AP
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia election officials say they are gathering information about a glitch that affected 32 voting machines in the southeastern part of the state. Virginia Department of Elections spokeswoman Rose Mansfield says that once all the information is received, the head of the department will conduct a complete review and probably give a report to the State Board of Elections. The faulty machines are a fraction of the 820 touchscreen devices that were used Tuesday across 25 precincts, most of them in Virginia Beach. They were taken out of service after voters complained that they tried to vote for one candidate, but the machine attempted to record the vote for another. Mansfield says all the machines were calibrated and tested before the election.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Tech has banned travel for university business to three West African countries because of the Ebola virus. President Timothy Sands announced the ban on travel to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia late Monday in a letter posted on Tech’s emergency management website. The across-the-board ban includes travel for research, educational purposes and outreach. Sands also discouraged employees and students from taking personal trips to the countries. His letter says Virginia Tech hasn’t identified any member of the campus community or any visitors who are at risk for Ebola. He says the travel ban was issued to ensure that the risk remains low. Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker tells The Virginian-Pilot that the university currently doesn’t have any programs or projects in the three countries.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A Russian member of the Taliban has made his first appearance in a federal court in Virginia, marking the first time a military detainee from Afghanistan has been brought to the U.S. for trial. Tuesday’s appearance represents the Obama administration’s latest attempt to show that it can use the criminal court system to deal with terror suspects. His arraignment on 12 charges has been set for Friday morning. U.S. officials say Irek Hamidullan is a Russian veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan who defected to the Taliban. He was captured in 2009 after an attack on Afghan border police and U.S. soldiers. He had been held at the U.S. Parwan detention facility at Bagram airfield ever since. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia was locked in a tight race with GOP challenger Ed Gillespie, a contest many thought the incumbent would easily win. Returns tabulated by The Associated Press late yesterday showed the race in Virginia was too close to call. That didn’t stop Warner from declaring victory. The latest unofficial returns show Senator Mark Warner with just over 49 percent of the vote in the race.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Dominion Resources Inc. is asking federal regulators to begin its environmental review of a proposed $500 million project to connect its transmission facilities to a proposed natural gas pipeline. The Richmond, Virginia-based energy provider says it took the necessary first step Tuesday in the extensive Federal Energy Regulatory Commission review process. Dominion is proposing to construct and operate about 34 miles of natural gas pipeline loop and modify existing compression facilities in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The company says the project it expected to be in service in late 2018. One of the projects main customers would be the 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline that would run through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. That project is a joint venture between Dominion, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and AGL Resources.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A new page on Virginia’s tourism website is helping to connect Chinese travelers to the state. Gov. Terry McAuliffe says the new Chinese-language landing page will help travelers plan their next visit to Virginia. The site provides Chinese travelers with access to itineraries and resources, including information about the region’s history, shopping opportunities, cultural experiences, outdoor activities and culinary offerings. Officials say the new landing page is the 16th of its kind. Tourism website
landing pages currently welcome visitors from countries like France, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, and Japan, each in their respective language.The creation of the landing page follows a collaboration earlier this year with Air China and the establishment of new nonstop flights between Beijing and Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A regional law enforcement initiative to gather and store personal telephone data collected in criminal investigations is drawing attention in Virginia. The American Civil Liberties Union has raised concerns about the legality of the agreement involving five Hampton Roads localities. ACLU of Virginia lawyer Robert Poggenklass said Monday that the agreement allows one agency to share legally obtained telephone data with a second agency, which doesn’t have to get a warrant. The ACLU is investigating whether the program violates a state data collection law. The Virginia attorney general’s office also is informally looking into the matter. Spokesman Michael Kelly says nobody has requested an official opinion. Officials in the participating cities have defended the program, which started in 2012. The cities are Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Suffolk.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) _ A 4-month-old red panda at the Mill Mountain Zoo is getting a roommate. The cub’s mother stopped nursing him soon after he was born at the Roanoke zoo on June 15. Since then, zoo employees have bottle-fed and raised him. The Roanoke Times reports the zoo had planned to move the cub, named Archibald, to another zoo so he could interact with other red pandas. Instead, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ red panda survival program decided to send an orphaned cub from another zoo to Mill Mountain Zoo. Mill Mountain Zoo interim director Robin Lentz says the cubs will teach each other how to be red pandas. Archibald’s parents and twin sister are still part of the zoo’s red panda exhibit.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) _ A lawyer has filed a new conditional pardon petition for an inmate serving six life terms plus 118 years for a home invasion robbery he committed as a juvenile. The Virginian-Pilot reports (http://bit.ly/1sa1KCl ) that attorney John Goggeshall is asking Gov. Terry McAuliffe to reduce Travion Blount’s prison term to between 10 and 15 years. Goggeshall argues that Blount’s current sentence is unconstitutional and against a recent Supreme Court precedent that prohibits life prison terms for non-homicidal crimes committed by juveniles. Blount, now 24, was 15 at the time of the robbery. Two 18-year-old co-defendants pleaded guilty and received 10 and 12-year sentences. Former Gov. Bob McDonnell granted Blount a conditional pardon, reducing the sentence to 40 years. But a federal judge voided that decision, saying the governor overstepped his authority.
LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) _ The Virginia Department of Forensic Science will no longer process marijuana in its labs for evidence in misdemeanor cases. Officials say the move is part of an effort to limit the number of backlogged drug cases. The department implemented the changes in its marijuana analysis policy last month. The News & Advance reports that starting next year, the agency will discontinue the routine analysis of marijuana in simple possession cases without a court order. State forensics director Linda Jackson says law enforcement officers can testify in court on their field test results. Data show the backlog of drug cases at the state forensics laboratories nearly quadrupled in controlled substances since September 2010. In the last year, the average turnaround time in controlled substance cases neared 70 days.