Portsmouth Police Charge State Sen., With Felonies, Riggleman Mulls Gubernatorial Run, Uncertainty About Danville Casino; More

From the Virginia Mercury:

By Graham Moomaw
August 18, 2020

NEWS TO KNOW
Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere.

• One day before lawmakers convene in Richmond to take up police reform, Portsmouth police announced they had charged Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and several NAACP leaders with felony charges for their alleged role in the vandalism of a Confederate monument two months ago. Top Democrats and the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus denounced the move as disturbing and suspiciously timed.—WAVY, Virginian-Pilot, Washington Post

• As the special session kicks off this morning, Gov. Ralph Northam will make several proposals to make absentee voting easier, including allowing localities to set up ballot drop boxes and including prepaid return postage for mail-in ballots.—Washington Post

• When Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the immediate removal of Confederate statues in early July, his administration gave the $1.8 million contract to a firm linked to a political donor, records show.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• In a new interview, U.S. Rep. Denver Riggleman, a Republican mulling a run for governor after losing his seat to a hard-right challenger, takes aim at “theocrats” on the right, “Marxists” on the left, and “mouth breathers” who believe in QAnon.—Fauquier Times

• The so-called Lost Colony of North Carolina’s Roanoke Island was never lost after all, according to evidence presented in a new book. Researcher Scott Dawson says the English settlers went to live with a native tribe on Hatteras Island, where they “thrived, ate well, had mixed families and endured for generations.”—Virginian-Pilot

• Some Danville residents who live near the site of a proposed casino say they don’t want it in their neighborhood. “It will be good for businesses, good for the economy, but I have a funny feeling it will attract bad stuff to the community.”—Register & Bee

• Richmond’s Planning Commission gave initial approval for a 200-foot-long Black Lives Matter street mural near the state Capitol.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• A federal court trial has begun for a former Rockbridge Regional Jail superintendent accused of failing to provide inmates with proper medical treatment.—Roanoke Times

• A federal judge said a privately run immigrant detention center in Farmville must allow two outside experts to inspect the facility amid a COVID-19 outbreak.—Associated Press

• A “seal-looking animal” was spotted in the James River near Richmond.—NBC12

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