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In his first General Assembly session, Del. Bill Cleaveland is tasked with carrying a bill for Gov. Bob McDonnell.brpRICHMOND -- It's not every day that the governor sends a bill directly to the floor of the House of Delegates. And it's not every day that a freshman legislator gets to carry it for the chief executive. /p

Kant Stop Records fostered a multistate drug ring, prosecutors said.brdiv id="story-add"img src="/news/images/031110rapper.jpg" alt="Derrick Evans, aka Dechee Dan, led both the Kant Stop Records hiphop label and a three-state crack cocaine ring" width="230px" /p class="source"Courtesy Myspace.com/p

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br pThe Virginia Department of Education recognized 10 public school divisions, including Lexington, Roanoke County, Radford and Salem, for improving academic achievement among one of the most challenged student groups -- the economically disadvantaged./p

Roanoke tries a new way to gauge public support on an old issue. The public should weigh in on the future of Mill Mountain.brpShould a blanket of protection be placed on Mill Mountain to keep further development at bay? All of it, including the top? Or just the slopes? If not the entire mountain, how…

While lawmakers bicker, localities face unacceptable revenue uncertainty.brpThe General Assembly session likely will go into overtime again this year. House and Senate negotiators remain far apart on the budget, and hopes of an agreement by Saturday's constitutionally set deadline dwindle. One budget…

brpstrongLet's normalize our relations with Cuba/strong/p pAs I follow the news regarding the earthquake in Haiti, I have been impressed by the outpouring of support, but I have also been amazed at the lack of any mention of the assistance being given by Cuba./p