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Powhatan, Virginia
The hometown paper of Barbara Anderson
Vol. XXIV No. 1
Warren to retire after 33 years
“The biggest thing you notice [when you compare life in the US to life in Nicaragua] is the waste. We have so much and we waste so much.” Powhatan resident Sharon Gorman, who will travel to Nicaragua as part of a mission team this March.
County eyes way to save By Michael Copley Staff Writer
Wesley P. Hester Media General News Service
Next month, Judge Thomas V. Warren, the longest-sitting circuit judge in Virginia, will step down at the age of 70 as mandated by state law. “That was the deal when I signed on. Plus, it’s probably time anyway,“ he said in a low, distinctly Southern accent familiar to court regulars. Warren, who lives in Crewe, was appointed to the 11th Judicial Circuit - covering Powhatan, Nottoway, Amelia and Dinwiddie counties - in 1977 by then-Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr., who chose from a number of candidates. “I have no idea why he chose me,“ he said half-jokingly. “Your charm and good looks,“ offered his wife of 43 years, Ann, earning a laugh. Warren, born and raised in Fredericksburg, tried his hand at a couple of jobs after serving two years in the Army after undergraduate studies at Virginia Tech. He went to law school at the University of Tennessee and graduated in 1968. He moved to Crewe with Ann after school and began practicing with Fielding Wilson, who served as a mentor and eventually a partner. Less than a decade later, he was a judge. “He’s a great man,“ offered William E. “Bill” Maxey Jr., Powhatan’s Circuit Court clerk for 53 years. “He’s more than my judge - he’s my friend.” Maxey said Warren will be remembered for major improvements he has made to courthouses in all four counties as well as his personality, calling him “one of the most popular judges” he has ever known. “He’s absolutely fair, very level-headed. and uses his common sense,“ he said. “I’ve seen a lot of judges come through here, and I don’t know one that could stand up to him.“
January 6, 2010
PHOTO BY ROSLYN RYAN
Sharon Gorman has been collecting hundreds of toothbrushes to distribute to Nicaraguan children when she visits the country this March.
Faith, fellowship... and flossing? Powhatan resident will make her fourth trip to Central America to lead dental mission team
reported unemployment rate of nearly 6 per cent, with nearly 50 per cent of the population said to be living below the poverty line. NICARAGUA When Gorman arrives AT A GLANCE: in March, she Considered the By Roslyn Ryan will join a poorest country Editor group of in the Americas, Nicaragua has the around 25 Just call her the tooth fairy. second lowest other missionPowhatan resident Sharon Gorman per capita income aries from the in the western will be heading to Nicaragua this church, who hemisphere. The March, where she will spend 10 days will work in service industry serving as part of a mission team from ministries is the largest New Hope Fellowship Church. Her employer at 52 per ranging from goal? Helping as many residents as cent, followed by medical to possible to benefit from the kind of construction. A agriculture at 29 per cent. basic dental care that many in the US children’s and other prosperous nations take for ministry puts granted. on puppet Gorman, who works as a dental shows for local youth while a womhygienist for Powhatan’s Baxter en’s ministry offers haircuts and Perkinson dental office, will spend her beauty treatments to Nicaraguan time in Nicaragua seeing as many women living in remote villages. patients as she can, passing out “Of course, I’m taking hundreds of toothbrushes and spreading the gospel toothbrushes,” laughs Gorman, whose of good dental care. Nicaragua, estimated to be the see Mission trip page 3A poorest nation in the Americas, has a
*** Warren has seen his share of high-profile cases, most recently the murder trial in Tahliek Taliaferro’s slaying in Powhatan. Cousins Ethan and Joey Parrish were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Taliaferro, a popular high school football player, after a skirmish at a local gas station. A jury of 11 whites and one black heard the case. Taliaferro was black; the Parrishes, who see Warren page 3A
Inside
Sports
A2 Local band Crashing Reality will play Village Building
B1 Lady Knights triumph in Covenant tournament
Benefit concert will raise money in memory of young cancer victim.
Come-from-behind win over Eastern Mennonite High School a big confidence booster said coach.
The county could save money- if market conditions are right- by refinancing the bond that paid for Powhatan High School. The board of supervisors approved a resolution in December that authorizes the county to issue Bishop and sell refunding bonds up to, but not exceeding, $26.5 million. In 1999, Powhatan voters approved a more than $27 million general obligation bond to finance construction of the new high school and auditorium. County Administrator Carolyn Bishop told supervisors in December refinancing would not incur new debt on the county; rather, she called it a money-saving opportunity. The county reportedly did the same thing in August and saved about $500,000. The resolution passed by supervisors gives Powhatan’s financial advisors at Davenport and Co. the power to “move when the market is ready,” because “there’s a small window in which to act,” Bishop said at the December BOS workshop. Financial advisors from Davenport and Co. told the BOS they would only act on the refinancing resolution “If we’re really saving money.” “This is a great thing — an opportunity for the county to save money — there’s no reason not to do it,” said Bishop.
Luck Stone honored as a ‘green’ business By Michael Copley Staff Writer
The Luck Stone quarry in Powhatan was recently recognized as a leading environmentally-conscious facility by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Environmental Excellence Program (VEEP), a volunsee Luck Stone page 3A
Index Classified B6-7 Opinion Court Report A5 Quotes Crossword A7 Real Estate Extra Points B1 TV Listings Horoscope A7 Letters A6
A6 A2 B7 B4-5