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Powhatan, Virginia
The hometown paper of Cliff Walton
Vol. XXVII No. 39
October 1, 2014
Test results show excellence, room for improvement By Laura McFarland News Editor
P
owhatan County Public Schools had the distinction of having all of its schools fully accredited for the 2014-2015 school year and overall good results for its Standards of Learning tests results for the previous year, according to superintendent Eric L. Jones. Jones addressed the school system’s performance on Tuesday, Sept. 23, during the Powhatan County School Board’s meeting. He said he was pleased with the over-
all results, but noted the school system has areas that need improvement that will be a focus in coming years. “We had a very good year in terms of our academic achievement,” he said. “SOLs are one thing we are measured by and one measure of student achievements. It is not the only one.” Only 16 percent of school divisions in Virginia have all schools fully accredited, so for Powhatan to reach that achievement is significant, Jones said. He called it a testament to the hard work of the staff, students and parents. For the 2013-2014 school year, 34 assessment tests were given, and Powhatan
schools saw gains or the same level of achievement in 24 of them, he said. “Of the 10 tests where we saw a decrease – and I’m talking district-wide – many of those were just a point or two and many of those were where we already were achieving very high,” he said. The school district saw a decrease of more than two points in only four out of 34 tests, he added. When evaluating the testing results to put them in perspective, Powhatan compares its scores to 15 other school divisions in Central Virginia, including Amelia, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Goochland,
New Christmas Mother ready to share joy
see TEST page 2A
Questions follow appointment By Laura McFarland
By Laura McFarland
News Editor
News Editor
T
he appointment of Powhatan County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney to a judgeship last month has raised the question of what happens with his vacated seat if he accepts. Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert “Bob” Beasley Jr. was named on Thursday, Sept. 18, by the General Assembly as the newest General District Court Judge in the 11th Judicial District. If he accepts the position, his six-year term would begin Dec. 1. There are a couple of possibilities of what could happen moving forward, but all of them are moot until Beasley officially resigns from office, according to Karen B. Alexander, Powhatan County general registrar. “Until he officially announces his resignation, no special election can be called,” she said. When asked about his possible intention to resign, Beasley said any announcement regarding his plans “will be forthcoming when the time is right.” Right now, he said he is concentrating on doing his job as Commonwealth’s Attorney and he will keep doing that “until
T
he theme chosen by Powhatan County’s new Christmas Mother hearkens back to a bittersweet memory. Fran Carleton of Powhatan said the idea to make “Share the Joy” the theme for 2014 came from a deeply personal place. In June 1976, her first — and at the time only — child, Franklin “Buzzy” Carleton, died of leukemia. Carleton and her husband Bub found themselves with mounds of toys given to their son by wellwishers. Rather than have them sit unused, they decided to give them to children who could use them. “It was like out of our grief came joy for someone else,” she said. “I thought about what Christmas meant to me. It was sharing that joy of Christmas with others, especially kids.” Carleton, who has since had three other children, brings that attitude into her role as the head of the Powhatan Christmas Mother Everyday program. The program provides gifts of clothes, toiletries, toys, household goods and food to local families in need, especially children and the elderly at Christmas. In 2013, the program served 266 children and 148 adults for a total of 414 people, she said. As with her predecessor, Carleton has set a fundraising goal of $30,000 for her term. Pinckey Sowers, secretary and 2013 Christmas Mother, said Carleton was chosen because she had shown herself to have a giving spirit and be community-minded, flexible and selfless. “You have to be pretty selfless because for the two or three months from the
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Eric L. Jones presents SOL test results.
something else happens.” “The past week has been kind of a whirlwind for me, trying to keep up with what I am doing. My job as Commonwealth’s Attorney is the most important thing to me right now,” he said. Until a resignation is tendered “no energy is being expended on the subject” by county staff yet, Tom Lacheney, Powhatan’s county attorney, said. He pointed to Virginia code, which says that if a Commonwealth’s Attorney resigns, the county’s governing body has 15 days to petition the circuit court to issue a writ of election to fill the vacancy. The same state code section states that the highest ranking deputy – in this case referring to an employee, not a law enforcement officer – automatically takes over until the special election, Lacheney said. However, he pointed out that the deputy must live in the county for at least 30 days before the resignation. “If the deputy does not live in the county or there is no deputy, the circuit court appoints a temporary replacement,” Lacheney said. Jason Moore, who represents District 2 on the Powhatan County Board of Susee Election page 2A
PHOTO BY ANJIE HENLEY
New Powhatan Christmas Mother Fran Carleton said she knew the role would require her to be flexible when the red Corvette she was supposed to ride in the Labor Day Parade stalled and she instead traveled in a vintage military jeep.
S U RV I V O R D AY H E L P S P R E PA R E By Laura McFarland News Editor
fall of that year until Christmas, you are putting this before your family for awhile,” Sowers of Powhatan said. Carleton said she is rolling with the changes, including a new distribution site and new co-sponsors for the now confirmed Christmas parade, but she is enjoying the ride.
A new season Having officially stepped into the role with her ride in the county’s annual Labor Day parade, Carleton said the past few weeks have been a whirlwind of acclimatization and getting plans in place for the Christmas season. Despite having her theme in place, Carleton joked that the unofficial motto for this year is about being flexible. The first sign she knew that was in
store for her was when the red Corvette she was supposed to ride in during the parade stalled and she ended up riding in a vintage military jeep instead. “That was an omen for me that even in this role I am going to have to be really flexible,” she said with a laugh. The season ahead has a few adjustments in store, mainly because of a change that has already happened, Carleton said. In May, the local nonprofit had to move out of the War Memorial Building, its home of several years, when an agreement was reached between Powhatan County and a local group to turn it into a cultural arts center. That left the Christmas Everyday Committee, which runs the program, see Christmas page 7A
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mergencies and disasters are an inescapable part of life, but emergency personnel hope a group of local residents will now be better prepared if one happens. Powhatan County hosted one of 11 locations of a free Survivor Day seminar designed to give residents of Central Virginia advice for how to survive if worse really does come to worse. Local emergency workers and law enforcement spoke to about 50 residents from Powhatan County and other surrounding localities on everything from preparing emergency kits to making homes safer to surviving without power for anywhere from hours to weeks. The purpose of Survivor Day events, which are presented with funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is to pass on information in hopes of making people more self-reliant in an emergency, Floyd Greene, Powhatan County emergency management and 911 coordinator, said. “A major event is going to happen even if we don’t know when and where it is going to be. At least for the first few hours, you might be alone and need to know what to do,” he said.
Inside
Sports
A8 Pumpkin Patch launches, benefits charities
B1 Indians stun undefeated Monticello
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Powhatan County Volunteer Fire Department firefighter Leon Sydnor shows Darleen Stigall of Powhatan how to use a fire extinguisher during a seminar on surviving disasters.
Preparation is key While some disasters are hard to predict, there are certain steps people can take to prepare their families that stretch across many kinds of emergencies. Disaster pack. Some good basics to see SURVIVOR page 4A
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