Chickens: No permit is required for up to 10 chickens. The enclosure must be 30 feet from another person’s house.
  Chickens, sheep, other livestock: Enclosures must be 200 feet from property lines.
  Chickens or other live stock: Conditional-use permits would be considered by the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission, and neighbors would be invited to express their opinions.

Despite tough economic times, Virginia has taken a strong interest in maintaining its programs for early-childhood education, according to a member of the Virginia Board of Education. Rob Krupicka, a member of the board and an Alexandria city councilman, was among a number of speakers yesterday at the Smart Beginnings Public Engagement and Advocacy Summit that highlighted some of the state’s opportunities for children from birth to age 5.

A Mechanicsville teenager who vanished more than five years ago was located Wednesday in South Carolina after a Hanover County detective reworked an old lead in the puzzling case. “It’s a very good ending,“ said Hanover sheriff’s Investigator Dave Klisz, who worked relentlessly over the years to find former Lee-Davis High School student Theresa Marie Meadows.

Several school divisions in central Virginia are reporting delays tomorrow after this week’s heavy rains and flooding. The following county school districts are reporting two-hour delays for Friday: Amelia, Dinwiddie, King and Queen, New Kent and Prince George. Also, Sussex County schools are closed Friday.

Maybe the third time will be the charm for a proposed solicitation ordinance in Hanover County. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-2 yesterday to have county staff again revise a proposal on solicitation, this time to put restrictions on such activities only along Meadowbridge Road from Interstate 295 to the Henrico County line. Last month, County Attorney Sterling E. Rives III presented an ordinance that prohibited anyone from seeking to distribute handbills, bulletins and other literature; solicit contributions; or sell merchandise or services to drivers and passengers of motor vehicles.

Maybe the third time will be the charm for a proposed solicitation ordinance in Hanover County. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-2 yesterday to have county staff again revise a proposal on solicitation, this time to put restrictions on such activities only along Meadowbridge Road from Interstate 295 to the Henrico County line. Last month, County Attorney Sterling E. Rives III presented an ordinance that prohibited anyone from seeking to distribute handbills, bulletins and other literature; solicit contributions; or sell merchandise or services to drivers and passengers of motor vehicles.

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.

Hanover County’s school population has flat-lined. Unlike school systems in Chesterfield and Henrico counties, which continue to grow despite the recession, Hanover’s student growth started to slow in 2006. Its K-12 enrollment dropped from 18,844 in 2006 to 18,420 this year, and the projection for next year is 18,260. That’s after more than 2,500 new students joined the school system from 1999 to 2006.

Police officers and firefighters from around the Richmond region were recognized yesterday for their selfless acts of bravery. They risked their lives to rescue people from burning trucks, water-submerged cars, smoke-filled buildings and collapsed trenches. They also apprehended dangerous criminals with guns. And for their efforts, they were awarded gold, silver and bronze awards at the 20th annual Valor Awards breakfast at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

Mechanicsville resident Sue Beer and her daughters wanted to help a family in need last Christmas. So she turned to Hanover County’s Department of Social Services and, through its Holiday Match program, made the season a little brighter for a local woman who was taking care of her 9-year-old grandson. She wasn’t the only one. The match program, along with the Hanover Christmas Mother, helped 689 families, or 2,377 people, including 1,445 children.

Mechanicsville doctor Torino R. “Tee” Jennings was sentenced to a year and one day in prison yesterday for writing tens of thousands of prescriptions over the Internet for people he never met or examined and failing to pay taxes on his earnings. Jennings, 36, a former staff physician at Retreat Doctors’ Hospital, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Boston, where he pleaded guilty in July to seven counts of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce and four counts of tax evasion. He faced a maximum prison term of 27 years and $1.7 million in fines.

A 16-year-old Hanover County student who is charged with attacking a fellow student with an ax is getting support from an online petition. Friends of Omar has formed to persuade Hanover prosecutors not to try Omar K. Abdelaal as an adult. Abdelaal was arrested Oct. 23 outside a Mechanicsville farm-supply store, where police say he struck a fellow Lee-Davis High School student with an ax, severely wounding the 15-year-old. The victim needed more than 100 stitches to repair damage to his face from a single blow, authorities said.

Audrey M. Harris; 10440 Cherokee Road, addition, $75,000. Tina R. Shiver, owner; Lifestyle Builders & Development, contractor; 8707 Elm Road, addition, $59,500. NVR Homes Inc.; 5113 Glenbeigh Drive, $123,382. Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, owner; Better Homes Inc., contractor; 1300 Decatur St., $113,535. Bruce D. Adkins, owner; Hanover Interiors Inc., contractor; 1902 Conrad St., alterations, $84,850.

Take $60 million out of Chesterfield County’s $1.2 billion budget, and these are some of the things that could disappear:

• jobs for 225 teachers and 32 school resource officers, 30 firefighters and 30 police officers;

• four libraries and a couple of fire stations; and

• 10 government and public school departments, including health, planning, finance and budget.

Hanover County authorities say they had to end a DUI checkpoint early today because four of the five deputies made arrests, leaving too few resources to continue.