The wheels are once again in motion for two proposed mixed-use developments on Ashland’s eastern boundaries. After months and years of deferrals to work around community concerns and staff requests, Ashland and Hanover County leaders will again seek the public’s thoughts on the latest plans for the East Ashland and Providence Creek communities.

There are many Hanover County residents who have intellectual and physical disabilities who could benefit from a residential group-home environment, according to the Hanover Community Services Board. Next summer, five of them will get the opportunity to live in such a place. Heart Havens Inc., a Goochland County-based nonprofit organization, is collaborating with Hanover county officials, the Community Services Board and another nonprofit, Hanover Community Support Services, to build the organization’s 12th group home.

At the end of a quiet Ashland street just minutes off Interstate 95, a classroom was filled with 4-year-olds strengthening their hand-eye coordination by “coloring” a house on their computers. Their small hands used a mouse to move a paintbrush over the color spectrum at the bottom of the screen and then onto the part of the house they wanted to color. Most of them were finished in minutes and were moving on to a more difficult task—writing their names using the mouse and paintbrush.

The Hanover County Board of Supervisors approved a special-exception permit for a 140-foot cellular tower last night on 25 acres off Williamsville Road despite about 10 people, and a petition with 80 signatures, that opposed the tower. Five of the supervisors supported the permit, while two others—Deborah B. Coats and Elton J. Wade Sr.—abstained because they said they did not have enough information.

Federal authorities have dropped consideration of an eastern route for proposed high-speed rail service through Richmond that would have bypassed Ashland and Amtrak’s main Staples Mill Road station.

A juggler and a dog aren’t common sights at commencement ceremonies. But yesterday’s graduation of 201 students at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland contained a bit of levity with the pomp and circumstance. Commencement speaker Thomas R. Morris, secretary of education for Virginia, told the graduates that they now join the one-third of adults in Virginia who hold a baccalaureate degree.

Ashland Farmers’ Market,
101 Thompson St., Ashland, 798-9219. 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays through November.
  Byrd House Market, behind William Byrd Community House, South Linden Street and Idlewood Avenue, 643-2717. 3:30-7 p.m. Tuesdays through October.
  Chester Farmers’ Market, Chester Village Green, Village Green Drive and Centre Street, 748-9650. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays through October.

A female homicide victim, whose body was discovered a decade ago near an Ashland truck stop, is part of a federal database of about 500 victims. While the case of Carol Taylor, 39, formally remains under investigation by Ashland police, the FBI says details of the case are part of a nationwide program that is attempting to consolidate cases that may be similar.

A federal appeals court has ordered the Virginia attorney general’s office to file a replacement brief, with “proper citations,“ defending the death sentence of John Allen Muhammad, one of the Beltway snipers. Muhammad was sentenced to death in 2004 for the Oct. 9, 2002, capital murder of Dean Meyers in Prince William County, part of a rampage he masterminded that left 10 dead and a half-dozen wounded in four states and the District of Columbia.

Newt for president? Newt Gingrich, the Republican former Speaker of the House, didn’t rule it out last night in Ashland, before he was to address a packed house of 650-plus at Randolph-Macon College. Gingrich and his wife, Callista, “will look seriously and we’ll probably get our family totally engaged, including our two grandchildren, probably in January 2011, and we’ll look seriously at whether or not we think it’s necessary to do it,“ he told reporters during a sit-down interview before last night’s speech.

Newt for president? Newt Gingrich, the Republican former Speaker of the House, didn’t rule it out last night in Ashland, before he was to address a packed house of 650-plus at Randolph-Macon College. Gingrich and his wife, Callista, “will look seriously and we’ll probably get our family totally engaged, including our two grandchildren, probably in January, 2011, and we’ll look seriously at whether or not we think it’s necessary to do it,“ he told reporters during a sit-down interview before last night’s speech.

Yearbook celebrates Ashland’s 150 years Ashland’s not done celebrating yet. After a year of festivities commemorating the town’s 150th birthday, there’s one more way to immerse yourself in all that is Ashland. An Ashland Yearbook went on sale yesterday featuring more than 800 photos, letters and stories from families, individuals, churches, businesses and other organizations.

It’s not every day you get to see your dad dress as Marilyn Monroe. But that’s just part of the spectacle that is the Ashland Musical Variety Show. The 15th running of the show is March 19-21 at the Blackwell Auditorium on the Randolph-Macon College campus. The show’s theme—“Our Ashland Grand Celebration”—continues last year’s festivities in honor of Ashland’s 150th anniversary, said Barbara Boor, public relations chairwoman for the show.

Randall “Randy” Q. Ayers, the son of Edward R. and Robin Ayers of Ashland, was named to the dean’s list for the fall 2008 semester at Old Dominion University. He is a history/education major in the College of Arts and Letters.

Expect major highway backups as far south as Richmond.