Inside A3 Mom lauds act of kindness by Food Lion cashier
Powhatan, Virginia
B1 McMillin earns title of Outstanding Wrestler at Virginia Duals
Vol. XXXII No.. 29
January 23, 2019
Elected officials meet to discuss future needs By Laura McFarland
emergency radio communications; replacing the county’s financial reporting system; early financial forecasts, and capital improvement projects. All of the topics were discussion items and no votes or final decisions were made on any of them. The board members agreed to additional joint meeting dates on March 18, Sept. 12 and Dec. 12.
News Editor
P
OWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors and School Board set a tone of being open to collaboration when they met last week for their first joint meeting in 2019. The two boards discussed a range of topics when they met on Tuesday, Jan. 15, including some that could lead to more joint projects between the county and the school division. All members of the school board were present: Chairman Joe Walters, who represents District 4; Rick Cole, District 1; James Kunka, District 2; Valarie Ayers, District 3, and Kim Hymel, District 5. Also at the meeting were three supervisors, Chairman Carson Tucker, District 5; Larry Nordvig, District 2, and Angie Ca-
Middle school repurposing
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors and School Board meet on June 15 for a joint workshop to discuss issues facing the county.
bell, District 3. The topics discussed by the two boards at the meeting included the repur-
posing of Pocahontas Middle School and future of the school administration building; the current and future state of the
The two boards had been planning for the closing of Pocahontas Middle School for several years, starting before the ground was even broken on the new middle school. During the board’s meeting on Oct. 22, supervisors voted 3-2 in favor of approving a $9.4 million financing plan to see SCHOOL pg. 5
PHS Indians tutoring together Walters, Hymel chosen to
lead school board in 2019
By Laura McFarland News Editor
Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19
POWHATAN – A group of students and teachers at Powhatan High School this month launched a new peer-tutoring program designed to help students who may be struggling. Powhatan Indians Tutoring Together (PITT) launched on Jan. 8 with 48 students ready and willing to help their fellow school mates who PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND are having difficulties with some of their sub- Tutor Calie Rehme, left, helps fellow student jects, said Penny Robert- Adison Lopez during a peer tutoring session. son, English teacher and ing Indian Time. The work together, Robertprogram lead. The free one-on-one program has a small son said. “I think the tutoring tutoring program takes room designated for the center should be a wintutoring center but addiplace in the library three tional pairings also sit to four times a week dursee TUTORING, pg. 6 throughout the library to
News Editor
P
OWHATAN – Joe Walters was named chairman of the Powhatan County School Board for the thirdstraight year at its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 15. Walters, who represents District 4, was once again approved unanimously by his fellow board members in a vote taken at the board’s WALTERS first 2019 meeting. Kim Hymel, District 5, was chosen unanimously as the vice chairwoman, marking her first time to be elected to one of the top positions on the board. The school board reorganizes every January for the upcoming year.
Walters, who has been on the board for three years, said multiple times during and after the meeting how much he appreciated his fellow board members’ continued support and faith in him. “It is an honor to serve as a member of the school board and particularly an honor to be elected by my peers – my colleagues – to serve as the chairman of the board,” he said. “I think we have done some incredible things over the past two years. We have HYMEL seen the completion of the middle school and the completion of the joint transportation facility, and we found a lot of opportunities to collaborate with the board of supervisors and work together for the citizens of Powhatan see LEADERSHIP, pg. 4
Powhatan man - a federal worker - shares his experience of government shutdown By Laura McFarland News Editor
DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Powhatan, VA 23139
By Laura McFarland
POWHATAN – Nathan Beberdick wants to be working right now. He also wants his country to be protected. The Powhatan husband and father of four is one of the 800,000 federal workers affected by the Dec. 22, 2018, partial government shutdown. In his case, he is one of the employees currently home without pay, not one of the ones working without pay. Beberdick is a hydrologic technician for the U.S. Geological Survey who works at the Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center in Richmond. The office’s job is to operate streamgages, observation wells, and monitoring stations that provide reliable scientific information needed to make informed decisions. Beberdick hasn’t worked since Dec. 21, when his office closed, and he said he has a mix of feelings about the reasons for it, which are greatly influenced by his glass-half-full outlook and life choices.
On one hand, as the sole breadwinner for a family of six, the reality that this government shutdown has no end in sight is more than unsettling, Beberdick said. He has thought about getting a temporary job, but that is tricky when the shutdown could conceivably end at any time and he needs to report back to work. “The unknown is the hardest thing about this shutdown. It is hard to plan. The ramifications are going to be different if the government opens up on Thursday or the weeks go on,” he said. On the other hand, Beberdick said it is his choice to work for the federal government even knowing that furloughs and shutdowns because of political maneuverings are a very real possibility. There were two additional shutdowns earlier in 2018, although much shorter. “Usually what happens is once the PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND government shuts down, the panic sets in. They end up working it out. This time is Nathan Beberdick is a local resident different because they haven’t worked it affected by the government shutdown. He said wants to be at work out,” he said. see SHUTDOWN, pg. 3
but also supports border control.
Telephone scammer poses as Powhatan County deputy By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – A Powhatan woman was the target last week of a phone scam where a man posed as a Powhatan County Sheriff’s deputy. The sheriff’s office received a complaint on Tuesday, Jan. 15 from a Powhatan woman about a call she experi-
enced a day earlier, said Anne Reynolds, crime analyst. The man claimed his name was deputy Brian Jones with the Powhatan County Dispatch Office and told the victim that she had been placed in contempt of court because she missed jury duty and that a citation had been issued for her arrest, Reynolds said. He also spoofed his phone number so
it looked like it was coming in from emergency communications’ non-emergency number, 598-5656. The victim, Jennifer Tate, said she received the call a little after 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 14 and answered because it appeared to be a local number. She told the man she had no idea she had been summoned for jury duty and asked
“Don't you normally get a summons placed on your door for that kind of thing?" The man told her it was mailed to her at her current address, which he was able to list, on Dec. 18, 2018. Moore said she explained she didn’t receive it and asked what she could do to get it dismissed. “He said I needed to come see SCAMMER, pg. 8