Local and VCU
The state’s community colleges will increase tuition for next semester, and VCU plans to eliminate 91 jobs as the schools attempt to absorb multiple cuts in their budgets.
The unusual, midyear tuition increase approved Nov. 12 by the State Board for Community Colleges will add about $22 to the cost of a class and generate $10.7 million in revenue. That is enough to offset about 42 percent of what the system is losing from the state this fiscal year.
In its meeting yesterday, the VCU board of visitors also discussed the possibility of an increase for the spring semester, although Rector Anne G. “Panny” Rhodes said she thought that was unlikely.
But VCU board members said a significant increase in tuition will be needed next year to make up for state budget cuts that threaten the university’s mission.
Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond, Chesterfield schools face cuts as Va. recalculates index
The hits keep coming for Virginia’s financially strapped school systems.
The Virginia Department of Education recently recalculated the composite index for the 2010 and 2011 school years, which determines how much money each school system receives annually from the state.
For most of the 134 school systems, the news is not good.
Their indexes increased, which means they will have to rely more heavily on their equally cash-strapped local governments for money for the next two school years.
Local numbers show that Richmond and Chesterfield County could be hit the hardest.
Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Va. man shot, killed by police
Virginia police responding to a report of a theft in progress shot and killed a suspect.
Fairfax County police identified the man Saturday as 52-year-old David Alan Masters of Fredericksburg. The shooting happened Friday at about 1 p.m. Masters was shot after failing to stop his car for police.
Three officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave pending the results of an investigation. Putting the officers on leave is a routine measure.
Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch
National and International
Obama administration eyes Illinois prison for Guantanamo inmates
The Obama administration might buy a near-empty prison in rural northwestern Illinois to house detainees from Guantanamo Bay along with federal inmates, a White House official said Saturday.
The maximum-security Thomson Correctional Facility, about 150 miles west of Chicago, was one of several evaluated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and emerged as a leading option to house the detainees, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because a decision has not been made.
President Barack Obama wants alleged terrorism suspects from the controversial military-run detention center in Cuba to be transferred to U.S. soil so they can be prosecuted for their suspected crimes.
Brief by The Associated Press
Iran’s parliament speaker calls US move disgraceful
Iran on Sunday denounced as ‘disgraceful’ U.S. moves to seize four mosques and a New York City skyscraper owned by a Muslim nonprofit organization suspected of Iranian links.
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the moves show that President Barack Obama’s slogan for change was deceitful and he was no different from his predecessor George W. Bush.
In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, prosecutors on Thursday filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets.
Confiscating the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which the U.S. government has accused of bankrolling terrorism and trying to build a nuclear bomb, charges Iran has denied.
Brief by The Associated Press
US, Russia say sanctions a possibility for Iran
President Barack Obama said Sunday that “time is running out” for Iran to sign on to a deal to ship its enriched uranium out of the country for further processing, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he still hopes to persuade Iran to send its enriched uranium to his country.
If that plan fails, however, Medvedev said other options remain on the table. While he did not cite those options, the Russian leader has said further sanctions against Iran were possible if it did not open its nuclear program to inspections to prove it was not trying to build a bomb.
Obama and Medvedev, meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Council, said Iran was one of the topics they discussed.
Russia and the U.S. are among six nations leading an effort to ensure Iran does not use what it maintains is a civilian nuclear program to develop an atomic bomb. But Moscow also has close ties with Iran and is helping build its first nuclear power plant, forcing Russia into a delicate balancing act.
Brief by The Associated Press