BRIEFS: NEWS NEAR YOU

-- This daily column features short news items from the 20 localities that make up the greater Richmond area. On Mondays, we run at least one item from each of the localities. If you have a news item, call 649-6990 or e-mail us at .

NEWS NEAR YOU

Amelia The Amelia County School Board will hold a public hearing on the 2009-2010 proposed budget during the organizational meeting tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the School Board offices at 8701 Otterburn Road, Suite 101.

Caroline The Caroline County Board of Supervisors will hold its organizational meeting tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the Community Services Center. The supervisors will choose a chairman and a vice chairman for the year. In addition, they are scheduled to receive the county administrator's recommendations for mid-fiscal-year budget adjustments and consider a proposal to close county offices on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day.

Charles City For those wishing to keep their new year's resolutions, the Charles City County Fitness Center at the Ruthville Gymnasium Complex will be open weekdays from 8 a.m. to noon and 3 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Monthly membership is $10 for county residents, $5 for seniors. For information, call (804) 652-1601.

Chesterfield Bradford Hammer has been selected by the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors

Colonial Heights Registration for this year's storytime sessions begins today and continues until Jan. 23. Registration is required for children ages 3 to 5. The storytime sessions will be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 to 11:45 a.m. starting Jan. 27. Classes will be filled after 15 children register.

Cumberland The Cumberland County Board of Supervisors will hold a workshop on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the Old Clerk's Office. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the county's waterline extension.

Dinwiddie The Dinwiddie County Planning Commission will hold its monthly meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Board Meeting Room, Pamplin Administration Building, 14016 Boydton Plank Road.

Goochland The Goochland County Board of Supervisors plans to hold a special meeting tomorrow

Hanover The District Scholastic Bowl, Virginia High School League's annual academic competition, will be held at Lee-Davis High School Wednesday at 5 p.m. High school students from central Virginia will compete in this trivia game to answer questions in many subjects. The state competition is scheduled for next month at the College of William and Mary.

Henrico Henrico County students planning to study a conservation-related field may apply for scholarships offered by the Henricopolis Soil and Water Conservation District and the Colonial Agricultural Education Foundation. The deadline to apply is March 1. Information and applications are available at http://www.co.henrico.va.us/swcd and at the SWCD office, 8600 Dixon Powers Drive. For more information, call (804) 501-5175.

Hopewell The Hopewell Library is offering a free class for adults with limited computer experience. The class will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. from tomorrow until Jan. 29. Participants will gain 12 hours in computer basics. To register, contact the information desk at the Hopewell Library in person or by phone, (804) 861-0322, ext. 1005. For details, at the Appomattox Regional Library, visit http://www.arls.org or call (804) 458-6329.

King and Queen The King and Queen County Board of Supervisors will have a public hearing on proposed changes to land use, subdivision and other fees today at 7 p.m. at the county's courts and administration building, state Route 681.

King William The King William County School Board will hold a preliminary budget work session tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the School Board office conference room, 18548 King William Road.

Louisa Louisa County High School will receive $61,000 in technology, software, cash grants and educational television programming packages from Samsung. An essay by Charles Hoffman, the school's English and television/video film production teacher, entered in Samsung's fifth annual Hope for Education essay, was picked from thousands submitted. The school is one of 31 nationwide, and the only in Virginia, to receive the award.

New Kent The New Kent

Petersburg Students at A.P. Hill Elementary School donated 1,517 canned goods for the Salvation Army's Canned Food Drive in December. Mary Barnes' class collected the most cans, 179, and was awarded with a pizza party.

Powhatan The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors will meet tonight at 7 at Powhatan High School, 1800 Judes Ferry Road. During the meeting, the board will elect its chairman and vice chairman and set its meeting times, dates and places for the year.

Prince George The Prince George County School Board will meet tonight at 6 in the third-floor boardroom of the Administration Building, 6602 Courts Drive. The Board of Supervisors will meet tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the same location.

Richmond The fourth annual ChinaFest will be held Feb. 19-22, with most events staged at the University of Richmond. The program includes a panel discussion Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. on the "Chinese Philosophy of Health and Wellbeing"; a presentation Feb. 20 at 10 a.m. on "Art Along the Silk Wall"; and a movie showing, "Up the Yangtze," Feb. 20 at 3 and 7:30 p.m. in UR's Jepson Hall. All events, except for the screenings at Byrd Theater, are free of charge. For details, see http://www.theROSEgroup.org.

Sussex The Sussex County Board of Supervisors recently approved the expenditure of $10,000 to match a state grant for Project PLEAD, a program designed to steer teenagers away from gangs and trouble by involving them in community-service activities. County officials said the state will reimburse Sussex for most of its contribution. The program is administered by the regional Improvement Association, of which Sussex supervisors Chairman Rufus Tyler is executive director.

AROUND THE STATE

Courtland A 4-year-old Southampton County boy who died after being run over by a school bus has been identified as Jameer Khamarie Woodley. He was a pre-kindergarten student at Riverdale Elementary School near Courtland, where the accident occurred Friday. His mother, LaKisha Woodley, teaches first grade at the school. She and the boy's father, Tim Woodley, say Jameer loved sports and knew how to operate the DVD player and VCR. Tim Woodley described Jameer as energetic. The school and the sheriff's office released no details, and a dispatcher at the sheriff's office said no one was available to discuss the incident yesterday.

Norfolk A Newport News man was shot and killed by Portsmouth police after a chase through two cities. Norfolk police spokesman Chris Amos said 30-year-old Kenji Lee Danzy died at a hospital after Friday night's shooting. According to Amos, Portsmouth police pursued a vehicle from Interstate 264 to a dead-end street in Norfolk. He said Portsmouth officers got out of their vehicles and approached Danzy. An officer was injured during an altercation, and other officers then fired at Danzy. The officer's injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Bluefield Thomas A. Colley, executive editor of the Bluefield (W.Va.) Daily Telegraph since 1985, has died. Mr. Colley, 67, died early Saturday after an apparent heart attack, according to a statement from the newspaper. He had been transferred from a local hospital to Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Before taking over as executive editor of the newspaper, Mr. Colley worked for newspapers in South Carolina, Indiana and in Tazewell County in Virginia. He served as managing editor for the Telegraph from 1974 to 1979. Colley received numerous community service and journalism awards. He also was active in programs to promote literacy and to help the less fortunate. Last year, Gov. Joe Manchin III named him a Distinguished West Virginian.

Dillwyn Ellis Acres Memorial Park Inc. has been given a $6,000 grant from The Bama Works Fund in the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. The grant will be applied to the restoration of the Buckingham Training School Shop Building. This building is one of the few remaining Rosenwald Training School shop buildings from among the 160 shop buildings built with Rosenwald Funds throughout the South. Rosenwald schools were built across the South between 1912 and 1932, financed by Julius Rosenwald, CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Co. Rosenwald Funds provided grants to build more than 5,000 buildings, including schools, shop buildings and teachers' houses, for blacks at a time when public education wasn't provided for them. For details or to contribute, contact Wilbert M. Dean at (804) 520-1810, , or Diane Holman James at (434) 983-9418, .

Martinsville Marchelle Rumley, a student at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville, is the second recipient of the VHHA Nursing Scholarship, sponsored by the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association and the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education. Rumley will receive $5,000 for up to two years to complete her educational goals, which include finishing a program to be certified as a licensed practical nurse and becoming a registered nurse. A single parent of three young children, Rumley has overcome a serious automobile accident when she was 19 and has achieved a high grade-point average in Patrick Henry's nursing program.