Kelly Kirschner and Virginia Terwilliger

Governor avoids cuts to colleges

Gov. Bob McDonnell hopes to avoid cutting even more funds from the state's higher education budget, even though the biennial budget proposed last year only addresses half of the commonwealth's $2.2 billion in debt, according to a Wednesday press release from the governor's office. "Large cuts over the past two years have already been made to higher education and public safety, so these areas should be largely protected," McDonnell stated in a letter to Sen.