Briefs

Local and VCU

Richmond mayor announces arts district loan

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones on Wednesday announced the first loan to help rehabilitate two properties in a proposed arts and culture district downtown.

The loan, to be made from a new citywide fund in partnership with a private developer and nonprofit lender, will be made for properties on Broad and Grace streets, according to Peter H. Chapman, deputy city administrative officer for economic and community development.

Chapman said the loan would be the first for a property in ArtBusiness Richmond, a new district that would be designated under an ordinance pending before City Council. The district, as proposed, covers 68 blocks in downtown and Jackson Ward but is focused on the Broad and Grace street corridors between Belvidere and North 10th streets.

The district represents the city’s effort to build on years of work by art galleries and other small businesses to create a vibrant art scene downtown. ArtBusiness would provide loans and technical assistance for projects to revitalize the area.

The $2 million loan program is one of several established by the Jones administration to help small businesses establish themselves.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Investigators complete on-site probe of RIC plane crash

Virginia State Police and the Federal Aviation Administration have completed their on-site investigation into Monday evening’s crash of a light, twin-engine courier plane at Richmond International Airport that critically injured the pilot.

Anthony L. Carr, 24, of Richmond was being treated for life-threatening injuries at the VCU Medical Centerburn unit, said Sgt. Thomas Molnar, a Virginia State Police spokesman.

Carr suffered burns over 40 percent of his body, authorities said.

Investigating agencies finished their examination of the wreckage Tuesday about 3 a.m. and returned jurisdiction to the airport and the aircraft’s owner, AirNet Systems of Columbus, Ohio. Arrangements were under way to move the plane and its cargo of light parcels, said RIC spokesman Troy Bell.

The cause of the crash remained unknown Tuesday, said Jim Peters, an FAA Eastern Region spokesman inJamaica, N.Y. The plane was on an instrument flight plan, operating as US Check Airlines Flight 901, he said.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

8 of 9 defendants convicted in Monroe Park trespassing case

Judge David E. Cheek of Richmond General District Court on Tuesday imposed $25 fines on eight people who set up a camp in Monroe Park in what they called a protest over the mistreatment of Richmond’s homeless. The eight were convicted of unlawfully remaining in a public park after dark, a misdemeanor.

The eight also were charged with misdemeanor obstruction of justice for failing to identify themselves to a magistrate. Cheek dismissed all of those charges, saying defendants have the right to remain silent.

One of the eight had entered a guilty plea to the misdemeanor trespass charge Tuesday morning, and the others were convicted after a one-hour trial that followed.

Cheek dismissed the case against a ninth defendant, Moriah M. “Mo” Karn, 24, of Richmond, after testimony indicated that she had complied with a 15-minute warning by police to leave the park or face arrest. Cheek said there was some question about whether after complying with that request, she was physically back within the park when she was taken into custody.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

National and International

NASA to send shuttles to Fla., Calif., suburban DC

On a memorable day in space history, NASA began its goodbyes to the shuttle program Tuesday, announcing the aged spacecraft will retire to museums in Cape Canaveral, Los Angeles and suburban Washington and sending a test-flight orbiter to New York City.

It was an emotional day — the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle launch and the 50th anniversary of man’s first journey into space by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Just two more shuttle flights remain, and the head of NASA choked up as he revealed the new homes for the spacecraft in an event at the Kennedy Space Center.

“For all of them, take good care of our vehicles,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, a former astronaut, said with a catch in his voice. “They served a nation well, and we at NASA have a deep and abiding relationship and love affair with them that is hard to put into words.”

The choice of homes for the spaceships — sometimes described as the most complex machinery ever devised — was hotly contested. Twenty-one museums and visitor centers around the country put in bids.

The winners will have to come up with an estimated $28.8 million to ferry the shuttles to their new homes and put them on display. Across the country, cheers erupted at the four winning facilities and groans at the locations that lost out.

Brief by The Associated Press

Egypt’s ex-president detained for investigation

Egypt’s prosecutor general has announced a 15-day detention for the country’s former president to investigate accusations of corruption and abuse of authority.

The Facebook page of the prosecutor general’s office posted a statement early Wednesday announcing the detention of former President Hosni Mubarak, as well as that of his sons.

The page was set up as an outreach from the Justice Ministry to the families of those killed and injured during the 18 days of protests that ousted Mubarak in mid-February.

The statement says the ongoing investigation was into the orders to open fire on demonstrators as well as any abuse of the president’s authority for personal gain.

Mubarak was hospitalized on Tuesday with heart problems.

Brief by The Associated Press

Woman ticketed in France for wearing face veil

A woman has been ticketed in a suburban Paris shopping center for wearing a face veil, in the first reported sanction under a new ban on the garments, police said Tuesday.

Another woman in another Paris suburb was stopped for wearing a veil, but was let go with a warning.

The inconsistent response illustrates the challenge for towns with a large Muslim community in enforcing a law that some view as Islamophobic.

Though such veils are very rare in France, many of the country’s at least 5 million Muslims see the ban as a stigma. Islam is France’s second-largest religion after Catholicism.

The ban also has been criticized by Iran’s government and activists in Jordan.

President Nicolas Sarkozy says such veils imprison women and wanted a ban to uphold French values of equality and secularism.

A 27-year-old was stopped by police in the mall parking lot in the town of Mureaux, regional police said. She was handed a ticket that requires her to pay a euro150 ($216) fine or register for citizenship classes within a month.

Police said the exchange was brief and calm. The incident occurred Monday, the day France’s ban on veils such as the niqab and burqa came into effect.

Brief by The Associated Press