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A5 PCPS Winter Concerts schedule
Powhatan, Virginia
B1 Indians ready for first season under Henderson
Vol. XXXI No. 21
November 22, 2017
Judge unseals search warrants in homicide Still no arrests made in unsolved murder of Powhatan County man By Laura McFarland News Editor
P
OWHATAN – Almost a year after a Powhatan County man was murdered at his home on Flint Hill Road, law enforcement officials still have not made any arrests. Circuit Court Judge Paul W. Cella last week unsealed 33 search warrants filed in Powhatan County in an investigation that looked at everything from DNA to phone records to social media accounts trying to find who killed John Richard Rafter Jr., 48, on Dec. 9,
2016, at his home in the 2100 block of Flint Hill Road. Rafter’s body was discovered on Dec. 9 by his teenage son, who found him in his bed with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released on Dec. 14, 2016, that Rafter’s death was a homicide involving a shotgun wound to the head. Rob Cerullo, deputy commonwealth’s attorney, said on Nov. 14 that the investigation is still ongoing and the Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office is actively following up on leads. “We have witnesses we want to subpoena before
the multijurisdictional grand jury to compel their testimony,” he said. The multijurisdictional grand jury is an investigative body of citizens charged by the Supreme Court of Virginia to investigate and consider bills of indictment involving crimes originating in and between participating jurisdictions and throughout the state. Lab results regarding the case have been “trickling in” since the homicide took place, with the latest, which were DNA results, coming in about three weeks ago, Cerullo said. The results were inconclusive.
Powhatan pays tribute for Veterans Day
see JUDGE, pg. 9 }
Middle school repurposing plans re ned By Laura McFarland News Editor
PHOTO BY KENNY MOORE
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
P H S R I S E S U P AG A I N S T H U N G E R By Laura McFarland
DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Powhatan, VA 23139
News Editor
POWHATAN – Almost 200 Powhatan High School students rose up against hunger in a recent event that saw them packaging 13,000 meals in a few hours. For the third time in five years, the high school’s JROTC program partnered with Rise Against Hunger, which was formerly known as Stop Hunger Now, to package thousands of meals to be sent to areas in need, said Lt. Col. Veronica Baker, the JRTOC program’s senior army instructor. The event, which was held on Friday, Nov. 10, saw 193 CONTRIBUTED PHOTO people arrive at the high school’s common area, where Volunteers participating in the Rise they worked together to pack- Against Hunger event on Nov. 10 worked see HUNGER, pg. 5 }
together to package 13,000 meals that will go to feed people in need.
see SCHOOL, pg. 4 }
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Left, Capt. Jeff Searfoss with the Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office, himself a veteran, shakes the hand of 94-year-old Otis Duke, a World War II veteran, at the Veterans Day Musical Show on Nov. 12 at Powhatan High School. Retired Sgt. Major John T. Austin, right, lights candles to remember deceased veterans during an observance of Veterans Day held by Guildfield, First Antioch and Chief Cornerstone Baptist churches on Nov. 12. For more photos, see pages 6 and 8.
POWHATAN – More tangible plans are beginning to take shape for what to do with the current Pocahontas Middle School once the new middle school opens in time for the 2018-2019 school year. Jason Tibbs, director of facilities, gave a presentation to the Powhatan County School Board at its workshop on Tuesday, Nov. 14 to review what parts of the building county and school officials believe could be repurposed to best serve their needs and the needs of the community. The repurposing of the old middle school once it closes is an ongoing discussion that has involved the school board, board of supervisors, school and county staff members and members of a facility utilization committee formed to look at the building’s future use. Since the topic was last discussed at a joint meeting of the school board and board of supervisors in September, school staff has been working diligently on proposals for the building’s repurposing, Dr. Eric Jones, superintendent, told the school board last week. He said he wanted to give school board members time to have more input before the proposal was shared with the board of supervisors in another joint meeting on Monday, Dec. 4. Later in the discussion, Jones would point out that the proposal, which only had solid recommendations for part of the facility, was not meant to shut the door on opportunities for using the rest of the space “What we’ve attempted to do is show what we know the school system would need, what the county needs immediately, and that gray area is great space and maybe is a discussion point moving forward that may be county or private use that we would advertise and see what need there is in the community,” Jones said. “We are not closed to any of that. We are open to all of that.” In addition to the work that had already been done with the project, Tibbs said he met in recent weeks with various groups, including the Public Works Department, community members, and the Powhatan Christmas Mother Everyday Committee, to gain their input on how they would like to use space in the building. If the two boards approved this eventual plan, work could begin in August or September 2018 and have a projected completion date of spring 2019, Tibbs said. This would also mean the school board would need to up-