CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Workers affixed straps to a 900-pound Confederate statue, preparing to lift it from its stone base Saturday morning, as a community marred by racial violence three years ago took a major step in eliminating the divisive symbols of the Civil War.

RICHMOND, Va. - The former capital of the Confederacy removed a second Confederate monument on Thursday morning, taking just over an hour to dismantle and lower the statue of Navy officer and oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury.