News to Know for May 10: Virginia police chief shot; Henrico honors Captain Lambert; Counting resumes for GOP Convention; Morning showers

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Here’s a quick look at our top stories this Monday morning.

A few showers this morning will be followed by a cool and dry stretch of weather for the mid-week.

The sun breaks out midday and temperatures will rebound into mid to upper 60s.

Police in southwest Virginia have a man in custody who they say shot a police chief. James Buckland, 35, is charged with attempted capital murder.

This all started Sunday afternoon when Norton Police Chief James Lane responded to a shopping center about a shoplifter.

When Chief Lane pulled into the parking lot, officials say Buckman started shooting into his vehicle. Lane and another officer fired back, striking Buckman.

Chief Lane was airlifted to a medical center. At last check, he was in serious but stable condition.

This morning in Henrico, county employees will honor late Captain Donald Lambert in a memorial workout.

The long-time police officer was out for a run in February when he was killed in a hit-and-run crash.

His former friends and coworkers will participate in an organized workout on the track at Hermitage High School – Lambert’s alma mater.

Today’s memorial workout also coincides with the start of national police week.

The Republican Party of Virginia has begun counting votes from its convention, announcing its nominee for attorney general late Sunday.

State Del. Jason Miyares won the race against three other candidates.

Next, they’ll count votes for the governor’s race, followed by the lieutenant governor’s race. Officials have warned it may take multiple days to finish the counting.

With less than a month to go until the primaries, here’s a couple of important dates to keep in mind:

• In-person absentee voting is underway now at your local registrar’s office
• Last day for in-person, absentee voting is June 5
• Last day to register to vote or update your existing voter registration is May 17 - that’s next Monday.
• If you’re planning to vote absentee, you need to request a ballot no later than May 28.
• Primary Day is June 8

The city’s newly-appointed general registrar will be officially sworn in today.

Keith Balmer was appointed as Richmond’s top election official after the previous registrar, Kirk Showalter, was removed back in February. That came after the democratic party of Virginia and Mayor Levar Stoney called for her to resign over issues with complying with FOIA laws and her alleged mishandling of a large COVID-19 outbreak within her department.

Balmer’s swearing-in ceremony today begins at 11 a.m.

During tonight’s city council meeting we’re expecting to get an update on what’s next for Richmond’s Confederate monuments that were removed and subsequently stored at the city’s water treatment plant for the past ten months.

Council wants to set up a process to review the offers they’ve received for each statue.

The public will have a chance to weigh in on those offers, but it’s not clear yet when that would happen.

City council will have the final say on where those statues go.

If the city council approves budget amendments tonight, every city employee could see a 3.35% raise. Some people could get more if they’re making less than the market rate for their job. The meeting starts at 6 p.m.

Virginia’s numbers continue trending in the right direction. The health department reported just 539 new cases Sunday and the positivity rate is now down to 4.4%.

Nearly 4 million Virginians have had at least one dose of the vaccine and just under 35% are fully vaccinated.

Those numbers are very welcome news as some of Governor Northam’s covid restrictions are set to be lifted on Saturday.

Social gatherings will increase to 100 indoors and 250 outdoors. Both indoor and outdoor entertainment venues, including amusement parks, can operate at 50% capacity. Restaurants can return to selling alcohol after midnight.

Then, one month later, the governor is set to lift all capacity and social distancing measures if the numbers keep trending down.

Gas prices continue to go up, jumping nearly six cents per gallon in the past two weeks.

The national average is $3.02 a gallon. In Virginia, it’s slightly lower at $2.76 a gallon.

The price increase is reportedly due to the rising costs of crude oil and ethanol.

We’ll be watching again tonight to catch a glimpse of a rocket launch at Wallops Island.

The launch was postponed the last two nights due to weather conditions.

NASA says it will try again tonight around the same time, 8 p.m. If it does happen, chances of seeing it in Richmond are unfortunately pretty slim.

Did you know Virginia has more than 275 Love signs scattered throughout the commonwealth? We want to see them all!

Send us your pictures in front of your favorite Love sign and you could win a Virginia is for Lovers swag bag. Enter here:

“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” -Maya Angelou

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