Wal-Mart urged to choose new Va. store site

Richmond, Va. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and House Speaker William J. Howell are urging supervisors and Wal-Mart officials to work together to find a different site for a Wal-Mart supercenter proposed near a Virginia Civil War battlefield.

In a letter to Orange County Board of Supervisors chairman Lee Frame, Kaine and Howell describe the Wilderness battlefield as "supremely important" among Civil War battlefields.

While both said the decision is a local one, they encouraged the retailer and local officials to seek an alternate site.

Wal-Mart officials have said they selected the site in Locust Grove after much study and maintain it will not harm the battlefield.

The proposal has outraged preservationists.