02/04/2015

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Powhatan, Virginia

The hometown paper of Charles Grady

Vol. XXVIII No. 5

February 4, 2015

Candidates address voters in forum By Laura McFarland

formal format. After the candidates had their chance to speak, Rothert walked around with a microphone to let audience members address their questions directly to them. “You are going to own your question. When you ask it, we hope you will own that question,” he said.

News Editor

POWHATAN – Three of the candidates running in Powhatan County’s upcoming special election took the hot seat on Thursday, Jan. 29, at the Chamber of Commerce’s Candidate’s Night forum. Powhatan County Historical Society president John Rothert moderated the event, which gave the candidates a chance to describe themselves and their intentions before answering questions from the audience. As many as 130 people packed the Village Building auditorium to listen to the candidates, many of them sporting shirts or stickers to

COX

TIMBERLAKE

NORDVIG

show their support for a particular candidate. The first hour was spent listening to Larry Nordvig and Gail Timberlake, who are running in the special election on Tuesday, Feb. 10, for the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors District 2 seat.

After a short break, Richard Cox talked about running for Powhatan County Commonwealth’s Attorney in a special election to be held on the same day. Rothert said Cox’s opponent for the seat, Jason Moore, couldn’t be present because he was sick. In the past with these forums,

there have been so many candidates that they usually had little time to actually speak, Rothert said. At those events, the questions from the candidates all were submitted in writing ahead of time. At last week’s event, Rothert said the fact that there were only three candidates allowed for a less

Board of Supervisors candidates’ statements Timberlake described her platform as an independent with a vision for Powhatan County “based on a lifetime of service.” see FORUM page 3A

Growers tied to region’s restaurants By Laura McFarland News Editor

POWHATAN – Jo and Rob Pendergraph don’t get to eat out as often as they would like, but that doesn’t stop them from being strongly tied into the regional food scene. The owners of Manakintowne Specialty Growers, who mark their 30th anniversary this year, supply herbs and vegetables yearround to anywhere from 60 to 70 chefs, caterers and restaurants in Richmond, Charlottesville, Williamsburg and Tidewater. Niche farmers before it was really popular, Jo said focusing their business on the dining industry has been a great adventure for them. “What sets us apart from a lot of other small farms is we grow for the restaurants’ chefs. We love to do markets, but our primary focus is the chefs,” she said. “A lot of other farms are growing for the

PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND

PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND

Manakintowne Specialty Growers employees include Sammy Spott, left, owners Rob and Jo Pendergraph, Megan Chase and Aimee Haag.

markets and for homebased customers first and then the chefs second.” It’s been that way since the beginning, Jo said. In 1985, she was home raising two children while her husband worked, so she started a small garden at their home to give them

something outside to do. Her sister worked in a restaurant and Jo started supplying the business with fresh herbs. “That chef told another chef about us and it just grew from there,” she said. Rob, who worked for UPS for many of the early

years, helped a great deal and was finally able to join the business full-time about a decade ago, Jo said. Now they have about seven employees with more in the peak growing season. see GROWERS page 7A

Snow plow crash leaves one injured By Laura McFarland News Editor

POWHATAN – The driver of a snow plow putting sand down in Powhatan County on last week’s snow day walked away with non-life threatening injuries after sliding off the road and hitting a tree. A 1995 International snow plow driven by Durlin Harris, 47, of Powhatan was spreading sand onto Maidens Road when it ran off the road and struck a tree a little before 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27 about a quarter mile north of Jefferson Woods Road. Durlin was spreading sand onto the roadway when his snow plow ran off the road to the right, came back onto the road and then ran off the road to the left and struck a tree, according to Sgt. Stephan M. Vick, Virginia State Police public information officer-First Division. There were no other vehicles in-

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE POWHATAN COUNTY FIRE AND RESCUE

A snow plow crashed while spreading sand on a snow day.

volved in the crash. Harris was transported to the Medical College of Virginia with non-life threatening injuries. He was wearing a seatbelt. The accident caused delays on the road as crews removed the vehicle. Virginia State Police Senior

Trooper D. E. Witt investigated the crash. Units from Powhatan Volunteer Fire Department and Powhatan Volunteer Rescue Squad responded. Laura McFarland may be reached at lmcfarland@powhatantoday.com.

Inside

Sports

A3 Snow day in Powhatan causes closures, frivolity

B1 The Blessed Sacrament swim team dominates first and only home meet of the season

Powhatan County Fire and Rescue chief Steven Singer has spent his first two months on the job connecting emergency services.

Singer building bridges for emergency services By Laura McFarland News Editor

POWHATAN – After just over two months on the job, new Powhatan County Fire and Rescue chief Steven Singer is settling into his role connecting the county’s emergency management services. Singer, who started work on Dec. 1, was hired to oversee the county’s volunteer fire departments, rescue squads and emergency management system as well as coordinate with 911 dispatchers. While he expects growing pains as the efficient but independent sectors come formally under the leadership of one person, Singer said he also hopes for great things when they accomplish the task. “The board of supervisors and the county administration are very behind joining everything together and supportive of looking at things we need to move toward a one-department system,” he said.

The first few months in his new position have been about information gathering, and Singer isn’t limiting his sources, whether it is going out on calls with the fire companies or reviewing policy codes. Before he even started as chief, Singer met in November with most of the senior leaders of Powhatan’s fire stations to discuss safety concerns or issues they wanted to see addressed. Since formally starting work, he has been taking a closer look at the operations, codes and procedures that govern the different departments to see what needs to be updated. It is an extensive process and not something that will happen overnight, he said. “It is a very good system, but improving it is taking baby steps and working toward improving it all over,” Singer said. County Administrasee SINGER page 2A

Index

Calendar A9 Classified B8-9 Crime Report A3 Letters A8 Obituaries A4 Opinion A8 TV Listings B6-7


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