State auditors inspect juvenile detention center

Thursday, May 16th, 2013, 6:00pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- Leaders of Richmond's problem-plagued juvenile detention center are now breathing a small sigh of relief. They made it through the state audit required to get their license back. The visit comes just weeks before a June state board approval hearing.

From the moment state auditors walk into the facility, their inspectors' eyes are wide open. They examine what new chief Rodney Baskerville has done to give the center a new life.

"When people talk about well 'what are you doing' it's not like everything needs to be replaced but it's a lot of little things that you have to pay attention to prior to an audit," Baskerville explained. "If you don't, then you won't pass that audit."

The juvenile justice veteran has been taking the center on a road to recovery of sorts. The city voluntarily closed the doors there last year because it was about to lose its state license.

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Powerball soars to $550 million

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Thursday, May 16th, 2013, 2:10pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- The next Powerball drawing will be for over half a billion dollars!

No one bought a ticket matching all the numbers in Wednesday night's drawing: 2, 11, 26, 34, 41 and a Powerball of 32.

Strong sales boosted the new pot to $550 million.

"It usually took a handful of months, if not several months, for a jackpot to reach this large amount," said Mary Neubauer, spokeswoman for the Iowa Lottery. "Now it's achieving that within a handful of weeks. I think the redesign is achieving exactly what we had wanted it to achieve, which is the bigger, faster-growing jackpot."

The most recent major jackpot winning ticket went to a New Jersey man in March - he won $338.3 million, the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in history.

Draw sales cut off at least 59 minutes before the draw, so grab your tickets early!

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Richmond schedules hearing on school closures

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Thursday, May 16th, 2013, 2:01pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- Richmond parents will have a chance to offer their input later this month on the closing of three City schools.

The Richmond School Board scheduled the public hearing for May 28 at 5:30 p.m. at Thomas Jefferson High School. Parents will be able to voice their opinion on the proposed closure of Clark Springs Elementary School, the Adult Career Development Center and Norrell Pre-School Development Center.

There will also be time set aside for discussion of rezoning several other Richmond schools.

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McAuliffe holds slight edge over Cuccinelli in new poll

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Thursday, May 16th, 2013, 8:56am

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- The race for Virginia's next governor remains tight with Democrat Terry McAuliffe holding a slight lead over Republican Ken Cuccinelli.

McAuliffe has opened up a slight 43 – 38 lead over Cuccinelli, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.

The McAuliffe-Cuccinelli race has been a toss-up since Quinnipiac University began surveying the contest. A March 27 survey showed both candidates were statistically tied.

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Richmond rally to oppose openly gay Boy Scout resolution

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013, 11:57pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- Keep gays out of the Boy Scouts of America or we are getting out. That is the message from the man behind a nationwide rally. A stop is planned for here in Richmond on Friday.

The rally comes before a big vote next week that would change a more than 100 year policy of don't ask don't tell in the BSA.

"I think we as a community need to take a step back and say what does it mean when we are having rallies against an entire group of people?" said LGBT advocate Beth Panilaitis who was surprised to see Richmond is one of 40 rally locations across the country.

We spoke to the event organizer.

"The message is very simple," said organizer John Stemberger. "Keep sex and politics out of the Boy Scouts of America."

Stemberger strongly opposes a new resolution that says no youth may be denied membership on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.

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City Council approves schools budget

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013, 11:00pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- Richmond Public Schools finally has a budget. Wednesday night, City Council approved almost $130 million in education funding.

After what became a confusing and hotly debated process, parents can expect some good news for their kids. With Wednesday's council vote, school board members say they kept their pledge: the cuts they're making will not hurt the classroom.

For a time, it didn't always look like parents and consequently, students in Richmond would come out on top in this budget process. Now, School Board Chairman Jeff Bourne is taking a closer look at what the numbers mean for the kids.

"We protected the classroom," he said. "We did not increase classroom sizes. There were no furlough days in there and those things that really have a detrimental impact in the classroom."

But with the reversal NBC12 reported this week to try and shutter three schools that might not be the case district-wide.

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State unveils six year road improvement plan

Submitted by NBC12 News Staff

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013, 6:41pm

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- Transportation officials unveiled the state's billion dollar plan for the roads you drive on every day. In the state's six year improvement plan, the Richmond area has dozens of projects on the list.

If you sometimes wish your interstate commute wasn't so congested or that state road wasn't so bumpy, Virginia leaders say they feel your pain and are ready to take action. Drivers say there's no time to wait.

"With the traffic in the evenings and mornings, it gets piled up and built up. You can barely get through there," says driver James Miles.

He is all too familiar with the headaches at I-64 near the Ashland Road exit heading from Goochland to the Short Pump area. That's where state leaders want to widen the interstate from four lanes to six.

"It's a lot easier. Who wants to wait in traffic and sit in traffic?" said Jeff Wise.

He manages an Exxon in that area.

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