The Virginia Parole Board on Thursday voted to release two women serving life sentences for first-degree murder, 7News reported.
Bessie Hope, 64, was released after serving 30 years of a life-plus-20-year sentence for first-degree murder, malicious wounding and robbery. Jaunita Lowery, 63, was released after serving about 23 years of a life sentence for first-degree murder.
If Virginians approve a ballot referendum on Nov. 3 to permanently protect reproductive rights in the state’s constitution, the amendment will be challenged in court on Nov. 13, the Virginia Mercury reports.
The case seeks a preliminary injunction to block the certification of the amendment referendum results by alleging that the process was not properly filed and that ballot language was misleading.
A Bloomberg Law report says a lawyer for Virginia fielded tough questions before an appellate panel over the state’s authority to require federal law enforcement officers to show their faces and identify themselves when enforcing immigration laws.
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit appeared more receptive at argument on Tuesday to lifting a preliminary injunction to allow the state to enforce its law dictating terms for local cooperation with federal law enforcement.
Attorney General Jay Jones will ask the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to review a federal appeals court ruling that a revoked Virginia vanity license plate is protected free speech, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
Rae Pickett, a spokesperson for Jones, confirmed the office will file a cert petition on Oct. 29 in Whateley v. Lackey.
The Virginia War Memorial will host the 70th annual Commonwealth’s Veterans Day Ceremony at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, outdoors in the E. Bruce Heilman Amphitheater at 621 South Belvidere Street in Richmond, weather permitting.
The public, especially veterans and their families, are invited. The program includes speakers, a tribute to Virginia’s Blue Star families, recognition of the Virginia Military Family of the Year, and the 2026 Veterans Day Student Essay Contest winners. Music by the Mount Vernon Baptist Church Choir of Glen Allen, with a pre-ceremony concert at 10:35 a.m.
Virginia will develop plans to prevent and respond to artificial intelligence-related cyberattacks and deploy an independent team to review security weaknesses across connected state data systems, The Center Square reported.
First-year Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger ordered the work through Executive Directive 6, signed Friday. The directive specifies no spending amount or completion deadline. The action follows an Oct. 13 legislative review that found gaps in Virginia’s oversight of government AI use.
A new research collaboration between George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University aims to improve understanding of peripheral neuropathy, a painful side effect experienced by breast cancer survivors, George Mason University said.
The project, funded by a $200,000 grant from the Commonwealth Health Research Board, focuses on chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and is led by Nadine Kabbani of George Mason’s Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Imad Damaj of VCU, and Paula Bos of the VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center.
A porch collapse at an off-campus residence injured William & Mary students Friday night, with 28 people reported to have gone to hospitals, WJLA reported. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
Emergency crews responded to the 200 block of Matoaka Court after a report of a structure collapse around 10:07 p.m. Oct. 23. Williamsburg firefighters and police, along with the James City County Fire Department, arrived to find a collapsed back porch.
The Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help identifying two suspects in a series of thefts at a data center construction site in the Germanna Highway area.
The first incident occurred overnight between September 22 and September 23, when suspects cut a padlock on the site’s front gate and removed a large quantity of copper piping from locked storage areas. The copper is valued at more than $200,000. Due to the size and weight of the material, investigators believe at least one large vehicle, or multiple vehicles, was used to remove it from the site.
Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, one of the state’s most powerful Democrats, was charged on Thursday in connection with what federal authorities alleged was a role leading a criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds, the Associated Press reported.
An indictment unsealed Thursday charged Lucas and six other defendants, including several of her relatives. Lucas surrendered, a Justice Department spokesperson said.
