Briefs

LOCAL & VCU

Protest rails against crackdown of Chesterfield dancing ban

Nearly 50 people, many with signs calling for action, gathered outside Chesterfield’s administration building to object to the county’s decision to enforce a dancing ban at two popular restaurants on Hull Street Road.

The protesters, who included restaurant patrons and band members who played at both locations, believe Chesterfield is selectively enforcing a county code that prohibits dancing at businesses without a nightclub permit.

To the dismay of the bars and some of their customers, police in recent weeks have issued citations to County Rib & Ale and Mulligan’s Sports Grille, at Hull Street and Genito roads, for allowing dancing without a permit.

County Rib & Ale was issued two citations for violations that occurred Feb. 7 and Feb. 28, and Mulligan’s was cited in early March for a violation on Feb. 27, police said.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Trooper injured in crash

A 20-year-old man faces a DUI charge after police say he crashed a car into a state police cruiser Sunday morning, leaving a trooper with minor injuries.

Alexander Patrick Weedon of Glen Allen was charged in the incident, which happened about 5:15 a.m. along Interstate 64 near the Shockoe Valley Bridge in Richmond.

The car was eastbound when it ran off the left side of I-64, struck several sand-filled barrels and then slammed into the rear of the state police cruiser, which was stopped while Trooper J.H. Lehman was conducting speed enforcement, authorities said.

Police said Weedon was not wearing his seat belt but was not injured. Lehman was hospitalized with minor injuries, and was expected to be released Sunday.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Forest Hill Park set for $1.7 million lake cleanup effort

Richmond is poised to begin a reclamation project that has been decades in the making: the restoration of a historic lake where Reedy Creek flows through the park on its way to the James River.

The lake has disappeared under tons of silt carried by the creek from upstream construction sites for two decades or more. The six-month process of removing an estimated 40,000 cubic yards of sediment is scheduled to begin late next month, after the city approves erosion and sediment control plans.

“It’s an amenity we’ve lost,” said John R. Pope Jr., director of parks, recreation and community facilities in the city. “Finally, after all these years, we’re going to get it back.”

Richmond is spending more than $1.7 million as part of the City of the Future program to restore the lake in Forest Hill Park.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Obama may find Europe reticent on some US goals

President Barack Obama’s first European trip could dampen his hopes that a new diplomatic style will convert once-reluctant allies into cooperative global partners.

European nations remain reticent about some of the toughest U.S. priorities.

Obama jets across the Atlantic on Tuesday on an eight-day, five-country trip that will be dizzying even by the usual peripatetic standards of presidential foreign travel.

The overseas tour will introduce him to the world stage.

Brief by The Associated Press

Fargo mayor: More levees will be breached

The bloated Red River briefly breached a dike early Sunday, pouring water into a school campus. Fargo, N.D. Mayor Dennis Walaker called it a “wakeup call” for a city that needs to be vigilant for weaknesses in levees that could give way at any time.

Crews managed to largely contain the flooding to the campus of Oak Grove Lutheran School preventing more widespread damage in nearby areas.

Oak Grove Lutheran Principal Morgan Forness said city crews, the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Guard unsuccessfully tried to contain the rushing water to one building after a permanent floodwall panel at the school buckled around 1:30 a.m.

The city had been bracing for a river crest of up to 43 feet on Sunday, but instead the National Weather Service said Saturday the river had crested at 12:15 a.m. that day to 40.82 feet.

Brief by The Associated Press

Shuttle Discovery lands in Florida

Shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Saturday and successfully wrapped up a construction mission that left the International Space Station with all its solar wings and extra electrical power.

Discovery swooped through a cloudy sky and landed at NASA’s spaceport in the mid-afternoon, a little later than initially planned. Mission Control delayed Discovery’s homecoming by about 90 minutes, or one orbit, because of windy, cloudy weather. But the wind shifted and conditions improved enough for the second and final landing opportunity of the day.

Brief by The Associated Press

N. Korea preparing for another missile test

North Korea is preparing to launch a short- or medium-range missile, possibly right after it carries out its plan to fire a long-range rocket in early April, a Japanese newspaper reported Sunday.

North Korea says it will launch a communications satellite into orbit between April 4 and 8 as part of its space development program. Regional powers, however, suspect the North is using the launch to test long-range missile technology, and have warned it could face international sanctions under a 2006 U.N. Security Council Resolution.

Brief by The Associated Press