gridiron glory
try something new
both washington & Lee and Colonial beach romp in their first-round playoff games. Page 5
T he Volume 38, Number 47
altering your hunting routine may allow you to be more successful.
Page 7
POSTAL CUSTOMER
Colonial Beach • Westmoreland
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 50 Cents
helping you relate to your community
Beach health care center set to close Linda Farneth
The Colonial Beach Medical Center will close next month. Owner Kell Hoovler cited economic trends, escalating expenses and declining revenues as the reason for closing the small clinic, which has been serving patients for about 10 years. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the level of health care standards that we hold ourselves to,” Hoovler said. One patient, Thomas Krohn, said he was caught off guard and is worried about changing doctors. Krohn, 62, has a low testosterone condition that renders him weak and unable to work if he does not receive injections. He found out during a recent appointment that
his regular doctor left. “No one told me she was leaving,” he said. Krohn, who is on Social Security, is worried that if he cannot find a clinic close by that will provide the shots, he will have to return to his urologist to see if the drug can be administered in pill or gel form, which would be more costly. Hoovler said the clinic has no plans to reopen and new locations for the current doctors have not been determined. The clinic is referring patients to the Community Care Clinic in King George, East Coast Physicians in Colonial Beach and Stafford Primary Care Associates. Krohn is hoping he can transfer to a doctor at East Coast Physicians, but he is worried that with the
Colonial Beach Medical Center closing, the doctor will not have space by the time Krohn is ready to transfer. Medical assistant Nicole Powell said East Coast Physicians is taking new patients and looks forward to serving the displaced patients. The clinic accepts most major medical insurance, as well as Medicare and Medicaid The Community Care Clinic in King George already is seeing an influx of patients from the Colonial Beach Medical Center. “We have already had patients from the clinic call and come in to establish care with our doctors,” said Arlene Jacovelli, its CEO. “We are accepting new patients and making plans to increase staffing to provide care to patients of the
Colonial Beach clinic.” Dr. Roosevelt Dean and Dr. Roberto Canizares are the physicians at the Community Care Clinic. Dean used to work at the Colonial Beach Medical Center. The clinic accepts Medicare, Medicaid, Anthem, Tricare and other insurances. Self-pay patients are always welcome and the clinic is open Mondays through Saturdays. Former Colonial Beach Medical Center patients who wish to acquire their medical records can come by the office and sign a release form or send a request to P.O. Box 99 Garrisonville, VA 22463. “We appreciate the support that the Colonial Beach community provided to us for 10 years,” Hoovler said.
Linda Farneth
Due to financial troubles, the Colonial Beach Medical Center will shut down in December after serving the community for about 10 years.
County mulls in-lieu money for wetlands
rockfish tournament
Richard Leggitt
Linda Farneth
Travis Smith, Morgan Howard and Alex Mendoza, left to right, hold up their catches, along with the crew and parents from Sunday’s voyage on the Latitude.
Annual event takes on special meaning for several special anglers Linda Farneth The 2014 Annual Colonial Beach Rockfish Tournament got off to a choppy start with gusty winds and 4-foot waves for the majority of the morning. “We started out this morning coming over from Cobb Island; it was very, very rough,” said Captain Jeff Hammett of the Rebecca-E. Hammett was one of three captains this year that hosted special anglers, a division that was added last year to the competition. The tournament is put on by the Colonial
Beach Chamber of Commerce and Colonial Beach Volunteer Fire Department and is hosted by Dockside Restaurant and Blue Heron Pub. The Nov. 15-16 tournament offered youth, female and male divisions, as well as a special category for special anglers, a category for children with special needs. “We went out, we tried and tried, and only caught one fish, but we had a great time and that’s what it’s all about,” Hammett said. Special angler Joe Gittinger brought in the only catch of the day Saturday. “I ran towards the line,” he said, describing
his catch. He added that he had help from first mate Russel, who helped hold the pole, but Joe reeled in his 2.8-pound rockfish, which measured 18-7/8 inches. The second boat to weigh in on Saturday, hosting special anglers, was the Spine Fin. Captain Jim Walder had his crew out all day. Sarah Capp cradled her 5.1-pound rockfish, which measured 23-¾ inches and was the largest of the day in the special angler category. Sarah excitedly told her fish story: “We went in the ocean when it was cold. We had bate balls in the ocean. We decided to catch
them in the act.” Sarah has been fishing with her dad, Rob, every summer since she was 4. “She loves to get up early to go fishing with her father in Ocean City every summer,” said her mother, Debbie. In the special angler category, Sarah and Joe took home first and second place, respectively. In the Youth Division, R.J. Abell came in first place with 4.1 pounds, and Patrick Nugent brought in a 2.8-pound rockfish.
The Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors has scheduled a public hearing for Dec. 8 on a proposal by the county’s wetlands’ board to establish a tidal wetlands fund to allow proposed projects in designated wetlands areas to provide in-lieu funding for creation of wetlands improvements in other areas. If the board approves the proposal, Westmoreland County would be the first locality in the area to establish a wetlands fund under guidelines set forth by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, according to the county’s wetlands coordinator, Charles Wrightson. Officials were unable to provide the number of acres of wetlands there are in the county. “The rational for an in-lieu fee system is that the accumulation of fees from many individual projects could be used to fund large compensation projects,” Wrightson said. He said Virginia encourages localities to establish an in-lieu fund for mitigation fees that is dedicated for future tidal wetlands creation or restoration projects. “This in-lieu fee structure would allow for the mitigation of tidal wetlands vegetation loss and minimize the non-vegetated mitigation cost associated with living shorelines and recommended by best management practices,” said Wrightson. Wrightson said if the county establishes a wetlands fund, “The fund may only be used for tidal wetlands projects in Westmoreland County or for the purchase of credits in an approved tidal wetlands mitigation bank within the local watershed.” “This will enable flexibility for the wetlands board when considering projects with impacts,” said Wrightson. “And it will bring us fully into compliance with VIMS regulations.” Virginia Beach, the City of Chesapeake and Prince William County are other areas in the state which have already established wetlands funds. Kathleen Harrigan, executive director of Friends of the Rappahannock, said she was not aware of the specifics of the Westmoreland County wetlands proposal. “But Virginia does allow wetlands funds. I assume they will be working within the appropriate regulations.”
See ROCKFISH, page 4
Now you can follow local breaking news daily on our website at www.journalpress.com