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What are your favorite local places for shopping, pampering or entertaining? Vote now in this year's Best Of Holiday Shopping readers' choice poll.
Judge frustrated in coalbed methane case linked to governor’s race
ABINGDON — Two hours of legal debate on Virginia’s natural gas laws passed Thursday when U.S. District Court Judge James P. Jones suddenly voiced frustration over the seeming inability of anyone to easily access an escrow account holding nearly $30 million in gas royalties. “Are we going to throw up our hands and say ‘oh well, that’s how the world works?’ ” he directed at coal and energy company lawyers
Bedford Town Council discusses firearms ordinance
BEDFORD - Bedford Town Council decided not to pull the trigger on a proposed firearms ordinance Tuesday. Council took aim at an ordinance allowing hunting with shotguns on parcels of five acres or more, under certain parameters, and provided shooting is not within 100 feet of buildings, parks or public land. Hunting with firearms was prohibited in the former city of Bedford, which reverted to a town in July. Mayor
Cuccinelli gives $18,000 to charity to offset Star Scientific-related gifts
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has moved to put aside questions about gifts he received from a business executive by writing a check for that amount to a Richmond-based charity. “I made the decision to send the check because it is the right thing to do, plain and simple,” he said. Cuccinelli has received gifts amounting to $18,000 from Jonnie Williams, chief executive of Star Scientific, a diet supplement firm that
Doubts arise over origins of Roanoke County property rights resolution
The resolution created controversy the day it first hit the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors agenda. Now, four months later, Supervisor Ed Elswick’s proposal again has hit a speed bump. In recasting the thrust of his property rights resolution, Elswick this week inadvertently kicked up concern about third-party influence on county policy. An Aug. 26 email acquired by The Roanoke Times shows Elswick was fed text by someone outside county
Salem joins Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority
The Salem City Council voted unanimously Monday night to make the city a member of the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority, joining with Roanoke and Roanoke and Botetourt counties in ratifying the creation of the organization to promote top quality open access broadband Internet service in the area. The four governments had been set to pass resolutions creating the authority last month until their lawyers recognized the law that allowed the
Democratic strategist Dave 'Mudcat' Saunders backs Ken Cuccinelli
Dave “Mudcat” Saunders, a veteran smash-mouth Democratic strategist from Roanoke County, says he is supporting Republican Ken Cuccinelli for governor, branding Democrat Terry McAuliffe as a “corporatist.” “What these corporatists have done to us in rural America and in urban America," Saunders said in a telephone interview. “I can’t support a corporatist. I just can’t. This guy is not my kind of Democrat.” The move is the latest twist in
Internship honors Roanoke legislator Clifton 'Chip' Woodrum
The Virginia Coalition for Open Government has created a legislative internship in honor of the late Clifton “Chip” Woodrum, a former legislator from Roanoke who was a staunch supporter of the public’s right to observe the workings of government. The Chip Woodrum Legislative Internship will allow a college student to gain hands-on experience during the Virginia General Assembly. Woodrum, a Democrat who served in the House of Delegates from 1980
Smith Mountain Lake mansion tied to Ken Cuccinelli is sold
The Smith Mountain Lake mansion that Star Scientific chief executive Jonnie Williams lent to his friend Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has been sold. Cuccinelli’s three stays at the house, two of which he originally neglected to disclose, came as Star was fighting a $1.8 million tax assessment from the state. Williams, sold his 10-room, 4,400-square-foot mansion on Upland Shores Drive for $2 million, courthouse records show. The property includes a
McDonnell’s legal team bills taxpayers $90,000 for June
Gov. Bob McDonnell’s state-appointed legal team has billed the state $90,068 for work performed in June. That brings the tab for taxpayers to about $143,598, including an initial $53,530 that the firm billed for the services of former Attorney General Anthony F. Troy and other staffers from Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli appointed Troy to represent McDonnell in legal matters related to a criminal case alleging
McAuliffe talks of SOL reform with Roanoke County teachers
Working the crowd at most campaign stops means lots of handshaking — but for Terry McAuliffe and the fourth-grade lunch crowd today at Green Valley Elementary School, it meant fist-bumps, too. “I’m gonna make sure you get a good education,” the Democratic candidate for governor told one girl. “Maybe I’ll be president!” the boy sitting across from her called out. “Maybe you will,” McAuliffe replied. Then, the fist bump. On
Attorney general’s office won’t defend schools law
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office will not defend one of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s key education measures in an anticipated legal challenge after his analysis concluded that it’s unconstitutional. Cuccinelli sent a letter with the news to McDonnell on Aug. 27 — the same day that the governor stood outside a Norfolk school and gave a hearty defense of the statewide school division created to take over academically failing local schools.
Buena Vista parade kicks off traditional start to fall campaigns for governor (with photos)
BUENA VISTA — The fall election campaign season got off to its traditional start Monday with bagpipes, balloon-bedecked pickups and trotting politicians shaking hands with Labor Day parade watchers lining Magnolia Avenue. “It’s great to start the last lap, the final sprint, the last 64 days and approximately seven hours — but who’s counting,” Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli told the after-parade crowd at Buena Vista’s Glen Maury Park. Cuccinelli
McDonnell touts lower gas prices at Labor Day weekend
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell eagerly pointed out that Virginia gas prices were well below the national average as the Labor Day weekend holiday approached. McDonnell’s signature transportation funding law eliminated Virginia’s long-standing static 17.5 cent-per-gallon gas tax in favor of a 3.5 percent wholesale tax on gasoline. There’s ongoing debate by local politicians, as well as economists, as to whether or not transferring the tax from consumers to wholesale purchasers
Libertarian Robert Sarvis sees himself as viable alternative for governor
Libertarian nominee Robert C. Sarvis has cast himself as a viable alternative for voters frustrated with the two major party candidates for governor. Sarvis, 36, who is campaigning full time, is a former software engineer, teacher, lawyer and new media entrepreneur from Northern Virginia. He is the first gubernatorial candidate for the Libertarian Party of Virginia since 2001, when William Redpath received just 14,500 votes, or 0.8 percent of the
Donation woes, job criticism put Ken Cuccinelli on defensive
When Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli decided to run for governor, Democrats and even some establishment Republicans believed the tea party conservative’s stances on issues such as abortion, gay marriage and climate change would be his greatest challenge with independent voters. But with two months left in the race to be Virginia’s 72nd governor, Cuccinelli and his supporters find themselves defending the attorney general on another front — his actions in
Terry McAuliffe's career adds controversy to longtime mix of business, politics
Terry McAuliffe’s role in a national controversy over an immigrant investor program to fund GreenTech, the Mississippi electric car company he founded, is only the latest chapter in the Democrat’s long history of mixing politics with his personal business interests. It is a habit that may have benefited his pocket but could threaten his chances of moving into Virginia’s Executive Mansion next year. Republicans highlighted McAuliffe’s efforts to obtain EB-5
Our region will play a key role in election
Southwest Virginia has been the stage for some of the highest-profile clashes between gubernatorial hopefuls Ken Cuccinelli and Terry McAuliffe — and that could signal a critical role for the region’s voters in the November elections. Each claimed the other didn’t really know Virginia in a squabble over whether U.S. 58 needed to have four lanes from end to end. Cuccinelli wants to tag McAuliffe as an enemy to coal.
Virginia governor candidates spar at energy forum
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Democrat Terry McAuliffe says his Republican rival’s positions on family law and other social issues will hurt Virginia’s economy, but Ken Cuccinelli says McAuliffe’s policies are the real “job killers.” The candidates for Virginia governor didn’t share the stage during an energy forum today. But they spent much of the time attacking each other. McAuliffe held up a Washington Post article that detailed Cuccinelli’s ties to
Cuccinelli should restrict representation of elections board, Democrats say
RICHMOND — Democrats Wednesday formally requested that Republican Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli excuse his office from representing the State Board of Elections on legal matters related to the upcoming statewide races. The request came in a letter Wednesday to the attorney general’s office from Del. Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia. It could be seen as the latest attempt to highlight conflicts that Democrats argue
Virginia's Medicaid fraud unit gets modest ranking
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s push to crack down on Medicaid fraud has won bigger recoveries than the state’s earlier efforts, but funds actually flowing into the state’s coffers have lagged by millions of dollars. And the latest U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s annual report on state Medicaid fraud units ranked Virginia 44th among the states for recoveries per employee. While Cuccinelli says his push won nearly $1.6 billion
1. Britney Spears spotted at Lynchburg restaurant
2. Roanoke resource officer's quick action saved young girl
3. One person injured in Friday night shooting in Roanoke
4. East Carolina poses new challenge for Virginia Tech football
5. Captive in Roanoke County describes harrowing time with angry friend
6. Lowe's tapes may hold clues to Roanoke woman's death
7. Roanoke County electrical short quiets 5 Wheeler radio stations
8. William Byrd stuns Salem in football win
9. History says this one will matter for Virginia Tech
10. Concert review: Timeless Willie Nelson plays to appreciative crowd
THE ROANOKE TIMES
