VIRGINIA BRIEFING

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

WESTERN VIRGINIA

Unapproved Takeoff Causes Alarm

A small plane made an unauthorized takeoff and circled over western Virginia for about four hours yesterday before it landed safely again at Roanoke Regional Airport, authorities said.

An airport spokeswoman said that the pilot ran from authorities and jumped a fence but that he was apprehended by FBI agents. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation, she said.

Authorities in radio contact with the pilot had agreed not to release his identity in exchange for his safe return to the airport, Roanoke police said. A local official described him as a 50-year-old retired air traffic controller and licensed pilot.

The plane, a Cessna 172, took off about 11 a.m. and landed about 2:45 p.m., authorities said. No charges had been filed, but the Federal Aviation Administration was investigating.

-- Associated Press

MANASSAS

Apartment Fire Tied to Smoking

A two-alarm fire at a Manassas apartment building started in a plastic flowerpot that a resident was using to dispose of cigarette butts, fire officials said yesterday.

The fire, which caused about $500,000 in damage, began shortly before 1:49 a.m. yesterday in the 8600 block of Devonshire Court. The fire spread up the side of the building, but firefighters prevented it from reaching an adjoining building, Manassas fire officials said. About 20 people were displaced from eight apartments. No injuries were reported.

-- Jonathan Mummolo

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY

Man Charged With Taking Dog

A Manassas man has been charged with robbery after stealing a 15-year-old boy's dog as the boy was walking it Saturday night, Prince William County police said yesterday.

Derek B. Wanzer, 20, approached the teenager about 10:49 p.m. in the 7500 block of Willoughby Lane in Manassas and demanded that he hand over everything in his pockets. When the boy said he did not have anything, Wanzer took his dog and ran, police said. After a search by police, Wanzer was arrested and the dog, a dachshund, was found and returned, authorities said.

-- Jonathan Mummolo

COLLEGE NEWSPAPERS

State to Appeal Ruling on Ads

Virginia officials are appealing a federal ruling that overturned the state's decades-old ban on alcohol-related advertising in college newspapers.

Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) filed a notice of appeal in response to U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Hannah Lauck's ruling.

The Cavalier Daily at the University of Virginia and the Collegiate Times at Virginia Tech sued the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

The newspapers contended that that the ban violated their right to free speech and hampered their ability to make money.

The state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board adopted the ban to curb underage drinking, but Lauck ruled in March that there was no evidence that the measure did that.

-- Associated Press