AP
Gov. Terry McAuliffe
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says he was not aware that his chief of staff made a potential job offer to the daughter of a state senator who was considering resigning this summer. McAuliffe says Paul Reagan acted alone in making a possible offer to the daughter of former state Sen. Phil Puckett in order to keep Puckett in office. Reagan’s possible job offer was made public Thursday by The Washington Post. Puckett’s resignation gave Republicans control of the Senate and hurt McAuliffe’s chances of expanding Medicaid, his top legislative priority. The FBI has investigated a possible job offer made to Puckett by the GOP-controlled tobacco commission around the time of his resignation.
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) _ A 69-year-old man has died after being shot by police responding to a report of a domestic disturbance in Christiansburg. According to media outlets, Christiansburg police Maj. Dalton Reid says a preliminary investigation determined that the man exited the home and pointed a gun at one of the officers Thursday. A news release from the town says officers from its police department and a Montgomery County deputy sheriff “engaged the man,” and at least one officer fired a shot. The man’s name has not been released. Virginia State Police are investigating.
Richard Allen Welch, Sr.
(Source: Bedford Co.
Sheriff’s Office)
BEDFORD, Va. (AP) _ Authorities have named a second person of interest in the 1975 disappearance of two young Maryland sisters. Montgomery County, Maryland, Deputy Police Chief Russ Hamill says it’s believed Richard Allen “Dick” Welch Sr. was a security guard in the Wheaton, Maryland, area where 10-year-old Katherine Lyon and 12-year-old Sheila Lyon disappeared after walking to a mall. A search has been ongoing on Taylor’s Mountain in the Thaxton area of Bedford County. At a news conference Thursday in Bedford, Hamill said it’s believed Richard Welch owned property there. He thinks “there’s a good chance” the girls are on the mountain. Hamill wouldn’t disclose Welch’s whereabouts. Police previously identified Welch’s nephew, Lloyd Welch, as a person of interest. He’s a child sex offender in a Delaware prison. A grand jury will convene Friday.
The Supreme Court has taken no action on appeals asking it to take up the issue of same-sex marriage. The gay marriage cases are not among those the court agreed to hear in its term that begins next week. The justices are expected Monday to turn away appeals in hundreds of cases, although it is not likely the same-sex marriage cases will be among those. The justices meet again in private on Oct. 10 to consider new cases, and decisions about what to hear could be announced then or on Oct. 14.
Jesse Matthew, Jr.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) _ The man charged with abducting a missing University of Virginia student didn’t appear in court Thursday morning for a bond hearing on reckless driving charges as expected. Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. was scheduled for a 9 a.m. hearing in Albemarle County General District Court, but a judge read his name and then quickly moved to the next case without any explanation of where Matthew was or why he didn’t appear by video feed. The 32-year-old Matthew also is charged with abduction with intent to defile 18-year-old Hannah Graham. His bond hearing on that felony count has been set for Dec. 4 in Charlottesville.Authorities say he was charged with reckless driving after speeding away from a police station Sept. 20. He was apprehended last week in Texas.
Jesse Matthew, Jr.
(Photo: Charlottesville PD)
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) _ The man charged with abducting a University of Virginia student was mentioned in a police file in connection with a sexual assault at a different university in 2003. Christopher Newport University said in a statement Wednesday that Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. was included in a campus police file stemming from an on-campus sexual assault on September 7, 2003. Matthew left school afterward but was never charged with a crime. Matthew was a student at CNU from January 2003 until October 2003. He transferred to the university after three years at Liberty University in Lynchburg. He was on the football team at both schools. Matthew is charged with abducting missing U.Va. student Hannah Graham with intent to defile, or sexually molest, her.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginians have less than two weeks remaining to register to vote in next month’s general election. The deadline to register is Oct. 14. The Nov. 4 ballot features the U.S. Senate race between Democratic Sen. Mark Warner and Republican Ed Gillespie, as well as congressional races and some local races. Virginians can register at their local voter registrar’s office, at Department of Motor Vehicles offices or on the state Department of Elections website at www.elections.virginia.gov. To complete online registration, applicants must provide a driver’s license or DMV identification card number. Applicants who don’t have a DMV number can still fill out the application online but must print and return the completed form to the registrar’s office.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine is arguing anew for federal recognition of Virginia’s Indian tribes. The Virginia Democrat is appealing to the Bureau of Indian Affairs regarding the federal acknowledgement of American Indian tribes. He’s encouraging the bureau to adopt greater flexibility in its recognition process to overcome the barriers Virginia’s tribes have confronted. One hurdle to recognition is that many of the tribes’ records were held in courthouses that were burned during the Civil War. Kaine and Sen. Mark R. Warner introduced legislation in 2013 to grant federal recognition to six Virginia Indian tribes. A companion bill in the House was introduced by U.S. Rep. Jim Moran. Kaine says he continues to push for passage of the legislation.
Va. AG Mark Herring
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) _ The acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy will give the keynote address at a conference in Charlottesville. Michael Botticelli’s speech is just one item on the agenda of Thursday’s daylong Virginia Heroin and Prescription Drug Summit. Also scheduled are panel discussions on stories of tragedy and survival, state heroin data and policy and legislative strategies. The event is being coordinated by the attorney general’s office and the state Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security. It’s part of a five-step plan recently announced by Attorney General Mark Herring to combat prescription drug and heroin abuse. Herring says state figures show that fatal heroin overdoses rose from 103 in 2011 to 197 in 2013.
Dr. Marissa J. Levine
State Health Commissioner
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia’s health commissioner is recommending that the state look anew at regulations enacted under the McDonnell administration that established hospital-style building requirements for abortion clinics. In a letter Wednesday to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Dr. Marissa Levine recommends that the requirements be reviewed and updated. McAuliffe ordered the regulatory review of the clinic rules this spring. Opponents of the clinic rules said they are medically unnecessary and threaten the existence of some of Virginia’s 18 abortion clinics. Anti-abortion activists say the standards are needed to correct “seriously deficient” rules governing abortion clinics. Levine says more than 14,000 people commented on the regulations, the vast majority seeking their repeal. Levine said in her letter to McAuliffe her recommendations will go to the state Board of Health in December.