RICHMOND AAA Mid-Atlantic expects more Virginians on the highways this Thanksgiving weekend. The auto club says about 1.5 million Virginians are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home. That's an increase of 3 percent over the holiday weekend last year. Nationally, AAA is projecting a 1.4 percent increase in travel.

LEXINGTON Virginia Military Institute is defending itself against a lengthy investigation into accusations that the school's policies are sexist and hostile toward female cadets, a dozen years after women won the right to enroll.

By DENA POTTER

DINWIDDIE, Va. The driver of a Miley Cyrus tour bus was killed Friday when the bus overturned, but the 16-year-old "Hannah Montana" star wasn't on board, Virginia State Police said.

The Virginia Employment Commission is expected today to release unemployment figures for October, the Associated Press is reporting.

In September, the rate of unemployment in Hampton Roads edged up to 6.7 percent from 6.6 percent, according to the agency announced last month.

Virginia’s recycling rate remained unchanged at 38.5 percent last year, according to a state report.

The annual report by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality logs the performance of 324 cities, counties and towns, including some recycling activity by businesses.

Three more deaths in Virginia associated with swine flu have been confirmed, including a Norfolk woman with underlying health problems. The other two deaths involved a man from the Richmond health district and a woman from the West Piedmont health district. Both had underlying conditions. Due to privacy concerns, the state health department did not identify victims.

BLACKSTONE A soldier based in Virginia Beach is in stable condition after injuring her hand when a small pyrotechnic device detonated accidentally at Fort Pickett on Wednesday.

ROANOKE Fatal hunting-related shootings in which a nonhunter is a victim are rare in Virginia.

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries spokeswoman Julia Dixon says none of the 39 firearms-related fatalities recorded since 1998 involved a nonhunter.

The Virginia Department of Health is closing Chesapeake Bay tributaries, including in Hampton Roads, to shellfish harvesting because of last week’s nor’easter, effective today through Dec. 2. The affected shellfish include oysters, clams and scallops. Crabs and fin fish are not banned.

RICHMOND State transportation officials delivered another round of bad but not unexpected news on Wednesday when they laid out plans to further slash $851.5 million from road-building operations over the next six years. Since spring 2008, the state's six-year road plan has been reduced by $4.6 billion.