Across Virginia
News release: State Police are investigating a motor vehicle crash which occurred at 10:51 a.m. on Kentuck Road at Kentuck Elementary. (Ed: That’s in Pittsylvania County near Danville.) A 2006 Chevrolet Silverado was traveling on Route 729 when the vehicle ran off the right side of the roadway and struck five vehicles in the parking lot of Kentuck Elementary School. The five vehicles which were struck were not occupied at the time of the crash.
The driver of the Chevrolet is believed to have had a medical emergency prior to leaving the roadway, which in turn caused the crash. The 57 year old male driver was not wearing his seatbelt and was taken by EMS to Danville SONOVA Hospital with a life threatening condition.
The driver has not been charged at this time. There were no other injuries reported.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has vetoed legislation aimed at limiting his authority to institute a carbon cap-and-trade plan. Northam, a Democrat, said Thursday he had killed a bill that requires legislative approval before Virginia can participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program among Northeastern and mid-Atlantic states that mandates emission reductions in the power sector. Northam has made implementing the plan a top priority, saying it’s needed to fight climate change. State regulators have said joining RGGI could add significant costs to electric bills. The governor also vetoed a similar bill related to limiting carbon emissions from cars. Both bills narrowly passed the GOP-led General Assembly. Republicans have virtually no chance of getting the needed two-thirds majority to override the veto.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Gov. Ralph Northam has signed legislation to create a pilot program aimed at reducing eviction rates in the state. The legislation is part of a push that began last year after a research group at Princeton University found that five Virginia cities have some of the highest eviction rates in the country. The pilot program will be launched in the Richmond, Danville, Hampton and Petersburg. The goal is to reduce evictions in those cities and collect data on the program’s effectiveness to help develop methods for preventing evictions around the state. Last month, Northam signed a package of bills aimed at reducing evictions by giving tenants more time to pay rent and fees ahead of an eviction notice and limiting the number of legal actions a landlord may file.
Photo: Eastern Virginia Medical School
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school has won a national award for fostering diversity as it weathers the scandal ignited by a racist photograph from its 1984 yearbook. The Virginian-Pilot reports the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education picked Eastern Virginia Medical School for its Institutional Excellence Award this year. School president Richard V. Homan says he learned of the award a few weeks ago, “after the chaos,” but couldn’t announce it because of the association’s rules. Homan picked up the award Friday at a conference in Philadelphia. He initiated two external investigations after a photograph from Northam’s yearbook page showing two people in racist costumes surfaced. The medical school discontinued yearbooks after learning of Confederate gear in yearbooks as recent as 2013.
Virginia winemakers are hoping this coming year can be a much better one than 2018. A Virginia Tech professors says it could hardly be much more challenging — the result of last year’s prolonged wet weather — but many wineries have developed ways to deal with such less-than-ideal years. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more.
UPDATE from State Police: Investigators have confirmed that the shootings occurred within the vehicle and, at this stage, are investigating the incident as a murder-suicide. A firearm was recovered from inside the vehicle. There is no evidence to indicate another vehicle or individual was involved in the shootings.
News release: The Virginia State Police investigation into the deaths of two individuals Sunday morning in Lee County remains ongoing at this time. At 4 a.m. Sunday (May 10), Virginia State Police responded to a call for a traffic crash on Route 23 at the 28 mile marker in Lee County. A 2015 GMC pickup truck had been traveling north on Route 23 when it ran off the left side of highway into the median.When Trooper D.G. Giles arrived on scene, he found both of the vehicle’s two occupants deceased. Further investigation revealed both occupants – Bailey S. Smith, 21, of Duffield, Va. and Emeri A. Connery, 26, of Coolville, Ohio – had suffered gunshot wounds. The bodies were transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Roanoke for autopsy and examination. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call the Virginia State Police Wytheville Division at 276-228-3131 or email us at questions@vsp.virginia.gov. Smith is male; Connery is female.
(AP)Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has named three new commissioners to service on the State Board of Elections, sweeping out the previous members. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports Northam said Friday that he’s appointing Bob Brink, Jamilah LeCruise and John O’Bannon. Brink was an aide in former Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration and former Democratic member of the House of Delegates from Arlington County. LeCruise is a lawyer from Norfolk, and O’Bannon is a former Republican delegate from Henrico.
The board oversees statewide elections, tabulates results and implements election policies set by the General Assembly and governor. Its members also supervise an elections commissioner chosen by the governor. Legislators must approve the appointments. The board’s membership would expand from three to five under a measure that legislators sent to Northam last month.
The father of slain WDBJ-7 journalist Alison Parker has released a book about his daughter – shot dead on live TV in 2015 – and his fight for improved gun control. Andy Parker will also speak about and sign copies of “For Alison, The Murder of a Young Journalist and a Father’s Fight for Gun Safety,” tomorrow at 1-pm, at “Book No Further” on Church Avenue, inside the 16 West Marketplace. Parker has been making the rounds on national and international media outlets about his book, which also advocates for universal background checks and banning assault-style weapons. We will hear much more from Andy Parker during a “Longer Listen” segment Monday morning at 8:45.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The organizers of the 2017 deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, have asked to voluntarily dismiss a lawsuit they filed against city and police officials. The Daily Progress reports the recent motion does not specify why the Unite the Right organizers are dropping the lawsuit filed in November. The plaintiffs are Jason Kessler, white nationalist group Identity Evropa and neo-Nazi groups National Socialist Movement and Traditionalist Worker’s Party. The lawsuit said by issuing orders not to engage crowds, authorities allowed a “heckler’s veto,” in effect suppressing speech by the possibility of violent reactions.The plaintiffs have moved to dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice, which means the case could be filed again at a later date. Kessler filed a similar lawsuit last March that was voluntarily dismissed in August.