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Articles by Valerie Richardson

**FILE** Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell gestures as he talks Jan. 8, 2012, about eliminating the state gasoline tax in return for an increase in the state sales tax to fund transportation needs. At left is Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean T. Connaughton. (Associated Press)

Virginia may start an end to gas taxes

Even though traffic often grinds to a standstill on some of its biggest highways, Virginia is suddenly attracting intense nationwide attention.

January 30, 2013
Gun control legislation that drew crowds of protesters to the Maryland State House in Annapolis in 2013 would be expanded under a package of bills introduced Wednesday in the General Assembly. (Associated Press/File)

Pro-gun movement stages rallies across the U.S.

Thousands of protestors in all 50 states rallied in favor of gun rights Saturday in a mass demonstration aimed at pushing back at President Obama's sweeping gun-control proposals.

January 19, 2013
Officer Mike Moore guards the newly renamed Century Aurora movie theater Thursday in Aurora, Colo. Six months after a gunman killed 12 people and wounded 70, it reopens with a private ceremony for victims, first responders and officials. (Associated Press)

Colorado theater reopens after July massacre

The movie theater where a gunman opened fire during the midnight premiere of the latest "Batman" film in July reopened Thursday evening with a private ceremony.

January 17, 2013
** FILE ** A Marine sentry stands guard at the White House on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013, an indication that President Obama is working in the West Wing. (Associated Press)

White House not humoring secession pleas

The White House has responded to last year's rash of secession petitions, and no, President Obama has not agreed to allow any of the states to secede.

January 13, 2013
**FILE** Demonstrators chant slogans against the death penalty at a Sept. 21, 2011, rally in Jackson, Ga., for Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, who was executed later that day for the 1991 murder of a police officer. (Associated Press)

States slowly killing capital punishment

The death penalty, already on the decline across the United States, could face its own demise at the hands of several state legislatures next year.

December 26, 2012
** FILE ** Sen. John Barrasso, Wyoming Republican, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Pessimism grows as ‘fiscal cliff’ nears

There was more finger-pointing and jostling Sunday over how to avoid the "fiscal cliff," but there was also a growing sense of pessimism over whether a deal can be reached before the year-end deadline.

December 23, 2012
** FILE ** Parents walk away from the Sandy Hook Elementary School with their children following a mass shooting at the school on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. Twenty schoolchildren and six adults were killed. (AP Photo/The Journal News, Frank Becerra Jr.)

Gunman kills dozens, including 20 children, in Connecticut school shooting

In one of the most grisly and terrifying school shootings in the nation's history, a lone gunman entered a small-town Connecticut elementary school Friday morning and killed more than 26 people, including 20 children in his mother's kindergarten classroom and another room, according to law enforcement officials and multiple press reports.

December 14, 2012

Western state groups urge immigration reform

Democrats pushing for comprehensive federal immigration reform are getting some help from Republicans still reeling from their drubbing at the hands of Hispanic voters in 2012.

December 12, 2012
“Ask the president to come off the campaign trail. He’s been to Pennsylvania, tomorrow he’s going to Detroit. It’s time to govern, the election is over . . . We sent him a plan, it took him three weeks to respond. He has not responded to our current one. You cannot negotiate with yourself.” - Rep. Kevin McCarthy, California Republican (Associated Press)

Obama, Boehner face to face

President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner met at the White House on Sunday to try to jump-start the "fiscal cliff" negotiations as members of Congress teetered between calls for cooperation and jabs at the other side's failure to compromise.

December 9, 2012
** FILE ** California Gov. Jerry Brown (AP photo)

Cure for gridlock? One-party rule

The bitter partisan gridlock facing Congress really isn’t a problem in Tennessee. Or California. Or North Dakota. The same voters who re-elected the Republican House and Democratic Senate also swept in one-party rule in a whopping 45 state legislatures, up from 41 in 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

November 22, 2012