LEVAR STONEY

The 130-year-old monument, which currently stands in the center of an intersection, depicts Confederate General A.P. Hill, who was killed during the Third Battle of Petersburg in 1865.

A judge has sided with Richmond officials in a lawsuit over whether the Virginia city can remove a final Confederate monument and the remains of a rebel general interred beneath it. Circuit Court Judge David Eugene Cheek Sr. said in a ruling Tuesday that city officials — not the descendants of A.P. Hill — get to decide where the statue goes next, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and TV station WRIC reported. The city plans to give the statue to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, which the plaintiffs found objectionable.

Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax says he recently met with the FBI to discuss his concerns about the two 2019 sexual assault allegations against him.

Despite strong jobs numbers and falling covid-19 infection rates, food insecurity remains high, with inflation driving more people to seek food assistance.

The Cares Act and two private foundation partnerships are funding 18 families in Richmond, Virginia with a $500 monthly check for two years.

Highlights of this day in history: Thomas Edison demonstrates light bulb; The United States winds down the Marshall Plan; Actor Anthony Hopkins, composer Jule Styne and musician Donna Summer are born. (Dec. 31)

The massive statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and eight other monuments will move to the museum after the city council approves the plan.

RICHMOND, Va. Work crews were back at work Thursday removing Confederate monuments from Virginia's capital city, a process that began last week after Mayor Levar Stoney ordered all city-owned Confederate statues cleared away amid weeks of protests over police brutality and racism. Crews returned to the site of a monument honoring Confederate naval commander and scientist Matthew Fontaine Maury. The Maury statue was unveiled in 1929 the last of five Confederate statues erected on Richmonds Monument Avenue. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that a Confederate heritage group wants to display the statues on private property. Richmonds largest statue left standing is on state land the massive monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument is shown in Libby Hill Park Wednesday July 8, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The statue is one of several that will be removed by the city as part of the Black Lives Matter reaction. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)RICHMOND, Va. Work crews have begun taking down the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors statue, the sixth Confederate monument to be removed in Richmond amid national protests against police brutality and symbols many see as racist icons. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, citing his emergency powers on July 1, ordered the removal of all city-owned Confederate statues. Richmond's largest statue left standing is on state land the massive monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - The statue of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart is covered in graffiti on Monument Avenue, Monday, July 6, 2020, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)RICHMOND, Va. Work crews have begun taking down an enormous monument to Confederate Gen. J.E.B. The Stuart monument is one of several targeted by protesters in Richmond since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 prompted nationwide demonstrations. The Stuart statue has been the last major statue left, other than a massive statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee that's located on state land.

(AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)RICHMOND, Va. Just a little over a month ago, the area around Richmond's iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was as quiet and sedate as the statue itself. Clashes between police and protesters gathered near the statue have become a regular occurrence. The statue is located on Richmonds Monument Avenue, a boulevard of stately homes that also features several other Confederate monuments targeted for removal. At the Lee statue, a new vibe has emerged alongside the raucous atmosphere of protests, one that is more reminiscent of the hippie love and peace festivals of the 1960s. A group of civilian volunteers armed with handguns and rifles has been patrolling the area near the statue to keep protesters safe.

(AP Photo/Steve Helber)RICHMOND, Va. A judge on Thursday indefinitely extended an injunction preventing the Virginia governor from removing a historic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmonds famed Monument Avenue. The 12-ton (11 metric-ton), 21-foot-tall (6.4-meter-tall) statue has stood in a prominent spot along Monument Avenue since 1890. The Lee statue in Richmond has become a rallying point for demonstrators during more than two weeks of protests. The Lee statue is one of five Confederate monuments along Monument Avenue, a National Historic Landmark district. The Lee statue is on state property.

People stand around the fallen Christopher Columbus statue at the Minnesota state Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday, June 10, 2020. In Bristol, England, demonstrators over the weekend toppled a statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston and threw it in the harbor. On Wednesday night, protesters pulled down a century-old statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who has proposed dismantling all Confederate statues in the city, asked protesters not to take matters into their own hands for their own safety. Andrew Cuomo, who is Italian American, said he opposes removal of a statue of Columbus in Manhattans Columbus Circle.

The statues on the Confederate monument are covered in graffiti and beheaded after a protest in Portsmouth, Va., Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Protesters beheaded and then pulled down four statues that were part of a Confederate monument. The spokesman for the Virginia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, B. Frank Earnest, condemned the toppling of public works of art and likened losing the Confederate statues to losing a family member. For protesters mobilized by Floyds death, the targets have ranged far beyond the Confederacy. Andrew Cuomo, who is Italian American, said he opposes removal of a statue of Columbus in Manhattans Columbus Circle.

A rope had been tied around the Confederate statue, which has stood since 1891, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, adding that someone urinated on the statue after it was pulled down. Confederate monuments are a major flashpoint in Virginia and elsewhere in the South. Those statues sit on city land, unlike the Lee statue, which is on state property. Thats when a new law goes into effect, which was signed earlier this year by Northam, that undoes an existing state law protecting Confederate monuments and instead lets local governments decide their fate. Wickhams statue stood in Monroe Park, about a mile away from the Lee statue and surrounded by the Virginia Commonwealth University campus.

Protesters sit near the statue of Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, June 3, 2020. As for the Lee statue, Northam and his predecessor, fellow Democrat Terry McAuliffe, have not previously pressed the issue. The statues on Monument Avenue are among the most prominent collection of tributes to the Confederacy in the nation. A statue of black tennis hero Arthur Ashe, a Richmond native, was erected on Monument Avenue in 1996. "The Lee statue was a constant reminder to Black Virginians of racism, dehumanization, and hate that exists and was prevalent throughout our historyA descendant of Lee, the Rev.