Across Virginia
On Thursday, April 14, at 4:08 a.m., Roanoke Fire-EMS was dispatched to the 2000 block of Greenbrier Ave SE for a report of a fire on the roof of a commercial structure. Units arrived to find smoke and flames on the roof of a maintenance building. The fire was contained to the roof, and was quickly extinguished by Fire-EMS crews. The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental, electrical. No injuries were reported. Damages to the roof of the structure are estimated at $8,000.
For the first time in a month, average Virginia gas prices have fallen below $4.00 a gallon — but experts say there is no way to know for sure how far or for how long that downward trend might continue, especially with normally-busy summer travel season ahead. The statewide average is $3.98 a gallon for regular, and in Roanoke, it’s $3.89. That’s down nine cents in a week and 29 cents from one month ago. Experts say there is one reason most in play for that decrease, as WFIR’s Evan Jones reports:
WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal jury has convicted a former Virginia police officer of storming the U.S. Capitol with another off-duty officer to obstruct Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. Jurors on Monday convicted former Rocky Mount police officer Thomas Robertson of all six counts he faced stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, including charges that he interfered with police officers at the Capitol. His sentencing hearing wasn’t immediately scheduled. Robertson’s jury trial was the second among hundreds of Capitol riot cases. The first ended last month with jurors convicting a Texas man, Guy Reffitt, of all five counts in his indictment.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday called for a response from a Virginia school system regarding a controversial admissions policy at a highly selective high school and efforts by a coalition of parents to overturn it.
Roberts was responding to an emergency application from the group Coalition For TJ to vacate a stay pending an appeal filed by the Fairfax County Public Schools to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
On March 31, a three-judge appeals panel ruled that the school system can continue to use its new admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology while it appeals a ruling that found the policy discriminates against Asian American students.
U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton ruled in February that impermissible “racial balancing” was at the core of the new policy. Hilton had also turned down a request from the school system to delay implementation of his ruling, but the 4th Circuit, in a 2-1 ruling, said the school board had met the legal requirements for a suspension of Hilton’s order while its appeal is pending.
With Roberts’ action, the school board has until Wednesday to present its response. The chief justice would then decide on the application, which includes referring the case to the full court.
“We’re very happy to see that he called for a response from the school board,” said Glenn E. Roper, an attorney representing Coalition for TJ, the group challenging the policy. “We hope the court will take our application seriously and hopefully grant it so that the discriminatory policy won’t be enforced for this application season.”
Fairfax County Public Schools didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.
After criticism over its lack of diversity, the school board scrapped a standardized test that had been at the heart of the admissions process and opted instead for a process that sets aside slots at each of the county’s middle schools. It also includes “experience factors” like socioeconomic background.
The parents group argued in its lawsuit that Asian Americans, who constituted more than 70% of the student body, were unfairly targeted in the new policy.
The school’s current freshman class, which was admitted under the new policy, saw a significantly different racial makeup. Black students increased from 1% to 7%; Hispanic representation increased from 3% to 11%. Asian American representation decreased from 73% to 54%.
The school system has insisted that its new policies are race neutral, and the panel evaluating applicants is not even aware of applicants’ race as it conducts its reviews.
UPDATE:
Hampton Electoral Board Chair David Dietrich has resigned after allegedly making a racist post on Facebook. The Chairman of the Hampton GOP Phillip Siff called upon the appointing authority for all electoral board members to remove Dietrich after a post he allegedly made about Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, calling for him to be “lynched” — which is a federal crime. On Saturday, Governor Youngkin called on Dietrich to resign saying he would not accept racism in the Commonwealth.
Previous: Electoral Board Chair David Dietrich has been called upon to resign after allegedly making a racist post on Facebook. WAVY-TV reports the Chairman of the Hampton GOP Phillip Siff has called upon the appointing authority for all electoral board members to remove Dietrich after a post he allegedly made calling the racist post about Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin, calling for him to be “lynched” — which is a federal crime. See what is allegedly the post below. As of the last word, Siff said Dietrich refused to resign.
WARNING – the post that follows contains offensive language. Continue reading
RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that he will donate his first-quarter salary to the Virginia Law Enforcement Assistance Program, an organization dedicated to helping law enforcement officers and first responders who have undergone traumatic critical incidents in the line of duty or in their personal lives.
During his 2021 campaign, the Governor pledged to donate his gubernatorial salary. Today, he announced the donation of $43,750 at VALEAP’s Post Critical Incident Seminar in Harrisonburg, Va.
“I pledged to serve our Commonwealth without accepting a salary because I want to continue giving back to the Commonwealth and helping Virginians in every way I can,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “I have chosen to donate my salary to the Virginia Law Enforcement Assistance Program (VALEAP) because of their important mission to assist law enforcement personnel and first responders who have undergone traumatic critical incidents. This reaffirms my ongoing commitment to support our men and women in law enforcement with mental health resources, training, and equipment to ensure that we are serving those that protect our communities across the Commonwealth.”
A trial starts this week for a former Virginia police officer charged with storming the U.S. Capitol with a fellow officer who has agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday for the case against former Rocky Mount police officer Thomas Robertson. The town fired Robertson and fellow officer Jacob Fracker, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and could be a key prosecution witness. Robertson’s trial will be the third among hundreds of people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The first two trials both ended with convictions.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has refused to revisit a ruling that struck down a key permit for a proposed natural gas pipeline running through Virginia and West Virginia.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Friday that it would not revisit a February ruling by a three-judge panel that invalidated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s opinion that the Mountain Valley Pipeline would not jeopardize two endangered fish species.
The panel found “serious errors” with the agency’s conclusion that construction of the pipeline wouldn’t pose a threat to the Roanoke logperch or the candy darter.
The February ruling came one week after the same three-judge panel rejected a permit that would have allowed the pipeline to pass through a 3.5 mile (5.6 kilometer) section of the Jefferson National Forest. In both cases, the judges faulted the U.S. Forest Service and the wildlife agency for failing to adequately assess the pipeline’s environmental impact.
The 303-mile (487-kilometer) pipeline, which is mostly finished, would transport natural gas drilled from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations through West Virginia and Virginia.
The Roanoke Times reports that Mountain Valley now has little hope of obtaining the required approvals without going through a renewed permitting process. The $6.2 billion infrastructure project has been targeted by about a dozen environmental groups and is already more than three years behind schedule.
While acknowledging a “greater degree of uncertainty” following Friday’s court decision, a spokeswoman for Mountain Valley told the newspaper that its plans are still alive.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A man was killed and two women were wounded in a shooting at a Virginia mall Saturday evening, police said.
Norfolk police were called to MacArthur Center around 6:25 p.m., the department said in a news release. The women, who were shot in their ankles, were taken to a hospital with injuries that weren’t believed to be life-threatening.
Police Chief Larry Boone told news outlets that the shooting was prompted by an argument over money, and that he believed the male victim and the suspect were related. Boone said he didn’t know if the two women had any relationship to the shooter or the man who was killed.
The victims’ names weren’t immediately released.
Several area roads were blocked off as authorities investigated. Police shared photos later Saturday night of a suspect and a person of interest, asking for the public’s help in identifying them.
The shooting happened on the same day as the funeral for 25-year-old Virginian-Pilot reporter Sierra Jenkins, who was one of two people killed less than two blocks from the shopping center on March. 19. Authorities say Jenkins was caught in a crossfire as she was leaving a bar.