Times staff writersDec. 24, 2020
Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco was once asked under oath how he had landed two high-level posts in state government.
âIt was the connections that I had made,â he said bluntly.
âI mean, you didn t have to like go and interview along with a hundred other people to get the job or anything?â an attorney pressed.
âNo, maâam,â he said.
Later that month, he told a reporter: âIâm very blessed to have friends that are in high offices.â
Today, Nocco himself is in a high place. A force in local GOP politics, he has twice been elected sheriff without opposition â something that hadnât happened in Pasco County since World War II. His wife is one of the stateâs most prominent Republican fundraisers. Their ties have reached the highest levels of government, including President Donald Trumpâs administration.
December 23, 2020 at 3:30pm
While it may be tempting to throw caution into the wind as 2020 winds to a close, local and state police are emphasizing the need for people to drive safely during the winter holidays, when alcohol-related crashes often spike.
Data from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Highway Safety Office shows that the Commonwealth has recorded more fatalities from traffic crashes related to speed and drunk driving so far this year than in all of 2019, the Virginia State Police reported on Monday (Dec. 21).
“Virginia is on pace to have more total fatal traffic crashes in 2020 than in 2019,” VSP Superintendent Col. Gary Settle said. “…Overall traffic crashes in Virginia this year are down significantly. This means each crash has been deadlier – deadlier because of speed, alcohol, distractions, and individuals not wearing seatbelts.”
Arlington Regional Master Naturalists is expanding its public-education efforts on controlling the deer population, and is pressing the Arlington and Alexandria governments to join another local jurisdiction in culling herds within their borders.
âWe need human intervention,â said Marion Jordan, head of the Master Naturalists organization, at a Dec. 11 program sponsored by Virginia Cooperative Extension.
The organizationâs outreach efforts have reached more than 700 people, and its conclusions are sound, she said.
âWeâve done a lot of research,â Jordan said.
At the same time, she acknowledged the situation was both a âlarge and complexâ one and a âserious topicâ that could provoke community division.
Three Northern Virginia men have now pleaded guilty to their respective roles in a drug-related murder in 2018 in Fairfax County.
Charles Anthony Forbes, 30, of Reston, pleaded guilty Friday to using a firearm to commit a drug-related murder, according to a news release from the U.S. District Attorney s Office in Alexandria. In March, Fredy Fabian Alfaro, 36, of Reston, and Jimmie Marcel McCray, 36, of Sterling, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the murder, and to conspiring to distribute marijuana.
According to court documents, from January through April 2018, Alfaro had conspired with the victim, Michael Cooker, and others to ship marijuana from California and sell it in Northern Virginia. In April 2018, Alfaro and Cooker had a dispute over the conspiracyâs profits. On the night of April 17, 2018, Alfaro and Cooker continued their dispute through a series of electronic phone messages. In the early morning of April 18, 2018, Alfaro called McCray and offered him compensati
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