In a mountainous Lebanese town with vegetable farms, orchards and olive trees, Badeha Aboulhosn Shaban grew up where spending time with family and friends was a culture unto itself. “They carried it to the extent that when a member of the family or friend visited and the person being visited had a convenience store, they’d shut down the store for an hour or two and have coffee, tea and pastries,“ said a son, Ronald J. Shaban of Moseley.

The builder of a proposed $150 million ethanol plant in Hopewell said the discovery of contaminated soil at the construction site will not slow the construction schedule.

In 1963, as tension escalated over the injustices of segregation in Petersburg, the City Council established a Biracial Committee to promote better race relations in the city. Louis C. Shell, an attorney and former councilman, was named chairman—one of three white residents named to the committee, which was convened to respond to the sit-ins and protests with a resident-led dialogue among community groups.

A land swap between Hopewell and Prince George County is closer to being a done deal. The Hopewell City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved an agreement with the county to adjust the boundary line along Interstate 295, a decision that had been postponed for two months. Under the plan, Hopewell will receive about 30 acres of land east to the interstate. The city’s soccer complex is on that land, which is inside the current Prince George line.

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.

Location: Hopewell
  Opening: 2010
  Cost: $160 million
  Majority owner: First Reserve Corp.
  Source grain: barley
  Bushels used: 30 million a year
  Ethanol yield: 65 million gallons a year
  Tax revenue: about $2 million
  Employees: about 45 to 55

The Henrico County-based company that is building an ethanol plant in Hopewell has turned to Perdue AgriBusiness as a source of grain for the refinery. Perdue is creating a contracting program for local farmers to grow barley for the Appomattox Bio Energy plant, Osage Bio Energy President and CEO Craig Shealy said yesterday. The plant will be the first of its kind in Virginia and the first barley-based biofuels plant on the East Coast.

Hopewell is joining a growing list of school divisions across the state considering changes to their grading scale. The movement to alter the scale in Hopewell began at the high school, where the teachers voted overwhelmingly in favor of adjusting the scale, said Linda E. Hyslop, assistant superintendent for Hopewell schools. The proposal would move grading to a 10-point scale.

Hopewell schools are holding a meeting on grading scales tonight:
  When: 7 p.m.
  Where: Multipurpose room at Carter G. Woodson Middle School, 1000 Winston Churchill Drive
  Note: A second meeting will be held July 23 at the same time and place.

Comparison of Hopewell schools’ current grading scale and the proposed scale for the 2009-10 school year. GradeCurrentNew A100-93100-90 B92-8589-80
C84-7779-70
D76-7069-60
F69-059-0
SOURCE: Hopewell schools

The Virginia American Water treatment plant in Hopewell will undergo a $24 million upgrade over the next two years, which will result in a significant expansion of its water capacity. The improvement project, which is expected to create about 100 jobs in the city, will increase the plant’s total water-treatment capacity from its current 27 million gallons a day to 36 million gallons a day.

A citizens group in Hopewell is stepping up efforts to promote awareness of the city’s air quality. Hopewell Clean Air Network volunteers are going door to door this summer giving out information about air pollution in Hopewell and answering questions about odors in the city and their effects on people’s health. The group has tested seven air samples over the past year in different parts of the city. Lab results of the tests indicate that some odors in Hopewell could be harmful to residents, said James Gould, a project coordinator with the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club who is working with the network. Columbia Analytical Services, a California-based lab certified by the Environmental Protection Agency, did the tests.

If you stand quietly on the grounds of Appomattox Plantation, you can hear and feel the spirit of the site, says Hopewell School Superintendent Winston O. Odom. You can hear the old spirituals sung by slaves on the wind, you can hear the pain and misery of the slaves who worked the plantation and even almost feel the presence of President Abraham Lincoln, who walked the grounds during the waning days of the Civil War, Odom said.

The city is seeking federal and state funds to extend the Petersburg Area Transit bus service to downtown and other neighborhoods. The city of Petersburg, at the request of the Hopewell City Council, has approved extending the transit service. Currently, the service has a line from Old Towne Petersburg to Fort Lee and the Crossings Shopping Center near the Hopewell-Prince George County line.

The museums and historical attractions visited by the Community Teacher’s Institute seminar:
  U.S. Army Quartermaster’s Museum: http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/
  Battersea Plantation: http://www.batterseainc.com/
  Petersburg National Battlefield: http://www.nps.gov/pete/
  U.S. Army Women’s Museum: http://www.awm.lee.army.mil/