Charlottesville VA (AP) - Jurors are set to begin deliberations in the trial of a former University of Virginia lacrosse player who is charged with slaying his ex-girlfriend. After a three-day break, jurors in the trial of George Huguely V are to begin deliberating charges Wednesday that the 24-year-old Chevy Chase, Md., man killed Yeardley Love in a final encounter with his on-again, off-again girlfriend. The 22-year-old suburban Baltimore woman was found dead in her apartment on May 3, 2010. Huguely acknowledges he kicked a hole in the door to Love's bedroom but insists he only wanted to talk. Medical experts testified to several possible causes for Love's death from blunt trauma injuries. Huguely faces up to life in prison if convicted of the most serious murder.

Richmond VA (AP) - Legislation allowing private adoption agencies to discriminate against gay prospective parents is on its way to Virginia's governor, who has said he will sign it. The Senate voted 22-18 Tuesday to pass legislation allowing private agencies to deny placements that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs, including opposition to homosexuality. The House had already passed the bill, which only needs Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell's signature to take effect July 1. North Dakota is the only other state with such a law. Democrats Charles Colgan and Phillip Puckett joined all 20 Senate Republicans in voting for the so-called "conscience clause" legislation. Proponents say the measure protects the religious rights of agencies that contract with the state to provide child placement services. Opponents say the state should not sanction discrimination.

Richmond VA (AP) - Legislation to require drug testing of Virginia welfare recipients is still alive, but just barely. The House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee voted 14-6 Tuesday to send Sen. Steve Martin's bill to the Appropriations Committee, which has postponed a similar House measure until 2013. The same fate likely awaits Martin's bill. The legislation would require an initial drug screening of applicants, followed by drug testing if officials suspect illegal drug use. Anyone testing positive could lose benefits for a year. Martin, a Chesterfield County Republican, says the bill would ensure that welfare money is being spent to support families and children. Opponents have argued that the bill offends the dignity of welfare recipients and incorrectly assumes they use drugs more than the general population.

Richmond VA (AP) - Chances for a bipartisan accord by Thursday's deadline on a Senate version of the budget are bleak after Senate Republicans dismissed a Democratic proposal to reshuffle Senate committees in exchange for the necessary votes. The dispute is fallout from a partisan fight over power sharing in an evenly split Senate where Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling cast a bitterly disputed tie-breaking 21st vote that gave the GOP the majority. Senate Democratic Leaders Dick Saslaw and Don McEachin on Friday proposed Democratic and Republican co-chairs of the Senate Finance Committee, with Republicans chairing all other committees. In a stinging rejection, Senate Republican Leader Tommy Norment said he won't "link the budget to partisan, political pressures" and would consider Democratic votes against the budget to be "deliberate obstructionist behavior."

Richmond VA (AP) - There's one week left to apply for a mail-in absentee ballot for Virginia's Republican presidential primary on March 6. The State Board of Elections says applications for mail-in absentee ballots must be submitted by 5 p.m. Feb. 28. Applications can be submitted to the voter's local general registrar's office in-person, by mail, fax, or scanned email attachment. March 3 is the deadline for voters to apply and vote absentee in-person. Voters must meet one of 18 eligibility requirements in order to vote absentee. The requirements are listed on the absentee ballot application and on the board's website, www.sbe.virginia.gov . Only two candidates - Mitt Romney and Ron Paul - qualified to appear on the Virginia ballot.

Richmond VA (AP) - Appalachian Power says it could take several days to restore electricity to some customers in Virginia who lost power during a winter storm. The company's website listed several thousand outages Tuesday, mostly in Giles County. There also are outages in Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Montgomery, Roanoke, Tazewell and Wythe counties, and the city of Roanoke. Sunday's storm dumped several inches of snow across the region.

Fredericsburg VA (Free Lance Star (http://blogs.fredericksburg.com)) - King George County has joined the nation’s fastest-growing crime prevention program for senior citizens. On Tuesday, county officials signed the Virginia Triad agreement with Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s attorney general. King George is one of 228 cities, counties and towns nationwide that are part of the program, designed to reduce crimes against the elderly. Triad isn’t an acronym, officials said. It represents three groups that unite in this effort: law enforcement, community organizations and seniors themselves. “People need to know, not only what’s out there waiting to get them, but how to protect themselves against it,” said Ward Taylor of King George. He’s 76 and chairman of the newly appointed SALT council, which stands for Seniors and Law Enforcement Together. The council consists of six representatives from civic and social groups who will work with Sheriff Steve Dempsey and Sgt. Karen Richards. “King George is very good about meeting the perceived needs of its people,” said Taylor, who’s volunteered with the county’s AARP for 20 years. “This is just part and parcel.” Cuccinelli talked about various priorities in his office, including investigating Medicaid fraud, elder abuse and other scams. “A lot of this targets the older community,” Cuccinelli said, “and we want you to help as eyes and ears of the community to stop this kind of fraud.” About 40 people attended the ceremony, held in the board room of the Revercomb Administration Center. Juanita Balenger, who is the state’s Triad director, described to the crowd why scam artists tend to target seniors. They believe seniors are well off, even though many live on fixed incomes. They search for isolated people, those whose spouses have passed away or whose grown children live elsewhere. And they hope seniors won’t report scams out of fear of embarrassment or being considered senile. “It can happen to anyone at any age,” she said. “These scams and frauds don’t only happen in big cities, but also in rural communities.” King George already has had its share, Sheriff Dempsey said. People have tried to pass off counterfeit checks on seniors or have told them they can win the sweepstakes—if they just provide some funds to help retrieve the big prize. Other groups have promised to lay asphalt, fix roofs or inspect for termites—then left town after a payment without doing any work. “It’s been going on for years,” Dempsey said. The sheriff heard about Triad at a fall conference. Caroline County Sheriff Tony Lippa, who had just started the program in his county, encouraged his King George counterpart to take a look. Lippa also attended Tuesday’s ceremony. Members of the Triad program will share information about its programs at big events, such as the county’s fall festival and spring fling. They’ll also talk to garden clubs or men’s groups at churches—anywhere there’s a large presence of seniors, Richards said.

Chesapeake VA (Times Dispatch & AP) - CHESAPEAKE — A group of Chesapeake residents has filed a $2 billion lawsuit against the owners of Battlefield Golf Club at Centreville and Dominion Virginia Power, claiming the toxic fly ash on which the course was built contaminated the area's well water and harmed several people. Lawyers representing nearly 400 people living near the club filed the lawsuit on Tuesday. A previous lawsuit was dropped after a judge ruled that the plaintiffs hadn't provided enough evidence in the case. The Virginian-Pilot reports that the new complaint includes new evidence showing elevated toxin levels in well-water testing. It also specifically claims that nine children and one adult were harmed by the fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal. A Dominion spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit.

New Kent VA (AP) - A New Kent County businesswoman is facing up to 30 years in prison today for her role in a $1 million mortgage loan scam that caused $568,293 in losses to eight lenders. Nicole G. Hathaway, 34, formerly president of Mortgage Solutions II, pleaded guilty last September to mail fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer. Federal sentencing guidelines call for a term of 33 to 41 months, though Spencer is free to sentence below or above the recommendation. In court papers filed last week, her attorney, Angela Whitley, asked that Hathaway not serve any prison time, but rather a term of probation or home confinement. Hathaway's parents and siblings are dead and she provides care for five children, three of them her own. "Ms. Hathaway has no immediate family members capable of caring for her children should she receive a sentence of incarceration," Whitley wrote. "In addition to being an exemplary parent and caregiver, Ms. Hathaway owns her own business. Unfortunately, should the Court sentence her to imprisonment, the business would have to close and thirty people would lose their jobs," wrote Whitley. Whitley also argued that Hathaway had a limited role in the scheme and challenged the extent of the losses alleged. A sentencing memorandum filed by David T. Maguire, an assistant U.S. attorney, however, argued for a prison term within the guideline recommendation. No incarceration, he wrote, "would promote disrespect for the law." Maguire wrote that the $568,203 loss was calculated by subtracting the amount the lending institution received in foreclosure sales from the unpaid balance on the defaulted loan at the time of the foreclosure. Usually the borrowers could not even make their first payment, Maguire wrote. As far as her family goes, Maguire argued, "Even the worst criminal will have good and decent family members who suffer from the defendant's incarceration." In pleading guilty, Hathaway admitted that from 2007 through 2008, she assisted in fraudulently obtaining or attempting to obtain nine mortgage-backed loans (one lender refused to make the loan). According to the prosecution, the participants enticed financial institutions to make loans to unqualified buyers, recruited "straw borrowers," and made false statements on loan documents and settlement statements. The sellers inflated the price of property to pay off existing loans and make a profit; loan originators and real estate agents received commissions; and buyers got to live in a house they were not qualified to buy. As the loan originator, Hathaway was involved in the settlement phase of the scheme, creating false documents to corroborate that the buyers had paid the down payments and closing costs. Hathaway would make it appear that a buyer had been given a gift of a down payment from a relative to help purchase a property or just front the down payment herself and the seller or realtor would pay her back later with proceeds.

Gloucester VA (dailypress.com) - The Gloucester County Board of Supervisors meets Tuesday night and will discuss a presentation by Public Utilities Director Marty Schlesinger on the county's response so far to state and federal agencies' orders to clean up sewer overflows into local waterways. Gloucester is one of 14 cities, counties or sanitation districts involved in the cleanup ordered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Quality. The orders to limit discharges of sewage into local waterways dates to 2007. The goal of the orders is to force localities and the Hampton Roads Sanitation District to reduce the number and volume of discharges, improve the maintenance of the various systems and ensure that the systems are designed and sized to work together, according to a report from Schlesinger to the supervisors. Topics Gloucester (Gloucester, Virginia) Environmental Politics Hampton Roads See more topics » XVirginia Department of Transportation U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Gloucester County The costs to the localities and HRSD will run in the millions of dollars. Initial repair costs on a stretch of sewer line underneath Route 14 in the Court House area of Gloucester is estimated by Schlesinger at $50,000, according to Schlesinger's report. Other items on the agenda include a presentation by a Virginia Department of Transportation official on "street traffic calming methods" and a discussion on the Gloucester Housing Advisory Board. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Colonial Courthouse.

Wintergreen VA (AP) - Authorities are investigating a fire at Wintergreen that caused about $200,000 worth of damage to several condominiums. The fire occurred Sunday morning at the privately owned Laurelwood Condominiums. Wintergreen Fire and Rescue Chief Curtis Sheets tells media outlets that he believes a fireplace in one of the units is the source of the fire. Sheets says four to eight units sustained moderate to heavy damage. Another unit sustained smoke and water damage.

Norfolk VA (AP) - Scientists with the Virginia Aquarium are planning a necropsy on the body of a 42-foot whale that washed ashore over the weekend on a Norfolk beach. The aquarium's stranding response team examined the male Sei whale and discovered that he suffered a 1.5-foot gash on the back of his head, a fractured skull, and traces of orange and brown rust that suggest that a boat hit him. Susan Barco, senior scientist with the stranding response team, tells WAVY-TV that the whale hadn't been dead for long before washing up on the beach in Ocean View on Sunday.

Richmond VA (AP) - Laminate Technologies is planning to open a manufacturing facility in Henry County. Gov. Bob McDonnell says at least 30 jobs will be created. Laminate Technologies will invest $2 million in the project. The company produces customized laminated panels and fabricated components and is a supplier to kitchen cabinet manufacturers in the area. McDonnell says in a news release that the Henry County site will enable the company to better serve its markets. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission has approved $110,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds for the project. McDonnell approved a $50,000 grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund to assist Henry County with the project.