Inside A3 Area events planned for 4th of July
Powhatan, Virginia B1 Bats come alive in Seniors 14-3 win over Atlee
Vol. XXX No. 25
June 28, 2017
Lawyers say judge not racist
Reduced charge likely for second man accused in stabbing
By Mark Bowes Richmond Times-Dispatch
By Laura McFarland
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
News Editor
POWHATAN – The second of two brothers charged in relation to a fight that ended with a Powhatan man stabbed in the head is likely to have the charge against him reduced to a misdemeanor, leaving the family of the victim in confusion and anger. A preliminary hearing was held on Thursday, June 22, in Powhatan County Circuit Court for Jacob Moore, 22, of Powhatan, who was initially charged with the aggravated malicious wounding of Norris Goode Jr., 22, of Powhatan in a fight that also involved the defendant’s brother, Jes-
Norris Goode Jr., center, of Powhatan and family and community members hold a press conference on the Powhatan County Courthouse steps on June 22 calling for justice for Goode.
se Moore, 25, of Jetersville. However, Jesse Moore was found not guilty of felony aggravated malicious wounding during a bench trial held on Wednesday, March 15, in front of Circuit Court Judge Paul W. Cella. And during the hearing on June 22, special prosecutor Melissa Hoy, a Chesterfield County deputy commonwealth’s attorney, made the motion to amend the charge against Jacob Moore to misdemeanor assault and
battery. After the hearing, which lasted less than 10 minutes, Goode and his family, representatives from the NAACP and community members held a press conference on the steps of the Powhatan County Courthouse, sharing their reactions not only to Hoy’s decision to reduce the charge but to the bias they feel was present in the older brother’s case. see MOORE, pg. 4
Claire shows girl power on ‘Chopped Junior’ By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – Channeling girl power and demonstrating more skills in the kitchen than one would think possible for an 11-year-old, Claire Hollingsworth of Powhatan once again showed she is a young chef to watch when she competed on “Chopped Junior Champions.” Claire, the daughter of Christina and Ryan Hollingsworth, already had a “Chopped Junior” win under her belt in 2015, when she was only
Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19
see GIRL POWER, pg. 6
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Claire Hollingsworth, inset and second competitor from the left, listens as host Ted Allen talks to junior chefs on ‘Chopped Junior Champions.’
see GOODE, pg. 5
Lunch Buddies needs volunteers By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – The groundwork has been laid for growth with the Lunch Buddies mentoring program within Powhatan County Public Schools, and as the school district readies to take it on fully, it is seeking more volunteers from the community to step up and help. The mentoring program is now in its third year in Powhatan schools and continues to give students who need it an extra positive influence in their lives with weekly lunchtime visits with their mentors, said Eric CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Mills, Americorps Vista Mentoring program Lunch Buddies are volunteers who coordinator for PCPS and Lunch Buddy agree to meet with an at-risk child mentoring program coordinator. once a week for lunch and activities. The adult volunteers from the community act as positive mentors and guides to the stuAs the third program coordinator since dents by eating lunch with them once a week and also using the time to talk, play games PCPS embraced Lunch Buddies, it is Mills’ and read with them, he said. The students job now to make sure the program can stay have been identified by their schools as at sustainable after the grant funding it runs out risk, and being part of the program gives and his position ends in mid-September and them extra support and guidance they may that it can be lifted up by the schools. This is important because it means so much to the need.
children it affects, he said. “This year, we had our final celebrations and sessions at Lunch Buddies. To see the students, they were so disappointed to see it go,” he said. “They wanted it to go on longer, even through the summer. They definitely expressed interest in having it come back next year and having potential for it to grow.” By the end of the 2016-2017 school year, the Lunch Buddies program had 21 mentors meeting with 28 mentees at the district’s middle and elementary schools with even more students on the waiting list, Mills said. The program isn’t able to expand the number of students it serves if it doesn’t have the mentors to meet with them, said Katie Wojcicki, director of pupil personnel services and special education instruction. “We would like to continue to grow our pool of mentors so we can expand the offerings we have for students currently,” she said. The Lunch Buddies program started out as an isolated idea and now it is part of the see BUDDIES, pg. 6
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Norris Goode Jr. and his family were so angered by the acquittal of one of two men charged with maliciously wounding him last year in a fight that left a knife blade embedded in his skull that they publicly accused the Powhatan County judge who decided the case of being racially biased. The judge “time and time again kept ignoring the obvious facts” to protect “this Caucasian man’s life in a dispute with an African-American man,” Goode said during a protest speech April 7 outside the Powhatan Courthouse, three weeks after the trial of Jesse Ray Moore, 25, who with his brother, Jacob, 22, were accused of assaulting him. But the allegations of racism appear to be unfounded and based largely on a misunderstanding of the evidence, the law and how the case was prosecuted, say three experienced criminal law attorneys who reviewed an audio recording of the four-hour March trial at the request of the Richmond TimesDispatch. The attorneys - including a former highranking African-American Richmond prosecutor - said they found no evidence of racial bias in the proceeding, nor did they view Powhatan Circuit Court Judge Paul W. Cella’s decision as being disrespectful, dismissive or prejudiced against the victim, as Goode and his family have claimed. All three attorneys, however, said they could understand Norris’ frustration and outrage with the outcome and his view that justice was not served. Goode, 22, and his many supporters, including the Virginia conference of the NAACP and several of its branches, are convinced that racial animus was the motivating factor behind Cella’s decision. Roughly 50 people marched in protest April 7 from the Hollywood Baptist Church to the Powhatan Courthouse, where at a press conference the NAACP asked for a federal investigation and for the Virginia Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, which investigates allegations of judicial
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