AP
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Motorists in Virginia are paying on average 6 cents less for a gallon of gasoline than they were a year ago. AAA Mid-Atlantic says the average statewide price was $3.08 on Wednesday. That’s down from $3.14 in the same period a year ago and $3.18 in September. In Richmond, the average price dropped to $2.98 on Wednesday, the lowest level since Feb. 17, 2011. Gasoline prices also fell in Charlottesville, Roanoke and the Norfolk area. Nationally, gas prices averaged $3.27 on Wednesday, compared to $3.44 in September and $3.35 a year ago. AAA Mid-Atlantic attributes the decline to an uneventful hurricane season and less demand since the summer driving season ended. Since the end of July, crude oil has been trading at under $100 per barrel.
MCLEAN, Va. (AP) _ U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and Republican challenger Ed Gillespie each claim they would be the more independent voice if elected to the U.S. Senate. Warner and Gillespie debated in front of business leaders Tuesday in Northern Virginia. Warner, a former Democratic governor, tried to distance himself from President Barack Obama by citing several areas in which he disagrees with the president, including energy issues and foreign policy. Gillespie, a former lobbyist and chairman of the Republican National Committee, said he would stand up to his party’s leaders and only vote for bills that helped ease the burden of working Virginians. The second of three planned debates was hosted by the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce and moderated by Chuck Todd, the host of NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A federal court has struck down the boundaries of Virginia’s black-majority 3rd congressional district. The 2-1 ruling Tuesday by a panel of judges leaves the district intact for November’s elections but orders the General Assembly to draw new boundaries by April 1, 2015. The court ruled in favor of two Virginia voters who accused the General Assembly of “racial gerrymandering” by improperly packing African-Americans into a black-majority district to make adjacent districts safer for Republican incumbents. The GOP holds an 8-3 advantage in Virginia’s congressional delegation. U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, the state’s only black congressman, has represented the district since 1993.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia’s governor has signed an order directing state agencies to comply with the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state. That includes allowing gay and lesbian state employees to add spouses and dependents to their health insurance. Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed the executive order Tuesday, a day after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower court ruling striking down Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriages. The first gay marriages in Virginia took place Monday afternoon. After an initial flurry, the pace appears to have slowed. The Richmond Circuit Court clerk’s office issued nine marriage licenses to same-sex couples Monday afternoon, but only two more by late morning Tuesday.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The rush to the altar by same-sex couples has slowed one day after gay marriage became legal in Virginia. After issuing nine marriage licenses to nine same-sex couples Monday afternoon, the Richmond Circuit Court clerk’s office issued only two by late morning Tuesday. The Rev. Robin Gorsline officiated at the weddings of two of those Richmond couples. He says he’s not hearing about a lot of ceremonies a day later. The Rev. Hilary Smith of Church of the Holy Comforter, an Episcopal church in Richmond, says she hasn’t presided over any more weddings a day after doing five Monday. Gay and lesbian couples began marrying in Virginia after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower court ruling striking down the state’s ban on such unions.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) _ InMotion has chosen Virginia as the site of its first manufacturing operation in the United States. The plant will be located in the Technology Manufacturing Building in Blacksburg. It’s expected to employ 80 workers over the next three years. InMotion and state and local officials announced the project Tuesday in a news release. InMotion says it will invest $5 million in the facility. InMotion produces electric motors and drives for electric and hybrid vehicles. The company is a subsidiary of Italy-based Zapi S.p.A.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) _ A former Rocky Mount police officer has been fined $400 for his role in a gun-buying scheme. James Marion Slate was accused of trying to recruit other people to become straw buyers of guns. He pleaded guilty in July to a federal conspiracy count. Straw purchases typically involve a person who legally buys a firearm but does so on behalf of someone else. The Roanoke Times reports that the 26-year-old Slate was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court. In addition to the fine, he received probation. Slate left the police force earlier this year. A co-defendant, David Haskins of Bassett, is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 25 on two counts of inducing straw gun purchases.
Tues., 10/7/14 4:48 a.m.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Gay and lesbian couples are getting legally married in the South for the first time, crossing a threshold into a conservative region that long stood united against same-sex marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Monday to turn away appeals from a handful of states including Virginia means marriage bans are unconstitutional throughout the 4th U.S. Circuit. And that means similar bans in West Virginia and North and South Carolina should fall as soon as judges in each state follow through on the appellate court’s orders. Carol Schall and Mary Townley of Chesterfield County challenged Virginia’s ban, wanting their California marriage to be recognized in the state where they are raising a 16-year-old daughter. But as with other civil rights battles, plenty of southern conservatives seem determined to fight to the bitter end.
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Hannah Graham
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Charlottesville’s police chief says an anguished statement from the parents of a missing University of Virginia student gives searchers a clearer understanding of the importance of their work. Police Chief Timothy Longo said Sunday that law enforcement is aggressively searching the county surrounding Charlottesville for any sign of Hannah Graham, who disappeared on Sept. 13. A day earlier, her parents made an emotional plea for whoever is responsible for the 18-year-old’s disappearance to help them find their daughter. Longo says he read the statement to searchers on Saturday and it gave them “a clearer understanding of the importance of finding Hannah Graham.” A search team of about 100 law enforcement officers and other trained searchers were combing through the countryside over the weekend to search for Hannah Graham.
Hannah Graham
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) _ The parents of a missing University of Virginia student are appealing for whoever is responsible for the disappearance to help them find their daughter. Sue and John Graham, whose 18-year-old daughter Hannah disappeared on Sept. 13, issued a statement on Saturday in which they describe the case as a nightmare. They note that despite thousands of tips from the public, the college sophomore has not been found, adding, “Somebody listening to me today either knows where Hannah is, or knows someone who has that information.” A 32-year-old Charlottesville man, Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr., has been charged by authorities with “abduction with intent to defile” in the disappearance of Graham. Police say forensic evidence also connects Matthew to the 2009 death of Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student.