Nation in brief: Va. Tech families agree to settlement
Most families of victims of the mass shootings at Virginia Tech have agreed to an $11 million state settlement that will compensate families who lost loved ones, pay survivors’ medical costs and avoid a court battle over whether anyone besides the gunman was to blame.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Thursday a “substantial majority” of families of victims of the Virginia Tech shootings agreed to the settlement.
Peter Grenier and Douglas Fierberg, who represent 21 families, said the settlement was worth more than $11 million, but neither they nor the governor would discuss its terms until final papers are drawn in a few days.
Kaine called the agreement “very positive,” but noted that families who have not agreed to it still could file suit. Notice must be filed by April 16.
Seung-Hui Cho, a mentally disturbed student, killed 32 and wounded two dozen others at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, before committing suicide. Forty families had previously filed notice with the state that they may sue.
Washington
House delays trade agreement
The House voted Thursday to delay consideration of a trade agreement with Colombia, despite fierce opposition from the Bush administration and accusations by Republicans that Democrats were subverting long-standing laws on such pacts.
On a mostly party-line vote of 224 to 195, the House approved an internal rule change that altered the statutory timeline for congressional approval of trade deals negotiated by an administration. The new rule, supported by all but 10 Democrats, will give House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as much time as she wants to bring the agreement to the floor, rather than the 60-day standard for previous trade deals.
After the vote, Pelosi told reporters that President Bush’s decision to send the Colombia Free Trade Agreement to Congress on Tuesday was “totally unnecessary.” She said she had previously told him that it would not be considered for a vote until the White House yielded to Democratic demands for support of additional domestic economic stimulus provisions.
Leesburg, Va.
Civil rights figure guilty of incest
A jury convicted an iconic civil-rights figure of incest Thursday after concluding that he had sex with his teenage daughter 15 years ago.
The Rev. James L. Bevel, 71, a top lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. who also helped organize the Million Man March, faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced.
The four-day trial in Loudoun County Circuit Court included bizarre testimony about Bevel’s philosophies for eradicating lust and parents’ duty to “sexually orient” their children.
Bevel’s daughter testified that she was repeatedly molested by Bevel beginning when she was 6 years old, culminating in an act of sexual intercourse in 1993 or 1994 that formed the basis of the incest charge.
The jury reached its verdict after about three hours of deliberations. It later recommended a 15-year prison sentence for Bevel.