News
From Roanoke City Police: The Roanoke City Sheriff’s Office and the Roanoke City Police Department are investigating the death of an inmate. On Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at 7:11 AM Roanoke City Sheriff’s Deputies, found Inmate Jessica Corinne Carter unresponsive in her cell. Jail staff provided first aid and notified EMS. Miss Carter was transported to a local hospital for treatment, where she was later pronounced dead. An autopsy will be conducted and an official cause of death will be determined by the Medical Examiner’s Office. The incident remains under investigation at this time. Jessica Corrinne Carter was arrested and processed into the Roanoke City Jail on December 17, 2015. She was scheduled to appear in Roanoke City General District Court on January 19, 2016 on the following charges: 1. Possession of Schedule IV Drug 2. Possession of Drug Paraphernalia 3. False Identity to a Law Enforcement Officer 4. Fail to Appear
From Virginia State Police: Virginia State Police Sr. Trooper D.E. Rigby is investigating a fatal crash in Botetourt County. At 7:47 a.m., Tuesday (Dec. 22), state police were notified of a crash in the 5700 block of Blue Grass Trail. A 2004 Toyota Tundra pickup truck had been traveling south on Blue Grass Trail when it ran off the right side of the road and struck a tree. The driver, Howard A. Pohn, 80, of Winchester, Va., was transported to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Pohn’s family had reported him missing overnight. His crashed pickup truck was discovered Tuesday morning by a passerby. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has rejected an effort to allow a German diplomat’s son and convicted murderer to return to his home country. McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said Tuesday that the Democrat has denied the transfer petition submitted by Jens Soering, who’s serving two life terms for the 1985 slayings of his ex-girlfriend’s parents in Bedford County. Coy said the governor determined that Soering’s trial and conviction were in accordance with Virginia law. Days before leaving office in January 2010, then-Gov. Tim Kaine asked the Justice Department to transfer Soering to a German prison. Kaine secretly agreed to a plan that would have kept Soering behind bars in Germany for at least two years. But Kaine’s successor, Gov. Bob McDonnell, revoked that request soon after taking office.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A state ethics panel created by Gov. Terry McAuliffe has issued its final recommendations. The Commission on Integrity and Public Confidence in State Government released a report Tuesday that its authors say would strengthen state laws regarding conflicts of interest, gifts to public officials and disclosure requirements. Among the recommendations is a proposal to create an independent ethics review commission. That measure failed to win General Assembly approval in the last session. Other recommendations would provide public funding for the transition expenses of governors-elect and tighter rules on gifts to public officials from friends. State officials have been wrestling with how best to fix Virginia’s generally lax ethics rules. Their efforts were spurred by a gift scandal involving former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen.
(AP photo)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia will no longer recognize concealed handgun permits from more than two dozen states that have less stringent laws. Attorney General Mark Herring said Tuesday that the state will revoke its reciprocity agreement with 25 states after a review found that their permit requirements are weaker than Virginia’s. The change takes effect Feb. 1. Herring says those states hand out permits to people who are barred from getting one under Virginia law, including fugitives, convicted stalkers and drug dealers. He says it’s a common sense step that will help keep concealed weapons out of the hands of dangerous and irresponsible people. Republican Del. Rob Bell, who’s seeking to oust Herring in 2017, called the move another “Washington-style overreach from a nakedly partisan attorney general.”
The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra’s music director and conductor joined a long list of civic leaders as Roanoke’s “Citizen of the Year” at yesterday’s City Council meeting. WFIR’s Gene Marrano has that story:
Click below to hear more from David Stewart Wiley (speaking with WFIR’s Gene Marrano)
Del. Kathy Byron
Moves are afoot in the General Assembly to reduce state regulation of the number of hospital facilities and services in Virginia. At issue is what’s called the “Certificate of Public Need”, or COPN. As WFIR’s Evan Jones reports, Lynchburg Delegate Kathy Byron is among three delegates planning to spearhead those efforts in the next General Assembly session: