02/18/2015

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Powhatan, Virginia

The hometown paper of Betty Jenkins

Vol. XXVIII No. 7

February 18, 2015

S PE C I A L E L E C T I O N 2 0 1 5

Richard Cox wins attorney seat Nordvig voted in as supervisor By Laura McFarland

By Laura McFarland

News Editor

News Editor

POWHATAN – Richard Cox was voted in as Powhatan County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney in last week’s special election in a decisive victory over opponent Jason Moore. Cox received a majority of the votes in all 12 precincts on Tuesday, Feb. 10, and also with the absentee voting, ending up with 2,427 votes. Moore received 305 of the votes and there were two write-ins and 25 under votes. An under vote occurs when someone turns in a ballot but does not vote for any candidates in that race. In the special election, 2,759 total ballots were cast out of 19,232 registered voters, according to Karen Alexander, Powhatan County general registrar. That represents about 14.3 percent of registered voters casting a ballot.

POWHATAN – Larry Nordvig was elected to represent District 2 on the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors in last week’s special election in a tight race with opponent Gail Timberlake. Nordvig had a good lead at one voting precinct and in absentee voting and only narrowly lost in another to earn 468 votes. Timberlake received 403 votes, and there were 10 under votes and one write-in. An under vote occurs when someone turns in a ballot but does not vote for any candidates in that race. The day after the election, Nordvig was full of thanks for his family, campaign volunteers and the people who voted for him. “I will do my best to deserve their trust by keeping Powhatan a great place to live and work now and in the future,” he said. Nordvig congratulated Timberlake on a good race and recognized her desire to serve the community. Timberlake also praised her campaign team, saying she was proud of how they all ran the race, which was a “whole lot more important to me than whether or not I won or lost.”

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Richard Cox, shown with his wife Patti, found out he was voted commonwealth’s attorney during a post campaign celebration.

“That was a low turnout compared to last year’s special election with the clerk of the court and the school board,” she said. “Then we had a 23.8 percent turnout.” She added that fewer candidates running for office, less hype around the

race and bad weather on election day all could have been contributing factors. For Cox, he said it was gratifying to win as well as know he didn’t have to divide his attention between a full-time job and see COX page 2A

PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND

On election night, Larry Nordvig waited outside the general registrar’s office to see if he had won.

“It was a good race on our part and I am real glad to be a part of such a good team,” she said. While she said she won’t run again in the November election, Timberlake will continue to find ways to serve the community. She also has plans for a fourth see NORDVIG page 2A

Powhatan county school budget outlook does about face By Laura McFarland News Editor

POWAHTAN – A month and some potential good news made a world of difference in a presentation about the Powhatan County Public Schools fiscal year 2015-2016 budget. The Powhatan County School Board heard an update on the budget from Eric Jones, superintendent, and Larry Johns, assistant superintendent for finance and business operations, during its workshop and meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Jones introduced the presentation by pointing out that the schools had re-

ceived word of two possible sources of increase in funding, but neither has received final approval. Jones talked about conversations with Pat Weiler, county administrator, in which she said she would recommend to the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors that the schools receive an increase in funding of $839,339. He also mentioned the General Assembly’s discussion about providing a 1.5 percent salary increase to Standards of Quality positions in the schools. “It is not official yet, but since it is included in both the senate’s and house of delegates’ version of the budget, I think we can safely assume that money

Gecker vies for Senate seat By Laura McFarland

economy, expanding Medicaid and creating more local jobs,” Gecker said. POWHATAN – Dan “I’ll support policies Gecker recently announced that build a stronger Virthat he is running for Vir- ginia, like equal pay for ginia’s 10th equal work, Senate Disstrong ethics trict, an open reform, a seat encomwoman’s right passing all of to make her Powhatan own healthCounty and care decisions parts of Chesand equality terfield Counfor all Virginty and Richians,” he addmond City. ed. GECKER “My focus Gecker has will be on exworked for panding opportunities for more than 20 years to exall Virginia families and pand opportunities and imbusinesses – helping our see GECKER page 4A kids succeed in a global News Editor

Inside A4 Students help combat heart disease

will be moving through,” Jones said. “We will have to address that as well when we talk about what we are going to do in terms of raises and salary adjustments.” SOQ positions represent what the state says are the bare minimum of staff based on the students ratio in the district, Johns said. It does not take into account the number of schools. “Every school division in the state of Virginia has more staff than is recognized by SOQ because that is the exact bare minimum,” he said. “No one can just do what SOQ acknowledges. Nobody does it.” For that reason, the possible increase

from the state would be offset by the district to provide the 1.5 percent increase or whatever the final number is, he said. If the state does go with 1.5 percent, it would take a total of about $495,000 to give that increase to all employees. When Johns first presented the budget to the board on Jan. 13, he said there was a projected $494,519 shortfall based on early numbers. Salary increases were not included in that projection. With more updated numbers, that figure has shifted to a surplus of see SCHOOL page 9A

TA X  A I D E A I M S TO L I G H T E N B U R D E N By Laura McFarland News Editor

P

OWHATAN – Tax season isn’t usually a time people look forward to, but some low- and moderate-income taxpayers in Powhatan County will find the process a little easier this year because of AARP Tax-Aide. The nation’s largest free, volunteer-run tax assistance service began offering its services on Wednesday, Feb. 4 when a group of volunteers SUBMITTED PHOTO started preparing and electronically filing federal and Powhatan Tax-Aide volunteers include back row, from left, Lyle Virginia tax returns at the Saxton, Maureen Emerson, Beth Fulcher, Barbara Landa, Patricia Butcher and Ray Butcher, and front, Linda Burk, Barbara Wirt and

see TAX-AIDE page 2A Anna Ames.

Sports B1 Allen becomes first RT-D Offensive POY in PHS football history

Index

Calendar A6 Classified B8-9 Crime Report A5 Obituaries A9 Opinion A8 Student News A10 TV Listings B6-7


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