Briefs

LOCAL & VCU

Reckless driving charge withdrawn against bus driver in crash that killed four

A reckless driving charge was withdrawn Friday against a discount bus-line driver, clearing the way for his January trial on four manslaughter counts stemming from a May 31 fatal crash on Interstate 95.

On a motion from Caroline County Commonwealth’s Attorney Anthony G. Spencer, Judge Frank L. Benser withdrew the charge against Kin Yiu Cheung, 37, who was driving a Sky Express Inc. bus when it veered off Interstate 95 about 30 miles north of Richmond and flipped upside down in the early-morning hours of the day.

Spencer said if he had obtained a conviction against Cheung for reckless driving, the defense at his upcoming manslaughter trial possibly could argue that Cheung was being tried twice for the same offense.

In the double jeopardy clause, the U.S. Constitution prohibits prosecuting individuals for the same crime on more than one occasion.
Cheung’s trial has been set for Jan. 26 in Caroline Circuit Court.

Brief by The Richmond Times-Dispatch

Richmond council members consider raises for themselves

Richmond City Council members are considering whether to seek raises for themselves as they face re-election next year.

The council members and the council president are paid $25,000 and $27,000 per year, respectively, based on criteria in state code that allow cities to set salaries at certain levels based on their population.

Richmond’s population is 204,214, but it would have to increase to 260,000 before the salaries could rise to $28,000 for council members and $30,000 for the council president.

Councilman Bruce W. Tyler acknowledged the issue of pay raises is a sensitive one, particularly given the current economic climate, but he said it’s worth discussing because Richmond council members are paid less than their counterparts on the boards of supervisors in Henrico and Chesterfield counties.

Officials could not immediately confirm it, but state code records suggest that the last raise for Richmond council members came in 1996.

Brief by The Richmond Times-Dispatch

Cuccinelli appeals health-care suit to U.S. Supreme Court

As expected, Virginia is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling dismissing its challenge to President Barack Obama’s landmark health-care legislation.

Last month, the Richmond-based court ruled that Virginia lacked the legal standing to pursue its case. The commonwealth’s filing asks the high court to not only address the issue of standing, but also to hear its case based on the merits.

Specifically, Virginia argues that the individual insurance mandate provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act –which will require nearly every American to purchase insurance by 2014 or face a penalty – is unconstitutional because it compels Americans to engage in commerce.

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice petitioned the Supreme Court to review the case brought by Florida on behalf of 26 states challenging the constitutionality of the individual insurance mandate. In that case, the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the mandate as unconstitutional. Parties in other challenges to the legislation have also petitioned the high court for review.

The petitions make it highly likely the court will hear the case and rule on the federal health-care law by the end of its spring term, in June – smack in the middle of the presidential election year.

In his statement Cuccinelli asked the court to grant all petitions seeking reviews of the federal law.

Brief by The Richmond Times-Dispatch

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Al-Qaida remains a threat in Yemen even after U.S. strike that killed 3 key figures

As the president struggles to keep power, Islamic militants have taken advantage of the Yemen government’s crumbling control to take over several cities in the south, raising the danger they can establish a permanent stronghold. On Saturday, militants holding Zinjibar, a southern provincial capital, battled government forces. The fighting killed at least 28 soldiers and militants.

The Obama administration issued a travel alert Saturday warning that al-Awlaki’s killing has raised the risk of anti-American violence worldwide.
Still at large are crucial figures in the group, including its leader Nasser al-Wahishi, a Yemeni who once served as Osama bin Laden’s personal aide in Afghanistan.

Alongside him is Qassim al-Raimi, the group’s military commander who Yemeni officials believe masterminded the Christmas airliner and the package bomb plots, and deputy leader Saeed al-Shihri, a Saudi who fought in Afghanistan and spent six years in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, before being released and going through Saudi Arabia’s famous “rehabilitation” institutes.

Also still at large is Fahd al-Quso, a Yemeni who was also close to bin Laden and has been indicted in the United States for a role in organizing the 1998 suicide bombing of the Norfolk-based USS Cole off Yemen, which killed 17 sailors and injured 39 others. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is estimated to have several hundred fighters hiding in mountainous provinces.

Brief by The Associated Press

700 arrested after protest on Brooklyn Bridge

About 700 protesters demonstrating against corporate greed, global warming and social inequality, among other grievances, were arrested Saturday night after they swarmed the Brooklyn Bridge and shut down a lane of traffic for several hours.

Some demonstrators spilled onto the roadway in the late afternoon after being told to stay on the pedestrian pathway, New York police said. Most of those arrested face disorderly conduct charges, while others were charged with resisting arrest. The bridge reopened hours later around 8 p.m. after it had been cleaned, police said.

Brief by The Associated Press

Perry: Mexico may require U.S. troops

Texas Gov. Rick Perry says he is open to sending American troops to Mexico to help battle drug cartels.

The Republican presidential candidate likens the situation to Colombia, where the government accepted American military support in battling the war on drugs. Perry says the current violence may require similar military action.

He has often called for more National Guard troops to help protect the Mexican border and stem the flow of illegal immigration. But Saturday’s comments indicate he is open to deepening America’s military involvement across the border.

He also said he vetoed a Texas bill that would have given illegal immigrants driver’s licenses, helped pass a bill requiring voter identification at the polls, spent $400 million on security measures to help secure the state’s border with Mexico, and strongly opposed granting amnesty to people who illegally entered the United States.

Brief by The Associated Press