Briefs

Local and VCU

Richmond, Charlottesville among best college cities

Richmond and Charlottesville rank among the best places in America to attend college, according to a Massachusetts-based research organization.

The American Institute for Economic Research, a non-profit educational organization, chose America’s 75 best college cities, using 12 criteria to rate the localities’ academic environment, quality of life and professional opportunities.

It ranked the top localities in four population groups.

Richmond ranked 12th among “midsize metros,” localities that have between 1 million and 2.5 million residents.

Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia, is ranked sixth among “college towns” with fewer than 250,000 residents.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

VCU-area gas station robbed

Two clerks were robbed Tuesday night at the VCU-area Midtown Citgo gas station, according to the Richmond Police Department.

A black male with a handgun robbed the Citgo, located at the intersection of North Allen Avenue and West Broad Street, said RPD public affairs specialist Dionne Waugh. No shots were fired at the 10:40 p.m. robbery and no one was hurt.

Richmond students among few in area to see Obama speech

Richmond students listened Tuesday as President Barack Obama spoke of his upbringing and how he worked hard – and took advantage of the occasional stroke of good luck – to get to where he is.

Obama’s plan to talk to students live via broadcast from a Northern Virginia high school has drawn scorn since late last week. Many of the Richmond area’s public school systems – minus the city of Richmond’s – either banned the broadcast or made it available only under strict guidelines.

Schools in the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Powhatan and the cities of Colonial Heights and Petersburg didn’t show the speech, while Henrico County required teachers to get permission from every parent and preview the speech if they wanted to show it.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

National and International

‘Hillary: The Movie’ gets new airing at high court

“Hillary: The Movie” is returning to the Supreme Court for a limited engagement and with the chance to overhaul laws governing federal campaigns ranging from the White House to Congress.

The justices were hearing arguments in the case Wednesday for the second time. It began as a dispute over whether a 90-minute movie attacking Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential ambitions should be regulated as a campaign ad.

But it took on greater significance after the justices decided to use the case to consider whether to ease restrictions, established in two earlier decisions now at issue, on how corporations and labor unions may spend money to influence elections.

The public argument session will be the first for Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was welcomed to the court Tuesday in a ceremony that was attended by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

The court will release an audio recording of the arguments soon after they conclude and the C-SPAN cable network will air the material.

Brief by The Associated Press

Obama to Congress: Season for action has arrived

President Barack Obama summoned Congress to a “season for action” on health care Wednesday night, urging lawmakers to set aside partisan bickering in favor of drafting legislation to benefit millions who have insurance and many more without it.

Obama’s speech came at the end of a summer of setbacks and as the president and his allies in Congress readied an autumn campaign to enact his top domestic priority. While Democrats command strong majorities in both the House and Senate, neither has acted on Obama’s top domestic priority, missing numerous deadlines leaders had set for themselves.

In a fresh sign of urgency, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced that the Senate Finance Committee would meet in two weeks to begin drafting legislation, regardless of whether a handful of Democrats and Republicans will have reached an agreement. The panel is the last of five to act in Congress, and while the outcome is uncertain, it is the only one where bipartisanship has been given a chance to flourish.

Brief by The Associated Press

British commando dies in raid to free NYT reporter

Western military officials in Afghanistan say a British commando was killed during a raid early Wednesday that freed a New York Times reporter from his Taliban captors.

Reporter Stephen Farrell was taken hostage along with his translator in the northern province of Kunduz on Saturday. German commanders ordered an air strike on two hijacked fuel tankers, and reporters traveled to the area to cover the story.

Two military officials told The Associated Press that one British commando died during the early morning raid. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the death had not been officially announced.

The Times reported that Farrell’s Afghan translator also was killed during the raid.

Brief by The Associated Press

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