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T he
Colonial Beach • Westmoreland
Volume 40, Number 21
Wednesday, May 25, 2016 50 Cents
helping you relate to your community
Zika virus spreading; no local cases yet Local officials get state briefing on deadly disease Phyllis Cook
Photo by Phyllis Cook
Dr. Brooke Rossheim, Director of the Rappahannock Area Health District, speaks about the Zika virus at the May 3 meeting of the King George County Board of Supervisors.
Bids for construction of new CB ES set to be opened Richard Leggitt Megan O'Connell told the Colonial Beach School Board during its meeting last week that bids for construction of the new $8.5 million Colonial Beach Elementary will be opened thus week. “We prequalified eight bidders, we are looking for some good, competitive bids," O'Connell said. "After the winning bidder is selected, we will issue a notice to proceed." O'Connell said ground breaking for the new elementary school is scheduled for June and the building should be completed in time for the 2017-2018 school year. O'Connell works for Skanska, which has been hired to monitor the construction of the new school. "We are the owner's representatives," O'Connell said. "We assist the school board in overseeing the project and making sure it is progressing on schedule and on budget." O'Connell praised the simple, yet
modern design of the new elementary school. "We especially like the design of the entrance of the school," O'Connell said. She told the school board the new elementary school construction plan is on schedule and that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has already approved the site plan. Skanska is an international development and construction company that has offices in Norfolk and around the world. The company is currently working on important construction and development projects in Los Angeles and Boston, among other places in the U.S. Colonial Beach elementary school students have been in temporary classrooms, first at Oak Grove Baptist Church and then in modular classrooms next to the current high school, since a devastating fire destroyed the old Colonial Beach Elementary in 2014. Three suspects were convicted of arson as a result of the fire.
7 arrested in drug raids in county Richard Leggitt
The Westmoreland Sheriff 's Office working with the Tri-County Drug Task Force arrested seven suspects last week, including four Colonial Beach residents, in drug raids. Six of the arrests occurred in Westmoreland and one in Lancaster County. “Our efforts to save lives due to illegal drug activity continues and is unwavering," said Westmoreland Sheriff C.O. Balderson, who said heroin, cocaine, morphine and fentanyl were among the drugs being distributed by the suspects. Earlier this year in King George County, two men died from mixing heroin and fentanyl. "Any ille-
gal narcotic usage is dangerous and can cause unhealthy consequences," Balderson said. "However, the combined mixture of heroin and fentanyl is deadly." Those arrested and charged included: Wayne R. Pointer, Jr., 30, of Colonial Beach who was charged with two counts of distribution and one count of conspiring to distribute a Schedule I or II controlled substance, heroin and fentanyl. Charles B. Wooten-Sneed, 24, of Colonial Beach who was charged with two counts of distribution and one count of conspiring to distribSee Raid, page 8
The King George Board of Supervisors received an update on the Zika virus from Dr. Brooke Rossheim, Health Director of the Rappahannock Area Health District, on May 3. Rossheim said new information is coming in constantly about Zika. “The current situation is fluid. New information is coming out very quickly and current knowledge and guidance can change rapidly,” Rossheim said. The Virginia Department of Health is updating its website on Zika each week on Thursdays. Go
online to www.vdh.virginia.gov/ Zika. Rossheim said there are no locally acquired cases of Zika in Virginia as yet. As of May 19, 15 cases of Zika in Virginia have been reported by the state health department to the federal Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, all of which are are travel related, where people have picked up the disease while elsewhere. The CDC has issued a travel alert for people traveling to regions and
certain countries where Zika virus transmission is ongoing. The most current information is available online at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, www.cdc.gov/zika Rossheim said the current outbreak first took place in Brazil in May 2015. “Since then, the outbreak has spread throughout South America, Central America and into Mexico,” Rossheim said. Local transmission of Zika Virus is also currently taking place in Puerto Rico. The Zika virus belongs to the same family of viruses as Yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and West Nile Virus, and is spread to people through the bite of an infected mosquito. Two species of mosquito are involved in the transmission. See Zika, page 8
Montross Council to honor Reamy Richard Leggitt The Montross Town Council is scheduled to hold an open house May 31st to honor long time town manager, Brenda Reamy, who retired earlier this month after serving the Westmoreland County town for more than two decades. The soft spoken and popular Reamy, who was instrumental in Montross' successful revitalization efforts, has been an essential part of
the town's many community building activities over the years including the Fall Festival, Market Days and First Friday events. "Brenda has been a tremendous asset for the Town of Montross over the past 22 years," said Patricia Lewis, who has succeeded Reamy as town manager. "Please join the Montross Town Council in wishing her a very happy retirement on May 31st between 3pm and 5pm at the Town Hall. Light refreshments will
be provided." Raised in Westmoreland County, Reamy is a graduate of W&L High School. She has said that she and her husband will remain Montross residents. "My husband's already retired," Reamy said. "We are going to do some things at our house that we've put off. I am going to enjoy my yard and my flowers." Reamy was a staff accountant for a local CPA when she took the
Montross Town Manager's job in 1994. As the town manager, she has been intimately involved in overseeing the town's progress, working on everything from the revitalization to zoning to tourism. Despite her busy schedule and without regard to the occasional frustrations that came with her job, Reamy has been known for always having a smile and a kind word for any citizens she met at town hall or around the town.
Crabs rebounding, but not happy about rain Richard Leggitt Recent surveys have shown the blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River is at the highest level in four years, but Dean Nininger, whose family has been crabbing in the Potomac for 55 years, said the recent rains are causing a temporary problem. "The season started off great," said Nininger, who operates Shady Lane Seafood and the Shady Lane Crab House in Colonial Beach. "But it has dropped off considerably lately." The problem, Nininger said, is that it has rained for more than 18 days since the first of May. "Any time you get all that fresh water, it pushes the crabs into deeper water," Nininger lamented. "They definitely don't like fresh water." The slow down may have impacted Nininger's local supplies for the moment, but he is determined to keep his customers happy and has been buying from crabbers all along the East Coast. Shady Lane Seafood, located at 20699 Ridge Road, was started by Nininger's dad and has been selling crabs and fresh seafood to customers from Virginia and Maryland for five decades. Expanding the family business, Nininger opened Shady Lane Crab House last year at the corner of Washngton Ave. and Hawthorne St. in Colonial Beach. Nininger, who operates the seafood store and the crab house with his wife, Brittney, designed the new restaurant in the style of the popular old fashioned crab houses that have catered to customers along the Potomac River for years. "When you come in the door you are presented with a basket of hush puppies," Nininger said. "We feature steamed crabs, crab legs, steamed shrimp and oysters on the half-shell. We have corn, potatoes, fresh vegetables and beer and wine are available." "We have a steamer pot, with crab legs, shrimp, oysters, clams corn and potatoes served in a steamer bucket," Nininger said. "And our specials include a blackened shrimp pasta, shrimp grits and sriracha chicken tacos." Keeping crabs and fresh seafood available for his businesses is a full time challenge for Nininger. In addition to buying supplies from other crabbers and watermen, Nininger has five boats operating on the Potomac River including one he takes out on the river himself. "I get up at 5 a.m. and soon as it's daylight, I am out on the river in a 25-foot Carolina skiff," Nininger said. "I crab in the morning, then open Shady Lane Seafood and then at 11 a.m. I open the restaurant. It keeps me busy."
Photo by Richard Leggitt
Dean Nininger, who operates Shady Lane Seafood and the Shady Lane Crab House in Colonial Beach, says the recent rains and all of the fresh water in the Potomac River has slowed what started out as a great year for crabs. Nininger and his family have been crabbing in the area for 55 years.
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