keep open Sweet Briar College, a tiny women’s college whose planned closure had stirred passionate opposition. Attorney General Mark Herring announced the memorandum of understanding to keep the school open late Saturday. He said the resolution came after hundreds of hours of negotiations involving the college, the local county attorney fighting its closure and a nonprofit intent on saving the school. Herring said the agreement would be presented to a judge on Monday for his approval and final settlement. Key elements of the agreement include the commitment of $12 million in donations from Saving Sweet Briar and a change of leadership at the school. School leaders announced in March that the 114-year-old school would close in August because of insurmountable financial challenges.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) _ A prosecutor says he found no evidence that any officers committed a crime in the arrest of a University of Virginia student who was bloodied and pinned to the ground in an incident that drew widespread attention. Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman said at a news conference Wednesday he would not have hesitated to charge any of the three state Alcoholic Beverage Control agents involved in detaining Martese Johnson had he believed the incident was malicious or racially motivated. He said the detention was justified after a bar owner who checked Johnson’s ID turned him away. The arrest prompted a public uproar after photos and video of Johnson circulated widely on social media in March. Johnson, who is black, could be heard on the video recordings calling the officers racist.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia has begun screening newborns for a disorder known as “bubble boy disease.” Media outlets report that Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced the addition of severe combined immunodeficiency to the screening list on Monday. Virginia requires newborns to be screened for more than two dozen potentially fatal disorders. Severe combined immunodeficiency affects about one in 50,000 live births. It impairs the immune system, making infants susceptible to infections. The disorder became known as “bubble boy disease” following the case of a Texas boy, David Vetter, who was born with a form of it in 1971. He spent most of his life in a plastic bubble until he died in 1984 at age 12.
vdacs.virginia.gov
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Winter wheat production is down in Virginia this year. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said Thursday that Virginia farmers expect to harvest 15.3 million bushels of winter wheat during 2015. That’s down 13 percent from the previous year. The forecast is based on crop conditions as of June 1 and decreased four percent from the May forecast. Seventy-eight percent of the winter wheat crop was rated in good to excellent condition.
FINCASTLE, Va. (AP) _ A Lexington man has pleaded no contest to a voluntary manslaughter charge in a road-rage fight along Interstate 81. Media outlets report 51-year-old Barry Samuel Camden entered the plea Thursday in Botetourt County court. Court records show Camden fought with 62-year-old Terry Kelly of Buchanan along Interstate 81 near Buchanan in August 2014. Kelly initially refused medical treatment but died the following month. Kelly had been taking a blood-thinning medication. A medical examiner determined he died of blunt force trauma. Camden faces up to 10 years in prison when he’s sentenced Sept. 29.
Bob and Maureen McDonnell
(Associated Press photo)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Former Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell has made her final written plea to a federal appeals court reviewing her public corruption convictions. In a brief filed Thursday evening with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, McDonnell’s lawyers restated their claims that the convictions were based on an overly broad interpretation of federal bribery law. Prosecutors have said in court filings that there is clearly enough evidence to support the convictions. A jury in September found former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife guilty of doing favors for a wealthy businessman in exchange for more than $165,000 in gifts and loans. The Richmond-based appeals court heard arguments in Bob McDonnell’s case last month but has not yet scheduled a hearing in Maureen McDonnell’s case.