AP

wfir-linkLEXINGTON, Va. (AP) _ A former Washington and Lee University student has been sentenced to three years in prison in a fatal crash. Nicholas Hansel was sentenced in Rockbridge County Circuit Court after pleading guilty Thursday to aggravated involuntary manslaughter, drunken driving and DUI maiming. Hansel’s trial was scheduled to begin next week. State police have said Hansel was driving a sport utility vehicle carrying 10 other Washington and Lee students when the vehicle overturned in December 2013. One student was killed and several others were injured.

General-AssemblyRICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Legislation is advancing in the Virginia Senate to bar undocumented immigrants from attending state colleges at in-state tuition rates. On an 8-7 party-line vote Thursday, the Republican-controlled Education and Health Committee sent to the Senate floor a measure that would override a ruling last year by Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring. The ruling says some illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children can qualify for in-state tuition. Thousands of such immigrants have been allowed to remain in the country under an Obama administration program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. State Council of Higher Education for Virginia spokeswoman Kirsten Nelson told the committee 81 students have enrolled at Virginia four-year colleges at in-state rates in the nine months since Herring’s ruling was issued.

Bob and Maureen McDonnell (Associated Press photo)

Bob and Maureen McDonnell
(Associated Press photo)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Donations to former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s legal defense fund have dried up following his conviction on corruption charges. The fund’s quarterly report to the IRS was made public Thursday. It showed the fund raised only $3,240 in the last quarter of 2014, compared with a $320,000 total the fund raised in the three previous quarters combined. In September a jury found McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, guilty of taking gifts and loans from a vitamin executive in exchange for promoting his products. The former Republican governor’s legal fees are estimated to be in the millions, though the exact figures are not public. McDonnell was sentenced last week to spend two years in prison. His lawyers filed a notice of appeal earlier this week.

State-NewsRICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A bill to add sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes is dead in Virginia. The Republican-controlled Senate Courts of Justice Committee killed the measure Wednesday at the state Capitol on a 6-7 vote. The bill was introduced by Sen. Barbara Favola, an Arlington County Democrat. It would have added sexual orientation and gender identification to an existing state law requiring that hate crimes be reported to the State Police. The current law is limited to race, religion and ethnic origin. Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Mark Herring, both Democrats, supported the measure. Wednesday was the first day of the General Assembly’s 45-day session.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe

Gov. Terry McAuliffe

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says the state must do more to combat sexual violence on college campuses. In his annual State of the Commonwealth address to the legislature Wednesday evening, the governor proposed that Virginia develop a unified sexual misconduct policy for all the state’s public colleges and universities by July 31. He also proposed that state colleges begin placing a notation on students’ academic transcripts when they are removed from school for violating the institution’s sexual misconduct policy, code of conduct or honor code. The governor’s proposals come in the wake of a controversial report in Rolling Stone magazine about an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia. The magazine’s reporting has been called into question, but it nevertheless raised public awareness of sex abuse on campus.

State-NewsRICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Federal officials say nearly 300,000 Virginians have signed up for the health insurance marketplace under the program’s second open enrollment. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says 298,981 people signed up ahead of the deadline Thursday for coverage starting Feb. 1. For those who missed the deadline, an open enrollment period will extend until Feb. 15. If that deadline is missed, the earliest coverage for those seeking it would be in 2016. In the first month of the second enrollment, HHS says 83 percent of Virginia consumers who signed up were eligible for financial assistance.

Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell

Former Virginia
Gov. Bob McDonnell

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is renewing his request to remain free while he appeals his corruption convictions. McDonnell’s attorneys filed the request with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond on Wednesday, a day after filing notice that McDonnell would be appealing his case. U.S. District Judge James Spencer denied a request to release him on bond on Tuesday, meaning McDonnell could begin his two-year prison sentence by Feb. 9. A jury last year found McDonnell and his wife guilty of taking gifts and loans from a vitamin executive in exchange for promoting his products. McDonnell’s attorneys again argued that the appeal could take almost as long as the sentence itself and would raise substantial questions, including whether the government’s interpretation of an “official act” is correct.

State-NewsCHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) _ Uninsured Virginia residents who have serious mental illnesses can receive medical and behavioral health care through a new state program. Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced the launch of the Governor’s Access Plan, or GAP, on Tuesday. He says in a news release that the federal government approved a waiver for the program last week. McAuliffe says more than 50,000 uninsured Virginians experienced a serious mental illness such as major depression or schizophrenia in the past year. Through the GAP program, these residents will have access to primary medical and behavioral health care. The state’s share of the program’s cost will come from savings in the Medicaid program. The program will cost $13 million this year. McAuliffe says the federal government will provide matching funds for the program’s cost.

State-NewsRICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and the Republican House Appropriations Committee chairman say new rules are needed to protect taxpayers from faulty public-private transportation projects. McAuliffe and Delegate S. Chris Jones proposed legislation Tuesday that they say would increase transparency and reduce risks for the state on public-private partnership deals. Last year, McAuliffe shut down predecessor Bob McDonnell’s bid to build a $1.4 billion toll road along U.S. 460 before any work had begun. The state paid $300 million on the project before any dirt was moved or any environmental permits were obtained. McAuliffe and Jones have been critical of the way the McDonnell administration handled the 460 project. The pair is also proposing changes to the state’s transportation funding formula that McAuliffe said would help promote key statewide goals.

Joseph Morrissey

Joseph Morrissey

UPDATE: RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Lawmaker Joe Morrissey was able to win a special election because enough voters apparently weren’t bothered by his sex-scandal conviction. But whether he’ll find enough support among his colleagues to remain in the House of Delegates is another matter. Morrissey, who defeated two opponents Tuesday night, will return to a legislative body whose leaders have been researching the process for expelling him.

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Voters in one Richmond-area House of Delegates district are going to the polls to determine whether a jailed lawmaker will retain his seat. Democrat Joe Morrissey resigned after being convicted last month of a misdemeanor in a sex scandal involving a teenage girl. Then he decided to run as an independent in Tuesday’s special election to fill the vacancy. His opponents are Democrat Kevin Sullivan and Republican Matt Walton. Legislators from both parties denounced Morrissey as unfit to serve and probably will try to expel him from the House if he wins. Morrissey says the people, not politicians, should decide who will represent them. Morrissey, a Henrico County lawyer, is serving a six-month jail term for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He has denied any wrongdoing.