Charles Fishburne

UVA says it will re-examine its sexual violence policies and lawmakers are preparing legislation for tougher reporting laws. UVA President Teresa Sullivan met over the weekend with Charlottesville’s police chief to discuss “whether we have chosen the wrong balance” and said UVA will re-examine policies that let victims decide whether sexual violence will be prosecuted and other students determine whether an assault has occurred.

Meanwhile, legislators from both parties are drafting proposals to require a sexual assault on campus be immediately reported to law enforcement.

The Virginia Tobacco Commission gave away millions of dollars, more than what commission staff recommended, to help a politically connected power company. The Associated Press says commission staffers told the state inspector-general that the first of three $10 million installments paid to Dominion to help build a natural gas pipeline in Brunswick County should have been $6.5 million based on their calculations, and that they felt pressured by Governor Bob McDonnell’s office, though the inspector-general’s office did not find evidence to support that.

Governor McAuliffe says Virginia’s economy is in a “very perilous situation” with potential federal defense cuts looming. The Governor is working on his spending plan due next month highlighted by 322 million in red ink. And he says he’s open to eliminating tax relief programs to balance the budget, including rolling back a program that partially offsets Virginia’s car tax.

Dominion Transmission is seeking dismissal of a federal lawsuit challenging the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The suit comes from five Nelson County residents and says a Virginia law relevant to the pipeline project is unconstitutional. That law allows natural gas companies to enter private property without the owner’s written permission, if the company has requested permission to inspect the property and given advance notice to the owner. A company lawyer says the lawsuit is premature and unfounded.