Every 45 days or so, Richmond’s federal, state and local law-enforcement brass gather to do something that they say happens nowhere else in the country. They sit down as one body for closed-door sessions to pick targets—the trouble spots and the thugs causing the city’s biggest violent crime headaches. Then they agree on what to do about them—jointly.

The Virginia Board of Education will receive comments on proposed changes to graduation requirements at five public hearings on Thursday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m., in the following locations: Alexandria: Thomas A. Edison High School, 5801 Franconia Rd. Chesapeake: Jolliff Middle School, 1021 Jolliff Rd. Highland Springs:Highland Springs High School, 15 S.

The families of victims of last year’s Virginia Tech massacre came with questions—and President Charles W. Steger arrived with extra security. Family members say they didn’t get many answers at last weekend’s meetings with Tech officials. Nor was there an apology from Steger for the deaths of 32 students and faculty members on April 16, 2007. At the suggestion from the retired judge moderating the session, some got handshakes from him.

Sure, Virginia has seen plenty of history from the Civil War and Colonial eras. The Virginia Historical Society wants another era to come to mind when thinking about Virginia history: the 20th century. “It has been our contention that the 20th century was the century of most change in Virginia,“ said the Virginia Historical Society’s president-elect and CEO-elect, Paul Levengood.

The Meadowview Health Clinic and Community Center will be the latest of more than 50 Southwest Virginia health care providers to offer a telemedicine link with the University of Virginia. The link allows patients to videoconference with specialists in Charlottesville without leaving the clinic. “There was a time in the not-too-distant past when the people of this region who needed a level of specialty care that was beyond the ability of local physicians . . . they would’ve had to take a very long and expensive trip,“ said Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th, who announced that a $227,613 federal grant was provided for the project. With the telemedicine links, “it is no longer necessary for them to make the trip.“

The George Washington National Forest will most likely expand its wilderness areas in the near future as a new forest-management plan unfolds. A total of 37 areas totaling 370,000 acres of the 1.1 million-acre forest have been identified by the forest’s staff as potential wilderness—a designation that protects the site against human intrusion.

Sen. Barack Obama has added a Tuesday night rally in Norfolk at Harbor Park baseball stadium. Gates open at 7 p.m. and the event begins at 9:30. This event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, though, an RSVP is strongly encouraged. To RSVP, visit www.VA.barackobama.com.

Virginia’s State Board of Elections is reporting a discrepancy between state and federal law that has led to the denial of 100 Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots. Military and overseas voters who have not yet received their regular absentee ballots use the provisional ballots. The voters can use the federal form to both apply for their ballots and cast them as long as they are signed by a witness and submitted to state officials by Oct. 30.

The state’s mental-health commissioner promised yesterday that a patient held in seclusion at Staunton’s Western State Hospital for the past 15 years will be moved. Commissioner James S. Reinhard and other officials outlined an array of new treatment plans incorporating the patient’s native language of Spanish that could accelerate his progress and serve as a model for mental-health care statewide.

Fort Lee is getting a new, $31 million Army museum. The Army’s Ordnance Museum will open in 2011, giving Fort Lee one of the service’s largest museum complexes. The Prince George County post already is home to the Quartermaster Museum and the Army Women’s Museum. About 49,000 people visited the Ordnance Museum, now at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., in the past year, a number that easily could double at Fort Lee with its easy access to Interstates 95 and 295, the museum’s director said.

Skyline Drive, a tiny bucolic mountain road winding 105 miles through the heart of Shenandoah National Park, now is a National Historic Landmark. The designation, reserved for places that possess exceptional value to the American people, is the highest ranking bestowed by the federal government on a historic resource. “It’s really, really a phenomenal resource,“ said Kathleen S. Kilpatrick, director of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. With Skyline Drive, “you are linking this amazing, man-made structure with a phenomenal natural landscape. Each component enhances the beauty of the other.“

The state’s mental-health commissioner promised yesterday that a patient held in seclusion at Western State Hospital for the past 15 years will be moved. Commissioner James S. Reinhard and other officials outlined an array of new treatment plans incorporating the patient’s native language of Spanish that could accelerate his progress and serve as a model for mental-health care statewide.

Virginia’s Skyline Drive has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced the designation today. The designation is the highest ranking bestowed by the federal government on a historic resource. The highway stretches 105 miles through the Shenandoah National Park and along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains between Front Royal and Rockfish Gap. The colorful autumn leaves make it an especially popular attraction this time of year.

Virginia State Police held the first of three meetings yesterday with victims and families of victims of the massacre at Virginia Tech last year. The meeting at state police headquarters near Richmond will be followed by two more: one near Chantilly on Saturday for the convenience of the families who live in Northern Virginia or in other states, and another on Sunday in the Richmond area.

Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin return next week to Virginia, fighting to hold a state that—polls suggest—could tip Democratic for president for the first time since 1964. The Republican running mates will appear in Virginia Beach Monday morning before Palin, the vice presidential nominee, comes to Richmond for an afternoon rally.