News
A coffee shop in Roanoke received international attention this week after a message an employee wrote went viral. WFIR’s Starr Anderson has the story.
Next month Help Save the Next Girl and the Roanoke City Police department are teaming up for a special event centered around personal safety. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia’s advisory council on open records has argued that Gov. Terry McAuliffe shouldn’t keep secret a list of felons whose voting rights are believed to have been restored.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council issued the opinion Tuesday, arguing that the list doesn’t qualify as an executive working paper.
The list contains roughly 206,000 felons believed to meet the criteria of McAuliffe’s rights restoration order.
The council also says that exemption doesn’t apply to the list since it was distributed to the Virginia Department of Elections for voter registration purposes.
McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy says the administration disagrees with the council and will continue to keep the list confidential until an official clemency report is made to the general assembly next year.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is expected to be named the next chairman of the National Governors Association.
The governor, a Democrat, announced Wednesday that he is traveling to Des Moines, Iowa, this week for the NGA’s annual summer meeting.
The nonpartisan group advocates on behalf of the governors.
McAuliffe is the current vice-chairman of the group, and said he will spend his coming year as chairman promoting the need for states to address cybersecurity concerns.
The last Virginia governor to be named chairman of the NGA was Mark Warner in 2004.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Two contenders for Virginia governor are touting their fundraising totals ahead of a campaign finance filing deadline.
Democrat Ralph Northam, the current lieutenant governor, said Wednesday said he’s raised more than $1 million in the first half of this year for the 2017 gubernatorial contest. Republican Ed Gillespie said his political action committee has raised more than $850,000 in the first half of 2016.
The filing deadline for the latest round of campaign finance reports is
Friday.
No other Democrat besides Northam has announced a gubernatorial run. U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman and Corey Stewart, who is Donald Trump’s Virginia campaign chairman, have also said they plan to run for the Republican nomination. Neither announced the results of any recent fundraising efforts.
Flora Khatun
UPDATED 6:00pm — The Washington Post reports Liz Khatun is in custody and the Amber Alert is cancelled.
PREVIOUSLY: From Virginia State Police: The Virginia State Police and Virginia Missing Children Clearinghouse have issued an Amber Alert for a child abduction on behalf of the Fairfax County Police Department in Annandale on 07/11/2016 at 11:00 am. The Fairfax County Police Department is looking for Liz Khatun, white, female, age 6 weeks old, height 1 feet 07 inches, weight 9 lbs, with brown eyes and short brown hair. The child is believed to be in extreme danger and was last seen at 7611 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, VA. The child is likely abducted by Flora Khatun, white, female, age 31 years old, height 5 feet 02 inches, weight 120 lbs, with brown eyes and brown black hair wearing black t shirt, black yoga pants, unknown shoes. They may be traveling in a 2011 blue Toyota Sienna, VA license XJG 1035.
Please contact the Fairfax County police department at (703)246-7800 or the Virginia State Police at 1-800-822-4453 (1-800-vachild).
You may find complete information at hyperlink www.vaamberalert.com
John Fishwick, Jr.
Kionte Spencer
From the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western Virginia: First Assistant United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle will handle all matters pertaining to the shooting death of Kionte Spencer for the United States Attorney’s Office after the Office of the Deputy Attorney General determined that United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. should be recused from further involvement to preclude any conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict arising from an unrelated matter that United States Attorney Fishwick worked on prior to being appointed the United States Attorney. The General Counsel’s Office for the Executive Office for United States Attorneys and the Office of the Deputy Attorney General notified the United States Attorney’s Office of the recusal decision on July 12, 2016, after receiving United States Attorney Fishwick’s request for a review. Mr. Fishwick made the request on June 28, 2016, immediately after he became aware of facts arising from the unrelated matter and curtailed his further involvement with the office pertaining to the February incident. The Department of Justice determined that, to preclude any conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict, and pursuant to the United States Attorney’s Manual and the United States Attorneys’ Procedures, Mr. Fishwick should be recused from any further role in the Kionte Spencer matter.
The Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount is just over two years old. There was a sneak peak today for the 2016-2017 concert roster as WFIR’s Gene Marrano reports: