Students at a Richmond elementary school learned about the value of hard work Monday from a trio of Virginia leaders. Gov. Bob McDonnell, Virginia Commonwealth University basketball coach Shaka Smart and former Navy SEAL John McGuire told fifth-graders at Overby-Sheppard Elementary School that there is no easy path to success.

House Speaker William Howell on Sunday hailed the General Assembly’s just-concluded regular session as a success, citing the passage of legislation to create jobs, improve public education and reform public employees’ pension plan.

Two bills progressing through the General Assembly may give cancer patients greater access to lifesaving cancer treatments. House Bill 1273, sponsored by Delegate Christopher Peace, R-Mechanicsville, and Senate Bill 450, sponsored by Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Winchester, seek to reduce the high cost of oral chemotherapy medications.

A measure authorizing prosecutors to charge repeat juvenile offenders as adults for drug-related crimes passed the Senate on a 26-14 vote Thursday. House Bill 718, sponsored by Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, would enable commonwealth’s attorneys to transfer jurisdiction of juveniles 14 or older to the circuit courts if the youth is charged with a third felony offense of distributing, selling or manufacturing an illegal substance.

The Campbell County teenager who endured five months as a captive of Filipino terrorists was honored Thursday in a special ceremony at the Virginia Capitol. Surrounded by his family in the chamber of the House of Delegates, Kevin Lunsmann, 14, received a plaque as well as a resolution passed by the General Assembly commemorating his daring escape.

Two bills moving through the General Assembly would authorize volunteer fire departments to charge homeowners’ insurance policies after responding to fire-related emergencies. One measure is House Bill 1202, sponsored by Delegate Joseph Johnson, D-Abingdon. It unanimously passed the House on Wednesday. Sen. Phillip Puckett, D-Tazewell, is sponsoring an identical proposal – Senate Bill 140. It unanimously passed the Senate on Friday.

Calling his administration “a friend to the coal industry,” Gov. Bob McDonnell has reiterated his goal to make Virginia “the energy capital of the East Coast.” McDonnell made those remarks last week in delivering the keynote speech at the Eastern Coal Council’s annual legislative breakfast.

Drug offenders in Buchanan County may soon have an alternative to a jail sentence under a measure proposed by Sen. Charles Carrico, R-Galax. Senate Bill 317, which unanimously passed the Senate on Friday, would create drug treatment courts in Buchanan, Russell, Montgomery and Dickensen counties in Southwest Virginia and Goochland County in Central Virginia.

Drug offenders in Scott County soon may have an alternative to a jail sentence under a measure proposed by Sen. Charles Carrico, R-Galax. Senate Bill 317, which unanimously passed the Senate on Friday, would establish a drug treatment court in Wise County that also would serve Scott and Lee counties.