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Vol. 31, No. 40 | Richmond Suburban News | February 4, 2015
STOPS AT EVERY HOME IN TOWN
Tim Menzies’ gospel debut up for new Grammy category By Melody Kinser Managing Editor
Photo submitted by Chris R. Whitley
Evelyn Pritchard, left, was named the winner of the Hanover County Spelling Bee. Delaney Cotton was the runner-up.
‘Palette’ wins bee for fifth grader ASHLAND – After 14 rounds, Evelyn Pritchard, a fifth grade student at Pole Green Elementary School, was declared the 20142015 division spelling champion for Hanover County Public Schools. The winning word was “palette.” Delaney Cotton, a sixth grade student at Oak Knoll Middle School, was the runner-up. The Hanover County Public Schools Division Spelling Bee was held Monday, Jan. 26, at the Hanover School Board Office in Ashland. This event is the second of four levels see BEE, pg. 27
M
ECHANICSVILLE — Music has always been a part of Tim Menzies’ life and his transition to gospel finds him going to Los Angeles this week as a Grammy nominee. The Mechanicsville native’s first
gospel album, “His Way of Loving Me,” is in the running for Best Roots Gospel Album. After writing country songs for 28 years, Tim said he started recording “His Way of Loving Me” in July 2013 and completed it in March 2014. “I played guitar on all of it. I did all the acoustic stuff.” He spoke enthusiastically about transitioning from his country
Submitted photo
Tim Menzies is nominated in the Best Roots Gospel Album category.
music roots that started as a child with The Menzies Family to the decision to write the lyrics and music for a gospel album. see MENZIES, pg. 5
Encounter on parking lot may hold homicide information By Melody Kinser Managing Editor MECHANICSVILLE — Investigators with the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office are determined to solve the mystery behind the death of 27-year-old James Wells of Hopewell. A cab driver, his body was found on Aug. 8, 2014, on Watt House Road off Cold Harbor Road in the burned vehicle operated by a Hopewell company. Maj. Michael J. Trice and Investigator Chris Stem are convinced a Cadillac seen on the parking lot of the Econo Lodge at 4095 Oaklawn
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Rd. in Hopewell where Wells was residing may hold the key to helping solve the case. Trice said he and his wife, who officers prefer not to identify at this time, had been living at the motel for a year. Wells had taken a break just before midnight from his 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift to
talk to his wife. While there, he was dispatched to what Stem described as “a legitimate cab fare in the Hopewell area.” Wells then returned to the motel. “That is the last time that we’re able to put him there,” Stem said. They have not been able to locate any witnesses. It was during that stop at the Econo Lodge that Wells apparently engaged in “some sort of interaction before he left for Mechanicsville,” the destination being Chickahominy Bluffs Apartments, with someone in what is believed see HOMICIDE, pg. 4
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