Mass shooting at Chesapeake Walmart kills seven and more Va. headlines

The State Capitol. (Ned Oliver/ Virginia Mercury)

• Seven people are dead after a shooter opened fire in a Walmart in Chesapeake late Tuesday. The shooting comes just over a week after a University of Virginia student shot five former football teammates, killing three.—Associated Press, Virginian-Pilot

• Democratic Del. Sam Rasoul of Roanoke is renewing a push to let 16-year-olds register to vote and cast ballots in local elections. The change, which would require a constitutional amendment, would keep the voting age at 18 for legislative and statewide offices.—WRIC

• Richmond’s School Board voted to rename three schools named for lesser-known Confederates. “When you … attend a school that’s named after someone you have pride in, it definitely can affect how you feel about that building and whether you feel welcomed or not.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Virginia agencies say they’ve put in place new tools and strategies for the winter season after last year’s January snowstorm debacle left 48 miles of Interstate 95 paralyzed and thousands of motorists stranded overnight.—Washington Post

• Virginians Thomas Jefferson and Mary Randolph were the nation’s biggest early champions of macaroni and cheese. The universally beloved dish, which one survey found was Virginia’s favorite Thanksgiving side, may have been developed by Jefferson’s enslaved chef James Hemings.—Cardinal News

by Staff Report, Virginia Mercury

---

Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sarah Vogelsong for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on Facebook and Twitter.