AP
Joseph Morrissey
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A young woman at the center of two criminal cases involving a Virginia lawmaker has given birth to a baby. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Del. Joseph Morrissey on Sunday confirmed the birth of a 7-pound, 8-ounce boy. Morrissey told the newspaper he wouldn’t make any further comment. The newspaper says no information has been released regarding the child’s father. Morrissey was released from jail last week after completing a sentence for a misdemeanor. The 57-year-old lawmaker pleaded no contest in December 2014 to contributing to the delinquency of a minor in a sex scandal involving a 17-year-old girl. He faces an April 28 trial on charges of forging a document that purportedly shows the girl’s father had agreed to pay $50 a week into her college fund.
Bob and Maureen McDonnell
(Associated Press photo)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife have put their suburban Richmond home on the market. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Friday that Bob and Maureen McDonnell are seeking $944,000 for the 5,000-square-foot home. They purchased the home in 2006 for $835,000, according to Henrico County records. The house is assessed at $813,800. A federal jury in September found the McDonnells guilty of doing favors for a nutritional supplements executive in exchange for more than $165,000 in gifts and loans. The former governor was sentenced to two years in prison. His wife was sentenced to one year and one day. Both are free on bond while they appeal.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service is extending the public comment period on whether portions of the Jefferson National Forest can be surveyed for a possible pipeline route. A special use permit would be required before surveying could be done in the national forest for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline. The Forest Service’s original deadline for comments was Feb. 13. But The Roanoke Times reported Friday that the comments would be taken until April 2. The extension is a response to a new permit application filed by Mountain Valley Pipeline. The pipeline would transport natural gas from Wetzel County, West Virginia, to another pipeline in Pittsylvania County.
Mark Herring
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is launching his second annual public safety tour of the state. Officials say the meetings will allow Herring to hear from local public safety and law enforcement leaders and elected officials about challenges in their area and ways that his office can help protect their communities. The tour is set to begin Monday in Norfolk with stops planned later in the week in Henrico, Goochland, Hanover, Chesterfield and Powhatan counties. Other stops are scheduled through April. Herring’s office says invitations are being extended to community leaders, law enforcement and public safety officials from more than 58 agencies and localities. Last year’s tour included 22 regional meetings with more than 60 agencies. Officials say this year’s tour expands to many localities not previously visited.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Retailer Lumber Liquidators says it stands by its products and will pay for the safety testing of laminate floors for qualifying customers. The Toano, Virginia, company on Thursday addressed concerns raised following a “60 Minutes” report said the company’s laminate flooring made in China contained high levels of formaldehyde, a carcinogen. The report earlier this month said the company’s laminate flooring fell short of California’s standards, something it denies. CEO Rob Lynch says the indoor air quality test kits that customers will receive are the same quality used by federal officials to test workplace exposure. So far, less than 1,000 customers have requested the testing kit. If tests show high levels of formaldehyde, Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. says it will pay for further testing and may pay to reinstall flooring.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is set to head to Cuba later this year as part of an economic development and trade mission. McAuliffe made the announcement on Tuesday at the Governor’s Conference on Agricultural Trade in Richmond following remarks by Cuba’s top diplomat in the U.S. Media outlets report that the governor has five other economic development trips planned by the end of the year. He’s looking to head to Cuba by the middle of the year, possibly in late spring. McAuliffe says Cuba represents a tremendous economic opportunity for Virginia. The state already is one of Cuba’s top three U.S. trading partners and has been trading with the island country for more than a decade. Most of the trade comes from the sale of soybeans, apples, poultry and pork.
Joseph Morrissey
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A Virginia lawmaker has completed his sentence for a misdemeanor stemming from a sex scandal. Media outlets report that Del. Joe Morrissey was released from Henrico Jail East in New Kent County on Tuesday. The 57-year-old Henrico County lawmaker was on a work-release program that allowed him to spend his nights in the jail and days at the General Assembly. He was convicted last December of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in a sex scandal involving a 17-year-old girl. Despite the scandal, the former Democrat won re-election in January as an independent. Morrissey is facing new felony charges of fabricating a document.
BEDFORD, Va. (AP) _ A Roanoke man has pleaded no contest to charges of trying to arrange the killing of his estranged wife. Online court records show Kevin Colgan entered the plea to solicitation to commit murder on Tuesday in Bedford County Circuit Court. He’s scheduled to be sentenced May 26. Colgan was accused of offering to pay an undercover detective to kill his wife. He was arrested on June 19, 2014. The couple’s divorce was finalized in August 2014.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A divided federal appeals court has upheld Virginia’s policy of automatically holding death row inmates in solitary confinement. In a 2-1 ruling Tuesday, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a judge’s finding that the policy violates inmates’ due process rights. The policy was challenged by Alfredo Prieto, who was sentenced to death for the 1988 murders of two George Washington University students in Reston. The appeals court’s majority said prison officials are entitled to broad latitude in establishing death row security procedures. Judge James Wynn said in a dissenting opinion that inmates should have an opportunity to argue that they don’t belong in solitary confinement. Nearly all the nation’s 32 death rows have some form of isolation, but it’s unclear how many impose it automatically.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) _ The University of Virginia has formed a partnership to advance research on new and environmentally friendly energy sources. The partnership is with MAXNET Energy, a new initiative of Germany’s Max Planck Society. Researchers from U.Va. and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion will work collaboratively on developing processes for the clean and efficient production of energy. They’ll also work on improved energy storage and distribution systems. Research efforts will focus broadly on new methods to use solar energy to produce fuels, new materials for energy storage and new technologies for the clean conversion of natural gas. U.Va. and the Max Plank Society have each committed $2 million to jump-start the research efforts for a planned initial five-year period of collaboration.