A Hanover County man once facing life in prison on a charge of murdering his longtime girlfriend will serve no more than 10 years. A Hanover jury last night found Derek E. Burkhead, 26, guilty of involuntary manslaughter after a two-day trial. When the verdict from the eight-woman, four-man jury was read at 9:20 last night, Burkhead appeared numb and speechless. Another jury eight months ago found him guilty of second-degree murder in the same case and recommended a 25-year sentence. That verdict was stricken because of a procedural error, resulting in the third mistrial of the case.

Derek Edward Burkhead’s road to innocence or prison has been stymied by fainting spells, three mistrials and, yesterday, by an early morning jail cell fight. But the murder defendant appeared for trial yesterday with a swollen jaw, a new defense lawyer and a renewed plea of not guilty. “He says he’s ready to proceed,“ attorney John Honey said of his client yesterday morning before a clerk asked for Burkhead’s pleas to a second-degree murder charge and felony use of a firearm.

A Lee-Davis High School student surrendered without resistance to Hanover County authorities last week as a classmate lay a few feet away, severely injured from an ax attack that sloughed off the side of the victim’s face. The youth charged in the attack, Omar K. Abdelaal, who turned 16 this month, was ordered held without bond yesterday after a prosecutor told a juvenile court judge that Abdelaal “represents a threat to the community.“

A Lee-Davis High School student faces possible life in prison if convicted of an ax attack on a fellow student. Hanover Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramon E. “Trip” Chalkley declined yesterday to identify the 15-year-old, who is charged with aggravated malicious wounding in the incident. But he said he intends to try the youth as an adult and will seek to have the case transferred to Circuit Court.

Haunting tours of historic plantations, sites Historic Haunts of Hanover: Sites in Hanover that harbor strange, haunted tales. Cold Harbor Battlefield: 1 to 3 p.m. tomorrow. Ranger on site; admission free. Historic Polegreen Church: 3 to 5 p.m. tomorrow. Richmond Investigators of the Paranormal on site; admission free. Hanover Tavern: 5 to 6 p.m. tomorrow. Tours and refreshments; admission free.

A burglary ring that recruited juveniles and preyed on well-to-do, quiet neighborhoods in Hanover and Henrico counties has run its course. A Henrico judge sentenced the leader of the loosely knit operation to two years in prison Tuesday after hearing Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nikki Clarke describe how that leader looted and broke into the home of a vacationing school friend.

Like a virus, statutory restrictions on panhandling have been spreading throughout Central Virginia. What began in Richmond moved to Henrico, and now threatens to infect Hanover. County officials will hold a hearing in mid-October on an ordinance that would forbid people to sell, solicit, or distribute literature on public roads. Legitimate concerns about safety underlie the proposal. People darting in and out of traffic present a danger to themselves and to others, and localities certainly should be able to restrict such behavior.

Tomatoes were disappearing by the bite, bag and box yesterday as tens of thousands of people took advantage of a beautiful afternoon at the area’s two annual tomato festivals. At the 31st annual Hanover Tomato Festival, traffic backed up for miles either way on Pole Green Road in Hanover County as people waited to snake into the park for a taste of the county’s most famous crop. At a big tent in the middle, the tomatoes were going fast at $7 to $10 a bag or $35 a box.

Arthur Utley discusses weather conditions at the Softball and Baseball semi-finals to have been held at Hanover High School.

The era of big government is back—at the federal level. Locally, it’s a different story. With the exception of Henrico, municipal governments in Central Virginia have been crafting budgets that are smaller in real terms than in previous years. Henrico’s budget is increasing by only 1 percent, and collectively area localities will spend 3 percent less in fiscal 2010 than in fiscal 2009.

You don’t have to be a fisherman or a hunter to go to Bass Pro Shops on Wednesday night. Just take your appetite. The fifth annual Taste of Hanover will be at the mega sporting-goods store, and all proceeds go to Hanover ARC and Hanover Community Support Services, said Pat Thacker, a co-chairwoman of the event and a representative of community support services.

One of the defining principles of new urbanism is that its design should celebrate local history. Providence Creek, a proposed 64-acre development off state Route 54 just east of Interstate 95, would cut off access to a historic Hanover County community. The development would result in the closing of nearby Providence Church Road at state Route 54—a move that would seal off direct access to Providence Baptist Church.

One more night. One more game to play. One more day to spend together. That was the motivation that carried the Hanover Hawks to a 51-41 victory over Deep Run last night in the opening round of the Central Region basketball tournament. “I love these girls to death, and I don’t want this season to end,“ said point guard Tiquana Hill, a 5-4 senior who played a key role in the relentless defensive effort that harried the Wildcats into 13 turnovers and 16-for-50 shooting.

Five Atlee High School students have been charged with 42 felonies in connection with rocks and other objects being thrown onto northbound Interstate 295 in Hanover County. The arrests of the five, all males between 15 and 17 who have been released to the custody of their parents, grew out of a joint investigation by Virginia State Police and the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, state police Sgt. Tom Cunningham said yesterday.

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones extended the olive branch of regional cooperation to Chesterfield County leaders yesterday by making an appearance at the county’s Board of Supervisors meeting. It was the first time in recent history that a city mayor had crossed the county line to speak with elected leaders. “It’s the first time we know of,“ said County Administrator James J.L. Stegmaier, who has been with Chesterfield for 23 years.