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Powhatan, Virginia
The hometown paper of Jean Hall
Vol. XXVIII No. 27
Niche farming sees potential for growth
July 1, 2015
Fireworks show set for July 3 By Laura McFarland News Editor
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SUBMITTED PHOTO
With the tarp pulled back, students and professors alike were amazed to see the Casselmonte shiitake mushrooms revealed by Bill Cox.
By Laura McFarland
County could go hand in hand on a recent special visit. News Editor Participants in a Trans-Atlantic DeOWHATAN – A group of Ger- velopment Seminar spent the day in man and American college stu- Powhatan County on Tuesday, June 2 dents got a crash course in how getting to know more about the chalagribusiness and Powhatan see NICHE page 2A
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OWHATAN – The weeks and months Clyde Childress spends planning his annual Fourth of July fireworks show are all worth it for two reasons. The first is he knows every dollar raised that doesn’t go to covering costs or preparing for next year’s event goes to help Virginia veterans through the Virginia Wounded Warriors program. The second is that he likes offering his community a safe, family-friendly place to come and celebrate the birth of the United States. “It’s a great way to celebrate our independence. It is our nation’s birthday,” he said. “I think it is a great way to bring the community together in a sense of friendship and hopefully brotherly love.” The Childress Foundation’s fifth annual fireworks extrava-
FRIDAY, JULY 3 GATES OPEN AT 4:30 P.M. FIREWORKS SHOW AFTER DARK at Vista del Lago 1960 Old Tavern Road
see FIREWORKS page 2A FILE PHOTO BY ANJIE HENLEY
Board addresses school capital fund options By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors deferred action on a resolution that could affect the fiscal year benefits of the county’s constitutional officers and their employees during a workshop on Monday, June 15. A resolution brought before the board would determine what fiscal year benefits a constitutional officer and the employees in his or her office would receive based on the willingness of the constitutional officer to sign a memorandum of understanding with the county accepting the county’s personnel system. Powhatan County has five constitutional officers: clerk of the court, commissioner of the revenue, commonwealth’s attorney, sheriff and treasurer. Tom Lacheney, county attorney, explained that under state law, constitutional officers are totally independent entities separate from county government. However, there are overlaps in areas, such as the county providing certain supplementations for benefits and health insurance. State law also mandates what sorts of benefits the county must provide to constitutional officers, he said.
county employee staff, but none of that has ever been formalized anywhere,” he said. This creates ambiguity in the true legal status is of the rights and obligations of the board of supervisors toward the constitutional officers and vice versa, Lacheney said. The constitutional officers were asked to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would “basically say that their employees would follow the same guidelines and be subject to the same standards as all other county employees,” he said. In exchange, they could receive the same benefits. He said it was his understanding that a few of the constitutional officers had already signed the MOU or agreed to sign it. The resolution authorized chairman Bill Melton, who represents District 4, to sign the signed MOUs so they become binding agreements. PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND For those constitutional officers that elect not to sign Teresa Dobbins, right, clerk of the Powhatan an MOU, the resolution lays out the benefits and obligaCounty Circuit Court, speaks,acompanied by tions of the county toward constitutional officers and Barbara Hutchison. their employees. Legally, all of the constitutional officers’ employees “Over the course of the past year, what was discovered is that the county has been sort of tacitly treating the see BOARD page 5A constitutional officers in the same manner that we treat
Some rewards better than food By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – The Elizabeth Randolph Lewis YMCA is taking a different approach to combating childhood obesity with a new children’s campaign looking at how they are rewarded. The YMCA’s Healthy Living Committee recently released a new booklet, “The Best Reward,” that encourages families to consider nonfood rewards when children do something good like getting high grades or being helpful.
The booklet was written and illustrated by Frances Broaddus-Crutchfield of Powhatan, who is also a member of the committee. “I had this idea of a boy who gets straight A’s and is expecting a food reward. Instead he was rewarded with taking a walk with a parent, planting flowers in the garden with a grandparent or doing something with another adult they admire,” she said. PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND “The Best Reward” project received The YMCA’s Healthy Living Committe includes, back, right, Heather praise from Governor Terry McAuliffe Gillespie, Rachel Bulifant, Matt Henke, Ginell Ampey, Dan Jones, and front,
see REWARDS page 7A right, Frances Broaddus-Crutchfield, Christy Austin and Missy Lhuillier.
Inside
Sports
A4 VDOT meeting held on proposed improvements project for intersections
B1 A ’96 PHS grad takes his umpiring talents to the national level.
Index Calendar A9 Classified B8-9 Crime Report A3 Letters A8 Obituaries A2 Opinion A8 Property A6 TV Listings B6-7