Week in review

Last WWI vet buried

Frank Buckles was buried Tuesday with the pomp and ceremony befitting the man who outlived 4.7 million other Americans who served in World War I. His flag-draped casket was carried to his gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery on a caisson led by seven horses. A seven-man firing party fired three rifle volleys and a bugler played "Taps" as hundreds of onlookers saluted or held their hands to their hearts.

Buckles served in France after lying about his age to join the Army at 16. He died last month at his Charles Town, W.Va., home at age 110.

Fast track regulations

New, more stringent regulations for the state's abortion centers are slated to take effect on Jan. 1. The state Board of Health detailed its timeline for developing the regulations at a meeting last week in Henrico County. Usually it takes at least 18 months to implement health regulations, but legislators who passed the bill last month directed that regulations be crafted within 280 days.

The board will write regulations by Sept. 1. The public can comment on the proposed regulations before the board votes on them Sept. 15. After that, the governor, attorney general and others can make changes before they take effect.

Samurai robber

Police in Virginia have arrested a man accused of trying to rob a Lynchburg pharmacy twice on Wednesday, once while wielding a sword. Lynchburg police arrested 27-year-old Michael Edward Towler, and charged him with robbery, brandishing a weapon and attempted robbery. Pharmacist Michael Robertson says a man tried to rob the pharmacy, then fled when Robertson told him police were on their way. The man returned later in a lime-green raincoat, drew a samurai-style, 3-foot-long sword, and got away with an undisclosed amount of narcotics. Towler was arrested later at his home.

Virginia coach resigns

University of Virginia coach Debbie Ryan told her team Monday she was resigning after 34 years. "This has been a great run for me," she said, at times holding back tears. She declined to discuss the circumstances surrounding her resignation. Ryan, who spent two years as an assistant at Virginia before taking over a 4-year-old program in 1977, has a career record of 736-323 and led Virginia to the NCAA tournament 24 times. Three times in 1990, `91 and `92 they reached the Final Four with Dawn Staley as their star player, and they lost to Tennessee in the 1991 national championship game.

Pirates indicted

A federal grand jury in Norfolk indicted 13 suspected pirates from Somalia and one from Yemen in the February hijacking of a yacht that left four Americans dead, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday. Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., along with friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, had been sailing full-time on their 58-foot yacht, the Quest, delivering Bibles around the world.

The men face piracy, kidnapping and firearms charges stemming from their efforts to hold the Americans for ransom and, if convicted, could face life in prison.

Monkeying around

A woman turned a few heads when she walked into a rural Virginia courthouse with a tiny monkey clad in a pink-and-white dress tucked in her bra.

The woman brought the palm-sized marmoset to Amherst County Courthouse on Thursday for a hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Officials apparently didn't notice the monkey until the woman went to an office to complete some paperwork. In an interview with The News & Advance of Lynchburg, the woman says the marmoset is 7 weeks old and requires constant attention. The woman tells the newspaper she bought the animal on an online auction site and had its clothes specially made in West Virginia.

Rustled

The Bedford County Sheriff's Department says 16 cows turned up missing from a stockyard in Moneta. Deputies say a worker at the Springlake Stockyard came in on Sunday and discovered beef cows, milkers and a newborn calf were missing. Investigators believe the animals were loaded into a trailer and hauled away by a pickup truck. The cattle had been purchased Saturday and were set for delivery on Sunday.

Virginia is for Lovers

Gov. Bob McDonnell announced a new tourism commercial that will target eight out-of-state markets, tapping the state's venerable "Virginia is for Lovers" theme. The commercial will promote Virginia history, amusement parks and outdoor recreation to family travelers from New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Raleigh/Durham, N.C., and three Ohio cities. McDonnell said the new television commercial has the potential to reach 15 million people.

The travel slogan "Virginia is for Lovers" first appeared in a 1969 advertisement in Modern Bride magazine featuring models dressed in period costume re-enacting the first wedding in Virginia, when maidservant Anne Burras married carpenter John Laydon in Jamestown in 1608. Virginia tourism generates nearly $18 billion in state revenue.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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