Zoned out: County gets injunction against local charity
0Employees of Home Depot helped rehabilitate a water-damaged building at 500 Baptist Drive last year. (Caleb M. Soptelean) Last summer, the Guardians HOPE Center received help rehabilitating a building at the site of a former Bible college. Now the center’s leaders have been ordered by a judge to cease all uses of the property until they come into compliance with zoning or modify a conditional use permit. In an April 30 ruling, Chesterfield Circuit Court Judge Edward A. Robbins Jr. ordered Chris and Stacy Lane, David Lee and Whitmell Investment Group to cease all uses of the property at 500…
Rice gets ‘steamed’ up about teaching
0Kim Rice teaches at Enon Elementary School. (Danielle Ozbat) For 25 years, Kim Rice’s focus was teaching third-, fourth- and fifth-graders at Enon Elementary School until Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics came along. After hearing about the program, Rice began doing STEAM activities in her homeroom and Science Club. She made the jump to being a STEAM resource teacher once she realized it was good for students. She now teaches kindergarten through fifth grade and said the younger kids keep her on her toes. Rice said the students communicate and have to work within a group, which is a…
Lets Go Services provides rides to those in need
0Theresa Sears speaks recently before the Chester Lions Club. (Carelyn Sheppard) Lets Go Services is a new nonprofit that provides transportation and more for people who need it and might not otherwise be able to afford it. The company serves Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, Goochland, Mechanicsville, Midlothian, Richmond, Varina, and other local areas. Owner Theresa Sears saw the transportation need while she was a teacher at Landmark Christian School. Her original company, Transporting Angels LLC, started by transporting children to and from school. It quickly expanded to providing non-emergency medical transportation for a wider group that included people with disabilities, the…
Recently deceased
0Barker, Ethel A., 79, of Chesterfield. Bennardo, Barbara C. Allen, 50, of Chesterfield, wife of Christopher Bennardo. Bradby, Margret E., of North Chesterfield. Campbell, Loretta Mae, 80, of Chester, widow of William E. Campbell. Crist, Charlotte Edens, 79, of Chester, wife of David J. Crist. Davis, Debra, 59, of Chesterfield. Dickerson, Dale Marie, 71, of North Chesterfield, wife of Jimmy R. Dickerson. Donner, Nora Ann, 79, of Chesterfield, widow of Lee Donner. Ellenberg, Paul Ernest, 97, of Chesterfield, an Army veteran, husband of Maribeth Louise Ellenberg. Gee, Joseph Paul Jr., 78, of Chester. Heller, Bonnie Anne Hill, 70, of North Chesterfield. Hughes, William Jay Jr., 46, of Chester, husband of Kristen Mellem…
Preventing van crashes
0Recently, a 15-passenger van was rear-ended by a dually pickup hauling a trailer. The news reported that four were killed, three were transported to MCV via helicopter and five others were transported to area hospitals via ambulance. I am praying that the respective crash teams from Dinwiddie and Virginia State Police will determine all of the details that led to this crash. As a pastor of a church with two 15-passenger vans, I want to speak to the churches and organizations that own these vans. For a long time, 15-passenger vans carried the stigma of a higher-than-normal center of gravity,…
‘Savannah Sipping Society’ now open on weekends
0From left, Jennifer Frank (Jinx Jenkins), Jacqueline Jones (Dot Haigler), Robin Arthur (Marlafaye Moseley) and Joy Williams (Randa Covington) are the cast of Savannah Sipping Society. (Courtesy photo) The Mill at Swift Creek is set to heat up the summer with a funny, sassy tale of empowered women. (Men will find it hilarious, too!) Yet another terrific script from the authors of “The Dixie Swim Club,” “The Hallelujah Girls,” and “Always a Bridesmaid,” this delightful laugh-a-minute comedy tells the story of four unique women who are drawn together by fate – and an impromptu happy hour – and decide it’s…
Dogpound troubles
0Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. It has been kind of a rough week since my riding lawn mower bit the dust. I had mowed most of the yard and was anxious to the get the last part done out by the lane before the next series of storms blew into town. I fired it up in the shed, and she sounded louder than normal, almost like the muffler had a hole in it. I drove it over to the garage to fill it up with gasoline, and headed out to the lane hoping I…
New kid on recruiting block for L.C. Bird
0Tyson Pledger (Twitter) The L.C. Bird High Skyhawks have another Division I-level recruit in their midst. Tyson Pledger, a 6-foot 2-inch, 210-pound defensive end-tight end picked up an offer from Delaware State University of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. A junior, Pledger was a captain for Troy Taylor and the Skyhawks last season. “He’s a good student and a great kid,” Taylor said. “He always shows up and always works hard.” Taylor has a tie to the Delaware State coaching staff in Mark James, the former head coach of Virginia Union, where Taylor was quarterback coach after his tenure at Meadowbrook…