Briefs

Local and VCU

State revenue gets $152 million boost

An uptick in income tax collections means an additional $152 million for the state’s two-year budget, Gov. Bob McDonnell said Friday.

McDonnell asked the legislature’s money committees to put the money into the rainy day fund, toward a payment into the Virginia Retirement System and to eliminate accelerated sales-tax payments.

Revenue from individual withholding taxes increased by 5.2 percent, compared with the official budget estimate of 3.4 percent, the administration said, attributing the increase to a rebound in small business hiring and wages.

McDonnell told the House and Senate money committees of the revenue projections two days before each committee releases its version of the state budget.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Arrest made in Fan District robberies

Richmond police touted on Friday the arrest of a suspect in recent robberies in the Fan District that have residents concerned, but they would not identify the accused or the robberies in question.

Elizabeth A. Hobbs, an assistant city prosecutor, also would not comment.

“Unfortunately, at this point we’re not able to release any details of the evidence in the cases, or identify names of the suspects,” she said.

“Any of that would jeopardize our prosecution because the investigation is still ongoing,” Hobbs said.

A release from the Richmond police public information office Friday morning said: “Richmond police investigators and prosecutors believe officers have arrested the person responsible for several recent robberies in the Fan. Because the investigation is ongoing, no further information is being released at this time.”

There was at least one robbery in the Fan District this week and three last week, in which two victims were assaulted but did not require hospitalization.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

More than 3,200 take polar plunge for Special Olympics

More than 3,200 people took a plunge into the Atlantic Ocean Saturday to raise money for SpecialOlympics Virginia.

Participants traveled from across the state to the oceanfront in Virginia Beach for the annual Polar Plunge Winter Festival. The event raised $1 million in pledges, a record amount that will go to support SpecialOlympics competitions in the state.

“This clearly is the most we have ever raised at the Polar Plunge,” said Holly Claytor, a spokeswoman for Special Olympics Virginia. Last year’s event brought in just over $900,000.

The plungers gathered Saturday afternoon on the beach and, at the sound of a whistle, jumped into the ocean for a swim, led by more than 100 Special Olympics athletes.

The water temperature was about 38 degrees, Claytor said.

Many participants wore costumes. Some were dressed as vegetables, one group came dressed as iPhones and one team dressed as a deck of cards.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

National and International

Cheney calls Mubarak a good friend, US ally

Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak a good friend and U.S. ally, and he urged the Obama administration to move cautiously as turmoil continued to shake that nation’s government.

Cheney’s comments came a day after President Barack Obama pressed Mubarak to consider his legacy and exit office in a way that would give his country the best chance for peace and democracy.

Cheney said the U.S. should take measured steps in public, and suggested that too much pressure could backfire.

“There is a reason why a lot of diplomacy is conducted in secret. There are good reasons for there to be confidentiality in some of those communications. And I think President Mubarak needs to be treated as he deserved over the years, because he has been a good friend,” Cheney said at an event commemorating the centennial of President Ronald Reagan’s birth.

Cheney noted it can be difficult for some foreign leaders to act on U.S. advice “in a visible way” without appearing compromised in their own countries.

“The bottom line is, in the end, whatever comes next in Egypt is going to be determined by the people of Egypt,” Cheney added.

Brief by The Associated Press

Kucinich wants to visit WikiLeaks suspect at brig

Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich has asked the Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a visit with an Army private suspected of giving classified material to WikiLeaks.

Kucinich, a Democrat who is a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter Friday to Gates asking for a visit with Pfc. Bradley Manning.

Manning is being held in a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va.

Kucinich says he is concerned about reports of Manning’s treatment while in custody. Manning’s lawyer has filed a complaint with the Quantico commander about the conditions Manning is being held under.

Brief by The Associated Press

US noncommittal on Muslim group joining talks

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday the Obama administration supports the transition to a new government now moving forward in Egypt, but she says it must be up to the Egyptian people to decide if the reforms go far enough.

With mass protests now in their 13th day, Clinton said the U.S. is encouraging talks between opposition leaders and Vice President Omar Suleiman aimed at ending the country’s political crisis.

But she withheld judgment on the decision by the Muslim Brotherhood to enter into discussions with the embattled government. The fundamentalist group said it would insist that President Hosni Mubarak, an authoritarian leader who’s been in power for nearly three decades, step aside immediately.

In an interview with National Public Radio, Clinton said the U.S. has been clear about what it expects as Egyptmoves toward a new government.

“The Egyptian people are looking for an orderly transition that can lead to free and fair elections,” she said. “That’s what the United States has consistently supported.”

Brief by The Associated Press