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This Hour: Latest Virginia news, sports, business and entertainment

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VIRGINIA-PARADE CRASH

Police chief: No charges likely in Va. parade crash

DAMASCUS, Va. (AP) - Authorities say the driver who plowed into dozens of hikers marching in a Virginia mountain town's parade won't likely face charges.

Damascus Police Chief Bill Nunley says the driver in the Saturday incident that injured about 50 people had a medical issue that caused him to lose control of his car.

Nunley says that while the investigation is ongoing, authorities haven't found any criminal intent.

He identified the driver as 87-year-old Deward Blevins of Shady Valley, Tenn., who remains hospitalized in stable condition.

Blevins' 1997 Cadillac was 1 of the last vehicles in the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival, an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, near the Tennessee state line.

Most of those injured were treated and released Saturday. Two were kept at hospitals overnight.

SEAFOOD PROCESSOR-EXPANSION

Seafood processor to expand in Newport News

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) - A Canadian seafood processing company will spend about $6.6 million to upgrade a facility it owns in Newport News.

The project by High Liner Foods is expected to create nearly 60 new jobs. Gov. Bob McDonnell's office made the announcement on Tuesday.

McDonnell's office says Virginia successfully competed against Georgia and South Carolina for the project. Virginia approved a $250,000 grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund to assist Newport News in landing the project.

The company already employs more than 400 people in Newport News. It acquired the operations from Icelandic USA in 2011.

High Liner's retail branded products are sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico under the High Liner, Fisher Boy, Mirabel, Sea Cuisine and Royal Sea labels.

MAN DRAGGED

Va. man dragged 4 miles by car dies from injuries

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) - James City County police say a man who was dragged 4 miles by a car has died from his injuries.

Police identified the victim as 30-year-old Letroy Prince Wallace of James City County. Wallace died at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at a hospital in Richmond.

Police tell media outlets that Wallace and a 22-year-old Providence Forge man were racing on Saturday when Wallace lost control of his car. The vehicle hydroplaned, spun several times and hit a tree. Wallace was ejected.

The other car ran over Wallace and dragged him. Another motorist alerted the driver that Wallace was under the vehicle.

The driver told police that he thought he had run over debris from the wreck.

Two children riding in Wallace's car suffered non-life threatening injuries.

The investigation is continuing.

WRONGLY CONVICTED

Va. woman pleads guilty to false sex assault report

HAMPTON, Va. (AP) - A woman has pleaded guilty to making a false sexual assault report that led to the conviction an innocent man.

Media outlets report that Elizabeth Coast pleaded guilty to perjury on Tuesday in Hampton Circuit Court.

Coast had claimed that Johnathan Montgomery molested her in 2000 outside her grandmother's Hampton home when he was 14 and she was 10. Montgomery was convicted in 2008 of sexually assaulting Coast and sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison.

Coast later recanted her story and was charged with perjury. A circuit court judge exonerated Montgomery last November and ordered him freed. He was released after Gov. Bob McDonnell issued a conditional pardon.

Coast faces up to 10 years in prison. Sentencing is set for July 22.

AMF BOWLING-RESTRUCTURING

AMF Bowling proposes merger with Bowlmor

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - AMF Bowling Worldwide Inc. is proposing a merger with New York-based bowling center operator Bowlmor.

Virginia-based AMF filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. The company proposed the merger in a new plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that AMF submitted the plan to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond last week. The court and creditors must approve the plan.

Under the plan, the combined company would be called Bowlmor AMF. Bowlmor CEO Tom Shannon would serve as chairman, president and CEO.

The combined company would operate 276 bowling centers and employ 7,500 workers.

APPOMATTOX CANNONS

Civil War cannons at Appomattox get a lift

APPOMATTOX, Va. (AP) - Two Civil War-era cannons in Appomattox Court House Square are getting a lift.

On Monday, workers replaced the deteriorating wooden carriages with new metal ones ahead of the weekend's Memorial Day festivities.

Appomattox County Economic Development Director Jeff Taylor tells The News & Advance the guns are Napoleon smoothbore howitzers that were built in Richmond in the early 1860s.

1 of the carriages had collapsed, causing the cannon to rest on the ground. The other had chunks missing from it.

Museum director Wayne Phelps says he had received a lot of complaints about the broken carriage.

The county paid $35,000 for the metal carriages. It marks the third time they have been replaced since 1961. The metal carriages are expected to last at least 60 years.

NCAA TENNIS-US SINGLES STREAK

US players seeking 5th-straight NCAA tennis title

College tennis is increasingly becoming more of an international game, yet an American-born player has won the NCAA singles title four straight years.

Virginia's Jarmere Jenkins, the No. 3 seed, believes Americans have additional motivation to win again when the NCAA singles tournament begins Wednesday in Urbana, Ill. U.S. citizens who win are given "strong consideration" for wild-card berths to the U.S. Open, though they aren't guaranteed a spot.

Still, American-born players don't dominate the top of the college ranks. Jenkins and Virginia's Alex Domijan are the only American players among the top six seeds in this year's singles championships.

All 64 teams that competed in the team championships this year had at least one international player and about half had international players making up the majority of their rosters.

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