Virginia
Homicide suspect who fled into Virginia woods hitched a ride back to Tennessee, authorities say
EWING, Va. — A Tennessee homicide suspect who fled into the Virginia woods has hitched a ride back to Tennessee and is still on the loose, authorities said Thursday.
Gary Parsons, the sheriff of Virginia’s Lee County, said in a statement that authorities spoke to an individual who gave the suspect a ride to Union County, Tennessee, which is north of Knoxville. The ride was confirmed by video footage, Parsons said.
Jason Dockery is suspected of fatally shooting a woman Tuesday in Tennessee’s Anderson County, which is also outside Knoxville, authorities said. Dockery then led police on a car chase that ended about 68 miles (109 kilometers) away in Ewing, Virginia, where he abandoned his Chevrolet Sonic and fled into the woods.
A large manhunt ensued, with officials urging residents to lock their doors and secure their vehicles. Some schools were closed Wednesday.
Ewing is in the Appalachian Mountains near Virginia’s Wilderness Road State Park as well as Cumberland Gap National Park, which spans the borders of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia.
By Wednesday evening, Sheriff Parsons said Dockery had left Virginia’s Lee County. But the sheriff declined to elaborate because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
Parsons said in his statement Thursday that Dockery “may have possession of a cellphone and was monitoring social media in an effort to evade capture.”
The U.S. Marshals are offering a reward of up to a $5,000 for information that leads to Dockery’s arrest.
The fatal shooting occurred Tuesday afternoon in the Heiskell area of Tennessee’s Anderson County, authorities in that county said. Someone had called 911 to report “a man had shot a woman while stopped on the side of the road.” The woman was later identified as Shystie Ranea Mayberry.
Police said they began their pursuit of Dockery, 44, of Knoxville, that afternoon in Tennessee’s Claiborne County, which borders Virginia’s Lee County.
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that it’s processing Dockery’s vehicle for evidence, while an autopsy is being performed on Mayberry’s body.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim, and we are grateful for the assistance of so many other agencies,” Anderson County Sheriff Russell Barker said in a statement.
Virginia
School closures, delays for DC, Maryland, Virginia for Wednesday, January 8
WASHINGTON – The first major winter storm of 2025 brought up to 10 inches of snow to parts of the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area, prompting school closures on Monday and Tuesday.
As the frigid weather persists, the snow isn’t going anywhere, so some school districts have already announced closures and delays for Wednesday as well.
See the latest closures below.
Having trouble viewing the closures? CLICK HERE for the full list.
Virginia
Where Maryland and Virginia rank on annual U-Haul’s migration list – WTOP News
South Carolina tops the list of states where people are moving, according to a new state migration list from U-Haul, while Virginia drops out of the top 10.
South Carolina tops the list of states where people are moving, according to a new state migration list from U-Haul, while Virginia drops out of the top 10.
Each year the do-it-yourself moving company ranks the states for inbound and outbound migration, and the southern state topped the list for the first time, having the widest gap between truck rentals for moving to the state versus rentals for moving out of state.
Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee round out the top five for inbound immigration growth states.
Virginia ranked No. 17 down from No. 10 last year. Maryland is No. 42, up from 44 last year. Each had a narrow inbound advantage over outbound moves. U-Haul’s annual report does not provide specific numbers.
For the fifth year in a row, California had the greatest net loss of do-it-yourself movers, based on U-Haul equipment rentals for moves out of the state.
“State-to-state transactions from the past year reaffirm customer tendencies that have been pronounced for some time,” stated John “J.T.” Taylor, U-Haul International president.
The Southeast and Southwest saw continued inbound migration as families weigh the cost of living, job opportunities, and other factors, Taylor said.
“Out-migration remains prevalent for a number of markets across the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast — and particularly California,” Taylor added.
U-Haul bases its rankings on each state’s gain or loss of customers using one-way U-Haul equipment rentals in 2024, including trucks, trailers, and U-Box moving containers. This year’s list included more than 2.5 million rentals.
Texas, which lost its No. 1 position to South Carolina in 2024, has ranked first or second every year since 2016. Florida has been fourth or higher every year since 2015.
U-Haul also ranked the top 25 metro areas for inbound moves, which were lead by Dallas, Charlotte, Phoenix, Lakeland, Florida and Austin, Texas. The D.C. metro was not ranked in the top 25.
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Virginia
Virginia's statehouse control hinges on 3 key special elections
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Three special elections taking place on Tuesday to fill seats in the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates will determine whether Democrats or Republicans have control of the Statehouse in Republican Glenn Youngkin’s final year as governor.
In northern Loudoun County, Republican Tumay Harding and Democrat Del. Kannan Srinivasan are vying to succeed Suhas Subramanyam in the state Senate after the Democrat was elected to the U.S. House in November. Also on the ballot are Democrat JJ Singh and Republican Ram Venkatachalam, who are racing to replace Srinivasan in the state House of Delegates after he vacated his seat to run in the special Senate election.
In central Goochland County, Republican Luther Cifers is up against Democrat Jack Trammell, a college professor, in a state Senate race. They hope to succeed U.S. Rep. John McGuire, who clinched Virginia’s 5th Congressional District after narrowly defeating former U.S. Rep. Bob Good by less than a percentage point in a bitter primary, which led to a recount in August.
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The special elections are being closely watched by outside observers to gauge voters’ moods after November’s presidential race, which left many Democrats reckoning with the party’s losses in federal elections. In Virginia, Senate Democrats have a narrow 20-18 majority since McGuire and Subramanyam’s resignations, making the special elections key to the party’s efforts to preserve a majority in both chambers. In the House of Delegates, Democrats have a 50-49 lead following Srinivasan’s departure.
Srinivasan, the first Indian American immigrant elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, and Singh, a Virginia native and the son of Indian immigrants, are hoping to hold the Democratic seats within a county where data shows that Vice President Kamala Harris received 57% of the vote in her failed bid against President-elect Donald Trump. Both Singh and Srinivasan have largely centered their campaigns around abortion rights in Virginia. It comes at a time when state Democrats are working to enshrine a constitutional right to an abortion in the state.
“What motivates me is the high-stakes election,” Srinivasan said. “The Senate majority is on the line. The constitutional amendment is on the line.”
Harding, the daughter of Turkish Uzbek immigrants and Venkatachalam, an Indian American immigrant, aim to flip the senate and house seats from Democrats. Both candidates, who each unsuccessfully ran for the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors in 2023, have centered their state campaigns along party lines, such as parents’ rights, crime and the economy.
“Our schools are faltering and riddled with politics and division, our neighbors have been made victims of illegal migrant crime, and our families are struggling to afford groceries, gas, and housing,” Harding said in a statement when launching her campaign. “All of this could change if we win this election and give Governor Youngkin a new majority in the Senate.”
In the 10th State Senate district, conservatives are putting their weight behind Cifers to succeed McGuire following a lengthy, multi-ballot primary among Republican voters last month. Cifers, a Prince Edward County resident and president of a Virginia kayaking business, said he never envisioned himself running for office but wanted to bring a different perspective to the legislature, particularly regarding housing and the economy.
“I’m much more concerned about doing the right thing, making sure that we’re constitutionally minded and respecting the will of the voters before I’m super interested in getting into party politics,” Cifers said.
Trammell, who unsuccessfully ran for the 7th U.S. House District in 2014, is hoping to flip the Republican stronghold, which supported Trump by more than 25 points in November, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. Trammell said he partly decided to run for office because he believed his community should have a competitive electoral process.
“There are factors that are transforming District 10,” he said. “To call it a monolithic, traditional-rural Republican district is a little bit of a disservice to the people who are actually living there, working there and raising families there now.”
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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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