Gov. Bob McDonnell on Monday ceremonially signed six pieces of legislation that will further cancer-related research, treatment and education.

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County won two first-place awards in the 2012 Governor’s Challenge in Economics and Personal Finance competition.

Think tuition is high at VCU? The cost of putting a child in the university’s day care center can be even higher. The VCU Child Development Center charges $820 a month for children 3 and under, and $700 a month for older children. In contrast, tuition and mandatory fees for in-state undergraduate students total $9,517 this year – which works out to about $793 a month.

The lawn around the state Capitol was hopping with about 1,500 egg-collecting children Wednesday as Gov. Bob McDonnell and first lady Maureen McDonnell held Virginia’s first “Governor’s Easter Egg Hunt.”

It was a pretty good session for advocates of open government, according to a meeting this week of the Virginia Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

The Virginia Senate has rejected a House-approved bill to repeal a law requiring girls to get a dose of the human papillomavirus vaccine before entering sixth grade. The Senate voted 22-17 to send House Bill 1112 back to the Senate Education and Health Committee, effectively killing it for this legislative session.

With the stroke of his pen Tuesday, Gov. Bob McDonnell removed the limit on how many handguns Virginians can buy each month. McDonnell, a Republican, signed legislation repealing the 19-year-old law prohibiting the purchase of more than one handgun per month. The repeal takes effect July 1.

Virginians soon may be able to purchase more guns than they can carry, all in one buy – for the first time in almost two decades. With the exception of law enforcement officials and some concealed-weapon permit holders, a 1993 state law has prohibited the purchase of more than one handgun every 30 days. On Monday, the Senate passed a bill to revoke this law; the House had approved a similar measure last week.

Several hundred citizens joined Democratic officials and civil rights leaders at the Capitol on Tuesday to rally against bills they say would suppress the voting rights of minorities, elderly people and low-income Virginians.

For the average person, the sky is no longer the limit, but you just might have to be dead first.
Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, is proposing legislation to provide tax breaks to Virginia residents who send their cremated remains into outer space.