State and regional news

from COMBINED WIRE SERVICES

Virginia Senate says revenue shortage estimate could be too low

RICHMOND (AP) -- Virginia senators fear that Gov. Tim Kaine's forecast that state revenue will be down by $2.5 billion is going to be too modest. Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday also argued that the Democratic governor seemed to be dipping too deeply into state cash reserves and still spending too much.

Senator Ken Stolle of Virginia Beach said it appeared Kaine was using $400 million in state "rainy day" cash reserves "to maintain spending we can't afford."
Kaine administration Finance Secretary Ric Brown said the bulk of it is to avoid deep cuts this academic year to public education.

Voter registration numbers in commonwealth exceed 5 million

 RICHMOND (AP) -- More than 436,000 Virginians have registered to vote since the start of this year, pushing the state's voter rolls past 5 million for the first time.

The 436,155 net gain in registrations since Jan. 1 increased the state's pool of registered voters by nearly 10 percent, to 5,021,993. The total population of Virginia is about 7.7 million, according to Census Bureau estimates.

The unprecedented wave of registrations was driven by involvement of young voters in the historic and emotional presidential election. Virginia is usually a reliably Republican state, but it is up for grabs this year for the first time in decades. Forty percent of the voters registered this year were younger than 25. Twenty percent ranged from 25 to 35, according to state elections data.

It's impossible to determine how many new registrants are Democrats or Republicans because Virginia doesn't register voters by party. But the heavy influx of young, first-time voters reflects the age group most energized and targeted by the campaign of Democrat Barack Obama.


Washington and Lee law students to offer free legal help

ROANOKE (AP) -- Washington & Lee University law students will offer free legal services out of the childhood home of the late civil rights attorney Oliver Hill.

Starting this month, the Washington & Lee Community Law Clinic at the Oliver Hill House will focus initially on issues affecting older people, including estate planning and securing government benefits. Upper-level law students will staff the ElderLaw Project, and law school faculty and volunteer attorneys from the Roanoke Bar Association will serve as their mentors.

Colonial Heights bank robbers sentenced to 17 years

RICHMOND (AP) -- Two men convicted of robbing a Wachovia Bank branch in Colonial Heights have each been sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge James Spencer in Richmond sentenced 37-year-old Leslie Steven Guthrie Jr. of Scottsville and 34-year-old Gregory Allen Lebert of Ona, Fla., on Wednesday. The defendants also were ordered to pay $9,100 in restitution to the bank.

They were convicted of robbing a Wachovia Bank branch on Aug. 23, 2007. Federal prosecutors say Lebert committed the robbery and was driven by Guthrie in a 1960 pickup truck.

Police stopped Guthrie near the bank for reckless driving.

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