Colonial Heights City Council last night elected first-term Councilman C. Scott Davis as mayor, rejecting the reappointment of John T. Wood to a third mayoral term. At a special meeting, the seven-member council also elected Betsy G. Luck as vice mayor. Davis, who is chief of police at Richard Bland College, is serving his first four-year term on the council. He was nominated by Luck for the two-year mayoral term and was backed by all of the council members except Wood.

Colonial Heights Fire officials have determined that a house fire Friday in the 400 Block of Lyons Avenue in Colonial Heights was started by a faulty electrical cord to a lamp. Firefighters responded to the blaze before noon and found heavy fire in the front living room. No one was at the house during the time of the incident, officials said. Damage to the house is estimated at $15,000. Officials said there were no smoke detectors installed in the home.

Petersburg Six teachers in the Petersburg school system have enrolled at Grand Canyon University in graduate-level courses, and six $1,000 scholarships were awarded toward their tuition.

Community events in Richmond, Henrico, Hanover, Goochland, New Kent, Chesterfield, Powhatan and Tri-Cities. SATURDAY, NOV. 29 Craft Bazaar and Outreach, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Ladysmith Baptist Church, 19443 Jefferson Davis Highway. Details: (540) 226-2911.  TUESDAY, DEC. 2 Christmas Concert, presented by the Virginia State University Concert Choir, 7 p.m., Anderson-Turner Auditorium, Virginia Hall. Free. Details: (804) 524-5311 or (804) 524-5342.

Henrico St. Joseph’s Villa announced this week that it has officially reported to the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation that it had received $1.3 million in new funds to successfully complete the terms of the foundation’s challenge grant. In May 2008, the foundation challenged St. Joseph’s Villa to raise $1 million in new funds to support improvements on the villa’s campus at 8000 Brook Road. The foundation stipulated that the villa raise the money by November 2008, and that if it did so, the foundation would provide $500,000 toward the project. More than 50 donors responded to the challenge, contributing more than $1.3 million, said villa CEO Kathleen Burke Barrett.

Mark Landa and his staff at Boulevard Flower Gardens in Colonial Heights are busy preparing the company’s more than 10,000plant poinsettia crop for the upcoming holidays. The colorful plants, everything from red to a Jinglebell mix, take up nine greenhouses. The company grows poinsettias along with in-season bedding plants and vegetables.

Mark Landa and his staff at Boulevard Flower Gardens in Colonial Heights are busy preparing the company’s more than 10,000plant poinsettia crop for the upcoming holidays. The colorful plants, everything from red to a Jinglebell mix, take up nine greenhouses. The company grows poinsettias along with in-season bedding plants and vegetables.

Caroline To help compensate for a $2.7 million shortfall in budget projections, the Caroline County Board of Supervisors has asked for 15 percent cuts in most county operations. The cuts will include schools, but not at the full 15 percent rate because that would push the county below the state’s minimum level of school funding. An exact cut in school funding is still under discussion. The county has also imposed a hiring freeze and is prepared to put off capital purchases until after 2010.

Colonial Heights The Colonial Heights City Council last week voted to amend the general fund budget for this fiscal year to appropriate $1,137 to the police department so the agency can implement a senior citizens’ crime-prevention academy. The funds come from a grant. Richmond Garth Larcen and his son, Max, of the Positive Vibe Café, are in France this week to participate in a disability forum. Garth

A Colonial Heights woman is accused of operating an Internet-based prostitution service that arranged sexual encounters with customers at Chesterfield County motels. Amy D. Lamb, 34, of the 200 block of Piedmont Avenue was arrested last week and charged with prostitution, money laundering, receiving money from the earnings of a prostitute and receiving money for the procurement of a prostitute. All the charges stemmed from an incident that occurred Aug. 29, Chesterfield police said.