Inside A5 PCC opens doors for Thanksgiving luncheon
Powhatan, Virginia A5 Vote on R-C zoning deferred for more discussion
Vol. XXXII No.. 24
December 5, 2018
Supervisors support ERA in split vote By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors decided in a contentious and split vote last week to support efforts in the General Assembly to make Virginia the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. At the tail end of a four-hour meeting on Monday, Nov. 26, all five members of the board gave their reasons why they would or would not support the resolution. The vote pretty much bookended a
meeting that started with an extended public comment period focused mostly on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). After giving their opinions, the supervisors voted 3-2 in favor of the resolution that supports ratification. Chairman Carson Tucker, who represents District 5, Angie Cabell, District 3, and Bill Melton, District 4, voted for the resolution. David Williams, District 1, and Larry Nordvig, District 2, voted against it. Multiple localities have adopted the same resolution passed by the board, including Blacksburg, Shenandoah County, and Montgomery County, according
to the board packet. Sen. Glen Sturtevant Jr., R-10, is the chief patron in the Senate of a bill expected to come before the General Assembly in 2019 to ratify the ERA. Sturtevant met with the board a week earlier during a workshop and explained his patronage of the bill, saying it represents a “fundamental American value and principle� and has been 100 years in the making. The Equal Rights Amendment says that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account
of sex.� It was passed by Congress on March 22, 1972, 49 years after it was first introduced in 1923, and sent to the states for ratification. However, by the time the first deadline and then an extended deadline had passed, the ERA had only been ratified by 35 of the necessary 38 states as of 1982. Virginia is one 15 states that did not ratify the ERA. The issue remained largely dormant for many years, until Nevada ratified the amendment in March 2017, becoming the 36th state to do so. Some argue this action was a moot point since it came 35 see RIGHTS, pg. 4
Bus drivers share fears of passing drivers
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Carolyn Roberts drives her school bus through Powhatan. Bus drivers have expressed concerns with unsafe driving habits around their vehicles when dropping off children.
By Laura McFarland News Editor
Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19
POWHATAN – All it takes is for Jodi Beaudoin to think about some of the near misses and the lives that could have been lost to give her a sickening feeling in her stomach. The Powhatan County Public Schools bus driver recounted one incident where she was stopped on a straight and open portion of Dorset Road to pick up a first-grader waiting with her father across the
street. From the other direction, a car came speeding up and stopped at the last second with smoke coming from the squealing tires. “You couldn’t do anything but watch. That was the scariest thing,� said Beaudoin, who drives bus 73. “I looked over at the dad and he grabbed the girl by her shirt and picked her up out of the way. I had no idea where that car was going to go. I had tears in my eyes because it was so scary.� Carolyn Roberts, who drives bus
49, recounted an incident where she was picking up a child on Route 60 with the flashing red lights and stop sign in full view. A truck went into a ditch around stopped cars to get by, pausing to look at her before he drove on. “He looked at me like ‘What are you going to do?’ He was fully aware. I hit the horn,� she said. “Everybody sitting there was shocked he went off the road to go around.� Bus 22 driver Teresa Neece, who has been driving school buses in Powhatan for 33 years, recalled an afternoon bus stop outside of a private neighborhood on Maidens Road. A truck hauling a trailer approached from the opposite direction, attempted to stop when the vehicle got closer to the bus and briefly lost control, swerving because of the trailer. Neece said all she could do was grab one of the children getting off the bus by the book bag to hold them back. “It was just so scary. I thought for sure he was going to hit my bus. He eventually got it back over in his lane and kept going. He never stopped. The mothers of the kids were standing there in shock. They see DRIVERS, pg. 6
Enough is Enough calls groups to join forces in fight for nature
DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Powhatan, VA 23139
By Laura McFarland
started doing research and reaching out to other groups across Virginia, News Editor she began hearing about other counPOWHATAN – A proposed ties that were also having issues. landfill in Cumberland County near “Not only Chesterfield County, the Powhatan County line is what where we just moved from, was started things for having issues, Victoria Ronnau, but then I found but it was a sysout about Bucktem of statewide ingham County abuse of the enviand I found out ronment that about the pipemade her say line. I found out “enough is about the comenough.� pressor station Given her and more landhome’s proximity fills and more Victoria Ronnau to the county line, infringement on the Powhatan resident said she our rights,� she said. “I thought would be personally impacted by a enough is enough! I am done with landfill, which gave her a strong this. ‘We need to unify’ is what was reason to fight it. But when she see COMMUNITY, pg. 3
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Danielle Shupp, Stephanie White, Julia Orban and Jesston Collier pose with a wreath at Company 1 that they hope will stay green during the holiday season.
Keep the wreath green By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – Local firefighters are working to avoid a red and green holiday season. They just want to keep it green. Powhatan Professional Firefighters Local 5188 and Powhatan Volunteer Fire Department Company 1 last week launched a partnership on the Keep the Wreath Green program to raise fire prevention awareness
among area residents. The program, which launched on Tuesday, Nov. 27, features a wreath that currently hangs on the front of Company 1’s building, said Jeffrey Wallace, president of Local 5188. The wreath was illuminated with green bulbs, but for every building fire that occurs in Powhatan County between Nov. 27 and Jan. 2, 2019, a green see WREATH, pg. 3
Fire and Rescue earns national recognition for recruitment, retention efforts By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Fire and Rescue Department recently received a national award that recognizes its outstanding efforts in volunteer recruitment and retention. Fire and Rescue Chief Steven Singer was flown in November to attend the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ annual East
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Chief Steven Singer holds an award Powhatan Fire and Rescue received for its recruitment and retention efforts.
Coast conference in Clearwater, Florida to receive the award. The Recruitment and see AWARD, pg. 8
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