State

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Eleven organizations are urging Virginia to reject proposals to privatize a facility that detains some sex offenders after they've served their sentence.
 
    
They say the problems of an overcrowded Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation could be worsened if operations are turned over to a company that puts profits ahead of programs. State officials are considering privatization as a way to control costs of the rapidly expanding civil commitment program for treatment of sexually violent offenders. Two companies have offered bids to take over the Burkeville psychiatric facility.
 
    
The coalition of civil rights, labor, criminal justice reform and religious organizations sent its letter of opposition to Gov. Bob McDonnell on Monday. However, the governor's office says the decision rests with the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Rehabilitative Services.

    
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal prosecutors in Virginia are objecting to a request for a psychiatric evaluation for a man who admitted to firing shots at the Pentagon and other military buildings.
 
    
The prosecutors say Yonathan Melaku, who in January pleaded guilty to the overnight shootings in northern Virginia, is mentally competent for sentencing. They say there's no indication that he's suffering from a mental disease.
 
    
Melaku's new lawyers asked this month for a court-ordered mental examination.
 
    
They said their own psychiatrist had concluded that Melaku was schizophrenic at the time of the shootings. But prosecutors noted in court filings Friday that the same doctor said Melaku was able to understand the court case against him and participate in his defense.
 
    
Lawyers for Melaku didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The State Board of Elections says mass emails are falsely claiming that voters have to re-register if they haven't voted since the 2008 general election.

The board said Monday in a news release that Virginia doesn't have a re-register requirement. Voters aren't taken off the rolls simply for not voting.

But voters are advised to check their registration status if they haven't voted since 2008 and have moved since then. The board says a voter may be shifted to inactive status if a mailing isn't deliverable and they don't respond to a subsequent address confirmation mailing.

Inactive status voters can still vote after they sign a statement at the polling place.

Oct. 15 is the deadline to register or update voter information for the general election.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia education officials are beginning work on implementing the state's two-year waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind school accountability requirements.

In exchange for the waiver, Virginia must develop accountability plans that set new targets for raising student achievement, advancing teacher effectiveness and improving the performance of low-performing schools. New targets also must be set for preparing students for careers and college.

Virginia Department of Education spokesman Charles Pyle says the biggest initial project is developing ways to track student progress.

The objectives are being developed to measure "challenging but attainable goals" to improve student achievement.

GATE CITY, Va. (AP) - A Virginia inmate will face capital murder charges in the death of another inmate at the Duffield Regional Jail.

21-year-old Shannon Bellamy of Gate City was indicted this week in the April death of 42-year-old Jeffery Kilgore of Wise.

Virginia State Police said there was an altercation in the housing pod that led to Kilgore's death.

Scott County Commonwealth's Attorney Marcus McClung says Bellamy was in jail serving time on drug and child sex offenses.

Bellamy could face the death penalty if convicted.

WINCHESTER, Va. (AP) - Virginia-grown peaches are arriving early at roadside stands and groceries.

Peach season typically is from mid-July to Labor Day, but warm spring weather and the recent heat have ripened the fruit early.

August is usually prime peach season.

Last year, Virginia produced 6,210 tons of peaches with a value approaching nearly $4 million. Among the varieties grown in Virginia are white, doughnut-shaped and yellow flesh.

Diane Kearns of Fruit Hill Orchard in Frederick County says the warmer weather could also hasten the arrival of apples.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The number of people signed up to receive driver's license and vehicle registration renewals electronically from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has surpassed 1 million.

Commissioner Richard D. Holcomb says nearly one in five licensed drivers in Virginia have now signed up to receive emails, texts or phone messages from the DMV.

The agency says it saves 59 cents in printing, processing and postage fees for each renewal notice it doesn't have to send by regular mail.

ABINGDON, Va. (AP) - The Washington County Board of Supervisors has declared a drought-related agricultural disaster.

The declaration could make federal assistance available if the state takes the county's request to that level.

The board approved the declaration Tuesday evening.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows Washington County is in a period of abnormally dry conditions.

Some farmers already have sustained losses.

County agricultural extension agent Phil Blevins says recent rains have helped and most farmers will recover. But some will still see some damage.

Supervisor Phillip McCall raises cattle. He says his first hay cutting was short and the second turned brown becaus

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Gov. Bob McDonnell is bringing together state and national experts, teachers and policymakers to discuss ways to reform Virginia's education system.

McDonnell announced Tuesday that Virginia will hold an education summit in Richmond Aug. 15-17. It will be hosted by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

Former Secretary of Education Jim Dyke and House Majority Leader Kirk Cox will serve as co-chairs of the summit.

Cox has been a teacher for 30 years. He says the summit will bring together reform leaders from around the country to develop strategies that will put the focus on teaching.

Cox says the goal is to make Virginia a national leader in education reforms that better prepare students for work in the 21st century.

CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) - A Chesterfield County judge has found probable cause to send first-degree murder charges to a grand jury involving a 70-year-old woman accused of shooting her husband and strangling her disabled son.

Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Lynn S. Brice made the determination Tuesday in the case against Estelle Virginia Jones of Matoaca.

Chesterfield County police Detective Michael Morgott interviewed Jones following the deaths on April 18 and 19.

Morgott testified Jones detailed how she shot her 71-year-old husband, Joseph E. Jones, six times after they got into an argument, then used a belt the next day to fatally strangle her 51-year-old son, Perry Jones.