Accident with three deaths in Vale do Aço, the results of the first round of the 2026 Elections, the vote for influencer Menina da Bota and the election of deputies linked to the East and Northeast of Minas are among the topics most accessed by g1 Vales de Minas Gerais readers this week. A police operation investigating the retention of millions of reais in municipal taxes in Governador Valadares also appears in the ranking.
Below, check out the most read highlights of the week:
A Minas Gerais Military Police plane crashed near Vale do Aço Regional Airport, between Ipatinga and Santana do Paraíso, on Friday afternoon (9). Three members of the corporation died in the accident.
According to the Military Police, the plane had taken off from Pampulha Airport, in Belo Horizonte, and arrived at Vale do Aço Regional Airport shortly before the crash. The victims were identified as Lieutenant Colonel Luis Fernando Silvestre, Lieutenant Alice dos Santos Almeida and Lieutenant Gabriela Emília Soares Resende.
g1 Vales de Minas Gerais followed the voting and counting of the first round of the 2026 Elections, held on Sunday (4), in real time. The coverage brought the results to the president, governor, senator and deputies, with updates from cities in the East and Northeast of Minas.
In Governador Valadares, Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) received 59.59% of the valid votes for president, while Cleitinho Azevedo (Republicans) had 52.48% for governor. In Ipatinga, the two also led, with 61.11% and 60.55%, respectively. In Teófilo Otoni, Lula (PT) received the most votes for president, with 47.46%, and Cleitinho won the race for governor, with 54.36%.
Influencer Maria José Mendes, known as Menina da Bota, failed to be elected federal deputy for Minas Gerais on Sunday (4). At 23 years old, she received 9,790 votes and ended up as a substitute, being União Brasil's 10th most voted candidate for the position in the state. Born in Angelândia and resident of Setubinha, in the Jequitinhonha Valley, she won 114 votes in the city where she lives and 94 where she was born.
With more than 1 million followers on social media, the influencer published a video on Monday (5) thanking voters and stating that she will continue with shows and artistic productions. The campaign declared R$696,610.87 in revenue, with R$693 thousand coming from the National Directorate of União Brasil, and R$291 thousand in expenses.
Fifteen deputies with ties to municipalities in the East and Northeast of Minas were elected on Sunday (4). There are nine federal and six state deputies, among candidates who won their first term, were re-elected or returned to the Chamber of Deputies and the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais.
Among the federals, Bruno Farias (Republicans), from Teófilo Otoni, received 113,379 votes, followed by Vinicius Diniz (PL), from Governador Valadares, with 80,567. In the state dispute, Neilando Pimenta (Republicans), from Teófilo Otoni, had 125,858 votes, while Enes Candido (PSD), from Governador Valadares, received 105,260.
The Civil Police of Minas Gerais launched, on Wednesday (7), the "Boleto Fantasma" operation to investigate the alleged retention of around R$5.6 million in taxes paid by taxpayers of Governador Valadares. Four search and seizure warrants were executed in Belo Horizonte, Nova Lima and Contagem. The Court ordered the blocking of the financial assets of those being investigated and the precautionary suspension of the intermediation activities of municipal collections by the investigated institution.
Nobe Software, the company cited in the investigation, denies irregularities and states that the amounts questioned correspond to contractual fees for processing invoices, and not the retention of municipal resources. Governador Valadares City Hall reported that the contracts are already the subject of an internal administrative investigation. The investigation continues under judicial secrecy.
