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.

Authorities have charged a former county prison guard with bribery as part of a ring they say delivered drugs to inmates. For months April M. Hogsett, 26, of Doe Hill, used her position at the Augusta County Correctional Center to work as a liaison between prisoners and an outside drug source, according to court records. Three months after arresting Hogsett on charges she delivered marijuana to an inmate, authorities this week charged her with bribery. Inmates Anthony Roach and Charles Daniel Koberstein Jr., both 33, also have been charged with bribery.

Chesterfield County is spending more with women-owned businesses and companies inside the county line. So is Henrico County. The localities are doing so in part because of their diversity initiatives, officials say. “I think it’s a great idea,“ said Karen Allen, owner of Southern Police Equipment, a Chesterfield-based business that handles supplies to the county’s law-enforcement agencies.

The Hungary Brook Shopping Center in northern Henrico County is in foreclosure and on the auction block. The retail center, on Concord Avenue near Parham and Brook roads, is scheduled to be auctioned off on the county court steps next Friday at 3 p.m. The retail center, anchored by a Food Lion grocery store, was built in 1988. It contains 87,188 square feet of retail space on a 9.7-acre site. Dollar Tree Stores Inc. recently signed a lease for 10,548 square feet there.

The federal economic-stimulus plan is working for small businesses in Virginia, a senior SBA official told the Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce’s procurement conference here.

Parents have a broad duty to assure the welfare of a juvenile guest, even when harm comes to that guest from a third party outside the home. In a split decision yesterday, the state Supreme Court reinstated and sent back to Henrico County Circuit Court a wrongful-death case in which a 14-year-old guest died in a car crash. A Henrico judge had ruled that the duty of the parents overseeing the guest did not extend to the circumstances alleged in the suit.

A federal judge has turned down a request by the nation’s No. 2 cigarette-maker and others to immediately halt enforcement of new federal regulations on tobacco products. Their challenge to new U.S. Food and Drug Administration powers to regulate what tobacco firms say about their products has little likelihood of success, except on one point, Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Bowling Green, Ky., ruled yesterday.

The federal economic stimulus program is working for small business in Virginia, the chief of staff of the U.S. Small Business Administration said. The SBA has provided more than 2,000 loans worth nearly $280 million to the state’s small entrepreneurs, says Ana M. Ma. “Borrowers are reporting that these loans are saving or creating thousands of jobs around the state,“ Ma said.

Henrico County expects to receive $10.7 million less in state aid this year under budget cuts proposed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, but the county is even more worried about how the state will affect next year’s budget. Finance Director John A. Vithoulkas estimated last night that sales-tax revenue for education alone will drop by $4.9 million in Henrico because of state cuts Kaine proposed in September to fill a projected $1.4 billion shortfall in the budget that ends June 30.

Moving testimony from teachers, family and friends—and an assist from the prosecution—may have kept a police impersonator found guilty of attempted abduction out of prison. In an unusual court maneuver, Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Wade A. Kizer asked yesterday for a halt in a sentencing hearing that could have resulted in a mandatory, three-year prison sentence against Shay Cameron Mann.

Henrico County’s chief prosecutor agreed this morning to reconsider a case against a man found guilty in August of impersonating a police officer and attempted abduction. Commonwealth’s Attorney Wade Kizer said after a closed hearing in a judge’s chambers that he may seek to alter convictions against Shay Cameron Mann. Retired Circuit Judge James E. Kulp ordered that a sentencing hearing be continued until Nov. 24 to give Kizer and Mann’s defense lawyer time to explore whether there is a process by which Mann’s convictions can be amended.

Two retailers are expected to open within a day of each other this month. Appliance and consumer electronics retailer hhgregg is scheduled to open its two area stores Nov. 19 while outdoor gear and clothing retailer Recreational Equipment Inc. (known as REI) is scheduled to open Nov. 20. Both are new to Richmond’s retail landscape.

A Henrico County man who died after crashing into a guardrail Saturday was one of three motorcyclists who eluded police on Interstate 95 while racing in and out of traffic at more than 100 mph, authorities said yesterday. Erwin Brower, 27, of the 4400 block of Foxtail Lane died at the scene after crashing his Suzuki GSX-R600 racing bike on the ramp leading from southbound Chippenham Parkway to northbound I-95, said Sgt. Thomas Molnar with the Virginia State Police.

A Henrico County man who died after crashing into a guardrail Saturday was one of three motorcyclists who eluded police on Interstate 95 while racing in and out of traffic at more than 100 mph, authorities disclosed today. Erwin Brower, 27, of the 4400 block of Foxtail Lane died at the scene after crashing his Suzuki GSX-R600 racing bike on the ramp leading from southbound Chippenham Parkway to northbound I-95, said state police Sgt. Thomas Molnar.

A child who needs help all the way through school doesn’t suddenly become independent just because he has graduated. A successful transition to adulthood requires some help, too. At a Youth Transition Summit tomorrow at St. Joseph’s Villa in Henrico County, more than 225 professionals who work with at-risk youths will come together to hear Carmen James Lane, co-chair of the Youth Transition Funders Group.