season sweep
no duck luck
remembering the dream
clutch free throws lift Colonial beach against King george. Page 5
mother nature may have cooperated, but this outing was for the birds. Page 7
Locals gather to honor the Rev. Martin Luther king jr. on his birthday. Page 10
T he Volume 39, Number 4
POSTAL CUSTOMER
Colonial Beach • Westmoreland
helping you relate to your community
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 50 Cents
Lowry stepping down as county schools head Richard Leggitt
Westmoreland County Superintendent of Schools Rebecca Lowry resigned suddenly last week. Lowry submitted a letter of resignation to the county school board declaring her intention to leave her post effective June 30. Lowry has been under increasing criticism from county officials, parents and educators in recent months for a number of management problems that have beset the school system, including
late payments to the Virginia State Retirement System. “There is a lot of concern about the management of the school system, including late Lowry payments to VSRS and to the IRS,” said a county official, who asked not to be identified. “It really borders on incompetence.” The official said the county has
been notified by the Internal Revenue Service that the Westmoreland school system is not current with its required federal tax payments and state officials have complained to the county the school system is not current in its required payments to the retirement system either. The Westmoreland Board of Supervisors provides an estimated $7.9 million a year to the school system, but has no authority to order the school system to make the payments on time, according to sources. County officials
said they have met with school officials more than a half dozen times recently in an effort to get the school system to address their financial problem. The past due payments were not mentioned in Lowry’s letter of resignation nor in the school board’s acceptance of the resignation. School Board Chairwoman Iris Lane said in a statement, “We are appreciative of Dr. Lowry and value the work she has performed with the school board, administration, teachers, staff and students.”
happy birthday robert e. lee
Lowry has served as the Westmoreland County superintendent since July 2011. In addition to criticism in connection with the management of school finances, Lowry also was criticized last year, along with the school board, when she failed to act after the principal of Washington & Lee High School, Andrea Roane, was arrested for drunken driving. After several months of angry complaints by parents, students and teachers, Roane submitted her resignation.
Mahan eyes challenge to McDougle Richard Leggitt
Famed Civil War general honored by hundreds
H
undreds of area residents and visitors attended the Jan. 17 birthday celebration of Robert E. Lee at historic Stratford Hall, the 18th century plantation that was the birthplace of the Civil War general and home to several generations of his family. There were free tours of Stratford Hall’s Great House, a scavenger hunt for children with prizes from the Stratford Hall gift shop, a birthday cake, cookies and cider and the musical group Marshall and Company performed. Activities also included a History
Stratford Hall celebrated Robert E. Lee’s birthday Jan. 17 with free admission, food, drink and music from the group Marshall and Company, above. Lee’s birthday cake, left, was popular with children at the event.
Mobile, a museum on wheels operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia that presented stories from the Civil War and those who experienced the conflict, including soldiers, civilians and slaves. Many of the mobile’s exhibits were geared toward children. Stratford Hall is one of the most celebrated, historic plantations of its time and was the home to two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee, as well as Robert E. Lee and “Light Horse Harry” Lee, Robert E. Lee’s father.
Richard Leggitt photos
“This is the biggest business in the county,” said a member of the Westmoreland Board of Supervisors, who asked not to be identified. “Managing the school system’s money has been a continuing problem, but we at least need to get somebody over there who can count past two plus two.” The search for Lowry’s successor will begin immediately. The school board said it would start the process to select a new superintendent with a goal of having that person in place by July 1.
Westmoreland Supervisor Rosemary Mahan is exploring a race for the Virginia State Senate. Mahan has told several county officials she will not be a candidate for re-election to the board of supervisors this year and she hopes to vie for the 4th District state senate seat held by Republican Ryan McDougle McDougle. “I am exploring my options,” Mahan said. I have not officially announced, but I’m looking at the numbers. It’s a big senate district and I’m trying to Mahan figure out if the numbers are there to win.” Mahan, a Democrat who represents the 2nd district, has been a member of the Westmoreland Board of Supervisors since 2011. An employee of a civilian defense contractor at Dahlgren, she also is a former member of the Westmoreland County School Board. A resident of Coles Point, Mahan is married with three daughters and two granddaughters. McDougle is the chairman of the Senate Republican caucus and also is chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. The 4th District, which includes parts of King George and Westmoreland counties, stretches from the Northern Neck to Hanover County in the Richmond suburbs. Mahan has been actively involved with a number of issues as a member of the board of supervisors, including education, tourism and business development. She served on the Westmoreland County School Board from 2008-11. Mahan said education, Medicaid
Other state races The 4th district state senate race is one of three state offices that will be on the ballot in Westmoreland and King George this year. The others include the 28th district senate seat current held by Republican Richard Stuart and the 99th District house seat currently held by Delegate Margaret Ransone. and the environment will be among the issues she will concentrate on if she decides to make the state senate race. “I am concerned about fracking,” she said. “We’ve done so much to protect the Chesapeake Bay and now we’re talking about drilling right through our aquifer.” Mahan is a graduate of Old Dominion University. She also has attended the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute of Political Leadership and done professional studies at Mary Washington University. She is a graduate of Washington & Lee High School. McDougle was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2002, and then won election to the state senate in the 4th District in 2006. A native of Hanover, McDougle is a graduate of James Madison University and the School of Law at William & Mary. McDougle lives in Mechanicsville. He is married with one daughter. McDougle, a former Hanover County prosecutor, also lists education and the environment as his issues of concern. He also is a supporter of the 2nd Amendment and worked for passage of bills to reduce taxes and improve Virginia’s business climate. When asked about Mahan’s candidacy, McDougle said, “My focus right now is passing a state budget that does not include a Medicaid expansion and working on issues that will help Virginia and the Northern Neck.”
CB looking at regulating breweries, wind turbines Linda Farneth The Colonial Beach Planning Commission is looking into drafting and adopting ordinances concerning breweries and wind turbines, in response to customer inquiries. Acting Zoning Administrator Brendan McHugh said no ordinances in the town currently cover breweries.
He presented the commission with draft resolutions and ordinances from neraby Spotsylvania County. According to Spotsylvania’s Director of Planning and Zoning, Jeffrey Harvey, the majority of microbreweries are small operations that produce less than 15,000 barrels of beer each year. Virginia law separates licenses into various categories -- keg
sales, non-keg sales, off-premise, onpremise, etc. McHugh told the commission that in drafting and adopting regulations for zoning the town needs to explore sizes of breweries that will be allowed, if they will be stand alone or be combined with restaurants and, if combined, what regulations will govern continued brewery production
if the restaurant closed. Commissioner Steve Cirbee thinks the town should focus only on residential wind turbines. “We don’t have enough consistent winds here,” he said. There’s no sense in spending a lot of time on commercial energy because we’re not in a spot that is favorable for that anyway.” McHugh believes the issue is
somewhat controversial since Colonial Beach has a high population of osprey and people worry that they will be hurt if caught up in a wind turbine. The commission discussed putting small units on top of homes. McHugh suggested putting turbines under accessory use. Cirbee warned to be careful where the regulations are placed because some accessory uses
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have height limitations that may prevent homeowners from installing a See REGULATE, page 4