sweet senior night
no duck luck
remembering the dream
King george and sophomore kolin johnson, left, easily defeat courtland. 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
King George
helping you relate to your community
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 50 Cents
Benson wants 2-year plan to hike teacher pay Superintendent says change will keep division competitive Phyllis Cook The King George School Board’s budget development timeline likely will be kicked off by a joint meeting with the county’s Board of Supervisors at 6 p.m. Jan. 27 at Potomac Elementary School.
That date was selected by the school board at its Jan. 12 meeting and was to be considered by supervisors at their Jan. 20 meeting. The school board is expected to detail its latest two-year proposal from Superintendent Rob Benson
to make teacher salaries more competitive with surrounding counties. The proposal is estimated to boost the amount for teacher’s salaries by about $2.1 million for the next two years and go up from there. The new two-year proposal would increase the starting salary for firstyear teachers from the current $37,087 to $38,570 for next year and to $40,595 for 2016-17. The proposal was given the goahead by school board members
for use when working up numbers for a proposed 2015-16 budget to present to the board of supervisors. The proposed teacher scale is predicated on 1.25 percent cost-ofliving raises in each of the next two years, along with state-required 1 percent increases in each of the next two years for Virginia Retirement System payments. Other key components of the proposal are annual ‘competitive increases’ of 3 percent and step increases, with teachers moving up
happy birthday robert e. lee
the scale to a higher salary step. That would not apply to teachers on steps higher than 31. Benson said those senior teachers would only receive cost-of-living raises. For example, first-year teachers working in King George this school year who remain in the division for a second year would get a raise of $2,338 to a salary of $39,425 for 2015-16. The following year, those teachers moving to step 3 would get another increase of $2,899 to $42,324.
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
The cost for teacher salaries in the current year is about $13.8 million. The supervisors had asked for a five-year plan to boost teacher pay. The rest of the division’s budgeting timeline includes a scheduled Feb. 9 presentation of a first draft and school board work sessions to be scheduled between Feb. 10 and March 6. A public hearing on a budget request is expected to take place Feb. 23, and March 9 is the tentative date for the board to adopt the plan.
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 Del. 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.”
King George man gets 37 years for raping 65 year old Richard Leggitt King George Circuit Court Judge Horace A. Revercomb III has sentenced a King George man to 37 years in prison for the rape and robbery of a 65-year-old Dahlgren artist. Kelvin Arnold Lewis, 53, was convicted Oct. 20 of attacking the
victim, tying her up and assaulting her. “This is the type of person we build prisons for,” King George Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jennifer Pollard told the judge prior to sentencing. The crime occurred May 24, when Lewis showed up at the home of the victim, a grandmother, and asked for
work. According to Pollard, Lewis knocked the woman down and demanded money and cigarettes. The victim was tied up with electrical tape and sexually assaulted. The prosecutor said after the incident, Lewis forced the woman to drive him to an ATM, where she withdrew money and gave it to him. “She decided he was going to kill
her,” Pollard said. “So she was going to do everything she could to convince him she would not call police.” The ruse apparently worked. Lewis told the woman to drop him at a convenience store and then let her drive away. She drove home and contacted the sheriff ’s office. Lewis said at his trial and again at his Jan. 15 sentencing that he was
not guilty. Pollard pointed out that he had been convicted by a six-man, six-woman King George jury after his fingerprints were found on the tape used to tie up the victim. “Some crimes are so horrible and so heinous that the criminal forfeits the rights to live in a free society,” said Pollard, who noted Lewis “has a long and colorful criminal history.”
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In handing down the 37 year sentence, Revercomb agreed, saying to Lewis, “your record speaks for itself.”