The VLW Blog

A jury room dispute is now public following a closely watched Shenandoah County murder trial.
Members of the jury recommended on Thursday that Jody Lynn Bradley serve nine years in prison for the second-degree murder of Brendon Manning Barker, a 16-year-old boy who was shot while visiting Bradley’s daughter.
Some jurors are now arguing that his sentence [...]

[Read more →]

General District Judge Norman deVere “Dev” Morrison retired yesterday after 24 years on the bench.
Before his judicial appointment in 1985, Judge Morrison served as the Berryville town attorney and as a substitute judge. During his career, he has sat in every court in the 26th Judicial Circuit, but mainly ruled over cases in Clarke and [...]

[Read more →]

Amy Tisinger was sworn in yesterday as the first female judge on the general district bench in Shenandoah County.
She replaces Judge Norman Morrison, who is retiring, reports the Northern Virginia Daily.
For the past 10 years, Tisinger has been a prosecutor with the commonwealth’s attorney’s office, and spent four years working for William B. Allen III [...]

[Read more →]

A Shenandoah County landowner has withdrawn his request for permission to build a private military-style training facility in the rural county.
This tactical retreat spelled victory for the local grassroots organization fighting against the development.
But the Daily News Record reports that Keep Shenandoah County Rural still plans to lobby the county government to make changes to its [...]

[Read more →]

The News Leader spoke with retired Judge A. Lee McGratty, who defends the methods he used to move cases along when he was on the bench.
McGratty, who presided in both the Staunton and Augusta County general district courts, said his blunt demeanor in the courtroom was necessary. Due to an overwhelming caseload - [...]

[Read more →]

A military-style training camp planned for the bucolic Shendandoah Valley has some neighbors up in arms.
A local developer recently applied for a permit to construct the Shenandoah Valley Corporate Training Center on a 920-acre farm just east of U.S. 11, reports The Daily News Record.
The training center would include four firing ranges, an obstacle course, [...]

[Read more →]