Virginia: Lincoln statue unveiled amid praise, protest

A statue of Abraham Lincoln commemorating the 16th U.S. president’s only visit to the one-time capital of the Confederacy was dedicated Saturday with speeches and ceremony.

At the Richmond National Battlefield Park Civil War Visitor Center, speakers praised Lincoln as a man of compassion whose visit was meant as an act of reconciliation.

Not everyone saw it that way. About a mile away, members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans gathered at the grave of Jefferson Davis to denounce the statue as an insult to the honor of the Confederacy.

Michigan: Illegal castration leads to jury conviction

A man who castrated another man on his kitchen table was convicted of practicing medicine without a license.

Shuo-Shan Wang, 29, was found guilty by a Pontiac jury Friday for performing the voluntary castration. Police arrested him in June after they found a 48-year-old man hemorrhaging outside of Wang’s home in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park.

Authorities said Wang operated at the table in his home and then he and the man shared some pie at the same table. Wang did not charge for the surgery.

Wang faces up to four years in prison when he’s sentenced April 21.

Massachusetts: Small plane crashes into metal shop

Federal aviation authorities investigating a fiery small plane crash in Leominster, Mass., that killed six people have recovered the plane’s cockpit voice recorder.

“We’re going to be looking into a lot of factors, basically the man, the machine, and the environment,” said Jill Andrews of the National Transportation Safety Board.

The plane crashed into a sheet metal shop Friday, killing a real estate developer and his wife; two interior designers who were renovating the developer’s vacation home; and the pilot and co-pilot. The couple’s 13-year-old daughter was the only survivor.

Pennsylvania: Two fatal wrecks close 60 miles of turnpike

Two chain-reaction wrecks involving more than 20 vehicles killed four people Saturday and forced the closure of a 60-mile stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, police said.

Fog may have played a role in the accidents, both of which occurred about five miles from the Breezewood exit, said Bill Capone, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.