Hampton Roads school bomb threats and more Va. headlines

The state Capitol. (Ned Oliver/ Virginia Mercury)

• A Roanoke city councilman is facing scrutiny for attempting to use money from a state gun violence prevention grant to pay for a trip to a museum and a $658 dinner. An audit found no intentional wrongdoing, but some are questioning why the audit was scheduled to be released after this year’s council elections.—Roanoke Times

• The Virginia Department of Elections announced a $13.5 million contract to overhaul the voter system, a project expected to address numerous technological faults with the state’s election infrastructure.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Virginia State Police are searching for a man who escaped a Williamsburg psychiatric hospital.—NBC12

• More than half a dozen Hampton Roads schools got bomb threats Monday.—Virginian-Pilot

• Virginia Railway Express ridership is up after officials made the Northern Virginia commuter rail service fare-free for September.—WTOP

• The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is getting reimbursed for costs associated with making Dulles International the main airport receiving Afghan refugees last year.—InsideNoVa

• Clarke County officials say they won’t hand over control of a Confederate monument to a private group unless the courts force them to.—Winchester Star

• Brunswick stew is such a big deal in Virginia’s Brunswick County it has an official mascot: A smiley, anthropomorphic pot named Stewie.—New York Times

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.