Across Virginia
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — On the eve of the summer wedding season, here’s news a lot of people don’t know: Virginia is one of many states where — for better or worse — pretty much any amateur can conduct a legal marriage ceremony. A friend. A relative. Even you. Depending on the city, all it takes is a little paperwork, a small filing fee and a visit or two to the courthouse.
The law that allows it has been on Virginia’s books for 100 years, but “it’s one of those little unknown niches people are not aware of,” said George Schaefer, Norfolk’s circuit court clerk. They’re catching on, though, as more couples embrace non-traditional ceremonies officiated by what’s known as a “one-time civil celebrant.” In other words, someone with a temporary authorization from the court to perform a single ceremony for a particular couple.
In Virginia Beach, 111 people filed a “petition to perform rites of marriage” last year — up 32 percent from a few years earlier. Applicants must go before a judge for approval.
Lindsay Conway’s name was on the docket a few weeks ago. She came in looking nervous, clutching scribbled notes in case she had to convince the judge of her worthiness.
Conway, a Navy wife and stay-at-home mother of two, had been asked to help her husband’s sister tie the knot.
“I’m not used to coming to court,” Conway said. “I just don’t know what to expect.”
Turns out, she over-prepared.
“Ok, who wants to do some marrying?” asked Judge Thomas Padrick Jr. as he settled himself on the bench. “Come on up. I won’t bite you. This is one of the more fun things we do.”
Conway and another petitioner were sworn in. The entire affair only took a few minutes — time mostly spent receiving instructions from the judge.
Their only legal responsibility: return the completed marriage certificate to a court clerk’s office no more than five days after the ceremony.
“If you don’t do that, they’re not really married,” the judge said, “and they’re probably going to be upset about that.”
State code requires petitioners to post a $500 bond that’s voided as soon as the marriage certificate is turned in.
“It doesn’t have to be real money,” the judge explained before sending them off to the clerk’s office to comply.
Jessica Conway, the bride-to-be, watched as Lindsay looked over the forms and signed a promise-to-pay if she neglected her duty.
“We’ve just moved,” Jessica said, “and we didn’t want to go looking for a preacher to marry us who didn’t really know us. We wanted something more intimate. She’s so thoughtful and loving, and who doesn’t want that at your wedding?”
Certainly some would object to any trend that moves marriage outside the realm of the church. According to a survey by The Knot, a national wedding resource, only 26 percent of couples held their ceremonies in religious institutions in 2016 — down from 41 percent in 2009.
Many, of course, still had a member of the clergy officiating. Or a marriage commissioner or justice of the peace. But the amateurs seem to be cutting into their business, even though Virginia Beach limits each to just one ceremony per year.
Al Sokolik is one of four city marriage commissioners who rotate shifts at the Virginia Beach courthouse.
“I was talking to the other commissioners and they’re all saying the phone calls are not there like they have been in the past,” Sokolik said.
Elliott Dejarnette, a Virginia Beach prosecutor, has conducted two weddings for friends and one for a cousin in Richmond.
With experience, he’s gotten smoother in the role: “At one of them, I forgot to tell everyone to take a seat so the entire wedding stood the entire time.”
Overall, though, he’s “enjoyed doing it. It’s another opportunity to be up there and to celebrate people.”
In Norfolk, the one-time petitioners don’t have to appear before a judge. Schaefer, the circuit court clerk, said his office handles that and they’re not being flooded with requests like Virginia Beach.
“We get maybe one a month,” he said.
There was that memorable one, though.
When Gov. Ralph Northam was lieutenant governor, he went through Schaefer’s office to get the authority to conduct marriages.
“He was getting a lot of requests, so we made him an exception to the “one-time” rule,” Schaefer said. “He was given blanket authority until the end of his term. The court also didn’t require him to post any bond. I think because we knew where to find him.”
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — After a 20-year hiatus, visitors can again tour the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Williamsburg. Anheuser-Busch is bringing back tours of the Virginia facility on weekends this summer. Adults must pay $25 for the tour, which takes about 90 minutes. The Virginian-Pilot reports visitors will be able to sample fresh beer straight from the brewery’s finishing tanks. Samples are also provided at the lagering tanks, where the yeast has not yet been filtered. The brewery tour was once a highlight of a visit to the nearby Busch Gardens theme park — a monorail connected the brewery and the park, which at the time was owned by the brewer. The Williamsburg facility is the sixth largest of the company’s 22 breweries.
LORTON, Va. (AP) — An unlicensed 14-year-old driver has been killed and four passengers were injured after the driver lost control of his car and hit a tree in northern Virginia. Fairfax County Police say the accident occurred Friday before 11:30 a.m. on Furnace Road in Lorton. The 14-year-old boy was only identified as a resident of neighboring Prince William County. The four passengers were all 15 years old and were taken to the hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life threatening. Police say the 14-year-old was driving a Nissan Maxima when he lost control and struck a tree. The car flipped and landed on the driver side door. Police say alcohol was not a factor in the crash, but speed may have been.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A lawsuit has been settled between police and a woman who was arrested for exposing her breasts during August’s deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Daily Progress reported that the undisclosed settlement agreement was reached this week. The financial terms are confidential. But the officers acknowledge they were in the wrong. Police arrested Morgan Hopkins on indecent exposure charges Aug. 12. She and others removed their shirts to protest society’s differing treatment of male and female breasts. The indecent exposure charge was later dismissed in Charlottesville General District Court Hopkins’ attorney, Jeff Fogel, said Virginia’s indecent exposure statute does not differentiate between men and women and that nudity itself is not indecent exposure. He said the offense requires either obscenity or an “appeal to the prurient interest.”
HAMPDEN SYDNEY, Va. (AP) – The parents of a freshman who died from alcohol intoxication are suing his Virginia college, his fraternity and several of its members. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Harrison Carter Cole’s parents filed the $78 million lawsuit Thursday. The 18-year-old Hampden-Sydney College student was found dead in his dorm room last year after taking part in what the lawsuit calls a hazing event at Alpha Chi Sigma, a professional fraternity focused on chemical sciences. One fraternity member was later convicted of a misdemeanor charged for buying alcohol for underage individuals. The lawsuit says Cole vomited during the party and fraternity members were directed to check on him during the night, but he received no medical attention. The college declined comment. The newspapers couldn’t reach fraternity members.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – A Virginia grand jury alleges that a trash truck driver was under the influence when he collided with a train carrying Republican congressmen in January, leaving one person dead. The Albemarle County Police Department said in a statement Friday that 31-year-old Dana W. Naylor Jr. was indicted on one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of maiming another while driving under the influence. It’s not clear what the alleged intoxicant was. One trash company employee was killed in the collision near Crozet, and a second passenger was seriously injured. The chartered Amtrak train was carrying dozens of lawmakers to an annual retreat in West Virginia. Court records don’t list an attorney who could comment on Naylor’s behalf. Previous attempts by The Associated Press to reach Naylor have been unsuccessful.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Tens of thousands of red-clad Capitals fans partied in the streets Thursday night to celebrate the franchise’s first Stanley Cup and the city’s first title in the major four professional sports since 1992.
After the Capitals beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 on the road in Game 5, celebrations erupted inside their home arena at the viewing party and around Chinatown. Fans chanted, “We got the Cup!” and then “Ovi! Ovi” as captain Alex Ovechkin was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
As police officers blocked F Street and announcements were made about the last subway train, many fans ignored those pleas and kept partying on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery and in bars surrounding the rink. A couple of fans climbed light poles and one even scaled the nearby dragon tower.
The championship is the first by a Washington professional sports team in the NFL, NBA, NHL or Major League Baseball since the Redskins won the Super Bowl on Jan. 26, 1992.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has signed a new state budget that expands Medicaid to as many as 400,000 low-income adults. The Democratic governor signed the legislation Thursday on the steps outside the state Capitol. He said the bipartisan compromise on Medicaid expansion is a stark contrast to the “chaos and partisan warfare” in national politics. The General Assembly voted last week to approve the budget with Medicaid expansion. The vote ended a long-running partisan stalemate over the issue, with several Republicans joining Democrats to support the measure. A tally from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows Virginia will become the 33rd state to approve Medicaid expansion. Expanding Medicaid was a key provision of the Affordable Care Act pushed by former President Barack Obama.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A spokesman for the Virginia National Guard is refuting an officer’s claim that he had been ordered by his brigade commander to drive an armored personnel carrier off base. 1st Lt. Joshua Yabut told The Associated Press he was following commands to take the vehicle as part of a training exercise to gauge the police response. Yabut was arrested in downtown Richmond late Tuesday night following a lengthy police chase, and is being held against his will in a psychiatric hospital. Guard spokesman A. A. “Cotton” Puryear says Yabut’s claim is not true. He says the officer was not authorized to drive the carrier off Ft. Pickett “to any location for any reason,” and that there was no exercise to gauge police response.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is set to sign a new state budget that will expand Medicaid to as many as 400,000 low-income adults.
The General Assembly voted last week to approve the budget with Medicaid expansion. The vote ended a long-running partisan stalemate over the issue, with several Republicans joining Democrats to support the measure.
Northam, a Democrat, made expanding Medicaid a key plank of his successful 2017 gubernatorial campaign. He’s scheduled to sign the budget bills on the steps outside the state Capitol Thursday afternoon.
A tally from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows Virginia will become the 33rd state to approve Medicaid expansion. Expanding Medicaid was a key provision of the Affordable Care Act pushed by former President Barack Obama.