HOPEWELL—The incumbent commonwealth’s attorney in Hopewell was defeated by a big margin last night, while Petersburg’s sheriff and Colonial Heights’ commissioner of the revenue easily won re-election. Newcomer Richard K. “Rick” Newman defeated Anthony N. “Nino” Sylvester for Hopewell’s commonwealth’s attorney. Newman, 53, an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Petersburg who has lived in Hopewell less than a year, received 62 percent of the vote, compared with Sylvester’s 38 percent.

HOPEWELL—The incumbent commonwealth’s attorney in Hopewell was defeated by a big margin last night, while Petersburg’s sheriff and Colonial Heights’ commissioner of the revenue easily won re-election. Newcomer Richard K. “Rick” Newman defeated incumbent Anthony N. “Nino” Sylvester for Hopewell’s commonwealth’s attorney. Newman, 53, an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Petersburg who has lived in Hopewell less than a year, received 62 percent of the vote, compared with Sylvester’s 38 percent.

A Henrico County man who died after crashing into a guardrail Saturday was one of three motorcyclists who eluded police on Interstate 95 while racing in and out of traffic at more than 100 mph, authorities said yesterday. Erwin Brower, 27, of the 4400 block of Foxtail Lane died at the scene after crashing his Suzuki GSX-R600 racing bike on the ramp leading from southbound Chippenham Parkway to northbound I-95, said Sgt. Thomas Molnar with the Virginia State Police.

In the Tri-Cities elections, Hopewell elected a new commonwealth’s attorney, and Colonial Heights’ commissioner of revenue survived a challenge. In Hopewell, challenger Richard K. “Rick” Newman defeated incumbent Anthony N. “Nino” Sylvester to become the commonwealth’s attorney. Newman, 53, is an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Petersburg who has lived in Hopewell for less than a year.

There will be no tricks, treats or Halloween parties this year for many of Virginia’s convicted sex criminals. Officers with the Virginia Department of Corrections and the Virginia State Police are teaming up again to make sure registered sex offenders who are under state supervision won’t cause any harm to young ghouls and goblins.

After getting their cleaning products approved by the county health department, Amelia County school employees and contractors began disinfecting buses and schools.

A new city resident is challenging incumbent Anthony N. “Nino” Sylvester in the race for commonwealth’s attorney. Sylvester, 44, was first elected in 2000 and ran unopposed for re-election in 2001 and 2005. Challenger Richard K. “Rick” Newman, 53, an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Petersburg, is promoting a new focus on gang activity.

A Colonial Heights woman has pleaded guilty to killing one man and severely injuring another after colliding head-on with their mo-ped while intoxicated and traveling in the wrong lanes of Jefferson Davis Highway. Megan Lean Brown, 25, pleaded guilty Monday in Chesterfield County Circuit Court to involuntary manslaughter while driving intoxicated, maiming while driving intoxicated and driving under the influence of alcohol. She faces a combined maximum prison term of 16 years when she is sentenced Jan. 20.

The campaign manager for Colonial Heights Commissioner of the Revenue Marjorie C. DeDanko, who is seeking re-election in November, resigned last week amid personal differences. Earlier in the race, Pete Pettry had strongly criticized DeDanko’s opponent, Gayle R. Braswell, calling in July for a Virginia State Board of Elections investigation into Braswell’s fundraising activities. Now, he said, he supports Braswell.

Central Virginia has seen a slight increase in homicides so far this year, with higher numbers in Richmond and Petersburg offsetting improved numbers elsewhere. For the first nine months of the year, the region had 59 homicides, compared with 55 at the same time last year. The biggest shift has been in Richmond, where city police recorded seven more homicides as of Sept. 30 than a year earlier. Richmond’s nine-month count of 34 exceeds the total of 32 homicides for all of 2008.

120 had no critical violations during inspections conducted during the 2008-09 school year; and
93 had two or fewer total
critical violations for the year
Here are some examples of critical violations inspectors found at area schools. These
violations were corrected:
Oct. 30, 2008: Employees were observed handling ready-to-eat food with bare hands at

The Virginia National Guard is closing its Dove Street Armory in Richmond because of state budget cuts. The move means about 375 soldiers will report to other Guard facilities in the area for their one-weekend-a-month duty assignments, said Virginia National Guard Maj. Cotton Puryear. The closing, along with the shutdown of the Guard’s Roanoke armory, will save $115,000 a year.

Colonial Heights is joining the list of school systems in central Virginia that are electing not to air tomorrow’s daytime presidential address to students. Last week, controversy erupted across the nation as parents and officials opposed President Barack Obama’s address to schoolchildren. Superintendent Joseph O. Cox Jr. wrote in a brief letter posted Saturday on the school system’s Web site that Colonial Heights won’t show Obama’s address during the school day tomorrow, the first day of school for many metropolitan Richmond localities.

In 1963, as tension escalated over the injustices of segregation in Petersburg, the City Council established a Biracial Committee to promote better race relations in the city. Louis C. Shell, an attorney and former councilman, was named chairman—one of three white residents named to the committee, which was convened to respond to the sit-ins and protests with a resident-led dialogue among community groups.

The number of Virginia schools that made Adequate Yearly Progress goals in reading and math dropped slightly during the 2008-09 school year after the passing rates got a little tougher. But there were some bright spots. A few local school divisions improved despite the higher benchmarks—including Petersburg, which has a long history of low performance on standardized testing.