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Va. lawmakers want to rename Fairfax Co. postal service facility after late congressman Connolly

By Catherine Chen

A group of Virginia lawmakers hope to honor U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly by renaming a postal service facility in Fairfax County after him.

Connolly, a Democrat who died in May, was a member of the county’s Board of Supervisors. He served as chairman before wining his seat in Congress in 2008.

Democratic Rep. James R. Walkinshaw, who won Connolly’s seat in a special election in September after Connolly’s death, along with Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, introduced legislation in November to designate the U.S. Postal Service facility at 10660 Page Ave. as the “Congressman Gerald E. ‘Gerry’ Connolly Post Office Building.”

During Connolly’s time in Fairfax County government, he contributed to the development of the Oakton Library, the Mosaic District and the 40-mile Gerry Connolly Cross Country Trail.

Following news of Connolly’s death, Fairfax County Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said that Connolly prioritized regionalism even when he served in Congress.

“We all looked up to him. He was Fairfax,” Palchik said.

Walkinshaw, who was Connolly’s chief of staff, said in a statement that the late congressman was a “champion for federal workers and the Postal Service.”

Warner in a statement said renaming the post office facility in Connolly’s honor was a “fitting tribute.”

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from Virginia and other states signed on as cosponsors.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform unanimously passed the bill on Tuesday.

Former Brazilian au pair testifies her ex-lover plotted to kill his wife, though lacks some details

By The Associated Press
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A former Brazilian au pair testified on Wednesday that she turned against her former lover in a sprawling double homicide scheme involving his wife because she “wanted the truth to come out.” For more than a year, Juliana Peres Magalhães did not speak with officials about the 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan, or about Brendan Banfield’s alleged involvement. But attorneys say that days before her own criminal trial, the former au pair changed her mind and began to talk. Now, Brendan Banfield is facing a trial in the aggravated murder of his wife and Ryan, and Magalhães’ testimony has become a key component of prosecutors’ case. Banfield, who has pleaded not guilty, could face life in prison if convicted. The way officials tell it, Banfield and Magalhães lured Ryan to their house. The two then shot him, staging the scene to look as if Ryan had been a predator stabbing Christine Banfield.
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