Submitted by admin on Sun, 2007-04-29 08:00. ::
The federal government said that it would give power companies special rights to build their lines in the Washington region and some other parts of the country, permitting the companies to bypass state authority if necessary in the interest of bolstering the nation's electrical grid.
The change could give Dominion Virginia Power greater authority to build a controversial line through Northern Virginia. The company says it has no plans to bypass the state's authority but won't rule it out.
Virginia is holding a lottery to allow more than 100 commoners to get close enough to curtsy before Queen Elizabeth II when she visits Richmond on Thursday.
In honor of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the first permanent English colony in the New World, the queen will pay a state visit to Jamestown. She will deliver a special address to the Virginia General Assembly on Thursday. On Friday, she and her husband, Prince Philip, will visit Williamsburg and Jamestown. He is scheduled to visit Norfolk on Friday.
The lottery will select 54 winners, each of whom will be able to take one guest for front-row seats at the royal walkabout Thursday on Capitol Square.
The online registration closes Monday; winners will be announced that day. A computer will randomly select the winners. Registration is at http://queensvisit.governor.virginia.gov/home.asp .
A United Church of Christ congregation in Arlington is offering full marriage rights to same-sex couples, marking what is apparently a first in the region for a church in that denomination.
Rock Spring Congregational's vote amended a previous position. In 2000, the congregation had decided to offer same-sex couples ceremonies of commitment but not marriage. The Rev. John Deckenback, minister of UCC's Central Atlantic Conference, said Rock Spring is the only one of 185 UCC parishes in the region to formally make such a change.
The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the federal ban on a controversial abortion procedure started playing out in Virginia, as the justices ordered a Richmond-based appellate court to reconsider the state law it struck down barring the procedure.
In 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit overturned Virginia's ban on what opponents call "partial birth infanticide." A three-judge panel, citing Supreme Court precedent, found the measure unconstitutional because it lacks an exception to safeguard a woman's health.
But the Supreme Court reversed course last week, upholding the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act passed by Congress in 2003. The high court followed up by vacating the 4th Circuit decision and sending the case back to Richmond for review.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors signed off on a $3.3 billion spending plan for the coming budget year that maintains the current tax rate.
This year, although the average assessed value of a single-family home dropped for the first time since the mid-1990s, from $544,541 to $542,744, the tax rate will remain at 89 cents for each $100 of assessed value.
The biggest chunk of county spending, $1.5 billion, will go to education. That represents a 4 percent increase over the current fiscal year; overall revenue is projected to increase by about 2.3 percent. The budget will also pay for about 70 new jobs to operate and maintain county buildings that will be opening soon, including the Public Safety and Transportation Operations Center.
Metro plans to cut 220 jobs as part of its effort to close a budget shortfall without raising fares or reducing service, officials said. The cuts, representing about 2 percent of the agency's 10,600-member workforce, will be in administrative positions and will not include public safety employees or those involved in bus or train operations or paratransit services for the elderly and disabled.
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