Inside A5 Farm Day embraces nature
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Vol. XXXII No.. 30
January 16, 2019
Workgroup tries to crack R-C issue By Laura McFarland News Editor
P
OWHATAN – The newly formed R-C zoning workgroup had a productive first meeting last week as they wrestled with the issue of how to serve both the county as a whole and individuals in the question of whether to eliminate a zoning district. The group met for the first time on Monday, Jan. 7 with 14 members present to discuss the issue of Residential-Commercial (R-C) zoning. The county has been considering doing away with R-C, which would affect 509 parcels in the county, but recent pushback from R-C property owners and developers has slowed the process. The workgroup was appointed on Thursday, Dec. 13 by the Powhatan
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
The R-C workgroup meets for the first time on Jan. 7 and attempts how to deal with the issue of Residential-Commercial zoning, which the county wants to eliminate. Not everyone is happy about that decision.
County Board of Supervisors. Chair Carson Tucker, who represents District 5, asked a committee made up of two board members and R-C property owners, developers, and everyday citizens to serve on the workgroup. He charged them with analyzing the effects of the proposed elimination of R-C; determining if there was a better way to accomplish the board’s mission of exerting more control in how the county develops, and answer how to equitably help landowners who may be adversely affected if the board ultimately decides to eliminate the zoning district. The main reasons the county has cited in its consideration of R-C zoning’s elimination is that it promotes small, non-cohesive, development along Route 60, which is the county’s “Gold Vein” for see ZONING, pg. 4
10-year-old Bryleigh Roop allergic to food Bill introduced By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – For most of 10-year-old Bryleigh Roop’s life, food has been the enemy of her body. While some people use that phrase when referring to metabolism or weight loss issues, in Bryleigh’s case, it is not an exaggeration to say she is allergic to food. At this point that category includes all food, although her family is hoping that will change for her. Bryleigh, the daughter of Brian and Favienne “Favi” Roop of Powhatan, suffers from a chronic and rare autoimmune disease called eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). According to the Mayo Clinic, EoE occurs when a type of white blood cell (eosinophil) builds up in the lining of the esophagus as a reaction to foods, allergens or acid reflux and can inflame or injure the esophageal tissue. This can lead to difficulty swallowing or cause food to get stuck when the person swallows. It has been identified only in the past two decades, but is now considered a major cause of gastrointestinal illness. Research is ongoing and will likely lead to revisions in the diagnosis and treatment of eosinophilic esophagitis. As soon as the Roops began introducing Bryleigh to solid foods at about 14 months old, she started getting sick every
for Route 60 Corridor study
time she ate. Thinking it was allergies, her parents had her tested and learned that she did d have allergies – to chicken, dairy, airy, gluten, peas, corn, and almost most every fruit, at the minimum. um. “We couldn’t buy anything off the shelf for her so we started making everything g for her,” Favi Roop said. Even on the restricted ed diet though, food con-tinued to be an issue. Bryleigh would complain that her
By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – A bill introduced in the General Assembly last week calls for the Virginia Department of Transportation to update a 20-year-old study of Route 60 across the length of six counties. Sen. Mark Peake, R-22, is the chief patron on Senate Joint Resolution 260, which was introduced on Wednesday, Jan. 9. Del. Lee Ware, R-65, has also signed on as a patron. The resolution seeks to have the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) update a 1999 study entitled “Route 60 Corridor Study: Amherst, Nelson, Appomattox, Buckingham, Cumberland, and Powhatan Counties.”
see ROOP, pg. 3 CONTRIBUTED PHOTO TO
Bryleigh Roop, 10, of Powhatan has recently y started selling her art-work to try to help her er family pay for her medical dical treatment for eosinophilic philic esophagitis.
Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19
see ROUTE 60, pg. 6
Powhatan Tax-Aide gearing up to help residents By Laura McFarland POWHATAN – While many people are already dreading the coming tax season, a dedicated group of volunteers are preparing to make the process a little easier for some Powhatan residents. Powhatan’s 10 AARP Tax-Aide volunteers are currently going through training and preparing for the real start of their tax season when the group starts offering their services on Friday, Feb. 1 at Powhatan County Public Library, said Beth Fulcher, local coordinator for Powhatan site. Powhatan’s location of AARP TaxAide, the nation’s largest free, volunteerrun tax assistance service, offers free tax return services to elderly and low- and moderate-income taxpayers. In 2018, tax counselors and greeters, who take turns volunteering at the location at the library, prepared 589 tax returns, while across the state, Tax-Aide volunteers prepared 47,500 returns, Fulcher said.
Tax counselors will meet with clients for free but by appointment from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every Wednesday and Friday through April 12 at the library. They file state and federal returns for free electronically. Fulcher warned that looking ahead to this tax season, because of tax law changes, people who have traditionally itemized in the past will likely not do it this year because the standard deduction has been raised significantly. “We tried to tell people that last year as they came in but it is a good idea to say it a again. The standard deduction went up from what it was last year so you have an even higher threshold to have to beat for standard deduction than you did in the past,” she said. “It will help most people – so we are told. It also means that fewer people will itemize deductions.” Fulcher also said that a tax rate schedule change may lead to taxpayers seeing lower returns than expected. Employees may have noticed an increase in their pay-
METRO CREATIVE
checks last February because of changes in the payroll withholding tables under the new federal tax law. However, some businesses may not have been withholding enough from paychecks, meaning some taxpayers could either owe more in taxes than they’d typically expect when they file their 2018 returns or could receive a smaller tax refund. see TAX-AIDE, pg. 7
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