Inside A5 Garden Festival ready to bloom
Powhatan, Virginia B1To the next level BSH Football’s Noa Hasty signs to Shenandoah
Vol. XXXII No.. 40
March 27, 2019
Three supervisors confirm they will not seek re-election By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – An announcement made recently by District 4 representative Bill Melton at a board of supervisors meeting means three out of five members have now confirmed they will not seek re-election. Melton made the announcement at the tail end of a short and amicable meeting of the board of supervisors and school board on Monday, March 18. The meeting was scheduled so the school board could present its proposed fiscal year 2020 budget. Chairwoman Angie Cabell, District 3, had an-
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Se. Glen Sturtevant, left, and Del. Lee Ware talk about the recent General Assembly session at the March 19 Powhatan Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
CABELL
MELTON
TUCKER
nounced a week earlier, at the board’s March 11 budget workshop, that she would not be running again. Carson Tucker, District 5, made known his decision not to seek reelection on June 25, 2018, at the same time he announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease but would contin-
ue to serve on the board for the rest of his current term, health permitting. David Williams, District 1, announced at a private function on Tuesday, March 19 that he would be seeking re-election, but Larry Nordvig, District 2, has not definitively declared his intentions. Melton said at last
week’s meeting that he made his decision after much thought, discussion with his family and prayers. Melton served for 12 years on the Powhatan County Planning Commission and is in his eighth year with the board of supervisors. He said he has always see SUPERVISORS, pg. 5
Powhatan Middle School holds first Comic Con
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The first Powhatan Comic Con took place on March 16 in Powhatan Middle School’s cafeteria. With four vendors, four artists drawing free artwork, three presenters, and three age-category costume contests, the con had about 300 attendees and was a definite success. Shown are Amara Durham as Harley Quinn and Nate Maliff as The Joker. See more photos Page 3.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
Ware, Sturtevant speak to Chamber By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – Powhatan’s two state legislators recently spoke about what was accomplished or failed to move forward in the busy short 2019 session of the General Assembly during a Powhatan Chamber of Commerce lunch. The annual St. Patrick’s Day-themed luncheon has become an annual tradition for Sen. Glen Sturtevant Jr., R-10, and Del. Lee Ware, R-65, who easily shared the stage and the microphone as they gave an overview of the parts of the recent session that might have the biggest impact on Powhatan County. The chamber luncheon was held on March 19 at The County Seat Restaurant. Speaking for about 35
minutes, the representatives took turns touching on issues such as coal ash, health care costs, highway studies, the future of Beaumont Juvenile Correctional Center, tax policies and the economy. Both men also briefly talked about how the session was impacted this year by national media attention brought to Virginia because of the scandals that hit the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. Ware said he is finishing up his 11th term in the House and this session, which was his 21st, was unlike any other he has experienced. However, he didn’t think it had too much of an impact on the House, where “it was pretty much business as usual” and was see CHAMBER, pg. 4
Suit against county granted partial appeal By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – The Virginia Supreme Court has granted a partial appeal to a 2018 civil suit brought against the county involving the release of documents relating to an internal investigation. A certificate of appeal was issued on Tuesday, March 12 to former sheriff Nelson Batterson in his case against the county. However, the letter makes clear that while the petition to the appeals court brought forward eight errors he said were made in his case in Powhatan County Circuit Court, the court only granted
consideration of one of those points. The assignment of error the appeals court agreed to consider was regarding Judge Paul Cella’s decision that Batterson would not be awarded attorney’s fees. An opinion Cella wrote on July 6, 2018, said that Virginia Code says a petitioner in a FOIA case can recover those costs “if the petitioner substantially prevails on the merits of the case.” He said that Batterson was correct in one allegation, which the county conceded and took steps to fix, but his other claims were unsuccessful. Therefore, he did not believe the petitioner had
substantially prevailed on the merits of the case and the claim for costs and attorney’s fees was denied. Now that an appeal has been granted, Batterson’s attorney, Patrick McSweeney, said he intends to file a petition for rehearing to try to add two other assignments of error from the petition to the appeal. One of these assignments of error deals with the court denying Batterson’s request for an order requiring the county to provide a description of all records it claimed were privileged information. The other point deals with whether the county had waived its right to exclude records that were not
acknowledged until months after the deadline for identifying them. Batterson’s civil suit revolved around Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests McSweeney made to the county in January and February 2018 on Batterson’s behalf. The documents were related to changes to the road system with certain development projects in Powhatan and language being removed from the Subdivision Code. He also requested records related to the adoption and amendment of the Subdivision Ordinance during the previous two years. see APPEAL, pg. 3
Tax-Aide sees busy season Powhatan’s 12 AARP Tax-Aide volunteers have had a busy tax season in early 2019 and the schedule is nearly full on appointments through April. Considering new tax law changes, coordinator Beth Fulcher said it still went smooth thanks to the volunteers. Pictured are, back, from left, Billy Burford, Michelle Odden, Jerry Davis, Beth Fulcher, Lyle Saxton; front, Gladys Suggs and Maureen Emerson. Volunteers not pictured are Tricia Butcher, Barbara Landa, Quinten Parker, Lynda Burk, and Barbara Wirt.
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND