The Virginia General Assembly honored the man who memorably portrayed Moses with a resolution commemorating actor and gun rights champion Charlton Heston, who died April 5 at 83.
Sen. Ralph K. Smith, Roanoke Republican, introduced the “memorializing resolution” in a batch of measures Wednesday honoring people posthumously.
The star of “Ben Hur” and “The Ten Commandments” headed the National Rifle Association (NRA), which enjoys strong support within Virginia’s gun-friendly legislature. Mr. Heston’s role within the organization is one reason he offered the measure, Mr. Smith said.
Senators don’t vote on the resolutions. They agree to them by rising from their seats and standing silently for a moment, heads bowed.
The House of Delegates later approved the resolution in a similar fashion.
Mr. Smith, an NRA member, met Mr. Heston when the former was mayor of Roanoke and gave him the key to the city.
• Please, Mr. Postman
A measure to name a Virginia post office in honor of the late U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis was sent to President Bush for his signature last week.
The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to pass the bill naming Gloucester’s Main Street post office for Mrs. Davis. The House unanimously passed a resolution April 10.
The 1st District Republican died Oct. 7 of breast cancer at her Gloucester home. The state’s two senators — Republican John W. Warner and Democrat Jim Webb — both praised the bill, which they called among the best ways to commemorate the late legislator’s life.
• Court protocol
The state Senate rejected Gov. Tim Kaine’s attempt to expand a bill to give courts greater say over certain elected officials accused of serious official misconduct.
As passed by the General Assembly, the bill allowed the court, as a condition of bail, to prohibit constitutional officers accused of a felony related to their official duties from returning to office. The legislation applies to Circuit Court clerks, commissioners of revenue, commonwealth’s attorneys, sheriffs and treasurers.
Mr. Kaine’s amendment would have allowed courts to suspend those officials and appoint a temporary replacement.
Senators said Wednesday that the issue needed more attention than could be given to it in the one-day reconvened session. The Senate rejected the amendment on a 36-2 vote.
• Trouble, trouble
The soap opera involving a Talbot County, Md., school board candidate and his wife goes on.
Last week, Dr. John P. Mastandrea and his wife, Anita Mastandrea, agreed to abide by protective orders they sought against each other, their attorneys said.
Under the agreement, they are barred from contacting each other until July 1.
Dr. Mastandrea, an oncologist, was charged with assaulting his wife at their home near Easton on April 15. A week later, she accused him of trying to inhibit her testimony against him. According to charging documents, Dr. Mastandrea repeatedly told his wife to retract her report of the assault. She told the Talbot County Sheriff’s Office that her husband warned her that something bad would happen to her if she did not tell investigators she had filed a false report.
The court documents say investigators listened in on at least one of the telephone conversations.
Then he filed an assault charge against her, but prosecutors decided last Monday not to prosecute that charge.
Mrs. Mastandrea still faces second-degree assault and second-degree child-abuse charges as a result of a complaint filed by a stepdaughter. On April 23, the girl wrote in charging papers that her stepmother had assaulted her in February, knocking her unconscious.
Dr. Mastandrea is on the November ballot against Donna M. Matthews, the current school board president.
• Time of the signs
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia says Botetourt County officials plan to repeal an ordinance governing how long people can put campaign signs on their property.
The county prohibits posting campaign signs on private property more than 60 days in advance of an election.
Last week, Botetourt County Administrator Gerald A. Burgess said the county will repeal the local ordinance and won’t enforce it in the interim.
The ACLU threatened to sue last month when county officials warned political-party leaders not to post campaign signs in violation of the ordinance.
Similar ordinances in Farmville, Norton, Culpeper and Big Stone Gap were repealed in recent years.
• This column is based in part on wire service reports.
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