Local and VCU
Firm for Carytown project puts Jones fundraiser on holt
The lobbying firm for a proposed retail developmentnear Carytown canceled a fundraiser for Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones on Tuesday amid concerns about the timing of the event and the mayor’s expressed support for the project.
Capital Results, which has been pushing the Carytown Place development, had planned to host a $250-per-person reception for Jones on Tuesday evening at its offices in Shockoe Bottom.
Jones said in an interview that he agreed with the decision to postpone the reception and emphasized that his political activities are unconnected to any positions he takes on behalf of the city. He also noted that he does not have a vote on Carytown Place.
A leader of the opposition group Don’t Big Box Carytown said she was not surprised to learn that the mayor had endorsed the development or that project boosters had planned a fundraiser for him.
Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch
McDonnell urges increase in age for Social Security eligibility
Gov. Bob McDonnell is advocating an increase in the eligibility age for Social Security benefits and possible cuts in defense spending.
McDonnell also calls for reforms to the Medicaid and Medicare programs to stop “tinkering around the edges” of spending cuts in the national budget.
McDonnell attended a meeting of the state’s governors at the White House with President Barack Obama.
McDonnell, vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association, criticizes Obama’s proposed 2012 budget, saying it “relies on continued deficit spending with money we simply do not have to fund the basic operations of government.”
He said Virginia lawmakers making deep cuts instead of raising taxes to manage their budget and scolds Washington for spending beyond its means, but never mentions his plan to borrow $3 billion for state road improvements.
Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Man taken to hospital after jumping from Manchester Bridge
A man was taken to VCU Medical Center after he jumped off the Manchester Bridge in Richmond and floated downstream, police spokesman Gene Lepley said.
The man, who was not immediately identified, leapt from the east side of the bridge and was recovered about a half-hour later by a fire-rescue team “downstream a couple hundred yards,” Lepley said.
Richmond fire Lt. Shawn Jones described the man’s condition as life-threatening.
Further details were not immediately available.
Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch
National and International
Supreme Court rules for anti-gay military funeral protesters
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the First Amendment protects fundamentalist church members who mount attention-getting, anti-gay protests outside military funerals.
The court voted 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The decision upheld an appeals court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment to the father of a dead Marine who sued church members after they picketed his son’s funeral.
The Rev. Fred Phelps and other family members who make up most of the Westboro Baptist Church have picketed many military funerals in their quest to draw attention to their incendiary view that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are God’s punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.
The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., threw out the verdict and said the Constitution shielded the church members from liability.
Forty-eight states, 42 U.S. senators and veterans groups sided with Snyder, asking the court to shield funerals from the Phelps family’s “psychological terrorism.”
Brief by The Associated Press
Paris prosecutors say Galliano to stand trial
Paris prosecutors office says it has decided to put fashion designer John Galliano on trial over his alleged racial insults following a police investigation.
The prosecutors office said in a statement Wednesday that the trial could take place in the second quarter this year, and Galliano could face up to six months in prison and up to €22,500 in fines, if convicted.
Provocative designer John Galliano apologized Wednesday for his behavior after fabled fashion house Christian Dior sacked him as creative director over anti-Semitic remarks.
A video of an inebriated Galliano praising Hitler and the subsequent firing of one of the industry’s most talented and moneymaking designers has sent shock waves through Paris Fashion Week.
Brief by The Associated Press
US reels back talk of intervention in Libya
The Obama administration on Wednesday tried to rein in “loose talk” about military options in Libya, including a “no-fly zone” that the Pentagon chief said would first require attacking Moammar Gadhafi’s government.
At the same time, U.S. officials said the North African country risked descending into chaos.
The idea of protective military flights over Libya has gained footing with some in the United States and Europe as a means to prevent Gadhafi from launching aerial attacks on rebels seeking his ouster. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates told lawmakers that a military operation would have to come before creation of a no-fly zone.
He added that the operation would require more warplanes than are on a single U.S. aircraft carrier.
Brief by The Associated Press