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Virginia lowers flags Monday to honor Dr. Cerina Wanzer Fairfax and raise awareness of domestic violence

Flags in Virginia will be lowered to half-staff Monday in memory of Dr. Cerina Wanzer Fairfax and victims of domestic violence.

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Gov. Abigail Spanberger ordered the flags be lowered following her death on April 16.

Wanzer Fairfax was killed by her husband, former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax in an apparent murder-suicide as they were going through a “messy divorce.”

Wanzer Fairfax was a dentist with a practice in Northern Virginia.

“We remember Dr. Cerina Fairfax’s life and her devotion to others, her patients, and most especially, her children,” wrote Spanberger. “We honor her educational achievements, professional success, service to our Commonwealth, and her deep love for her family.”

Flags will be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset Monday at all state and local government buildings in Virginia.

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Civil rights groups make urgent plea for voting rights in DC, ahead of midterm elections

By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters are rallying Friday on the National Mall in support of voting rights and racial justice ahead of the midterm elections, following a wave of changes to voting laws and redistricting that civil rights groups have condemned as detrimental to Black Americans. The 2026 “Defend the Vote” March on Washington, organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III, echoes the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 march. The event follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark April decision in Louisiana v. Callais that reinterpreted key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, allowing Southern states to redraw their congressional maps in a way that erodes equal representation in Black communities. “We’ve been doing these marches for years, but this is probably the most important because this is the first year we are marching that the voting rights bill has been nullified by the Supreme Court,” Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network, said in an interview with The Associated Press. The march opened with prayer and statements from Interfaith Alliance representatives, who spoke on diversity, equity and inclusion practices, voting rights and systemic racism.
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