Theories on missing Lee statue time capsule and more Virginia headlines

NEWS TO KNOW
Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere.

• The Virginia Redistricting Commission has officially given up drawing new legislative maps but still hopes to produce a congressional plan.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• The Washington Post profiled the two major-party candidates for governor, calling Republican Glenn Youngkin a “6-foot-5 Mystery Date” and likening Democrat Terry McAuliffe to “the king of the biggest fraternity on campus.”—Youngkin profile, McAuliffe profile

• After accusing Youngkin of ripping off Taylor Swift, Virginia Democrats pulled Swift-themed merchandise from their online store over trademark concerns.—Rolling Stone

• Third-party candidate Princess Blanding was the only gubernatorial hopeful to weigh in directly on the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline.—Roanoke Times

• Attorney General Mark Herring is accusing Republican challenger Jason Miyares of seeking stiff punishments for marijuana possession and petty theft while working as a prosecutor in Virginia Beach.—VPM

• Alexandria’s schools superintendent is calling for police officers to return to his buildings just months after city leaders voted to stop funding the school resource officer program.—WTOP

• The whereabouts of the time capsule thought to be buried near Richmond’s former Robert E. Lee statue remain unknown. But experts have a few theories on why the dig came up empty.—Richmond Times-Dispatch

• A Navy veteran’s body could be exhumed from a military cemetery in Florida after officials learned he was a suspect in a murder-suicide in Newport News.—Daily Press

• “Virginia and Maryland’s governors say they won’t allow their respective DMVs to hold their state’s drivers responsible for outstanding tickets and fines from D.C.’s traffic cameras.”—DCist

• A Falls Church man dying of cancer set out to find his biological father. “Thus began a relationship in which two men tried to make up for 52 years of lost time. They had 11 days.”—New York Times

• A “haunted” cradle said to rock by itself was donated to a Lynchburg museum. There are plans for a livestreamed paranormal test before Halloween.—News & Advance