All spring recreational programs will continue this year, the Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed yesterday. But officials warned residents that some programs could be cut in the next fiscal year, which starts in July. County officials were considering cutting all or some Department of Parks and Recreation programs, including exercise classes and youth sports, as a way to address a $1.5 million shortfall in the county’s $39 million operating budget.

The Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors today will review a proposal to cut some or all recreational programs for the rest of this fiscal year

County officials are weighing the possibility of cutting some or all recreational programs for the rest of this fiscal year as one way to address a $1.5 million budget shortfall. Cutting all county recreation programs during the next five months will save the county about $75,000, Dinwiddie officials said yesterday. The county is conducting an in-depth study of all its departments to try to make up for the shortfall, County Administrator W. Kevin Massengill told the Board of Supervisors during a special meeting.

Dental education for area first-graders extends beyond caring for their own teeth. They are learning about health for the Standards of Learning tests. Children’s Hospital staff members are visiting classrooms in the Richmond area to show students the proper way to brush—using a circular motion with the toothbrush—but also teaching about teeth function, proper nutrition and how to prevent illness, which are included on the SOLs.

Chesterfield County’s school system might have to cut a minimum of 500 positions next year to deal with a projected $52 million budget shortfall, Superintendent Marcus J. Newsome said yesterday.

Dinwiddie County School Superintendent Charles Maranzano Jr. has asked the state to spare six school systems affected by Fort Lee’s expansion from budget cuts.

Powhatan The Powhatan County School Board’s last meeting of the year ended with a warning that economic difficulties could mean hardship for the school system next year.

The manager of a Dinwiddie County campground was struck and killed Monday evening after he apparently fell from the cab of a truck that he tried to stop, Virginia State Police said yesterday. Charles Louis Blazek, 57, of Disputanta was pronounced dead after being taken to Southside Regional Medical Center in Petersburg. Police said the incident occurred about 8:50 p.m. when Blazek, manager of Picture Lake Campground off U.S. 1, saw the driver of the truck portion of a tractor-trailer try to leave the campground.

Five-year-old Elsie cried when her older brother went to school because she couldn’t go, too. She went anyway, unenrolled, though she was younger than the minimum starting age by a few months. She credited the head start with her graduation from Dinwiddie Training School, an all-black high school, at age 15 and college at 19. Dr. Elsie Goodwyn Holland was born in 1935 in McKenney in rural Dinwiddie County, the daughter of a school janitor. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Virginia State College (now a university) in 1955 and her master’s there in 1969. She was 37 when she moved to an apartment in Charlottesville to earn her doctorate in elementary education from the University of Virginia, graduating in 1975. Her husband continued to live and work in Richmond.

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.

This daily column features short news items from the 20 localities that make up the greater Richmond area. On Mondays, we run at least one item from each of the localities. If you have a news item, call 649-6990 or e-mail us at Amelia Work has begun on the visitors center at Amelia County’s Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park. The $1.1 million center is expected to be completed next summer.

Thieves broke into the Dinwiddie Sporting Goods store Thursday night and stole 12 handguns—the region’s fourth gun-shop heist since March. The intruders peeled back the exterior siding of the sheet-metal building at 7812 Boydton Plank Road to get inside about 10:30 p.m., tripping an alarm, Dinwiddie Sheriff’s Capt. William Knott said.

Thieves broke into the Dinwiddie Sporting Goods store last night and stole 12 handguns of various makes and models, the sheriff’s office said today. The intruders peeled back the siding of the sheet metal building at 7800 Boydton Plan Road to get inside about 10:30 p.m., tripping an alarm, said Dinwiddie Sheriff’s Capt. William Knott.

A woman who died in a house fire Monday in Dinwiddie County has been identified as Donna R. Saunders, 54, an occupant of the home, the county sheriff’s office said yesterday. Saunders’ body was recovered from a house in the 9200 block of Squirrel Level Road after a fire consumed the structure about 3 a.m. The state medical examiner’s office has not determined the cause of death, but authorities do not suspect foul play.

Hopewell Grant’s Headquarters at City Point in Petersburg National Battlefield will welcome visitors to observe an archaeological survey starting this weekend as part of Virginia Archaeology Month. Students from the College of William and Mary will conduct test excavations of the park grounds surrounding Appomattox Manor from Saturday through Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Additional excavation may take place Oct. 18. For details, call (804) 458-9504 or visit the City Point Archaeological Survey online