Posted: 9:13 PM Gov. Bob McDonnell's transportation funding bill has cleared its first hurdles in the General Assembly, but it still has a long way to go.

Posted: 2:14 PM (AP) Survey shows wage gap between how much Virginia men and women earn improved in 2011.

Posted: 11:03 AM A surprise amendment by Senate Republicans that would overhaul all 40 state Senate districts returns to the House of Delegates on Wednesday, where the bitterly disputed measure faces a critical test.

Updated: 2:53 PM Virginia is seeing improvement in the rate of high school students who graduate on time.

Updated: 10:54 PM State Senate Republicans have muscled a surreptitious redraft of Virginia's 40 Senate districts to passage over bitter objections from Democrats who were blindsided by the surprise move.

Posted: 7:55 PM Newly released data show that interests for a coalition lobbying for repeal of a Virginia law banning uranium mining plied state legislators with nearly $140,000 in campaign contributions since and almost that much in gifts.

Updated: 5:49 PM The Virginia Senate has voted to reappoint Helen Dragas, the University of Virginia rector who led a failed effort to oust the university's president last June.

Updated: 5:48 PM A Virginia Senate panel has endorsed legislation to crack down on illegal cigarette trafficking and financial crimes against elderly or incapacitated adults.

Updated: 2:19 PM President Barack Obama promised to uphold the Constitution in a public swearing in ceremony that signals the beginning of his second term in office.

Posted: 9:05 PM All taxicabs in the District of Columbia will be required to accept credit cards by March 30.

Posted: 7:30 PM A former museum parking lot attendant who stole nearly half a million dollars in parking fees has been sentenced to a year and 8 months in federal prison.

Updated: 4:42 PM A Virginia Senate committee that advanced legislation closing the so-called "gun show loophole" changed course about an hour later.

Posted: 12:23 PM A Virginia Senate panel has advanced legislation to ensure that all buyers at gun shows are subjected to criminal background checks.

Posted: 11:24 AM Virginia's unemployment rate dipped in December to 5.5 percent, the lowest jobless number in four years.

Posted: 10:40 AM Virginia is marking Lee-Jackson Day, a state holiday dedicated to two towering figures in the Civil War.

Posted: 9:18 PM A state commission says the 911 outage in Northern Virginia after last summer's derecho was caused by Verizon's failure to perform necessary maintenance.

Posted: 1:21 PM A Virginia Senate Committee killed a bid to prevent Medicaid patients from having abortions when doctors determine the fetus has profound deformities that make survival unlikely.

Posted: 12:07 PM A statewide effort to reduce smoking among Virginia youths is paying off.

Posted: 10:58 AM A Virginia Senate Committee has rejected a bid to prevent Medicaid patients from having abortions when doctors determine the fetus has profound deformities that make survival unlikely.

Posted: 10:09 AM RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A Virginia legislative subcommittee is set to consider a proposal to arm public school employees.

Posted: 10:51 PM The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says releases of toxic air pollutants were down in 2011 in the Mid-Atlantic.

Updated: 6:32 AM A man who strangled his prison cellmate and made good on a vow to continue killing if he wasn't executed has been put to death in Virginia's electric chair.

Updated: 5:02 PM NASA is teaming up with the European Space Agency to get astronauts beyond Earth's orbit.

Updated: 2:31 PM The Smithsonian Institution plans to create an innovation pavilion with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in one of the oldest buildings on the National Mall.

Posted: 11:14 AM A new report says the state's goal for awarding additional degrees will require Virginia colleges to boost in-state enrollment by about 42,000 students over the next seven years.