BRIEFS: NEWS NEAR YOU

NEWS NEAR YOU

New Kent The New Kent Ruritan Club and Virginia Blood Services will hold a blood drive on Wednesday from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Quinton Community Center. Register by logging onto www.vadonor.com and enter "nkruritan" as the sponsor code.

Petersburg The annual Lighting of Petersburg will be Friday from 6:15 to about 10 p.m. at the Old Towne Visitor Center and Union Train Station. The event includes music from the Virginia State University Marching Trojans and a visit by Santa.

Hanover Celebrate the holiday season at the Colonial Christmas at Historic Polegreen Church on Friday from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The church will be lit and music will be provided by Williamsburg Musick's Fife and Drum Corps. The even is part of the Holidays in Historic Hanover program. The site is located at 6411 Heatherwood Drive in Mechanicsville. Admission is free and hot refreshments will be served. For details, call (804) 261-3837.

Powhatan The Powhatan Tourism Committee will meet at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the Village Building Conference Room, 3910 Old Buckingham Road.

Dinwiddie The county Board of Supervisors will hold a special meeting Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the Pamplin Administration Building, 14016 Boydton Plank Road. Board members will hear a presentation on legislative issues and the annual financial report for the year that ended June 30.

Chesterfield Chesterfield's Emergency Communications Center is seeking reaccreditation from the Commission of Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. Assessors will begin work Dec. 13, reviewing policies and procedures, management, operations and support services. As part of the on-site assessment, department employees and members of the community are invited to offer comments through a telephone call-in session on Dec. 15 from 1 to 3 p.m. The public can call (804) 796-7082 during these times.

Cumberland The county School Board will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, in the middle/high school cafetorium. This is the board's regular meeting.

Hopewell The Hopewell Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility Commission will meet tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. This meeting will be held at the Hopewell Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility in the Admin Conference Room.

Petersburg The Petersburg High School boosters club will thank the organization's volunteers with a breakfast Tuesday at 7 a.m. in the Petersburg High School teachers' section of the cafeteria.

AROUND THE STATE

Roanoke County A new administrator for Roanoke County could be named by mid-December, Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard C. Flora said last week. The process for selecting a replacement for Elmer Hodge, who retired in June after 22 years at the helm of the county administration, is "moving at warp speed," Flora said. He said the field of candidates has been reduced to fewer than five.

Suffolk An investigation concludes that pigs were humanely treated after a truck hauling them overturned on state Route 10 in Suffolk in September. The investigation was conducted by Suffolk Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Ferguson, who responded to a complaint by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The animal-rights group argued that Smithfield Foods and Murphy-Brown workers yanked pigs by their ears and prodded them with tools to get the dazed animals moving. The accident killed about 65 of 190 hogs on the truck. A PETA spokesman said the group was disappointed by the conclusion of the investigation.