ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Gov. Terry McAuliffe is set to host an event for the United Negro College Fund. The fund’s Washington-area office is holding the Virginia Governor’s Luncheon on Tuesday in Arlington for business, civil and education leaders. The goal of the luncheon is to increase diversity in the fields of science, technology, engineering … Continue reading
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — A state agency has identified a body found in the Smith River as that of a missing Martinsville man. Police tell media outlets that canoeists found the body in the Eggleston Falls area of the river around 9 a.m. Saturday. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries identified the body … Continue reading
FREDRICKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Two male students in Virginia have been arrested and accused of plotting an attack at their high school, law enforcement officials said Saturday. The teens were planning to call in a bomb threat at Riverbend High School in Fredericksburg, which they attend, and then shoot at students and staff as they … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A law professor says a decline in death sentences in Virginia is at least partly due to more vigorous legal representation during the sentencing phase of capital murder trials. Brandon Garrett of the University of Virginia released results of his study of Virginia’s death penalty Monday. Garrett compared the 21 capital … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Deaths from heroin and opioid use outnumbered highway fatalities in Virginia for the first time last year, officials said. Records show that 728 Virginians died from drug overdoses in 2014, while 700 people died on the state’s roads. The increase in drug-related deaths comes despite heightened efforts to attack heroin use … Continue reading
DINWIDDIE, Va. (AP) — Preservationists and historians are taking a stand against a utility cooperative’s plan to install transmission lines through a Civil War battlefield in Dinwiddie. The Progress-Index reports that Southside Electric Cooperative plans to install the large transmission lines through Bonneville Farm. The farm was at the center of the Battle of Dinwiddie … Continue reading
HUDDLESTON, Va. (AP) — A young bald eagle that fell from its nest near Smith Mountain Lake is returning to the wild after recovering at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. The release is scheduled for Friday at Smith Mountain Lake State Park. Anyone can look on as the bird is released. The bird hatched this … Continue reading
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — An inmate on work detail at a Newport News park was taken into custody by authorities about an hour after walking away. The Newport News Sheriff’s Office says 18-year-old Meko Brown was under the supervision of Newport News City Public Works correctional employees when he left the work site Thursday … Continue reading
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A report of an active shooter in the Skyline section of Fairfax County prompted a massive police response and brief lock-in of two schools, but it was all a false alarm. Fairfax County Police spokesman Don Gotthardt said police received a call Thursday afternoon about a possible active shooter at … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Thursday banned the open carry of guns in some state-owned buildings and pledged to pursue a muscular and multifaceted strategy to combat gun violence in Virginia. McAuliffe — flanked by U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, law enforcement officers and parents of victims … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is heading to Virginia. Trump is holding a campaign rally at the Richmond International Raceway on Wednesday. The event will begin at 7 p.m. Trump was supposed to host a rally in Virginia Beach earlier this month but canceled the event after Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared … Continue reading
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A man who promised Virginia Tech a $30 million donation has been sentenced to prison for wire fraud and money laundering. The Washington Post reports that Phillip Barnard was sentenced to five years and three months in prison Tuesday in federal court. Barnard pleaded guilty earlier this year. Prosecutors say Barnard … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The execution of a convicted serial killer was in limbo Thursday as a federal judge in Virginia considered arguments over the lethal injection drugs. Attorneys for Alfredo Prieto, 49, want his execution delayed as they seek more information about the drugs, which were obtained from Texas’ prison system, to ensure they … Continue reading
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — A sailor who died after collapsing at the end of a fitness test in Virginia has been identified. The Navy says 19-year-old Dalton Andrew Frye of Chester, West Virginia, collapsed near the end of a run on Sept. 24. The Navy says Frye died Saturday after being taken off life … Continue reading
BOWLING GREEN, Va. (AP) — A Spotsylvania County man killed himself on Interstate 95 Tuesday after he fatally shot another man at a motel in Caroline County, police said. The Caroline County Sheriff’s Office said Todd T. Houck, 36, is suspected of killing Jeremy Gift, 36, of Stafford in a room at the Relax Inn … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 