One of the two nuclear reactors at Dominion Virginia Power’s North Anna Power Station remained shut down yesterday because of what the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission called “an unusual event.“ Control-room operators manually shut down Unit 1 late last Friday afternoon after two leaks were detected in water pipes at the reactor about 45 miles northwest of Richmond.

The pilot of an ultralight plane that crashed into Lake Anna this afternoon died and a 17-year-old passenger was hospitalized with serious injuries. 

The gubernatorial campaign of state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds has hit a few bumps on the road to the Democratic nomination. On Saturday, an SUV driven by the candidate from Bath County rear-ended another vehicle in Louisa County. And yesterday, campaign officials acknowledged that they have had to trim some campaign staff to help finance more TV advertising in the run-up to the June 9 primary.

A Louisa County man and woman pleaded guilty yesterday in a child-endangerment case in which their two toddlers tested positive for cocaine. Derrick A. Christmas, 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of child neglect and to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, all of which are felony charges, said Louisa Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Rusty McGuire.

When the fourth of Philip Rusk Leake and Anna Hardwicke Leake’s eight children was born at home in Charlottesville on July 7, 1926, the assembled family raised a cheer of “I-S! I-S!“ Because of his gender, he became Francis Hardwicke Leake, instead of Frances, and was called “I-S” by family until he died Jan. 8 looking through the picture windows at the birdfeeders outside his Louisa cabin. He was 82.

A Louisa County judge yesterday sentenced a former Catholic priest to 13 years in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from two parishes where he served as pastor. Rodney L. Rodis, who also led a secret life as a married man, will serve that sentence after he completes a five-year prison term in a related federal case.

Authorities say a Louisa County man called his elderly father at a nursing home this weekend and confessed to killing his wife of 25 years. Forrest Smythers Jr. called his father at a Charlottesville nursing home Sunday and said he was contemplating suicide or running away because he had just shot his wife, said Maj. Donnie Lowe of the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office. The father told a nurse about the phone call, and the nurse notified police.

A Hanover County man accused of beating a 69-year-old Louisa County man to death in August was indicted by a Louisa County grand jury on a charge of first-degree murder yesterday. Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Rusty McGuire said the grand jury’s indictment of Jerome Mallory on the murder charge stemmed from a fight that left Charles Eugene Houchens fatally injured outside his home in Bumpass.

The case of a Hanover County man accused of fatally beating an elderly man in August will go to a grand jury. Jerome Mallory, 42, is charged with second-degree murder stemming from an altercation that left Charles Eugene Houchens, 69, fatally wounded outside his home in Bumpass. Mallory was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on the charge yesterday in which the Louisa County General District Court judge would have decided whether there was enough evidence for a grand jury to consider setting the case for trial. But Mallory declined the hearing, and Judge Edward K. Carpenter certified the case to the grand jury scheduled to meet Jan. 12.

The case of a Hanover County man accused of fatally beating an elderly man in August will go to a grand jury. Jerome Mallory, 42, is charged with second-degree murder stemming from an altercation that left Charles Eugene Houchens, 69, fatally wounded outside his home in Bumpass. Mallory was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on the charge yesterday in which the Louisa County General District Court judge would have decided if there was enough evidence for a grand jury to consider setting the case for trial.