DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Mechanicsville, VA 23111
PRSRT. STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Mechanicsville, VA Permit No.141
Vol. 28, No. 45 | Richmond Suburban Newspapers | March 7, 2012
STOPS AT EVERY HOME IN TOWN
MRMC looks to community for input Charrette process will get underway on Monday with hospital and Miami company By Melody Kinser mkinser@mechlocal.com
ROBINSON
From the time Memorial Regional Medical Center opened its doors in Mechanicsville, community has been key to the operations of the Bon Secours facility. And that’s just how Michael Robinson, chief executive officer, wants it. Next on the “drawing board” for the Hanover County hospital is a charrette,
which, according to www.dictionary.com, is “a final, intensive effort to finish a project, especially an architectural design project, before a deadline.” To help in this latest step forward on an ever-expanding campus with ever-increasing services, MRMC has contracted the services of Miami-based Duany PlaterZyberk and Company, known as DPZ. The architects and town planners will arrive in Mechanicsville on Thursday, March 8, and
get to work the next day. Community involvement kicks off with an opening presentation, which will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 12, on the campus. The public’s role also is welcome in the closing presentation from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Friday, March 16. When Dougal Hewitt, senior vice president/mission at MRMC, talks about the charrette, he likens it to the Kevin Costner movie, “Field of Dreams.” When the vision
for the hospital was taking shape in the 1990s, he said community input referred to the film and Hanover County’s own “field of dreams,” since the location had been used to grow alfalfa. Instead of a ball field, Hewitt said, “What we built here is a place of healing.” Today, he added, “We are so embraced by the community that we are bursting at the seams – and we need to grow again.” see MRMC, pg. 4
Department heads Native’s son fights for life Interviews request $260 million Tot’s father charged with felony child neglect in shooting set for Boy’s, Girl’s State of county’s budget By Jim Fields jfields@mechlocal.com
By Jim Fields jfields@mechlocal.com Money and how to do more with less could be a way to explain the situation facing the Hanover County Board of Supervisors. Last Wednesday, department heads requested $260 million of the $367.4 million proposed in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget. Budget division director Shelly Wright said the requests make up 71 percent of the budget. Hanover County Public Schools asked for $187.1 million, or 51 percent of the total.
Other figures Wright referred to were: Public Utilities, $24.5 million; Sheriff ’s Office, $21.6 million; Fire/EMS, $14.6 million; County and Schools Capital Improvement Programs, $7.8 million; and County Debt Service, $4.5 million. The $367.4 million budget proposal is 6.1 percent less than the current budget. The General Fund of $199.4 million is 1.6 percent less than the current year. In talking about the fiscal responsibility of his office, Col. David R. Hines, sheriff, said see BUDGET, pg. 19
(Editor’s note: Over the weekend, Evan Pierce experienced complications related to the shooting. His grandfather, Sam Rice, said the 4-year-old continued his battle to live as The Local neared press time on Monday.) he 4-year-old son of a Hanover County native continues to fight for his life following a shooting earlier this month. Evan Pierce, whose mother Jessica Rice
T
Pierce graduated in 2003 from Lee-Davis High School, remains a patient at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk. They make their home in Virginia Beach. Jessica’s father is Sam Rice of Mechanicsville. On Monday, Feb. 27, the boy was in a medically-induced coma because his doctors are worried his lungs and kidneys might fail. His mother is keeping a 24-hour vigil at his bedside. On Feb. 9, Evan was shot in the left hip. The 40-caliber bullet traveled through Jessica his intestines. He underwent Rice Pierce surgery times the first 10 days after and hernine son Evan. the shooting, and doctors recovered a large portion of the bullet.
see SON, pg. 17
Contributed Report news@mechlocal.com
Interviews for scholarships to American Legion Boy’s State and Girl’s State will be held this year from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 18 and March 25, at American Legion Post 175 at 8700 Bell Creek Road in Mechanicsville. American Legion Post 175 sponsors most of the delegates from Hanover County. Candidates must be rising high school seniors as of the end of the current school year. Both Boy’s State and Girl’s State will be held this year June see INTERVIEWS, pg. 17