By Bob Lewis RICHMOND It wasn't the 31 conservatives in the Virginia House who voted no that denied Tracy Thorne-Begland's bid to become the first openly gay judge elected to the bench in Virginia. It was those who abstained or didn't vote that did him in.

RICHMOND Gov. Bob McDonnell has decided to let controversial legislation to tighten voter-identification policies become law, but he's also ordering state election officials to send every registered Virginia voter a new voter-ID card.

RICHMOND An anti-gang video produced by the Virginia attorney general's office is receiving national recognition. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said today that the video has won the National Gang Crime Research Center's Frederick Milton Thrasher award.

RICHMOND Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says Virginia will receive about $115,000 from a multistate settlement with Skechers USA Inc. over the company's shoe ads. Lawsuits filed by Cuccinelli and the attorneys general of 43 other states alleged that Skechers made unfounded claims in ads for its Shape-ups, Tone-Ups and Skechers Resistance Runner athletic shoes.

RICHMOND Electing judges in Virginia is a political process in which lawmakers who approve candidates for the bench also can disqualify them for various reasons. Tuesday, sexual orientation appeared to be cause enough to deny an openly gay Richmond prosecutor a seat on the city's General District Court, even as judges were installed in South Hampton Roads and other localities.

RICHMOND A Northern Virginia man on death row for killing a Lynchburg couple should not be able to claim he's too mentally challenged to be executed because he waited too late to produce evidence of his low IQ, attorneys for the state told a federal appeals panel on Tuesday.

By Larry O'Dell RICHMOND The Libertarian Party is challenging a state law that allows only Virginia residents to circulate petitions to get independent or minor party candidates on the presidential general election ballot, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

RICHMOND With the General Assembly back in town, Gov. Bob McDonnell on Monday eased off a controversial plan to reduce state funding for elderly service agencies before lawmakers acted on it.

By Bob Lewis MARTINSVILLE The General Assembly has the last word Monday on yet another state budget. Good times come and go, but it's even harder in bad times with a state tax system designed for the farm-and-factory state Virginia was long ago.

WASHINGTON By the time the late-night argument ended, Jacqi Galles had been hoisted off the ground in a tight stranglehold and choked so vigorously that she says she nearly passed out. She fled her home and called the police on her then-boyfriend, who was charged with a misdemeanor and spared a prison sentence after pleading guilty.