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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Virginia House passes less invasive abortion rules

Richmond, Va. – Amid a public uproar that prompted Virginia’s governor to withdraw his support, Republican legislators on Wednesday dropped a bitterly contested proposal to require that women seeking abortions undergo invasive ultrasound imaging.

The Republican-controlled House of Delegates voted 65-32 for an amended bill that requires only an external ultrasound, not the vaginal insertion of a wand-like device that emits ultrasonic waves that are used to create images of the fetus.

The House amended the bill shortly after Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell issued a statement opposing the more invasive procedure. McDonnell shifted ground after the proposal drew outrage from women, national ridicule from television comedians and appeals from GOP moderates.

Lacrosse player found guilty of second-degree murder

Charlottesville, Va. – A jury convicted a former University of Virginia lacrosse player Wednesday of second-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend in a drunken, jealous rage, rejecting a first-degree murder verdict and a possible life sentence.

Instead, jurors recommended a 25-year prison term for George Huguely V in the May 2010 slaying of Yeardley Love. They added one more year for a grand larceny conviction.

Circuit Judge Edward Hogshire set an April court date on sentencing matters. He is not bound by the jury’s recommendations.

Comic book collection brings in $3.5 million

Dallas – The bulk of a man’s childhood comic book collection that included many of the most prized issues ever published sold at auction Wednesday for about $3.5 million.

A copy of Detective Comics No. 27, which sold for 10 cents in 1939 and features the debut of Batman, got the top bid at the New York City auction Wednesday. It sold for about $523,000.

“It was amazing seeing what they went for,” said Michael Rorrer, who discovered his late great uncle Billy Wright’s collection last year while cleaning out his late great aunt’s house in Martinsville, Va., following her death.

Rorrer, of Oxnard, Calif., got half his great uncle’s collection and his mother took the other half to give to his brother Jonathan in Houston.