Gunman Kills Campus Officers At Bridgewater And More Va. Headlines

By Staff Report, Virginia Mercury

- February 2, 2022

• A gunman shot and killed two campus officers at Bridgewater College, a small Christian school in Rockingham County. The suspect, a 27-year-old who attended the school, has been charged with two counts of capital murder, among other charges. The two slain officers were close friends, “known to many of us as the ‘dynamic duo,’” said the college’s president.—Daily News-Record

• “An executive order by Gov. Glenn Youngkin that allows parents to opt out of COVID-19 school mask mandates prompted dueling lawsuits Tuesday, one siding with Youngkin and the other challenging his order.”—Associated Press

• When he was serving in former President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli rejected a proposal by Trump to have DHS seize voting machines after his loss to Biden.—New York Times

• The House of Delegates voted to halt a scheduled increase to the minimum wage from $11 to $12; however, Democrats in the Virginia Senate have already blocked a similar bill, and it is unlikely to gain final passage.—Associated Press

• “A Senate committee toppled a ‘pillar’ of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s tax reform package on Tuesday, scuttling a proposal to require local governing bodies to take public actions up to a voter referendum if rising real estate assessments result in higher property taxes.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Workers in Richmond began removing stone pedestals that once held Confederate monuments and memorials around the city. The city removed the statues about 20 months ago amid widespread racial justice protests.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• The president of the Petersburg NAACP, an opponent of a plan by Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, to bring a casino to the city, says Morrissey ended a heated meeting at his legislative offices by threatening to “rip (his) heart out.” Morrissey confirmed the threat, which Capitol Police are investigating. “I stand by that, and I repeat it,” he said.—VPM

• Press freedom groups say they are concerned a powerful Democrat in the State Senate publicly attacked a Virginia Mercury reporter on Twitter for asking her questions in the General Assembly Building, which is common practice among reporters and lawmakers. Senate President Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, said she did not like the story he was working on. “He kept walking and asking me questions,” she said. “I’m upset that they’re doing this story at all.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• After back-to-back snowfalls, Virginia Beach officials are wondering whether they should lift a ban on sledding at Mount Trashmore, a 65-foot-high former landfill turned city park. “It sounds kind of mean that we don’t allow them to do it.”—Virginian-Pilot

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