Briefs

Local & VCU

UVa replaces weapons policy

The University of Virginia quietly replaced its weapons policy with a regulation Friday afternoon, bringing it into line with recent legal opinions on the issue.

The new regulation bans the possession, storage and use of weapons, defined as including items ranging from nun-chucks to pistols.

“The regulation applies to faculty, staff and students who are anywhere on University property and to members of the general public who are on University property in ‘academic, administrative, athletic, entertainment or student residence buildings, child care or dining facilities, the University Medical Center or while attending sporting, entertainment or educational activities,’” reads a university news release. There are exceptions for police officers and, with the permission of police, for some other weapons, including those used for educational or artistic display.

Officials will now forward the regulation to the state. It will take effect once it is published in the Virginia Register. In a news release, university officials said no more approvals are required before the change comes into force.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Bus driver charged in Dinwiddie crash that killed three

The driver of a charter bus has been charged with reckless driving after a crash on Interstate 85 in Dinwiddie County that killed three people Friday.

Malverse L. Vanloan, 56, of Greensboro, N.C., faces a court appearance on Jan. 26 in Dinwiddie County General District Court. The charges stem from a chain-reaction collision involving the Coach America bus she was driving, a pickup truck and a logging truck. The bus was carrying 49 students and a chaperone from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.

The driver and two passengers in the pickup truck were killed. A fourth passenger was taken to VCU Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The logging truck was the northernmost vehicle in the wreck, followed by the pickup and the charter bus. The pickup was found sandwiched between the bus and the logging truck. The crash closed a section of northbound I-85 for nearly six hours.

Virginia State Police are still investigating the crash and have not released the names of the victims.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Arrests, convictions rare in Va. college sex assault cases

Reported sexual assaults on Virginia college campuses seldom result in an arrest or conviction, in part because half the women who report the attacks decline to pursue charges against their alleged assailants, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis of campus sex crimes.

The analysis of seven schools in Virginia found that campus police investigated 62 reported sex crimes during calendar years 2008, 2009 and 2010, with just seven cases resulting in arrests and four in convictions. Remarkably, none of the convictions involved a student-on-student attack, the most common type of campus sexual assault.

The collective rate of arrests and convictions for the seven schools is well below the national and state average for reported sex crimes at large, according to federal crime data and a 2009 analysis of national rape statistics.

But campus police and prosecutors serving the Virginia localities where the colleges reside say 50 percent of victims either refused to cooperate with police or didn’t want their assailants charged or prosecuted.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

National and International

Police probe possible shots fired near White House

Police closed a stretch of Constitution Avenue near the White House Friday night to investigate reports of gunfire in the area.

Sgt. David Schlosser of the U.S. Park Police said the White House did not appear to have been the focus of the incident.

Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said witnesses heard shots and saw two vehicles racing on Constitution Avenue toward 17th Street, and one of the vehicles was abandoned at 23rd and Constitution.

Witnesses saw the driver get out and run across the Roosevelt Bridge toward Arlington, Va., Donovan said. He said an AK-47 assault rifle was recovered but no one is in custody.

Police were looking for bullet holes and had not confirmed that shots were actually fired.

Brief by The Associated Press

North Anna nuclear reactors coming back online

The first of Dominion Virginia Power’s North Anna nuclear reactors should start producing power for the electrical grid Monday morning, the company said.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday gave the Richmond-based utility permission to restart its North Anna Power Station.

The Louisa County plant has been shut down since the Aug. 23 central Virginia earthquake tripped its two reactors offline. The trip was unprecedented in the history of U.S. commercial nuclear reactor operation and drew intense scrutiny from the NRC.

The large North Anna plant is crucial for meeting the state’s energy demand. The twin units produce about 20 percent of all the electricity the utility generates, enough to power 450,000 homes. Its nuclear plants also generate electricity at a significantly lower cost than other power sources, Dominion Virginia Power said.

The utility said it spent more than $21 million for inspections, tests and analyses after the quake.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

End of an era: Italy’s Berlusconi resigns

A chorus of Handel’s “Alleluia” rang out Saturday as Silvio Berlusconi resigned as Italian premier, ending a tumultuous 17-year political era and setting in motion a transition aimed at bringing the country back from the brink of economic crisis.

Berlusconi stepped down amid jeers, cheers and heckles of “Buffoon” from thousands of people who packed downtown Rome to witness his government’s downfall after a stunning week of market turmoil that upended his defiant hold on power and threatened to tear apart the eurozone.

Respected former European commissioner Mario Monti remained the top choice to try to steer the country out of its debt woes as the head of a transitional government. But the job is Herculean, given the enormity of reforms required and Italy’s often-paralyzed parliament.

President Giorgio Napolitano will hold consultations Sunday morning with each of Italy’s main political forces before proceeding with the expected request that Monti try to form a new government.

Brief by The Associated Press