DINWIDDIE—In response to 2008 property reassessments that showed a significant increase in property values, the Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors is considering several options to improve the reassessment process. The 2008 reassessment, the first in four years, showed that residential property values went up an average of 47.4 percent, and some residents complained about increases of as much as 300 percent. The results created public outrage and led to several county actions, including a 19-cent reduction to the real estate tax rate and the approval of a new reassessment this year.

When faced with millions of dollars in budget shortfalls earlier this year, school systems across Virginia searched for ways to ease those deficits. School officials say they weren’t easy decisions to make but necessary ones. “When you’re looking at a reduction of $2.6 million, you have to look beyond fewer pencils and paper products, and you certainly can’t make a great deal of money raising student fees,“ New Kent County School Superintendent Rick Richardson said.

A memorial service for Richard Lynn Vaughn of Dinwiddie County, who served from 1977 to 1993 as superintendent of the Dinwiddie school system, will be held Wednesday at the Petersburg Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home & Cremation Service. Mr. Vaughn, 78, died Friday in a Petersburg facility for people with Alzheimer’s disease.

After several years of drought conditions, the weather has been generally good for farmers in central Virginia this year. State agriculture officials are predicting good yields on corn and most other crops. The economic recession, however, has not spared the Virginia agricultural industry, which contributes about $55 billion a year to the state’s economy. More than 350,000 jobs are linked to agriculture.

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.

Construction of a new Ford Volunteer Fire Department station could begin in September. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday authorized a $1.25 million contract with Harlan Construction Co. Inc. of Hopewell to build an 8,100-squarefoot station for the community that will allow expansion of the department’s EMS services and will replace an old facility where 40 residents volunteer.

A northbound Interstate 85 lane in Dinwiddie County that had been closed after an early morning wreck has reopened.

A Petersburg jury acquitted a man of murder after the prosecution’s key witness stunned the court by recanting earlier testimony that the defendant pulled the trigger. Defense attorney Neil Stout described the turnabout as a “Perry Mason” moment, referring to the fictional television defense lawyer in the 1960s who had a knack for dramatically establishing his client’s innocence by demonstrating the guilt of another.

Charles Maranzano Jr.‘s career is coming full circle as he leaves Dinwiddie County for his native New Jersey. Maranzano announced yesterday his plans to resign as superintendent of Dinwiddie schools to take the same position with the Hopatcong Borough Schools. A native of Bergen County, N.J., Maranzano cited family reasons for making the change. He returns to his home state with his wife to care for family members.

Dinwiddie County schools chief Charles Maranzano Jr. announced this afternoon his plans to resign as superintendent to take the same position in New Jersey. Maranzano, who led Dinwiddie schools since 2003, plans to take the superintendent’s position with the Hopatcong, N.J., Borough Schools, effective Sept. 1. He replaces Wayne L. Threlkeld, who has been superintendent since 1981. Maranzano cited family reasons for making the change.

Central Virginia is on pace to record more homicides this year than last, a trend largely driven by more killings in Richmond, suburban Henrico County and Petersburg. Forty-eight slayings occurred during the first six months of this year in the 24 localities that make up the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area, compared with 42 during the same period last year.

This daily column features short news items from some of the 20 localities that make up the greater Richmond area. If you have a news item, call 649-6990 or e-mail us at . Henrico The Keep Henrico Beautiful Committee will honor winners of the 2009 Land Lover and Clean Business awards at tonight’s Henrico County Board of Supervisors meeting at 7 in the Government Center Board Room, 4301 E. Parham Road. The awards recognize one homeowner and one business in each magisterial district for maintaining an outstanding property through landscaping, lawn care, litter removal and recycling.“

The Virginia Cooperative Extension has selected William “Billy” Bain of Dinwiddie County as the Virginia Farmer of the Year, an award that applauds individual contributions to the commonwealth’s agricultural industry. Bain, who operates a 3,200-acre corn, soybean, wheat, peanut and Angus cattle farm in southeast Virginia, was recognized at a meeting of the Virginia Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services on May 21 in Richmond.

From the outside, the old Baxter’s General Store shows signs of its age. The siding is graying. The front porch floor is loose. The windows are dusty. But the words “Ice Cream, Cold Drinks, Cigars and Cigarettes” next to the picture of an ice cream cone remain legible in the front window glass. More than 30 years ago, this was a popular country store. It was the place to go for meats, grains, flour, snacks, pesticides—just about anything. The Baxter family ran the store from 1919 until it closed in the late 1970s.

DINWIDDIE Some hardy pioneers have been working to help blaze a trail through one of the Tri-Cities’ most important historic sites. Volunteers from the Virginia Council of New Outlook Pioneers worked last week to build and install two footbridges along a new, 8-mile trail system that’s being created at the Five Forks Battlefield in Dinwiddie County. The trail network is part of a major upgrade at the park that also includes construction of a $3 million visitor center featuring video exhibits and a bookstore.